On the track and in the showroom, 450cc four-stroke motocrossers are the biggest and baddest roost-throwing holeshot magnets you can run. That distinction once belonged to 500cc two-strokes, but there are good reasons why those bikes are extinct, except for the exotic Service Honda, and better reasons why 450s are very much alive. While just a bit shy of the sheer power output of a gnarly 500cc two-stroke, a modern 450cc four-stroke produces nearly as much boost over a much-wider rpm range. Plus, any modern 450 is far less tiring and demanding to ride both physically and mentally. The real bonus is that 450s compete at the same level as top 250cc motocrossers; and as excellent as the current quarter-liter racers are, this is no small accomplishment. Perhaps most important, 450cc thumpers sell in significant numbers as no big-bore premix burner ever did, and that is a very concrete sign they appeal to modern riders. In fact, a large percentage of riders feel a 450 is actually an advantage on fast, outdoor-style tracks.
No doubt you have looked at the pictures here, and you saw no yellow bike. You can't be any more disappointed than we are, but Suzuki arrived at the same conclusion we did in our initial test of the '05 Honda CRF450R: If you want to knock the Honda off the 450cc throne, you'll need to do your homework. Suzuki thought it had a bike that could compete head-to-head with the 2004 Honda; but this is 2005, and the company decided to delay releasing the RM-Z450 until it could ensure it would be a serious threat. We simply could not wait for it.
However, with the new Honda chassis, the new KTM frame and fork tubes and a new fork and engine upgrades for the Yamaha, we had plenty of questions for a shootout to answer.
We followed our usual format of running all of the bikes through three motos, wringing their necks for the radar gun and then testing for the best suspension and engine settings we could find. We relied on I-5MX and the new Competitive Edge tracks to develop our opinions. We began the group testing with Dunlop D756 rear tires and D742 fronts for Competitive Edge's softer terrain, then swapped the fronts for D739s before heading for I-5MX, where the surface is a little more clay-based.
Fork
Although the difference is modest in most cases, a 450 weighs as much as 15 pounds more than a 250cc two-stroke. Plus, a 450 makes a lot more power and torque than any type of 250cc machine. It is much harder to make a powerful motorcycle well suspended than it is to make a less-powerful one work in the same conditions. As a result, the suspension numbers from largely the same test crew are lower overall than they were in the 250cc two-stroke shootout (beginning on page 36). Whereas the Honda and Yamaha 250s ended up with the same rating, the CRF450R has a clear advantage. Again, our riders were tough graders, so this number represents a near-perfect score. Two riders awarded the CRF solid 10s; riders who didn't give it their highest rating dinged the Honda for a lack of initial plushness. In truth, there isn't much to complain about. The stock settings worked well. The Showa Twin Chamber is fairly plush and has a good, clean action and excellent bottoming feel. Riders attempted other settings, but most returned to stock.