RIDE REVIEW I 2021 HONDA CRF450R
P96
What did we add? Well, after
riding the CRF450RWE, we
wanted some extra grunt to ac-
company the newly flashed ECU.
At this point, the standard exhaust
system had become loud and
blown out, so we figured we'd
kill two birds with one stone. The
crew at Yoshimura offered us its
RS-12 Full Exhaust System, and
we quickly mounted it up. This
reminded us how much we love
the simplicity of a single-sided
exhaust system which Honda
went back to this year. The Yosh
dropped 1.3 pounds on the
scales and added a much crisper
response in all areas of the rpm's.
So much so that it even coaxed
us into switching over from map
two to the more potent map one.
The exhaust smoothed out the
power curve and made the bike
even more fun to ride. In addition,
it made us realize how loud the
stock unit had become! The Yo-
shimura system is much quieter,
especially from the saddle. Plus,
it's hard to not love the look of that
factory titanium carbon combo.
The rider cockpit also got
switched up, not out of neces-
sity, but in the name of person-
alization. Bars, grips and levers
were all exchanged for aftermar-
ket components. Mika Metals
handled the bars and grips, opt-
ing for their oversized Raw Series
Bars in the STV bend. The stock
grips are brutally tough, so we
swapped those out for a softer
set of 50/50 waffle grips. ASV
also contributed a pair of their
adjustable F4 Levers to eliminate
the chance of a busted lever.
We've also tallied up some
wearable parts during our stay with
the CRF. A set of tires, an air filter,
brake pads, sprockets, a chain
and countless oil filters completed
our list of necessities. The folks at
Sunstar helped, too, by getting us
geared up with new hardware for
the drivetrain department.
To makeliving with the new
CRF450R easier, Honda switched
over all the plastics bolts to 8mm
The Honda already
feels light and agile
out of the crate.
