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2009 Honda CRF450X Long-Term Wrap-Up
| | | It’s time to say goodbye to my 2009 project bike, the Honda CRF450X. As you might remember, this is the bike I prepared and rode in the International Six Days Enduro in Portugal. The event was brutal with choking dust and murderous sand whoops, so here’s how the 450X ranked after it was all said and done.
With over 50 hours on the meter, the red thumper is still running strong. In fact, it acts more like it’s just getting revved up. With the exception of the brake pedal, most of the bike’s components look and feel like new. Once we got the bike jetted correctly, it has not had so much as a hiccup during all the riding time.
Most of this I credit to my favorite part of the CRF; the motor. It is flat out as good as anything else in the class. It’s smooth and easy to ride with lots of torque. This is a big departure from the earlier versions of the X that were abrupt in power delivery and prone to stalling. Power up on top is good and with just a little work there is a lot more potential. The powerplant is the real reason this bike is still tops with the Baja crowd, with the addition of a cam and free flowing exhaust this can be a real go-fast contender. Given a steady diet of fresh oil and clean air filters there should be hundreds of hours of trouble-free riding ahead.
A Rekluse Pro Model auto clutch is a necessity for me. The auto clutch provides a huge relief to my wrists and hands over multi day races.To help out with the long days of riding at the ISDE, I installed a Rekluse Z-start Pro auto clutch. This is one of my two “must-have” additions to any bike. On the first day of the ISDE I did have a little issue with stalling, but turning the id le up just a tad cured that and I think I had only one stall over the next five days. Portugal had a couple of long, rutted and silty climbs, and it was so nice to not have to worry about the clutch. The Rekluse is really like having traction control in these types of situations.
The second mandatory addition is one I discovered this year. The Flexx bar from Fasst Company is now standard equipment on my race bikes. In previous...
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