Honda CRF450L

I'm waiting on a price for this - those rumours of 26HP have got to be bollox

I reckon approx 45-50 and 5KGS more than the MX model - off to read the review now to see if I'm right
 
I’d love one, but unfortunately I don’t have the cash for one. But imho Honda have done a great job building a decent trail bike, yes, some want a Mx bike that’s road legal, but Honda will never do that (look at the mont/honda 4rt, it comes with everything to make it road legal, the only trials bike that does). It’ll remain to be seen how much power the eu versions come with, but the yanks reckon it’s got 40+ bhp over there (not the 25 originally released bhp).

Service is, oil every 600 and valves every 1600 miles, but I’d suggest if you don’t ride it overly hard, keep the air filter clean, you could stretch the oil/filter change a couple of hundred more miles and if you did all the work yourself it wouldn’t be expensive. Warranty will most likely be the Honda 6 month parts only gig, so no worries on invalidating the warranty by doing it yourself and parts are pretty reasonably cheap.

Price wise, if it’s £7500-8000, that’s a bargain as a 300RR is £7599, but I’d guess it’s more likely to be closer to £8500-9000.
 
I'm confused by this offering from Honda. It doesn't seem that different to the 450X (apart from the 'L' is heavier and has less power). An oil change every 600 miles isn't that much better than what is recommended for the 'X'. Those that want a medium sized trail bike to do stuff like the TET or TAT etc would be no better off than what is already available from Honda. What a gaping own goal and a missed opportunity!! Or have I missed the point?
 
I'm confused by this offering from Honda. It doesn't seem that different to the 450X (apart from the 'L' is heavier and has less power). An oil change every 600 miles isn't that much better than what is recommended for the 'X'. Those that want a medium sized trail bike to do stuff like the TET or TAT etc would be no better off than what is already available from Honda. What a gaping own goal and a missed opportunity!! Or have I missed the point?

I was thinking the same. Quite fancied a CRF250l but wondered if I'd be bored with any road riding (Absolute beginner with green laning but big opportunities to do some in France) The prospect of something with a bit more power but not a silly amount was appealing. To then read that a few days trip would necessitate engine work is not appealing. Surely in 2018 they can produce a relatively lightweight trail bike that can do 6k miles between service work ? (2 gallon tank for great range...can they not put a bigger tank on or at least offer one ?)
 
Nothing much between the CRF250 and the Africa Twin... there's surely room for something in between..?

How about a 500 single, good on gentle off road stuff, and tourable 'on road', with a 200 mile plus range.
 
CB500x albeit a twin. But can definitely do a bit of off road
NC750 another twin. Probably able to do some gentle stuff off road.

But both are50 kg plus heavier than I'd want off road.
I rode a couple of KTM 250s the other week. Both felt like mountain bikes compared to the CRF, 40 or 50kg lighter and seemed tough as old boots.
 
So is the CRF a trail bike or an enduro bike?

I'm sure it'll be ok, it's a Honda after all, but it doesn't exactly set the world on fire..........

Are you gonna sell the Orange bike then JB and get a nice sensible Honda?

Andres
 
It's a fully road legal trailbike .... isn't it?

Yes and no..... with it’s 600 mile oil changes and 1600 mile valve checks, if you had to have the dealer do the servicing to protect the warranty, that would make it a very impractical proposition, but if it’s sold as a competition/Offroad bike, the warranty is parts only for 6 months and most would do their own servicing.

If you are on a long trip, you could stretch the oil changes to say 700 miles and a oil change is a simple procedure
https://youtu.be/lweMlItBwZQ
So you could do that while away, into a plastic bottle.
 
I was thinking the same. Quite fancied a CRF250l but wondered if I'd be bored with any road riding (Absolute beginner with green laning but big opportunities to do some in France) The prospect of something with a bit more power but not a silly amount was appealing. To then read that a few days trip would necessitate engine work is not appealing. Surely in 2018 they can produce a relatively lightweight trail bike that can do 6k miles between service work ? (2 gallon tank for great range...can they not put a bigger tank on or at least offer one ?)

The 450L engine is a modified 450x engine, If it had 6k service intervals it would’ve had to have been a completely new engine and most likely a huge increase in weight. It does 50 mpg (journo’s in the states did a 105 mile route without refuelling), but if that’s not enough, there will be bigger aftermarket tanks very soon.
 
