VOL. 51 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 P37
INCREASED
POWER, MORE
ADJUSTABILITY
AND A BIGGER
FRONT BRAKE
LIFT THE
CRF450R TO
NEW HEIGHTS
BY CN STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
F
rom the outside, the CRF450R
doesn't look like a motorcycle
that's changed much. But it has.
Although there aren't a lot of chang-
es, Honda made a few but strategic
alterations to the 2015 CRF450R that
make what we feel is a big improve-
ment over the previous CR.
The 2014 CRF450R took some
criticism for having one of the soft-
est motors in its class, so Honda ad-
dressed this issue in two important
ways - it redesigned its four-valve Uni-
cam cylinder head and the entire ex-
haust system.
One of the new features of the re-
designed cylinder head is a new rout-
ing of the exhaust header pipe, which
now exits the right side of the cylinder
head. No longer does the headerpipe
take the long way around the outside
of the frame's front downtube. This is
important in that the new routing al-
lows for a shorter exhaust pipe and
a larger internal core diameter for the
headerpipe and twin tail pipes. These
two changes (plus revised mapping),
Honda says, improves overall power,
and we have to agree.
Our test riders noted a big improve-
ment in performance, saying that the
Honda's power is more aggressive off
the bottom and has superior over-rev
compared to the 2014 motor. They
also say that the Honda's motor just
feels more lively overall, but hasn't
lost an ounce of ridability because
the Honda's power is still very man-
ageable thanks to a very smooth and
controllable delivery. And that delivery
is now easier to adjust with the bike's
new Engine Mode Select (EMS) but-
ton on the right handlebar.
HIDDEN
CHANGES
