This is a new one for us, a tour of bike modifications and fixes...or screw-ups and mistakes, depends on who is judging. We decided to take the 2010 Honda CRF450R, pass it through the staff and a few of our test riders and allow each rider to personalize it to his own tastes, no restrictions. The result? Hopefully, when each participant is done he is riding around on the perfect machine for him. And along the way readers will learn about our bike performance personalities and what each of us is looking for in moto perfection. After all, who doesn't like to customize their ride? Welcome to the first part in Staff Infection where CRF lover, pro racer and always-available test rider Chris Barrett and our much loved and slightly hated Editor Jimmy Lewis take their different shots at the Honda 450R.
Barrettized
I have said it before and I will say it again: The newest-generation CRF450 was made just for me. I love the lightness of this machine, the quick handling, the rippin' motor and, oh yeah, the ergos-well, they fit me to a T (that's right, a capital T). From the grips (and yes, I do love stock Honda grips) to the ground, this is my feel-good machine. Since I believe in being able to improve on anything and everything, I went ahead and made a few changes.
To start it off, I had some issues with the stock fork dropping too far down in the stroke through bigger bumps and under heavy braking. This put a lot of weight on the front wheel and lightened up the back of the bike, which hindered the stability and resulted in some unwanted kicking in the rear-never a good thing. I felt the mid-valve needed to be stiffened up, and to fix that, I had just the guy in mind: Reverend Graeme Brough, a suspension technician who has a lot of race team experience. I took him my suspension, confessed the issues I was having, and he dialed me in. After Graeme's suspension work, the bike had a lot more hold up in the front, improved bottoming resistance and still didn't sacrifice any initial plushness. In turn, I was now able to charge harder into the turns, the bike became more stable, and I didn't have any more nasty kicks through the braking bumps. Problem solved. Plus, he had a small valving tweak for the steering damper that was surprisingly good. So good, in fact, that I swapped out the damper to my personal 2009 and didn't tell anyone. Oops!
Although I did love the smooth, strong power of the CRF, I wanted to spice things up a bit (not too much, though). I wanted to keep the same smooth power delivery and add more power all the way through, but I still wanted to keep that genuine Honda reliability. Before I was able to make a move Dirt Rider threw in the brand-new Hinson diaphragm clutch to test out. It was good, never whimpered and I hardly noticed it was there the whole time. For my pipe, I decided to go with a Yoshimura full exhaust system. I have had great results with them in the past, and I felt confident this would give me the power I was looking for. Once again, the Yosh system delivered; it kept the smooth power delivery but added more power all the way through. Spicy! Exactly what I wanted, how could I ask for anything more? Well, I didn't have to; Yoshimura went ahead and told me, "So you like that power? What if we could put that power exactly where you want it? Bottom, mid..."-and before they could finish that sentence, I told them to prove it. So now with the Yoshimura PIM-2 Programmer, some optimizing and tweaking of the fuel delivery gave me more of exactly what I wanted; I kept the same strong bottom that the pipe added (although they could have added more if I wanted, but no thank you, too spicy) and then I added more mid and top. The motor was now perfect! Then they told me a Yosh cam will add even more top-end without sacrificing any bottom or mid. After clarifying that it will still start easily and be just as reliable I told them to throw that puppy in there, too.
Chris Barrett took everything...
Chris Barrett took everything he loved about the CRF450R and made more of it. More aggressive, more power, more pro.