05 CRF450X		05 CRF450X
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2005 Honda CRF450X
- Full Test Report -

Video Here!
1. Intro video 2.2meg .wmv | 2. Trail Video (1.9meg .wmv)
3a. 2005 CRF450X - the video! New video (2-8-05, 13meg, mpeg) 3b. (low band 1.5meg wmv)

Riding apparel is Moose XCR gear, even the helmet.
Boots are the "Set Up" brand by the same people who bring you Sidi - The model is "Akira" $209.99

You've probably started to read about how wonderful the new CRF450X is in some of your favorite print magazines. Our initial testing, however, has provided us with less than stellar results with this highly anticipated bike. The difference may be that we rode the bike sooner and in more diverse conditions than others. In short, we were highly focused on testing this bike. We didn't find the new model bad, but we did get less than cutting edge performance as delivered. We've worked extremely hard to find answers and we'll share some great setup solutions with you. After a lot of thought we've determined the best way to tell you about the new 450X is to take you through our journey with the bike. In order to get the complete picture you'll need to read everything here. A quick read of this story may leave you with the wrong impression.

First Ride

We first rode the CRF450X at Honda's national press introduction in Southern California. Conditions were tight and  there was nowhere to let the Honda stretch its legs. The 450X proved to have precise and confidence inspiring steering at slow trail speeds, as it would go precisely where you pointed it. The suspension, in these slow conditions, felt good and well balanced.  We did have problems with the bike stalling in slow tight conditions (on and off throttle), and it wasn't just one rider or one bike experiencing this. We left the press introduction without the complete picture on the X, but we did go away with very positive feelings.

Our Testing Begins

Thanks to Honda we received our test bike shortly after the press introduction, and boy were we anxious to hit some of our normal riding areas. First stop, the California desert. This isn't any desert, as just about every riding condition possible can be found here. Open terrain, deep desert whoops, a dry lake for play, single-track trails and lots of rocks. In fact, if you like rocks this is the place to be. This test session would finally allow us to let the 450X stretch its legs - and boy did we learn this bike likes to run. We found it to be even faster than we had first thought.

Once the fast reving engine hits the mid-range the front wheel leaps to the sky and the bike accelerates quickly, very quickly. The engine continues to pull nicely into a strong top-end as well. Off-road racers will love the 450X for powering out of corners against the competition. This off-road legal bike (there is a green sticker version with only an added air pump for California) doesn't run as strong as the closed-course CRF450R, but it does begin to feel a bit like the R in open terrain. We ran the 5-speed CRF450X on a soft gravel road to get a real world top speed reading of 82mph. In addition to learning the top speed, we learned the X gets there awfully quick.

The strong power of the Honda enables the rider to loft the light feeling front wheel just about anywhere (see our video). The bike accelerates so hard in the mid-range that lesser riders or those who are getting fatigued, could find themselves in trouble when aggressively twisting the throttle - which is of course extremely fun. The powerband of the X, which does lug and pull strong down low in first and second gears, is well suited to competition or the aggressive play rider - more so than for the casual rider or those hitting tight technical trails.

Another trait of the 450X engine is that it simply stalls too easily. It feels as if there isn't enough flywheel weight for an off-road mount. It's not that the Honda stalls all of the time - it doesn't. It does however, stall at times in slow technical situations - when you need roll-on power badly. After you've stalled the bike a few times the thought of this stays in the back of your mind leaving a question mark the next time you tackle a slow technical section.

Shifting of the 5-speed transmission is as close to perfect as you'll find; clutch action is light and smooth. Starting the X is reasonably simple since it has electric starting, and there's no ignition switch to leave on. When you envision electric starting you picture immediate firing - but this isn't the case with the 450X. The starter motor needs to run a bit before the bike initially fires. When the bike is warm, starting even takes longer - sometimes you have to let off the starter and hit the button again. The hot start system helped part of the time. On the trail this means if you stall the bike coming down a knarly hill, you can't easily grab the clutch, hit the go button and continue on your way without missing a beat because the starter needs time to spin the engine. The Honda has a kick start backup which requires a fairly healthy kick. The bike always fired quickly when we resorted to using the kickstarter.

