[Kenny Sagawa: Webike News Editor in Chief]
Pure Blood of a Thoroughbred
The other day, I went out on a forest road touring after a long time. It is Honda's CRF450L that I chose as a buddy. It is the latest model that just debuted domestically last fall.
The point of the CRF450L is that it is based on competition model which is "CRF450R". In other words, it is a racing machine made to win in races such as motocross race. Simply put, it's a "real" racer replica with just the safety components. Of course, it is optimized for the public road riding, shcu as making the engine characteristics milder by increasing the crank mass and decleasing the compression ratio, and lowering the seat height by setting the suspension to a soft setting. But, It's line is definitely a thoroughbred.
The reason why I choos the CRF450L this time is to solve my own question, "Can I enjoy the public road or forest road with a racer-based machine?" It is a direct line of the pure racers who win the motocross scene in the world and play an active part in the Dakar Rally, so it has been proven as a result that the top end performance is outstanding. However, I had a question "if it is used for touring with general riders?". Therefore, I rode for approximately 400km in one day on a general road, an expressway and a forest road near the metropolitan area.
It was optimized for the public road
Its appearance is more compact and less intimidating than I had imagined. The colors are delighted with the Honda classic Extreme Red. I am delighted with the Honda tradition extreme Red. The seat height is much lower than the racer's R, but it is still 895mm, and my heel is floating even my hight is 179cm. However, because the body is slim and the wheight is very light at 131kg, it is much easier than the Big Adventure models.
The start of the engine is good and the sound has a pleasant beat feeling. The grip of the clutch lever is light, the shift touch has moderation, the brake works well, and the impression is generally moderation. The engine response is like a racer model, but if you operate the accelerator carefully there is no problem. I'm a little confused at first with the height of my eyes and the feel of the block tires, but I get used to it soon. I was able to handle the turn of the intersection and the cornering as usual, and I did not feel particularly difficult.
So I noticed that CRF450L is optimized for public roads. It means that it is made with a fundamentally different idea from the machine which remodeled a racer to a public road specification in order to take a license plate.
There is no problem in high speed cruise using torque
On a freeway, the riders have to fight against wind pressure, but this is also a matter of habituation and it is easier to offset the wind pressure by slightly tipping the upper body and supporting it with wind pressure. What I care about on a high-speed cruise is the point that the maximum power is 24ps. it is the same horsepower as the CRF250L. I feel a little unreliable, but just because the torque is 1.5 times, overtaking acceleration etc. is easy, and the 100km / h cruise is a level with no problem at all. Although it is detuned, the high compression engine feeling like the Racer model is a nice.
The vibration and noise from the block tires were not as big as I thought, but rather the hardness of the seat was the main concern. This is also understandable considering the origin, but as a public road version, I would like to improve the comfort of the seat. However, I think that the seat height will also increase by that amount ......
A feeling that "I can still go without holding it"
And finally I went to the forest road. As I entered from the side road, the road surface would change to rough roadways, gravel flats and rocky areas where rock was exposed. But, I also experienced a strange feeling there. That was the feeling that you can go without taking a fighting stance.
I have been running the same forest road with various bikes so far. But, CRF450L was the first model without stopping on the way to preview the road surface condition or to choose a line carefully. Even if there is a deep ditch, rock, sand, puddle, etc. on the road, it will run without difficulty if you just open the throttle. Without any difficulty. There was almost no impact from the road surface, and I felt that it was even moving to absorb the impact with the suspension only. I was shocked by the fact that there was almost no impact from the road surface and the impact was absorbed by the suspension alone. I thought that it was something like being able to trust the motorcycle and entrust it.
The performance of the run was also reflected in the specs
I considered the reason. One of them is that it is based on a pure motocrosser. The original DNA is different from the usual street model. For example, the front and rear suspension stroke amount of of the latest adventure tourer models are about 150mm to 200mm. Trail models of the 250cc class, such as the CRF250L, are around 200mm to 250mm. On the other hand, CRF450L has a stroke amount close to 300mm. That means that it is possible to overcome a large gap.
And, it is clear that off-road is the main riding stage, as standard tires also have fairly intense blocks among on / off tires that can be run on public roads. The ability to ride on rough terrain is as important as it is said to be ultimately determined by the tire performance.
In addition, the highly rigid aluminum frame and swing arm have less blurring and stable handling even at high loads on uneven terrain. In other words, you can pass the line you aimed at. At that time, the high torque type easy-to-use power demonstrates outstanding performance. It's easy to control because the rear tire won't slip at once even if you open the throttle too much. If this was a ”R" that has 50ps over, it is so difficult to handle.
And the biggest point is lightweight. It is 13kg lighter than CRF 250L. Lightness is the greatest benefit of motorcycles. There is a advantage in all of "run, stop, turn", and it is quite possible if it is a light machine even if it is impossible to go any further.
If you know even the basics, you can enjoy the forest road
I rode a lot in a full day long, but the CRF450L was a great machine than I had imagined. But it does not mean that you can ride faster or jump higher, but it means that it has a big pocket. I think it does not fit for everyone, but it was very fit to my senses. It can not be said that it is suitable for beginners, but anyone who is accustomed to riding a big motorcycle can ride without problems.
In any case, I thought that the fun would gradually expand if you always keep safe and careful running without raising the hurdles from the beginning.
