Honda CRF450R Replica - Dirt Rider Magazine

To distort an old saying about trailer parks: You can take the 450R off the motocross track, but you can't take the motocross out of the 450R. However, Scott Summers has attempted to defy that logic with his extreme CRF450R makeover. His current steed bears little resemblance to the bike he brought to our annual 24-Hour test (June '04). And after having spent another day with his ever-evolving creation, we are interested to see what changes he'll make to the CRF450X in 2005.Why do I say that? Take a close look at his Honda, and you'd have to be far-sighted not to notice Summers is a tinkerer-no bolt was left untouched in his quest to convert the red moto-missile into a modern, lighter and faster version of his five-time GNCC championship-winning XR600R. The end result is visually closer to the notorious XR650R-though it could be the fork, color and seat foam that give that misleading appearance. But make no mistake about it: This bike is a racing thoroughbred that rewards the jockey who rides it hard and fast. It gets downright rude at an average trail pace. Trust me on that one: I discovered intimately how Summers' works bike can behave.It was after about the third or fourth time I stalled the bike, and I was trying my best not to block the trail as I pulled in the hot-start lever and hoisted my ever-heavier right foot up on the kickstarter to pump some life into the quiet engine, that I recalled how I ended up in this mess. I was sitting in my cozy cube editing something or other when the phone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Hi, Bryan, this is Scott Summers. I'm calling to see if you guys would be interested in trying my bike. I've got it pretty dialed in now." He proceeded to inform me that after a year of trials and tribulations, he had his CRF just about where he wanted it, and it was quite different from the unit we sampled previously.Honestly, I still get a kick out of the fact that the Scott Summers knows my phone number, even after four years at Dirt Rider. My first job for the magazine was to test Summers' 2000 XR650R. It was only my second time on a bike after six months spent recovering from a broken foot. To say it was a bit intimidating to ride a hero's bike would be an understatement. This was the guy I saw win the '92 Blackwater 100. Summers won in spite of breaking his wrist halfway through the 100-mile torture session! He told me he continued on because if he could win the Blackwater, he would have the title sewn up and could afford to miss a round and recover. Yeah, that's hero stuff to me.Sooner rather than later, it was time to meet Summers at the final GNCC in Indiana. Of course, Mother Nature ensured I would have plenty of mud to play in as it rained hard prior to the race. I was still excited and even considered doing the entire two hours, but test consultant and eight-time enduro champion Dick Burleson suggested it would be good to split the race with Senior Editor Karel Kramer, so he could form an opinion about the bike, too. Hmm, I thought, DB's hinting at something here; he knows my skill level, or lack thereof, so I take his advice very seriously. Sure enough, after not having raced a GNCC in almost two years, I quickly discovered I couldn't hammer through the mud, ruts, roots and whoops and over angled logs at anywhere near the pace at which Summers does. But that realization didn't hit until I got the big girl lit on the starting line. Yeah, that was my plan: Let the crowd bolt off spewing mud and sliding around, then slowly ease off the line and catch the pack in the firmer mud in the woods. Well, at least I had clean goggles when I caught the group-which was cool. I was amped! The bike definitely has get-up-and-go. In fact, I went from almost dead last to passing the rear element before we reached the tight woods!But it took less than a mile for my dream ride to come to a sputtering halt. I was in a corner when I slowed, pulled in the clutch and suddenly heard an unnerving silence. I could not let this become the norm; DB's words echoed in my helmet: "You'll have to really use the clutch, because if you stall and have to kick it a lot, your fun meter's going to be pegged on zero." Meanwhile, all the guys I had just passed returned the favor. My morning went downhill from there. Even though I was making good time-riding as smoothly as I could and even picking good lines-all it took was a bobble or, once, just pulling over for a faster rider to pass, and the bike would issue forth a cough to signal it was time to start practicing the hot-start technique, again.This time spent kicking alongside the trail allowed me a chance to see a few things quite clearly. First, despite all the time, energy and money Summers has poured into the CRF450R, it is still no docile trailbike. Because of its tall first gear, you need to ride this bike like a bat out of hell. Second, Summers is fast. Riding a hero's bike really highlights where you fall on the speed scale. Despite the lofty first gear and my low-speed struggles, I did have some serious fun on this bike. There's nothing like cruising up, down or across hills that have guys splattered all over in various positions of discomfort to park a grin on your face. Dispensing the proper amount of ponies was painless with a 17-ounce flywheel and the 2 pounds added to the crankshaft, smoothing out the motocross-bred hit. And I'm still shocked I was able to stall the bike with such deftness. All the spinning mass should have kept the