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The 450: Now we need to say at the start that none of our guys got to ride the 2017 model – and in 2017, this bike underwent a total rebuild. The looks: The look of the CRF450R was drastically changed. Part of the change of appearance is the new plastic bodywork, which features a smoother layout and film-insert graphics for improved appearance and durability. The bike has an almost futuristic look to it and cannot be mistaken for the previous generation CRF450Rs. The 2017 Honda CRF450R was the 4th generation of the company’s premiere class four-stroke motocross bike, and it was all-new from the ground up. The major change to the chassis was the new, lighter sixthgeneration aluminum twin-spar frame. The revised geometry allows for improved cornering performance through reduction of torsional stiffness. Honda replaced their air forks with traditional spring forks. The diameter of the Showa forks is 49mm—one mm larger than the previous years and they are similar to that of factory A-kit suspension. They changed the CRF450R’s fuel tank to titanium. Plastic tanks have been the standard for years, and this trick item has been used on their factory race teams for many years, and to see it come on a production bike is very cool! The only downside is that it is somewhat hidden underneath a plastic cover surrounding the fuel cap. Honda’s engineers aimed to make the bike faster out of the gate by achieving increased power output in the first 100 feet of the race. Honda focused on pumping more horsepower out the new engine not just for better starts, but better overall power. Air management improved power. One of the changes they made in order to achieve this was designing a new downdraft intake layout. This allows the air traveling through the air box, air boot, and throttle body to have a much straighter shot into the combustion chamber. The 2017 was still kick start for 2018, this has changed. The 2018 Honda CRF450R is refined even more. We didn’t expect any big changes, maybe graphics alone would have been acceptable after the ’17 redesign. However, Honda made some key updates to improve their big MX bike. This year is the first for stock electric start on Japanese moto crossers (the 2018 Yamaha YZ450F is also e-start). About time… The E-start adds 2 and a bit kilogrammes to the 2018 Honda CRF450R, but the bulk of the weight is near the center of gravity. It’s a penalty most are happy to pay. Honda removed the kick starter and internal gears. 44 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE MARCH 2018
“The bottom-end is snappy, the midrange hits hard, and the top-end pulls strongly into the over-rev, which is plentiful.” DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE MARCH 2018 45
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