Honda announces CRF450L

[SFMCjohn]

For anyone who thinks I crossed a red (or orange) line by mentioning ktm well then

" ... To understand the all-new KTM 450 Rally
you have to understand KTM’s dominance at Dakar.
A machine of the Austrian company’s creation has
won the bike class every single year since 2001 ...

" ... What’s even more impressive is the fact that they
have managed to do it with bikes of all different cylinder capacities.
In 2001 they won with a 660cc,
then the following year a 950cc,
the four years after that they did it with 660’s again,
then three 690’s
and seven consecutive with the current 450cc regulations ..."

... god bless KTM! arty

A KLR is just an adventure. Not an adventure bike. Just an adventure.

... trying to figure out if I can keep it running for 20 years ...

... gonna go to SFMoto at lunch and see if
they are taking deposits on the CRF450L ...
will report back here about what they say
about the bike's availability and costs ...

 

[aminalmutha]

that's likely the spec for when you're racing it

No. You change it after every race if you're racing it.

XR650L was not much more than that, from what I recall.

 

[planegray]

could someone please photoshop the new Honda into the "new era" picture ?

kthxby

 

[redtail]

http://www.hondaprokevin.com/2019-honda-crf450l-review-specs-motorcycle-dual-sport

Dafuq? 25hp stock, can that be right?! I'm thinking they'll have to be "uncorked" in order to make it reasonably rideable.

"
2019 CRF450L Price / MSRP: $10,399 (targeted)
2019 CRF450L Release Date: September 2018
2019 CRF450L Colors: Red
2019 CRF450L Horsepower: 25 HP
2019 CRF450L Torque: 23.6 ft/lb TQ
2019 CRF450L Miles Per Gallon: TBA
2019 CRF450L Seat Height: 37.1 inches
2019 CRF450L Weight: 289 lbs (curb)"

 

[HadesOmega]

Dope the question is how well is it geared for the highway

 

[HadesOmega]

I guess i was hoping this bike would just be a larger crf250l. I am looking for something to replace my wr250r so i dont need a high performance motor. I want around 300lbs, FI, and 6 speed. If the drz400 was FI and 6 speed i would take that bike in a heart beat.

I agree the DRZ is the direct competitor and those are it's weaksauce points

 

[chrisweir.com]

FE501S for sale... only ridden on Sundays......

(gonna buy the Honda)

 

[SFMCjohn]

... just got back from my friendly
neighborhood Honda dealer ...

... said they found out about the CRF450L
at the same time we did (Honda notifies
the dealers at the same time the press release
went out).

... said they didn't know how many CRF450Ls
they would get but that they would've taken
$1K from me today as a deposit ...

... didn't know when they'd be seeing the bike ...

... go Honda!

 

[Cabrito]

... just got back from my friendly
neighborhood Honda dealer ...

... said they found out about the CRF450L
at the same time we did (Honda notifies
the dealers at the same time the press release
went out).

... said they didn't know how many CRF450Ls
they would get but that they would've taken
$1K from me today as a deposit ...

... didn't know when they'd be seeing the bike ...

... go Honda!

So you left them a $1k deposit?

 

[Surj]

Well, shit kids. I have some not-so-wonderful news.

Just talked to American Honda. Here's the update I added to my original article on the new CRF450L.

I have just heard back from American Honda on my questions about maintenance intervals and horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn’t get quite the answers I was hoping for.

I’ll start with the good news. My Honda contact said they don’t have official horsepower figures yet, and often don’t publish this information anyway, but horsepower for the US version of the CRF450L will be “in the forties.” Not exactly hair-on-fire beastly, but I can live with it given the new 450L’s very reasonable weight. And besides, that probably means it’s detuned a bit in the name of reliability and longer maintenance intervals, right?

Nope, at least not the longer maintenance intervals part. According to Honda, oil / filter change and air filter service interval is just 600 miles, and valve inspection is 1,800 miles. Ouch.

I didn’t expect the 8,000 mile oil / end of time (actually 16,000 miles) valve inspection intervals of the 250L, but 600 mile oil changes are too frequent, at least for a heavily-used dual-sport that’ll get thrashed on the mean streets of Oakland and San Francisco as much, if not more, than it gets taken to the trails. Those are “serious dirtbike” intervals, and avoiding that nonsense is why we ride CRF250Ls.

I still believe this bike will be seriously good, and I can hope that it’ll be like the pre-VTEC VFRs were, where most people didn’t even bother to inspect the valves more frequently than every 32k and nothing went wrong, but that seems unlikely, which means my CRF250L won’t be looking for a new home come September after all.

Bummer.

 

[bkblitzed]

ill stick with my ktm

 

[SFMCjohn]

So you left them a $1k deposit?

... no, I can't afford five-figure bikes ...
... but they said they'd take my $$$ today ... "where's
your credit card ...?"

I still believe this bike will be seriously good, and I can hope that it’ll be like the pre-VTEC VFRs were, where most people didn’t even bother to inspect the valves more frequently than every 32k and nothing went wrong, but that seems unlikely ...
Bummer.[/I]

... doesn't the CRF450L have some titanium valves ...?

arty

 

[kuksul08]

Well, shit kids. I have some not-so-wonderful news.

