Braico says a fond farewell to a bike that won his heart, the Honda CRF450RX, after living with it for a year.
I knew that the Honda was a pretty good package, but the CRF450RX exceeded my expectations. From the moment I hopped on it, I had so much fun and I just found my confidence building every time I went for a ride. Confidence on a bike is everything. I have been fortunate over the years to ride some pretty awesome dirt bikes but there have been few standout bikes that I really gelled with from the get go like I did with the Honda CRF450RX.
The last bike that I really felt at one with was my project YZ125X. That thing was a dream to ride and I felt like I could do nothing wrong on any track. It was an awesome feeling and sadly I kind of lost that feeling once I had to give the 125 back. I tried my hand at a 250F then a 250 two-stroke but I just didn’t seem to have that same confidence in my riding until I hopped on the 450RX.
After watching some of the AMA 450 outdoor events last year where Chase Sexton looked like he was glued to the track and riding so ridiculously fast, I became a bit of a Honda fan. The way that that bike looked on TV made me want to ride one. Then Honda Australia offered for us to test the 250 and 450RX in race conditions and well, the rest is history! Like love at first sight, the 450RX just worked for me.
After 2 years of kicking a 125 over, the electric start on the 450RX won me over right away. The fact that I didn’t have to change three gears every straight was a nice change of pace too. I had a smile from ear to ear right from day one and that smile never left my face whenever I rode Big Red.
RIDING THE RX
My first experience with Big Red was an Oyster Bay MCC club day at Nowra and it was a wild one. We had a shit ton of rain leading up to the event and the track fell to pieces. However, despite the mud and as brutal as the track conditions became, the RX lapped it up with ease.
I immediately noticed how strong the motor was and how planted it felt on the track. I did, however, notice that the standard gearing on the bike was quite tall and the standard seat cover wasn’t as grippy as I wanted. A quick phone call to Holeshot Graphics for a new kit and a Strike seats gripper seat and that problem was sorted. I figured I’d give the RX gearing a second chance on a more open track.
After the first few weeks of riding the RX, it was time to give it some personal touches. I threw on a flatter set of Renthal 999 bars and also fitted a set of Pirelli Mid Soft tyres and headed north to our farm for the weekend.
I gotta tell you, winding the big 4-5-0 out on our freshly prepped grasstracks really made for a good time and I had sore cheeks from smiling so much. I was incredibly impressed with the Showa suspension package out of the crate. I found myself charging into the corners with a bunch of confidence and the bike remained settled through the braking bumps and planted on acceleration.
The map switch on the bars worked like a treat as well and I found the aggressive map to be the one for me. I also played around with the gearing and found that the stock gearing is great for the flowy stuff but 13-52 is a better option for the tighter tracks.
After those little updates, I set my sights on racing some events on Big Red. I signed up for the NSW Offroad at Appin and the AORC at Mendooran. The two venues could not be more different with Appin being tight, technical and rocky and Mendooran being wide open sand whoops from start to finish. Amazingly, I was able to set the RX up for both venues without having to modify it too much at all.
Appin required me to plush the suspension up to deal with all the rocks and dull the power down while Mendooran needed super firm suspension and full power. I thought I would have to send the Showa suspension away to get set up for the whoops but I was impressed with how adjustable it was just with the clickers on offer.
So how did the races go? Well, unfortunately I came down with a sickness a few days before Appin was on so I spent most of the time coughing a lung up and being very fatigued. Luckily, the RX was feeling 100% and despite my issues, I still had a blast and I ended up doing better than I thought.
Mendooran on the other hand was a whole other animal. I cranked up the compression at both ends, fitted some Aussie made Steg Pegz, a rear Pirelli sand tyre and off I went. The RX was right at home in the sand and loam; however, my old arse was way out of shape for the brutal few hours of sprints we went through. I still had a lot of fun but damn I didn’t miss the whole body soreness for the week after the weekend of whoops.
LIVING WITH RX
I would have put between 30-40 hours on the RX and I was fortunate enough to not have a whole lot go wrong. Honda Australia hooked me up with their four-stroke engine oil and it kept the motor in top shape. I did have to freshen the clutch up after the sand weekend at Mendooran but other than that, the motor remained untouched. The air filter positioning under the seat is pretty sweet and I had a Uni Filter backing me up and keeping the RX safe. The Aussie made and owned filters are top notch and I trust them 100%.
As good as the Showa suspension was, the fork seals weren’t fans of the constant muddy and wet tracks that we had last year and I had to send them off to OneFour Moto to get them freshened up twice during my time with the RX. He asked me if I wanted to change the suspension settings in the forks and since I was so happy with the feel of the bike, I declined the offer. I was more than happy with how the bike felt.
One thing that I have heard of is that the stock CRF muffler is pretty soft and can dent easily. The first few rides went smoothly with no dents but unfortunately, I tucked the front in a corner and the bike came down on my leg. Rather than me being hurt, my Tech 10 seemed to do a number of the muffler and put a massive dent in it. It’s a shame because I really liked the sound of the stock muffler.
It’s not loud but still offers a good, throaty tone. I reached out to Pro Circuit Australia for a replacement and they helped out with a brand-new Ti-6 full system. It fitted like a dream and boy; did it look epic.
The quality of the titanium finish is second to none and being smaller than the stock unit, it was lighter and a more out of the way so it was at a lot less risk prone to being crushed. The note of the PC unit is louder though which took some time to get used to but after a while, I was all about it.
Finally, and this may be my biggest gripe with the RX was the flame out. On fast and flowing tracks I never had an issue but as soon as the Big RX was on a tight and technical track or a trail ride, it would cough and splutter and stop dead in its tracks. It’s a super annoying trait for anyone who is all about their trailriding on the weekends but I’m sure with a few tweaks of the ignition or possibly fitting an aftermarket ignition, you could iron out that issue. I didn’t like it but I wasn’t so concerned that I needed to open the ECU up.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve said it a lot over the course of last year, but I can’t rate this bike highly enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve hopped on a 450 and felt comfortable on it in stock trim and the CRF450RX ticked pretty much every box in my eyes. The motor was super strong yet very useable and I found that it had just the right amount of power for just about any track I went too. The Showa suspension felt awesome and I think this may be one of the most stable and planted bikes I’ve ridden.
