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/1532702
P112 RIDE REVIEW I 2025 HONDA CRF450RX to Honda, working with the updated frame rigidity, the suspension can function indepen- dently instead of reacting to the movement of the frame. This helps keep front-to-back pitching to a minimum and makes the bike feel more planted to the ground. The fork's plusher settings also allow riders to hop over trailside obstacles with ease. If you want to take the RX to the MX track, no problem. The RX felt great on the motocross portion of the NGPC track, which featured obstacles similar to those you'd find on most vet tracks. For the big jumps and hard landings, however, the suspension is a tick on the soft side, but you can easily feel the R's motocross DNA living within the RX. Intermediate to ex - perts will likely find the RX's suspension limits on a more traditional-style moto track. However, a regular weekend warrior will likely be quite content with the RX on their local motocross track and might even prefer its more compli - ant suspension to that of the stiffer R suspen- sion. Want that "hit" for motocross? Press the Aggressive-mode and you're good. Overall, we didn't have much to complain about. The Dunlop AT 81 tires aren't as good as the new AT 82s, and the fuel tank feels a little wide, but that's a small price to pay for more range. We'd investigate replacing it with an aftermarket tank, but we wouldn't be in any hurry. A six-speed transmission would be nice, which both the KTM and Yamaha have. More gears mean more versatility, but it also means more cost (and weight). Honda made the decision to leave the transmission alone to help keep MSRP down. At $9999, the RX retails $200 less than the Yamaha YZ450FX and $2200 less than the KTM 450 XC-F. Quick Take The 2025 Honda CRF450RX is an impres- sive, high-performance, versatile motorcycle. We even have proof—we won on it! For us, the CRF450RX checks off all the boxes when seeking a single weekend warrior motorcycle that performs exceptionally—even better than it did—in both off-road and motocross worlds. CN 2025 HONDA CRF450RX ($9999) ENGINE TYPE Single-cylinder 4-stroke COOLING SYSTEM Liquid DISPLACEMENT 450cc VALVETRAIN Unicam SOHC 4-valve (titanium, intake) BORE X STROKE 96.0mm x 62.1mm COMPRESSION RATIO 13.5:1 STARTING SYSTEM Electric FUELING Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI); 44mm downdraft throttle body ELECTRONICS 3-selectable engine mode (Standard, Smooth, Aggressive) RIDER AIDS Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), HRC Launch Control TRANSMISSION 5-speed CLUTCH Nissin, Hydraulic Actuation FRAME Aluminum FRONT SUSPENSION 49mm inverted Showa fork, fully adj. REAR SUSPENSION Pro-Link Showa single shock, fully adj. FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL 12.2 in. REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL 12.0 in. FRONT WHEEL 21 in. REAR WHEEL 18 in. FRONT TIRE Dunlop Geomax AT81 90/90-21 in. REAR TIRE Dunlop Geomax AT81 120/90-18 in. FINAL DRIVE 13/50 FRONT BRAKE Single 260mm disc with twin-piston caliper REAR BRAKE Single 240mm disc GROUND CLEARANCE 13.1 in. SEAT HEIGHT 37.7 in. FUEL CAPACITY 2.1 gal. WHEELBASE 58.2 in. WEIGHT (WET, CLAIMED) 256 lbs. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S