mill chugging until it ran out of gas, if not also pulling out tree stumps as a side job during the week. The weight did make for a silky delivery, and I never got stuck anywhere-and believe me, there was some nasty stuff in those Indiana woods.Speaking of trail nasties, Summers has the suspension dialed. It soaked up everything I managed to run over-logs, bumps, ruts, small furry animals and possibly even a few slow-moving spectators-without spitting me off in the process. Kramer praised the suspension's suppleness and the mill's tractability, and although he had fewer problems dealing with the tall first gear, it still was bothersome. Summers claimed he was shy of top speed as is, but Kramer and I never touched fifth, so we would have benefited from lower gearing. I had one hillclimb adventure in which the clutch was fading on me and I couldn't get the bike to slow down, so I just banzai'ed up and over two big logs that threw me in the air. Here the bike worked; when straight-line slamming into obstacles, the machine is magic.When navigating the endless maze of ruts, getting the revving girl to calm down and turn proved tougher than expected. I was unable to overcome that top-heavy feel all morning. At warp speed (my warp speed), the bike didn't make me toil to keep it from flopping over, but once I slowed down, it was work to keep the grips clean. Nimbleness isn't the first trait listed in the description of a 450cc thumper anyway, but this one seemed to have an aversion to the entire concept. It felt worse than other CRF450Rs I've ridden off-road. After the race, Kramer and I found the reason for this was the high center of gravity. Summers likes to have his bikes tall in order to keep the footpegs and frame rails out of ruts. To gain the softer and more-progressive rear-wheel behavior he desires, he fabricates a linkage (the little delta-shaped piece, to be exact) built by a local machine shop that yields a flatter, XR600/650R-like ratio to replace the rapidly stiffening motocross ratio of the stock CRF linkage. This transformation, however, requires a 5mm-shorter shock. Unfortunately, the unit for our bike didn't arrive in time, so we kept the stock Showa, since Summers wasn't giving up his favorite hlins, which was mounted on his bike. That 5mm difference drastically raised the rear of the bike. Summers' mechanic Corey Parlin reduced the shock preload and raised the fork tubes in the clamps (the XR conventionals are shorter than the stock CRF units) for me to sit on the bike flat-footed-I knew I'd be doing some paddling and had to be able to reach the ground.The swap to a conventional fork is Summers' route to entice some suppleness into the stiff aluminum frame. Although the fork flex is noticeable in the deepest of ruts, it appeared not to be bothersome. Kramer informed me afterward that some of my handling issues were fork flex along with the too-tall rear end raising the cg. Summers said he forgot to include the 650R fork brace, as he too belatedly discovered the flex in the front in the mud; it was the first time he had ridden with this front-end configuration in such muck. The condition was worsened by the shims fitting the smaller-diameter 650R fork into the CRF triple clamps; they expanded the fork spacing, allowing the front axle to twist even further.But in Summers' defense, I must admit the CRF450R was simply too much bike for me in those conditions. I could see how at his speed, and with the correct shock, the mods made perfect sense. The big kicker is, instead of trying to make a big, heavy trailbike lighter and faster, he's now making a rocket motocrosser heavier and slower. It is truly a works bike that would make a moto guy green with envy. Some of Summers' mods are logical only if you are racing an event such as a GNCC. Take the XR650R fork, for example (if you could get your hands on a set). For those looking for a midsized Honda trailbike, I'd recommend waiting a bit longer for the CRF450X-Summers' is 100 percent race pony and rewards only aggressive riders. Plus, the 450X will have electric starting, something even Summers is looking forward to using!Opinion
Years ago, I race tested one of Scott Summers' XR600Rs at Loretta Lynn's GNCC. The most-surprising feature of that bike was how soft the suspension setting was, especially the front. Summers outweighs me by at least 50 pounds, yet I had to stiffen up the fork to feel comfortable enough to race. Riding his new 450 was dj vu all over again. The suspension is soft and plush, and even his tall seat feels like a couch. One subject no one can argue about is Summers knows what he likes, and he can go fast with his setup. This new bike wasn't too soft but actually felt plush and controlled. He has obviously done a lot of work to tune down the motor, as the power is much smoother and mellower than a stock bike. There was no big hit of power, just a much more-friendly surge, reminiscent of the old XR. While the bike still should have enough power to be competitive, the transmission ratios were a little problematic. First gear is tall and requires a lot of clutch use in the tight stuff, and this, combined with a kickstart-only starting system, became tedious. Overall, Summers has tried to make the character of the new bike similar to that of his old championship mounts. The chassis was soft and still controlled, and the power was friendly and adequate; but without an electric start, the gear ratios forced me to pay very close attention to the clutch.Dick Burleson/5'7"/150 lb/Enduro legend