Just talked to American Honda. Here's the update I added to my original article on the new CRF450L.

I have just heard back from American Honda on my questions about maintenance intervals and horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn’t get quite the answers I was hoping for.

I’ll start with the good news. My Honda contact said they don’t have official horsepower figures yet, and often don’t publish this information anyway, but horsepower for the US version of the CRF450L will be “in the forties.” Not exactly hair-on-fire beastly, but I can live with it given the new 450L’s very reasonable weight. And besides, that probably means it’s detuned a bit in the name of reliability and longer maintenance intervals, right?

Nope, at least not the longer maintenance intervals part. According to Honda, oil / filter change and air filter service interval is just 600 miles, and valve inspection is 1,800 miles. Ouch.

I didn’t expect the 8,000 mile oil / end of time (actually 16,000 miles) valve inspection intervals of the 250L, but 600 mile oil changes are too frequent, at least for a heavily-used dual-sport that’ll get thrashed on the mean streets of Oakland and San Francisco as much, if not more, than it gets taken to the trails. Those are “serious dirtbike” intervals, and avoiding that nonsense is why we ride CRF250Ls.

I still believe this bike will be seriously good, and I can hope that it’ll be like the pre-VTEC VFRs were, where most people didn’t even bother to inspect the valves more frequently than every 32k and nothing went wrong, but that seems unlikely, which means my CRF250L won’t be looking for a new home come September after all.

Bummer.

When I first heard of the bike I got excited, fully expecting a 340lb, 40hp bike to basically to address everyone's complaints with the 250L - bad suspension and weak engine. Just bump up displacement on the same type of form factor and couple it with the proven fully adjustable suspension/chassis of the X or R.

When I heard that it is basically going to be a 450X with lights, it pretty much turned me off to it. Yes, it's not as highly stressed as the 450R, but it's still a high maintenance machine you don't want to ride on the highway very far to get to the trails. I can only hope they come with stainless valves, cause that would be silly to use titanium on this one. I expect it to be too much of a compromise - not the best enduro bike cause of the weight and not a good beater/travel bike cause of the maintenance.

 

[RightCoastBias]

Well, the news from American Honda certainly took the wind out of my sales a bit.

 

[Blankpage]

Beta 450 RS remains my favorite

 

[JesasaurusRex]

Well, shit kids. I have some not-so-wonderful news.

Just talked to American Honda. Here's the update I added to my original article on the new CRF450L.

I have just heard back from American Honda on my questions about maintenance intervals and horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn’t get quite the answers I was hoping for.

I’ll start with the good news. My Honda contact said they don’t have official horsepower figures yet, and often don’t publish this information anyway, but horsepower for the US version of the CRF450L will be “in the forties.” Not exactly hair-on-fire beastly, but I can live with it given the new 450L’s very reasonable weight. And besides, that probably means it’s detuned a bit in the name of reliability and longer maintenance intervals, right?

Nope, at least not the longer maintenance intervals part. According to Honda, oil / filter change and air filter service interval is just 600 miles, and valve inspection is 1,800 miles. Ouch.

I didn’t expect the 8,000 mile oil / end of time (actually 16,000 miles) valve inspection intervals of the 250L, but 600 mile oil changes are too frequent, at least for a heavily-used dual-sport that’ll get thrashed on the mean streets of Oakland and San Francisco as much, if not more, than it gets taken to the trails. Those are “serious dirtbike” intervals, and avoiding that nonsense is why we ride CRF250Ls.

I still believe this bike will be seriously good, and I can hope that it’ll be like the pre-VTEC VFRs were, where most people didn’t even bother to inspect the valves more frequently than every 32k and nothing went wrong, but that seems unlikely, which means my CRF250L won’t be looking for a new home come September after all.

Bummer.

Ya, no way id ever consider this over a 690/701

 

[banshee01]

Honda really did keep this 450 hush hush huh??? It came out of nowhere. There were maybe some rumors but nothing solid. We will see if the rumors about a smaller africa twin are true....

 

[ScottRNelson]

According to Honda, oil / filter change and air filter service interval is just 600 miles, and valve inspection is 1,800 miles. Ouch.

That is bad news. You can't even do most Backcountry Discover Routes in 600 miles. At least the horsepower seems to be in the ballpark of my XR650L. Maybe I won't be replacing the big red pig with something lighter after all.

 

[Nucking Futs]

Short story time:

I’ve ridden Honda CRF450R dirt bikes since 2003, replacing every 2-3 years. When the RX came out last year, I got that because I was doing more trail riding and on paper it looked like a better suited bike for me.

I hated it! Really stiff suspension, lots of power but was hard to manage even after a tune.

After 15 hours I sold it and got the KTM 450 XC. It was like changing girlfriends from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Emily Ratajkowski. End of the spectrum difference.

There’s really no way Honda can convince me this new offering will beat the KTM. Having owned multiple dirt bikes from both manufacturers I’m in the Orange Camp.

 

[Clem Kevin]

Guaranteed that 95% of the market for this bike wouldn't actually need to worry about that service interval (as much as they think they would.)

Reading that news, I definitely can't do 4000 mile trips as carelessly like I do on my XR400 (check the valves at the beginning and end of each trip, oil changes every 1200 miles with 2qts). Looks like the 701 is still the ticket.