FEATURE
2016 HONDA CRF450X PROJECT BIKE
P90
cushioned the feel of the terrain
a bit.
Our taller team members liked
the added comfort from the Seat
Concept Sport seat that we
installed while the shorter riders
(okay, me) choose to switch
back to the stock seat when it
was my time on the bike. Seat
Concepts makes a short Sport
seat and that will be on the bike
for the 24-Hour race.
10 HOURS OF HEATED FUN
Smack dab in the middle of a
southern California crushing
heat wave, the 10 Hours of Glen
Helen couldn't have been more
brutal. Luckily, even under our
short timeline we managed to
prep the bike sufficiently and we
never had a problem through-
out the day. A quick adjustment
to the sag (setting it to about
108mm) midmorning was the
longest our 450X sat in the pits
and not out on the racecourse.
The only thing we did was add
gas at an incredible rate of
speed via the IMS quick dump
system when switching riders.
Our team also made it the full
10 hours on one set of Dunlop
MX3S tires. To help prevent
flats we used heavy-duty Kenda
tubes, which adds weight over
stock tubes, but not having
to change a flat is worth the
increased weight.
Another bonus to riding a new
Honda 450X was the support
of Honda's Jason Abbott, who
kindly brought out the Honda
press support Sprinter and
spare parts, just in case we
needed anything. But we didn't.
As mentioned, the 450X is bul-
letproof.
From left to right;
Adam Booth, Jason
Abbott, Sean Finley
and Mitch Elson after
melting the heat.
