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/128168
£from the «Hi As you can see. Honda didn't make a ton of changes to the '03 450. but they did make a few significant ones, such as altering the stance of the big bike with the intention of making it tum better. It seems that some riders felt that the '02 450 just didn't turn as well as they would've liked - we. h.owever, weren't among them. In fact, none of our test riders - and there were plenty of them - mentioned anything about turning difficulties with the '02 Honda, though some thought that the Yamaha YZ426F did cut a quicker inside line than the CR. But any real problems? No. we didn't detect any, except for maybe a bit of headshake. These few riders complained that the CRF450R's front end didn't stick very well and had the tendency to dance and wander around in the turns, and they felt that a little more weight on the front wheel would do the CR some good. They must have been influential. as Honda. as it turned out. granted them their wishes. Honda addressed the "problem" by changing the shock linkage to raise the swingarm pivot by 7mm. positioning the handlebar 3mm forward, and re-contouring the seat. all in the effort to shift more weight to the front of the bike, and thus make it tum better. These changes had us concerned, because in our opinion. Honda was trying to fix a problem that wasn't there. and we feared that, in doing so, they might aggravate an erstwhile minor problem· headshake. We experienced some headshake with our '02 450, but mostly in high-speed conditions usually associated with GPs and/or off-road races, though the CR wasn't immune to headshake at our local MX tracks, either. Would Honda's changes make it a big problem? At the Cyrus Canyon track. we didn't notice any changes at all when it came to turning. or headshaking. for that matter. Our two test riders, myself included, felt that the '03 450 railed the turns just as well as ever, and we didn't notice any - more or less - twitching goings·on up front. though the Cyrus Canyon track isn't really the type of circuit that icits this type of handling flaw. so we're anxious to get the new CR on other tracks to really find out. As far as the '03's motor goes, we did notice an improvement. Honda says it basically took the meat of the powerband and repositioned it slightly earlier in the rev range. meaning that everything happens just a little sooner than before. As a result. we found that this makes the Honda feel stronger and more powerful. since the juicy part of the powerband is easier to access now. Technically. the 450 doesn't quite rev out as far as it used to. but you really won't notice the difference. since not too many people can ride the CRF450R completely pinned all the time. anyway. The bottom line is that Honda made the CRF4SOR's already awesome motor even better by making it more manageable and easier to use than it already was, and they did it without having to sacrifice a single horse. Good job, Honda. Honda made no significant changes to the 450's suspension. and we have no prob· lems with that. We just set the ride height. and away we went. Over the next two days. we never felt the need to make any clicker adjustments. so we didn't. But that's pretty much how it was with us and the '02 CRF. too. Recently. I got a serious dose of the '02 450 just before the '03 intro. when Cycle News put together a team for the 12 Hours of Glen Helen. We rode our '02 450 test bike and were very happy with its perfonnance. except when it periodically shook its head. sometimes violently. And. as far as reliability. our tired test bike held up extremely well. despite receiving only about 30 minutes worth of prep time. From start to finish. the bike was shut off only once during the 12-hour race; and that only happened when Jonnum inadvertently knocked the petcock lever to the "off" position with his knee (we still can't figure that one out). The 450's flawless perfonnance at the 12Hour. as well as in Glen Helen's six· hour race earlier in the year. certainly made believers out of us as to just how tough the 450 really is, and we have no reason to believe that the '03 CRF450R is any less durable. (Even the '02's chain made it through the year, but the poor thing saw its last revolution at the 12-Hour.) Overall. the new CRF450R is damned good. Period. It appears that Honda made all of the right moves with its new thumper. (even if. in our opinion. some of those moves weren't warranted). It's going to be an interesting match-up when Yamaha soon releases its all-new YZ450F. which. as "only" a 426. wasn't all that far off the Honda's mark last year. ~~5@[JDff3g ~@@@ {):O@{jfJ@)&J @[X][?B)@@[X] ENGINE Four-stroke. liquid-cooled. single-cylinder DISPLACEMENT .499cc BORE x STROKE 96mm x 62.1 mm COMPRESSION RA110 11.5:1 VALVE TRAIN SOHC, four-valve CARBURE1l0N Keihin 40mm flat-slide IGNmON SOlid-state CD w/eJectronic advance TRANSMISSION Close-ratio five-speed FINAL DRIVE : _ #520 chain; 13T/50T FRONT SUSPENSION 47mm inverted Showa cartridge fork w/16-position rebound and 16-position compression damping adjustability; 12.4 inches travel REAR SUSPENSION Pro-Unk Showa single-shock w/spring preload. 17-position rebound damping adjustability, and compression damping adjustment separated into low-speed (13 positions) and high-speed (3.5 tums); 12.4 inches travel SingJe 240mm disc w/twin·piston caliper FRONT BRAKE REAR BRAKE Single 240mm disc FRONT l1RE _ 80/1 00-21 Dunlop REAR TIRE 110/90-19 WHEELBASE 58.5 in. RAKE/TRAIL 27°/4.3 in. SEAT HEIGHT 37.5 in. GROUND CLEARANCE 13.3 in. CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 225 Ibs. FUEL CAPACITY _ _ 2 gal. MSRP $6299 cue I • n e _ S • AUGUST 21,2002 37