2019 450 MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
P94
SHOOTOUT
the CRF. Big red lacks straight-line
stability at high speed, sometimes
causing headshake and shying tes-
ters away from wide-open throttle
on fast, rough straightaways. That's
a sacrifice made in making the
Honda more nimble in tight sections
of racetrack. Despite being one of
the heaviest in class at 250 pounds
topped with fuel, the CRF450R car-
ries its weight well, making it eager
to attack sharp turns and carve
corners as well as any. Weight only
becomes a problem for the Honda
in hard braking zones, where tes-
ters agreed getting the CRF slowed
and settled for the corner takes
more effort than most.
The Honda's extremely potent
engine package has something
to do with this. Horsepower on
the CRF is readily available at the
initial throttle turn, building strong
power from low rpm and continu-
ing through the midrange. Throttle
response has been smoothened
out since last year, which was
known for being overly abrupt and
an annoyance. That's not to say it's
com pletely disappeared though,
some testers were adamant in
pointing out the 2019 CRF's initial
power delivery can be hard-hitting
at low rpm. Even with some griping,
the Honda is still known for having
one of the strongest pulling and
best all-around engines in class.
Small details of the big-bore
Honda became annoyances and
concerns among testers too, which
ultimately held it back from a higher
position. Most notably was the com-
plicated flashing system used for
the CRF's selectable engine map-
pings, making testers wish it would
come equipped with an on-the-fly
and easily-identifiable system like
that of Austrian duo. And even with
giving the Honda a mean look, the
dual-muffler exhaust system was
unfavored for what it means to the
price tag of a replacement or after-
market setup.
Faults or not, it comes as a
surprise to rank the 2019 CRF450R
fourth place in this year's big-bore
motorcrosser shootout. The all-
around performance that led the
Honda to victory a year ago seems
to be missing in the final package,
with Big Red now riding tense and
less balanced. It's by no means a
lack of effort from Honda, but pos-
sibly a step too far in one direction.
Should Honda smooth out the
edges by next year, it could mean
a return to the top step for the
CRF450R.
4
th
Place
GEAR ID'd
GEARSET: SHOT RACE GEAR – AEROLITE DELTA
HELMET: BELL – MOTO 9
GOGGLES: FLOWVISION – RYTHEM
BOOTS: ALPINESTARS – TECH 10