The suspension on the 450X proved good over deep whoops. The bike rides balanced as it skims over the tops of the deep bumps. Everywhere else in the desert the suspension and steering of the X was a mixed bag. Things felt good, but not great. Over rocky trails the X felt ok, but some deflecting off rocks and such was present up front - not allowing us to ride as aggressively as we'd like. On fast trails or roads the X rides harsh whenever there are stutter bumps, rocks or anything to work the suspension at speed. Unlike the 250X, the 450 feels much stiffer and rides higher in it's suspension stroke. It doesn't have the extremely plush ride of the 250X, nor is it exactly harsh. Honda carefully selected spring and damping rates for off-road riding, but we weren't experiencing what we expected from the new Honda. Racers may find this stiff feeling suspension attractive, casual trail riders won't be quite as enthused.

Another oddity we found with the new CRF450X is the front end, which feels raked out. At speed the stock 450X simply doesn't turn as you would expect from this bike, or any Honda. (note: slow speed trail steering is very precise and confidence inspiring). The 450X simply isn't a berm buster, as the front wheel doesn't turn or track exceptionally well at higher speeds. When stuffing the Honda into berms, the front end sometimes pushes or displays a mind of its own. Sometimes the front end doesn't go exactly where you instruct it to either, making things a little disconcerting. On some fast trails we found ourselves cross-rutted after the front end chose a line of it's own. This is the last thing we would have expected from the new 450X, as the 250X (with far less power on tap) steers incredibly well.

One thing we encountered when tossing the bike into berms was a flat spot in the carburetion, just at the point you roll the throttle back on to explode out of the corner. This is no doubt the same flat spot where the X sometimes stalls at slow speeds as you screw the throttle off and back on.

The X takes to the air just fine; it feels neutral and predictable. Only the strong punch of the engine can offset things by launching the front end to the moon.

The X isn't nearly as tall feeling as its motocross brother, but it's borderline of what we would consider tall. It isn't particularly light, weighing in at a claimed 250 pounds dry - but it never felt heavy during testing. By the same token, it never felt particularly light either.

Controls and ergonomics are typical Honda - excellent. The controls and layout are more like the 450R than say an XR - the bike is simply more suited to the more aggressive rider. The 450X seat has a slightly altered shape to that of the excellent seat found on the 250X. Our first impression is that we like the softer feeling 250X seat a little better, though during our ride at the Soboba trail ride, at near race speeds, the seat felt perfect.  Part of the stiffer feeling could relate to the much softer suspension found on the 250X. With the same claimed seat height of 37.9 inches, the 450X feels taller than the 250X. The chain on the quiet 450X, like the 250X, makes a huge racket as you ride (you can hear it in our video). We've found it best just to ignore the chain noise and ride.

Honda Looks At Our Bike

After our first ride report Honda said they weren't hearing the same results from other publications. They graciously asked to take a look at our bike - we eagerly agreed. Our bike was exactly as it had been delivered to us; together with the great Honda crew we checked the bike over and found a few questionable setup issues with our bike. Our front axle was installed too far into the fork which can bind the front forks and wear the fork bushings, this was corrected. The suspension settings (not sag) were set different than stock which was also corrected. The last thing we found with our bike was a questionably serviced air filter - a new filter was installed.

In Search Of Improvements

Our bike receives a new needle and 1/8 richer turn of the fuel screw.
Hints: The fuel screw should be at about 1 7/8 turns out, some stock bikes have been at one turn out. A 1/8 turn is a really big adjustment. The needle you want is part number 16233-MEN671.
(Sorry, sorry sorry! The needle clip goes in the second position down - just like stock. We forgot this little thing of great importance.)

Back To Testing

After the review of our bike setup, and a new carburetor needle, it was quickly back to testing. Next on the schedule was the annual Soboba trail ride. Though this is a trail ride, it feels like a race. With nearly 600 riders behind us the pressure was on to keep it pinned. With perfect wet conditions, Soboba is an incredibly fun and challenging trail ride. It started with a ride up a local stream, covered some deep whoops and then headed into incredibly tight canyons and sand washes. If you consider making a turn every few feet through bushes you can't see through, riding in canyons with single-line ruts so deep you're paddling with your feet, riding narrow wet sand washes with four foot tall walls that scrape your bars, or powering up steep narrow ridges fun - this is the ride for you.

