Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128104
~~WBikes 2002 Honda CR M otocrossers You 'll be able to buy the new Honda CRF450 R four-stroke by the end of th e year. It'll cost $6299. By CHRIS JONNUM h e re a s Ya maha's fo ur-s t ro ke MX project caught many by surpri s e with its introduct ion, people ha ve been discussing Honda's factory four -stroke motocro s s er for quite some time now, starting from the goss ip a bout the project' s e xiste nce, and continu ing through to Ryan Hughes ' U.S . debut on the bike la st month at t h e White Brothe rs Four -Stroke Na t io n a l Champ ionsh ips. Which Team Honda rider w o u ld race the ma c h in e ? Would it a lso be cam - . pa ig ned in the overseas MX GPs? Will it be able to hang with T im Ferry 's fa c tory Yamaha YZ426F race bike? These questions and others have been fo remost in the minds of motocross fa ns over the past year or so. Rel at ive ly overlooked in all the hubbu b w as a topic that p e r h a p s more d ir e ct ly a ffe c t s m ost of the speculators in question: Whe n would the Red Riders ' MX thumper be h itting showroom floors? After all, it's all well and good to watch Ryno's heroics on a super-trick motorcycle , but it's only a matter of time before you w a nt one for you rsel f. Well , the answe r is October of th is year and W 8 M AV 16 . 2 0 0 1· cue I EI Honda 's Paul Sla vik, Er ic Cr ip pa a nd Drey Dirks rec entl y s topp ed b y th e Cycl e News office t o fill u s in on exactly what it is that will be ava ilable to you at that time . Also fly ing below the radar were the two-stroke CR125R and CR250R b ikes tha t have lo ng been the back bone of Honda ' s mot o cro ss lineup, but have be e n somewha t for gotten in a ll t he h o op la s ur rou nd ing t h e CRF450R. As it tums o ut, Ho nda has managed to foc us considerable attentio n on those bikes - so much that the 250 is comple te ly overhauled, and the 125 nearly s o. This is pretty im pres sive . considering the intro d uc tion of the all-new 4 50, as well as th e fact that th e tw o -strokes were re va m ped so s ignifi cantly j us t two model yea rs ago . Honda 's re pres e nta tive s , who did an admirabl e jo b of h iding the haggardness they must feel follow ing their d aunti ng deve lopment cha llenge , s ay th a t the c ompa ny plans to continu e bu ilding CRs for as lo n g as th e market supports the bikes, a nd ins ist that the no -Honda -two -strokes -by 2005 rum o r that has been making the circu its refers mainly to th ings like la wn mowe rs and such , and not to racing motorcycles. CN n eVIl's Honda claims that its first MX thump er weighs just 225 pounds , puts out a peak 55 hp (at 9000 rpm) and a peak 36 Ib./ft. torque. If that' s true, its got a power-to-weight ratio that's more impressive than that of the Yamah a YZ426F. especially since the red bike is supposed have a nice, easy-to-ride power spread. Honda also claims that the bike has minimum engine-braking. Of cours e, all of this remain s to be verified via riding the bike. but it certainly makes us more ea ger to do just that. The all-new unicam engine borrows Formula One tech nology, utilizing a single, ca rburized overhead ca mshaft that's directly over the titanium intake valves. A forked rollerrocker arm reaches around the centralized spark-plug hole to actuate the steel exhaus t valves (Honda says tita nium holds heat too much to be used on the exhaust side. Yama ha-style). The mini-skirt piston is so short that it's really little more than a ring-holder. Engine and transmission oils are kept separate to avoid contamination and high tempera tures . and the crankshaft is slightly offset. By using just one ca m. and by using near -vertica l valve angles. Honda says it was able to insure a compact engine design that saves 13.3 ounces over a ' compa ra ble DOHCsystem" (read: YZF). Also standard on the new thumpe r are a titanium exhaust header and an aluminum muffler with a stainles s-stee l pipe (it's long, which ma kes us hope it's quieter than the Yamie). The clutch co ver is magnesium . and while there's no electric starte r, there is an a utomatic dec ornpression system. said to be so functional that no manua l system is provided. The carburetor s ho t -s tar t featur e is ac tuated via a leve r that's incorporated into the clu tch-leve r perch, Of course the CRF gets all of the tech nology enjoyed by its two -stroke s ibli ng s (but made specifically fo r the fo urstroke) , including the perimeter aluminum frame , reworked sus· pen ' 0 .0 and Iig