SHOOTOUT I 2023 450cc MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
P94
standing and moving around on
the bike is easy. This generation
Honda sports a rounded seat
and sharp styling, which is very
Euro-esque if you ask us.
Unfortunately, its comfort
can't override its overly stiff or
rigid chassis. Faster riders might
not care as much, but once
you back off the pro pace and
enter the zone where most of us
mortal humans reside, the bike
gets harder to ride. The frame,
suspension, clutch pull and even
the grips are too harsh for us to
enjoy for more than a few laps.
The deep, sandy conditions at
Glen Helen masked this rigidity
a bit, but the hard-packed dirt at
Cahuilla showed the bike's true
nature as it bounced over the
chattery bumps. Almost all our
riders worked on this by soften
-
ing both the fork and shock,
which did help a bit
but not
enough.
The rigid character makes the
bike feel heavy and less "flick-
able" when compared back-
to-back
with the others. This
"heaviness" equates to the rear
of the bike feeling planted and
stable at speed, but then you're
fighting the lightweight and, at
times twitchy, nature of the front
end. It's a battle we had a hard
time fighting.
This result comes as a sur
-
prise to all of us as we loved this
bike during
our long-term test
earlier in the year. The Honda's
power is smooth and predictable,
and it rides with some of the best
ergos in the game. Unfortunately,
the overly stiff nature of the CRF
drops it to sixth in our ranks.