Soboba Trail Ride 2005
Our mounts for Soboba. 2005 CRF450X and KTM 525EXC dual-sport.	Lots of bikes.	Lots of riders, about 600 this year.	The only modification we made for Soboba was adding IMS PowerMadd hand guards.

Riding this event made it clear the X has the power to get up on top of sand quickly and that the bike is really fast out of corners when the trail opens up. The suspension was OK, but it didn't allow us to ride at top speed with full confidence. The one million or so turns had our bike still feeling long in the front and not cutting a tight corner without pushing. The comfort, leg room and ripping stock power output was the standout with the 450X. Our new carburetor setting proved excellent, as the X accelerated even stronger and didn't stall unless it was induced by rider error or fatigue. The convenient electric starting continued to work in an inconsistent manner but was far better than having to kick start the bike.

Suspension Setup

Our next test session ended up being nothing more than an entire day of suspension setup. Honda's off-road guru Eric Crippa was kind enough to come out to our test session. When you have an expert of this level with a factory truck full of parts and tools, you'd be an idiot not to take full advantage of the situation. Together we tried nearly every conceivable suspension setup. In the end we found settings that completely transformed our bike into what we would have expected the stock bike to be. (we are still testing with these new settings)

What our new setup did for the 450X is quite remarkable. By stiffening the suspension, altering the ride height, and choosing the correct settings to match, we actually got the X suspension feeling softer, more compliant, and providing better feedback to the rider. The rear end is no longer harsh over small high speed bumps, the front end steers far better and no longer deflects off obstacles as it did in stock trim. In fact, the front end is now so good on the trail you can power up hills lofting and transitioning the front end from side to side with complete confidence. The overall result is a bike that inspires far more confidence and can be ridden down the trail at much faster speeds. To confirm just how good our new setup was, we pulled a brand new stock bike out of the truck and rode each bike back-to-back. Our new setup proved unquestionably superior to the stock bike.

More Testing

Our final testing will be a visit back to the same desert location where we have done the bulk of our 450X riding. We will ride the same areas as before to confirm, for sure, just how good our new setting are. We'll post the new jetting specs, how to change the needle, how to adjust the fuel screw and our new suspension setting soon. The good news for owners who are now getting their bikes is that all they need to purchase to match our settings is a new needle and a little fork oil.

We'd like to thank all of our dedicated readers who have followed us with the 450X and who have emailed their many questions. For those of you who have just picked up your new bike, go ahead and ride it. This way you'll appreciate the setup tips we'll provide even more. We'll post all the changes for the 450X very soon.

