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The wait is over. Well, just about, anyway. It's been three years since the CRF450R was introduced, and now Honda has taken the number-one motocross bike (a Cycle World Ten Best winner three years running) and turned it into a full-fledged enduro machine.
Understanding that off-road riding and racing differ drastically from closed-course motocross competition, Honda's engineers took their sweet time to make sure everything was perfect. Virtually every single component from the CRF450R was changed to meet the unique demands placed on the CRF450X. Sure, you could take a motocross bike, add an electric starter, lighting system, flywheel weight and a set of wider gearbox ratios and then head to the hills. It might even be a great bike—but it surely won't be at the apex of off-road performance.
Where do we start? How about with a Honda test rider stuck in a ravine on a 450R, goggles off, sweat poring off his brow under the burning sun, kicking, stalling, kicking? It didn't take him long to realize he couldn't use the relentless power of a motocross bike off-road; if only he had an engine with a little more midrange punch and friendly, tractable power to boost him out. An electric starter wouldn't hurt, either. Maybe it was cross-country ace Scott Summers wrestling a 450R or XR650R through the woods during a three-hour GNCC race, all the while dreaming of a bike with better bump absorption and plusher suspension to deal with the endless bumps, rocks, roots and dips? Or was it desert fireball Johnny Campbell pancaking his XR650R over a 5-mile stretch of whoops en route to another Baja 1000 victory, imagining what he could do with a lighter, more agile bike?
However Honda came up with the idea, the important thing is it succeeded in achieving its goal.
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| Besides lights, kickstand, electric starter, etc., one of the reasons for the X's added weight is this coolant catch tank that usually hides behind a plastic skid plate. MX version vents to atmosphere. |
How different is the X from the R? Only a few pieces carry over between the two. Adapting the R's twin-spar aluminum frame wasn't a simple use-the-same-part idea. The engineers' mission was to create an off-road frame with the same handling confidence found on the motocrosser, so the lower frame rails have .5mm-thicker walls, the steering-head casting is new, the front frame joint is different—even the gussets have changed in size and shape. All this helps to make the bike less rigid (for better feel and feedback on trails) while still keeping its high-speed stability and tracking ability. Mission accomplished!
It's not only the frame that gives the X its superb handling, but also the 47mm inverted Showa Twin Chamber cartridge fork derived from the R. The fork uses settings unique to the X and has 12.4 inches of travel, giving you plenty of cush for most any obstacle. In back is a Pro-Link system featuring a fully adjustable Showa shock, also providing 12.4 inches of wheel travel. The aluminum swingarm features a double-taper design with a large, cast-aluminum cross-member for high strength and light weight. Putting the chassis to the test on tight trails and wide-open graded dirt roads, we never had any handling complaints.
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