VOL. 56 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 15, 2019 P67
And, of course, the most obvious dif-
ference between the standard and the
Works Edition is the WE's factory race
team-inspired Throttle Jockey graphics—
which pays homage to Honda HRC's Ken
Roczen—and gripper seat cover.
At $11,499, the WE sells for $2200 more
than the CRF450R and is one of the most
expensive motocrossers you can buy right
now. Only 500 units will be available.
Throwing a leg over the WE for the first
time, the difference in power is noticeable
right off the bat between the CRF450R
and WE—both in the power and suspen-
sion departments. Our primary tester, a
pro privateer racer who qualified for all
three outdoor nationals that he signed
up for last year, felt a noticeable gain in
power with the WE, and was just plain
impressed with the WE's power output in
general. He felt the WE hit hard—yet con-
trollably—off the bottom, while maintaining
a steady surge of power right through the
middle and into the upper rev range. He
rode the bike on a variety of tracks and
felt that the Honda's engine suited them
all very well while favoring the aggressive
mapping setting most of the time, opting
Honda gave the WE "special" mapping.
The WE also gets a higher-quality
RK drive chain that is gold-colored, no
doubt to handle the extra power and the
higher demands of the pro racer. Rims
are higher grade, as well. The LT-X D.I.D
Dirt Stars rims on the WE are beefier
than those fitted to the R model.
Suspension gets it own treatment,
as well. The fork has been treated with
Kashima hard-anodized coating inter-
nally and titanium nitride on the tubes
to squelch stiction and smooth out fork
action, and the shock's shaft also gets
a coating of titanium nitride for similar
reasons.
