Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Hond.'s CR480R is. racer through .nd through, despite. couple fl.ws. Its ....ts include horsepower .nd more horsepower. Impression: 19B2 Honda CH4BOH r1 HODdap l a y 8 ~follo w the half-liter' By Terry Whyte I Honda has boosted the displacement of the 1982 CR48R to nearly a half-liter and with the corresponding jump in horsepower has come an equally impressive leap in Open class popularity. Surprisingly the 480 motor is quite different from most big-bore motocrossers. Power 16 bursts from the four-transfer port engine with a suddenness that will either carry the machine past its competitors or encourage the rider to get religion. Although healthy is a pale word for the Honda's motor, it is wellmannered in its way. A rider of lesser experience can bog the motor some and reveal a strong mid-range thanks in part to extremely clean jetting - that makes the Honda less of a handful. Several Novice riders raced the CR and found its motor agreeable. Novice riders will have trouble gelling the Honda to hook up as well as some other Open bikes when exiting turns, get lazy and decide not to shift up. Then scenery starts fading like you switched to light speed. Most riders complained that last year's Honda 450 had too snappy of a powerband and too little flywheel weight. Honda engineers apparently disagreed and removed an additional 1.9 pounds from the crankshaft, giving the 480R even quicker throttle response. As Product Research staffer Dirk Vandenburg explains, " We are only interested in building the best motocross bike in the world, the Casest and the winningest. Compromising the power to make the bike easier to trail ride just isn't in our plans." Our test riders agreed wi th Honda. The blazing speed and instant throttle response were rated as the bike's number one plus. Two of the riders got holeshots the first time they raced the '82 Honda and one of the riders completely overshot the first turn. "I never went that fast on the start before ," he noted later. The reed valved motor is oversquare in design with the bore measuring 89mm against the stroke's 76mm. The increase in displacement came from enlarging the bore from 1981's 85mm to the present 89mm. Heat dissipation was aided by increasing the finned area of the head, while the clutch springs were boosted from 107 kilos of pressure to 130in response to the added horsepower. A 38mm Keihin carburetor feeds the massive engine. Straight-cut primary gears transfer the power to the four speed gearbox. First and second gear were less than posi tive on the 450, so Honda redesigned them with a reverse taper engagement used on third and fourth gear and the problem was cured. Not all the riders Celt the four speed gearbox was ideal. With stock gearing first gear is too high for some tight corners and the clutch must be disengaged to keep the motor from stalling. The gear ratios were well spaced, however, and on most tracks the rider will stay in second or third most of the time. Clutch failures werealmost a chronic problem in '81 but the 480's clutch will take much more abuse without suffering permanent damage. Frequent clutch fanning, which the 480's power characteristics encourage even for some Novices, will make the clutch feel mushy and it disappeared completely in one muddy test session, but returned to Cull usefulness in a mailer of minutes. While on the subject of the clutch's usefulness. it is a delight to use and one or two finger operation is the norm. One quick flick of the lever and all the horsepower you ever wanted is there. The riders were split in their assessment of Honda's left side kick start lever. Those riders who sat on the bike and used the left leg to bring the engine to life felt the location was awkward. Two riders. accustomed to Maicos, stood on the side of the bike and Celt it was an advantage on a bigbore machine to kick start from the side. Until a rider learns the drill. the Honda is a genuine beast to start. Our bike insisted that the rider pull the choke (when cold) and give the bike a healthy kick. no easy chore for the short or timid. and no throttle whatsoever. If that drill was followed. we were rewarded with an engine OIh HI. il rll

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