Yes and no..... with it’s 600 mile oil changes and 1600 mile valve checks, if you had to have the dealer do the servicing to protect the warranty, that would make it a very impractical proposition, but if it’s sold as a competition/Offroad bike, the warranty is parts only for 6 months and most would do their own servicing.

If you are on a long trip, you could stretch the oil changes to say 700 miles and a oil change is a simple procedure
https://youtu.be/lweMlItBwZQ
So you could do that while away, into a plastic bottle.

Certainly not any form of 'travel' bike. Going away on a 3 or 4 day trip would necessitate an oil change. Madness

The 450L engine is a modified 450x engine, If it had 6k service intervals it would’ve had to have been a completely new engine and most likely a huge increase in weight. It does 50 mpg (journo’s in the states did a 105 mile route without refuelling), but if that’s not enough, there will be bigger aftermarket tanks very soon.

My whole point. For me (and I suspect many like me who fancy greenlaning or trail riding both here and abroad) being able to ride 30/50/70 miles on road to some nice trail riding area, spend a few hours doing just that and then riding home via a petrol station shouldn't be beyond the comprehension of a firm like Honda. 105 miles is laughable. I thought this was going to be a larger CC version of the 250L
 
Certainly not any form of 'travel' bike. Going away on a 3 or 4 day trip would necessitate an oil change. Madness



My whole point. For me (and I suspect many like me who fancy greenlaning or trail riding both here and abroad) being able to ride 30/50/70 miles on road to some nice trail riding area, spend a few hours doing just that and then riding home via a petrol station shouldn't be beyond the comprehension of a firm like Honda. 105 miles is laughable. I thought this was going to be a larger CC version of the 250L

I expect Aberbis already have something up themselves to sort that and unless the bike is caned for those 600 miles I'm sure oil change intervals can be extended to 1500 ish. :)

A larger version of the 250L would have produced another Chinese built cheapy with shite suspension :)
 
Certainly not any form of 'travel' bike. Going away on a 3 or 4 day trip would necessitate an oil change. Madness



My whole point. For me (and I suspect many like me who fancy greenlaning or trail riding both here and abroad) being able to ride 30/50/70 miles on road to some nice trail riding area, spend a few hours doing just that and then riding home via a petrol station shouldn't be beyond the comprehension of a firm like Honda. 105 miles is laughable. I thought this was going to be a larger CC version of the 250L

The cfr450l is a cfr450x made road legal by Honda, it’s not in the guise of the CRF250L, which bears no relation to a crf250xrl. It’s been thoroughly re-engineered to pass the most stringent emission regs, but is vastly superior to any other road legal trail bike. There are better more powerful Offroad bikes, but theyre not designed for road use. Have a go on a Honda CRF250L and then ride a crf250xrl, one weighs 146kgs and the other 115kgs, one cost £4600 and the other cost £6700, there’s a huge difference in every way, because the crf250L is not a serious Offroad bike, it’s a road bike that looks like an Offroad bike.

How many times do we read someone say “why don’t manufacturers take a competition bike and make it road legal”, we’ll that’s exactly what Honda have done. If you added a oil cooler and auxiliary oil tank to increase the volume of oil, it would do many more miles without an oil change. A crf250L takes 1.8 ltrs of oil, a crf250xrl take about 1 ltr of oil, an L has a relatively easy life, an xrl has it’s neck rung everytime it’s ridden.

If you have a 70 mile road ride to a trail, refuel before you get there, spend a couple of hours on the trail and then top up on the way home. If it had a 3.5 gallon tank, everyone would be saying it’s too wide.

Adventure bikes are too heavy Offroad and Offroad bikes are crap on the road, unfortunately no one wants to make a 450/500 Offroad bike that is a great road bike too. The CRF450L has been made to replace the XR650L, it’s more powerful, much lighter and a much better handling bike, it ain’t perfect that’s for sure, but it ain’t bad either. And anyway, who rides stock bikes, they’re the platform to add to, to make the bike better suited to your own requirements.
 
So is the CRF a trail bike or an enduro bike?

I'm sure it'll be ok, it's a Honda after all, but it doesn't exactly set the world on fire..........

Are you gonna sell the Orange bike then JB and get a nice sensible Honda?

Andres

Maybe
The KTM is too fast
 


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