Who saw this coming... CRF450L

The 2012 and 2013 KTM 500EXC's I have owned in the past ran poorly above 5,000 ft. elevation in stock trim.

I have had no fuel injection trouble regarding elevation with BMW GS's or the new Africa Twin.

But all the 650cc and smaller dual sport bikes I have owned, XR650L, DR650, DRZ400S and KTM 500EXC have all had issues with fueling when riding from sea level to over 9,000 ft in stock trim.

SuMo set up on the lone bike here in Greenville, SC. Already sold but salesman said the next one should show up in a week or so.

As the Honda rep at the TT Rally in WA told me, this bike is not designed, built or aimed at adventure riders. Honda believes there are too few of us for them to build something aimed at this market (other than the Africa Twin, one of which I own). Mid displacement truly roadable and durable dual sport motorcycles don't fit into their plan. Yamaha and KTM are doing something soon, but 700 and 790 is still large to my way of thinking. I want a WR450R but don't think it will ever happen.

I think it's got very good low end manners, but it's not hat I would call a torque monster. 1st gear is proper low, and if you lug the engine way down to idle it chugs back up to speed just fine. But you're not gonna loft the front tire over a log without clutch work unless you are in 1st gear. I got the front tire in the air in 2nd gear without using the clutch, but everything had to be timed perfectly.

The throttle is not a smooth as a carbureted bike, but it's not bad at all. It feels a bit snatchy at first, but I was adapting very quickly in just a couple minutes doing figure 8's in the parking lock against the steering stops.

The engine is VERY strong & responsive. If you are fast in tight woods this bike will be a pleasure. In Fast woods it’ll be a bucket full of fun!!

I don’t think it’ll have a problem lofting the front wheel in 2nd or 3rd gear to get over that log with no extra clutch work!!

Hopefully a Recluse Clutch will be offered for it soon!!

Does it have a cush clutch basket? tho that's the real question

You really like your old XR ey

That’s an interesting quote from the Honda guy. It’s hard to imagine that there are more riders out there jonesing for a bike like the CRF450L than a true adventure single, such as a CRF450 Rally (half an Africa Twin). I would have assumed it would be a big hit, given that the big H already has MX and enduro versions of the 450 and fill a middleweight gap to the CB500X.

It would be easy to get a custom wheel built up for the CRFL with a cush rear hub. Has anyone sussed out if a Camel Tank would fit under the left sidecover? Looks like the subframe is there to support it.

That is what Honda told me as well at the High Pipe event earlier this year and that is the reason I started a thread about light weight adventure bike builds. We have to build them because they won't. I want to show this thread to Honda marketing at the Long Beach show this November to demonstrate the number of people interested in a light weight adventure bike and how many people have already assembled them. Here is the thread:
https://advrider.com/f/threads/adventure-bike-builds-under-400-lbs.1333329/

The L looks to me like a pretty good kicking off point for that. It has everything needed as the foundation for a solid light weight ADV bike.

But, from reading the last few pages, it looks like the first thing Honda riders need to do in order to believe that is to put the owners manual away.

Now then, half of an Africa Twin: not a bad idea! It's the same idea that gave us the unkillable WR250R!

It's not really that. After all, I was there to see about buying a 450L to replace my XR. I don't have a lot to use as a comparison, but I was trying to help as much as possible.

I could compare it to my old KTM 2 strokes, but that wouldn't make much sense.

No doubt, and your comparison to the KTM 500 was helpful . I also wonder though how much a good break in will help the 450l.

So guys... when are the long term reliability reports going to start pouring in eh? I mean back when the KTM 690 first came out I bought the first one the first day it came out at 3 bros racing in Costa Mesa, California. I brought it in the next day with +/- 600 miles for its first service. (Took a drive up to Pismo beach that first night and played in the sand... stopped in Big Bear and Hemet to ride mountains and desert on the way back down!)
By the end of the week was getting close to 3K miles... So what is this you've already had the bike 3 days and have 6 miles on it crap!!??

Now that we are getting a lot of brief ride reviews from that one press ride, all rave about how quiet it is and smooth (no vibes). I would challenge anyone try any single cylinder thumper and really plug the muffler. Honda sounds just like any really crocked thumper. Most of the power is still there, bottom end (wheelie) punch is gone, it is quiet and smooth. Pretty much what you get when you plug your muffler real good. It will be interesting to see if it really is smoother with the thing uncorked.

I don’t know what bike you guys are getting in Finland but my new 450L is a bit “Buzzy” at about 50mph. Mine has plenty of “Punch” down low and will loft the front wheel easily!!

As far as I know there are no 450Ls in here yet but if they host an offroad test day I sure would go! But I was referring to those things in general context of certain competitors. Lifting the front wheel easily is hardly a feat and neither is lifting the front at 50mph, but buzz is always a subjective matter!

The bike has very good throttle response. The first 10% of throttle is an on/off switch. In first gear this makes the bike herky-jerky. Fortunately the motor is actually very docile beyond the quick throttle response so it doesn't exhibit that herky-jerky feeling in the other gears. It's mellow off the bottom and is very linear into the mid-range where it peaks. It's very choked off though and the power falls off sharply after that.

In stock form the motor is pretty good for novices and for DS use.




Sean

How did your break in procedure work out ?