VOLUME 57 ISSUE 19 MAY 12, 2020 P49
cylinder motor is one thing, but it's only
really useful once you've got the space to
use it, and on a rally stage, that's only a
small percentage of time.
For a bike so big, so damn macho,
the Rottweiler racer handled everything I
could throw at it with one arm tied behind
its back. You need someone the skill of
Wes Vannieuwenhuise to take this bull
by the horns and run with it to be able to
really exploit the outer reaches of its per-
formance. But you could easily take this
racer down to Baja with your buddies, as
the extra travel from the brilliant Konflict-
fetted WP Pro Components suspension,
and the extra ground clearance it offers,
takes away much of the advantage of a
regular 450 for big-mile days.
I'm left with sheer admiration of Mr.
Vannieuwenhuise, because an hour on
his bike beat the crap out of me. I can't
imagine doing it for the best part of a
week straight. I tip my cap to not just
Wes but also Chris Parker for taking
an already beefy bike and creating the
modern-day equivalent of the burly Dakar
racers of the 1980's and 90's. CN
You wouldn't want to catch any
rocky roost from this thing!