Bill Wolf
MN

2005 Model Specifications
Model	2005 Honda CRF450X	2005 Honda CRF450R	05 Honda CRF250X	05 KTM 450 EXC	05 Yamaha WR450
Engine Type:	449cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder 4-stroke	449cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder 4-stroke	249cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder 4-stroke	447.92cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder 4-stroke	449cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder 4-stroke
Bore and Stroke:	96mm x 62mm	96mm x 62.1mm	78mm x 52.2mm	89mm x 72mm	95mm x 63.4mm
Compression Ratio:	12.0:1	12.0:1	12.5:1	11:1	12.3:1
Valve Train:	Unicam; four-valve	Unicam; four-valve	Unicam; four-valve	4-valve, OHC	5-valve, DOHC
Carburetion:	Keihin 40mm FCR flat-slide with throttle position sensor (TPS)	Keihin 40mm FCR flat-slide with throttle position sensor (TPS)	Keihin 37mm flat-slide (FCR) with throttle position sensor (TPS)	Keihin MX FCR 39mm	Keihin FCR 39mm flat-slide with throttle position sensor
Ignition:	CD with electronic advance and lighting coil	CD with electronic advance	Solid-state CD with electronic advance and lighting coil	Digital	Digital
Starting:	Electric & kick	Kick	Electric & kick	Electric & kick	Electric & kick
Transmission:	Wide-ratio 5-speed	Close-ratio 5-speed	Wide-ratio 5-speed	Wide-ratio 6-speed	Wide-ratio 5-speed
Final Drive:	#520 T-ring-sealed chain; 13T/51T	#520 chain; 13T/48T	#520 T-ring-sealed chain; 13T/49T	N/A	#520 chain
Suspension:	Front: 47mm inverted Showa cartridge fork with 16-position rebound and 16-position compression damping adjustability; 12.4 inches travel Rear: Pro-Link Showa single shock with adjustable spring preload, 17-position rebound damping adjustability, and compression damping adjustment separated into low-speed (13 positions) and high-speed (3.5 turns); 12.4 inches travel	Front: 47mm inverted Showa cartridge fork with 16-position rebound and 16-position compression damping adjustability; 12.4 inches travel Rear: Pro-Link Showa single shock with adjustable spring preload, 17-position rebound damping adjustability, and compression damping adjustment separated into low-speed (13 positions) and high-speed (3.5 turns); 12.4 inches travel	Front: 47mm inverted Showa cartridge fork with 16-position rebound and 16-position compression damping adjustability; 12.4 inches travel Rear: Pro-Link Showa single shock with spring preload, 17-position rebound damping adjustability, and compression damping adjustment separated into low-speed (13 positions) and high-speed (3.5 turns); 12.4 inches travel (less progressive linkage, diff. settings and springs)	Front: WP-USD 48mm, 11.81 inches of travel (completely adjustable) Rear: WP-PSD shock, 13.19 inches of travel (completely adjustable except for high speed compression)	Front: 48mm Kayaba inverted telescopic fork w/adjustable compression and rebound damping; 11.8" travel Rear: Kayaba single shock w/adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping & separate hi/lo-speed compression adjuster; 12.0" travel
Model	2005 Honda CRF450X	2005 Honda CRF450R	05 Honda CRF250X	05 KTM 450 EXC	05 Yamaha WR450
Brakes:	Front: Single 240mm disc with twin-piston caliper Rear: Single 240mm disc	Front: Single 240mm disc with twin-piston caliper Rear: Single 240mm disc	Front: Single 240mm disc with twin-piston caliper Rear: Single 240mm disc	Front: Single 260mm disc Rear: Single 220mm disc	Front: Single 250mm disc Rear: Single 245mm disc
Tires:	Front: 80/100-21 Rear: 110/100-18	Front: 80/100-21 Rear: 110/90-19	Front: 80/100-21 Rear: 110/100-18	Front: 90/90-21 Rear: 140/80-18	Front: 80/100-21 Rear: 110/100-18
Wheelbase:	58.2 inches	58.7 inches	58.6 inches	58.31 inches	58.46 inches
Rake (Caster Angle):	27.28ç	26.79ç	27.48°	N/A	N/A
Trail:	112.8mm (4.4 inches)	109.4mm (4.3 inches)	120.3 mm (4.7 inches)	112mm (4.41 inches)	N/A
Seat Height:	37.9 inches	37.6 inches	37.9 inches	36.42 inches	38.0 inches
Ground Clearance:	13.7 inches	13.4 inches	14.2 inches	14.96 inches	14.57 inches
Claimed Dry Weight:	250 pounds, CA about 1 pound more	218.5 pounds	228.0 pounds, CA about 1 pound more	250.3 pounds (wet with no gas)	244 pounds
Fuel Capacity:	2.27 gallons (good for a claimed 50+ miles at race speeds)	1.9 gallons	2.2 gallons	2.11 gallons	2.1 gallons
Color:	Red	Red	Red	Orange	Blue
MSRP (USA)	$6,999 The price has been raised to $7,199. (don't ask us!)	$6,899	$6,199 The price has been raised to $6,399. (don't ask us!)	$7,299	$6,599

 

Honda 2005 Off-Road Machine Pricing
Model Name	2005 Model	Color	Suggested Retail Price*
XR650R	XR650R	Red	$6,299 (raised $200)
CRF450X	CRF450X5	Red	$7,199 (raised $200)
CRF250X	CRF250X5	Red	$6,399 (raised $200)
CRF230F	CRF230F5	Red	$3,599 (raised $100)
CRF150F	CRF150F5	Red	$3,099 (raised $100)
CRF100F	CRF100F5	Red	$2,319 (raised $70)
CRF80F	CRF80F5	Red	$2,019 (raised $70)
CRF70F	CRF70F5	Red	$1,599 (raised $50)
CRF50F	CRF50F5	Red	$1,299 (raised $50)

CRF250X | 2005 RF450R | 2005 CRF250R

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