Nicky Hayden's Honda CRF450 Short-Tracker

IT’S SO SIMPLE, ISN’T IT? Straight, left, straight left in a semi-circle, just like they’ve done for a hundred years now. Why hasn’t dirt track racing changed in a century?

I heard it said once that the easier it is to do something, the harder it to excel at it. So while dirt-tracking seems simple on the surface, that surface changes every lap. Add to that the infinite, minuscule effects of body English on traction, and dirt-tracking presents a challenge that riders and tuners alike find irresistible.

It all comes down to seemingly insignificant details. Does 1 psi of tire pressure really make a difference? A third of an inch more steering lock, a half-inch shorter wheelbase, one tooth different on the gearing? You better believe it. Everything matters. And it matter even more when you’re trying to do it with a bike that was never intended to go in circles.

One afternoon, while BS’ing about SuperTT racing with DeWayne Jones I brought up Honda’s nee four-stroke motocrosser, the CRF450R. DeWayne the mentioned the project bike that his brother Gary (former AMA 250ccMotocross Champion, now head of R&D at White Bros.) had put together in collaboration with Honda Racing’s Chuck Miller. Subsequently, dirt-track-er-turned-roadracer Nicky Hayden was informed at the annual Honda dealer meeting that the 450 would be available for him to ride at the Formula USA season-ending Del Mar Short-Track and Pro Singles Mile, should he be interested. His answer? Second in the short-track by a sliver-a sliver in his brother’s shoulder, that is, as he brushed the wall trying to go around the outside of series champ Terry Poovey! He also netted a fifth in the mile.

A few weeks later, I caught up with Nicky,Garyand the CRF450R dirt-tracker at Ken Maely’s Hot Shoe Manor, a short-track on which I’ve done about a zillion laps on Honda XR100s. I showed up an hour early, minibike in tow, so I’d be good and warmed up before I got on the 450. Like a prom queen carried in on the float (in this case,Garybright-yellow pickup), the CRF filled all eyes with admiration. Looking at the 19-inch wheels shod with fresh Goodyear dirttrack tires, I thought, “Good God, this is going to be fun ...”

The third kick brought forth a lovely symphony of noise, braaap! braaap! breaking the silence of the crisp morning air. A deep breath and around and around I went.

The CRF wasn’t built with flat, smooth, slick comers in mind, but thanks to the wealth of tuning knowledge passed down to Gary from his father Don, it’s now more at home on a flat-track than at a jump-infested supercross.

Impressively, not a single stock part was harmed in the making of this story, so the CRF can be returned to MX trim should the need arise. First order of business was shortening the bike’s Showa suspension to lower center of gravity, desirable for sliding around comers. Suspension specialist Steve Searcy installed an 18mm spacer in the shock, plus a set of 152mm spacers in the fork legs, thus reducing travel at both ends. The fork and shock were both revalved for increased rebound damping and reduced compression damping, to keep the bike low in the stroke with no surprises.

Asked what makes the CRF different from a purpose-built dirt-tracker,Garyexplained that the biggest differences are length and height. Even after its suspension mods, the CRF sits roughly 2 inches taller and 2 inches longer than a typical roundy-round racer. As a result, Nicky said the Honda wants to slew sideways in the turns more, and spins the rear tire sooner than he likes. Plans are being made to shorten the swingarm for better weight transfer and more rear grip.

Though the engine remains internally stock, extensive dyno work to perfectly match the hand-made pipe and jetting netted a few more ponies and a significantly broader powerband, with a gain of 1500 usable rpm on top. Remarkably, this was after Jones fitted the F-USA-mandated 37mm restrictor plate beneath the 40mm Keihin flat-slide.

The result is abundant power on command-enough to keep the rear tire lit all the way around Mae1ey’s tight, decomposed-granite oval. Engine response is instantaneous, as though the throttle cable were connected directly to the rear wheel. Get a good drive with the gearing just right, and you just get into the rev-limiter before backing it into the comer.

There’s no front brake, of course, though a Braking rotor and DP pads replace the stock components out back to better deal with the extreme heat generated by running it down to the pole and block-passing. Horsing around by myself on the track, there wasn’t much point in heating up the rear disc to a glow, but the Honda’s tiny rear brake proved more than adequate to lock the wheel.

After watching me ride around, Nicky noted that the CRF’s leadingaxle fork gives the front end additional offset, which explained why I was having to chase the front end. Utilizing a fork that had the axle directly under the legs would shorten the wheelbase another inch and effectively put more weight on the front tire, aiding grip.

With 10 years of roadracing and a couple of SuperTT Championships under my belt, 1'd like to believe I can slide a motorbike at will, but the trick to dirt-tracking is sliding less. Keeping the wheels in line (what the Pros call "two-wheeling") is the fastest way around, even if sliding sideways is more fun. To achieve this, you shift fore and aft on the seat- up at corner entrances, back at exits, and everywhere in between as you master the art of the feet-up, two-wheeled drift.

Having Nicky on hand to critique my riding (not to mention keep the track watered!) was extremely cool, and very helpful. At the end of the day, I couldn’t help feeling that, beyond gaining insight into what goes into the making of a successful dirt-tracker, I’d gotten a sort of remedial riding lesson. A shorttrack arena is no place to hide even the slightest mistake, and with Nicky fresh from his four-race-winning streak in the AMA Superbike Championship, I couldn’t have asked for a better instructor.

Excuse me while I smile ear to ear.