The 2024 MX1 ProMX Championship will go down in history as one of the all-time great battles. We witnessed essentially a chess match between two warriors at the top of their game. Each strategically trying to ‘one up’ the other in an effort to get a points buffer towards the end of the series. Both Kyle Webster and Jed Beaton were no more than three points apart throughout the bulk of the series, while quite often both riders would be tied on points entering the next round, so we thought we’d have a look at Kyle Webster’s Boost HRC Honda CRF450R to see how it took the win.
When it was all said and done both Webster and Beaton finished the eight round Pro MX Championship tied on points. It was Webster who would hold the number one plate aloft thanks to a countback having won the most individual races throughout the series. The number 96 Boost Mobile HRC Honda CRF450R performed flawlessly all year, earning more holeshots than anyone else in the class while winning more motos than any other rider.
While the title was still up for grabs I planted the seed to potentially throw a leg over Webster’s bike once the dust had settled and I got the green tick of approval.
SET UP
As is generally the case with this type of ‘unobtanium’ motorcycle, it is the little things that make the difference. You could be tricked into thinking that the moment you sit on this bike your whole world will change, lap times will drop by five seconds and you’ll get the best sleep you’ve ever had later that night. This is not always the case and quite often you’ll find that these ‘works of art’ simply don’t work for you. My first when I sat on Kyle’s Honda CRF450R was that it felt like home.
Kyle and I have a very similar set up but I was taken by surprise that Kyle runs his handlebar mounts in the front holes rather than the rear that comes as standard. He runs a rather flat profile to his ODI handlebars which are rolled back towards the rider a tad and it took me a few seconds to wrap my head around this. Kyle is quite a bit shorter than me and I’d never considered running the front holes on my personal bike. I straight away thought to that this set up felt really quite comfortable and I was looking forward to trying it out on the track.
Other than that, the clutch and front brake levers were exactly where I would set them along with the height of the gear shift. It was only the rear brake pedal that had been adjusted slightly higher than footpeg height which I knew would throw me a curveball out there on the track.
TIGHT AS A TIGER
While I was sitting on the Honda CRF450R tossing up bar and lever positioning I felt something a little weird that made me think we had a flat front tyre. The bike was off the stand and it was so damn hard to turn the bars from side to side. I popped the bike up on a stand and went to grab a tyre gauge when I realized it wasn’t tyre pressure. Webster has his head stem set that tight that it almost feels like a desert racer’s steering dampener on steroids.
I’d never felt a head stem so tight before. Apparently this is a bit of a trend set by Jett and Hunter Lawrence in America where they run their head stems so tight that when you turn your bars in the air it actually has an effect of moving the back of the bike. OK, so this was going to be hard to wrap my head around on the track but I was prepared to try anything.
LET’S GET IT
The test track for the day was RidePark just west of Melbourne. One of our most popular test tracks with massive jumps and a picturesque, rolling hills layout. The track had been left rough and rutty from the previous weekend’s public riding and was on the dry side so basically perfect conditions to test a bike of this calibre. My first couple of laps were like heaven.
The motor is to die for utilizing a little more bottom end torque than the standard Honda CRF450R power plant, but with noticeably more useable power right the way through the range. Not the type of power that would pull your arms out of your sockets (Kyle is roughly 74kg) but at no stage was I hoping for more horsepower to the rear wheel. This is one brilliant power plant. The chassis and suspension felt just the way most people would dream that a bike would feel if they ever got the opportunity to ride a full blown factory machine. Yep it was that good right from the get go.
MY FAVOURITE THINGS
FORK
There’s a lot to like about this bike. The motor, chassis and suspension are all right where they need to be. However, for me personally it was the A kit Showa fork that shone the brightest. I believe for me it was the perfect storm.
The combination of Kyle being about 5kg lighter than me (I’m 79kg) and the fact that Kyle circulates the track a heck of a lot faster means that his suspension set up felt like butter. While I loved the rear end it was the fork that had me smiling all around the track. The bike had the ability to turn on a toothpick while not wanting to knife the front end. The fork would also hold up extremely well under hard braking and had me scratching my head as to how someone would build a spec like this. Phenomenal.
MOTOR
Building a weapon 450cc engine is not just a simple case of finding maximum horsepower, especially when your rider is low to mid 70kg. The trick with designing and building up a weapon 450 motor is making useable power while making the transition from bottom to mid, and mid to top end as seamless and smooth as possible. Nobody wants any nasty surprises with a 450 motor, especially when the track is at its roughest and the last lap board is about to come out.
Kyle’s motor has everything you could possibly want from a 450 motor. I honestly couldn’t pick what part is the strongest. The bottom end, midrange and top end are all equally as impressive as each other. The biggest compliment I could give this motor is that your average weekend warrior, Kyle Webster and Jett Lawrence could all ride this bike and absolutely love the motor.
FINISHING TOUCHES
Normally it would be something major that fills my favourite three aspects of a bike and yes I could have mentioned the chassis, or the shock, or the factory front brake. Instead I’ve listed the smaller, finishing touches as my third favourite. Because it’s honestly the accumulation of all the smaller stuff that really make this bike what it is. The huge titanium footpegs, the shape and feel of the clutch and front brake levers, the extremely grippy seat cover and the ODI grips that you need to neither glue or wire on. All of these bits and pieces make up the bulk of what is so special about Kyle’s bike.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE
BACK BRAKE LEVER HEIGHT
We’re really clutching at straws here because essentially there’s nothing major that I would change on this bike. I quickly got used to running the bar mounts in the front hole and really quite liked the comfort but I just couldn’t wrap my head around having my back brake lever higher than the footpeg height. I’d accidentally dab the back brake fairly regularly, particularly when approaching jumps or entering corners.
HANDLEBAR STYLE
While both Kyle and I run ODI handlebars, I’ve always been a fan of the bars that don’t run a cross brace. In recent years I’ve always been used to the fat bar style handlebars that come straight out of the crate on the Honda and I like the extra flex that you seem to get. I also found that doing race starts you can sometimes hit your chest on the cross brace of the handlebars but this is truly a personal preference.
CHALK AND CHEESE
For me one of the most interesting parts of this test was the comparison from riding Webster’s 2022 model Factory Honda CRF450R, a bike that I just couldn’t gel with. I struggled to find comfort when I rode it a couple of years ago for ADB Magazine. The race motor on the 2022 bike really lacked the bottom end torque that I love from a 450 and the suspension was particularly firm in the first part of the stroke, giving me next to no small bump sensitivity.
When I watched Kyle closely during the 2022 race season I saw some twitchiness in the bike that reflected what I was feeling. In what was one of the most polar opposite test sessions I’ve ever had, I could not have felt more comfortable and confident on Kyle’s championship winning 2024 bike. It’s a true credit to the team and to Kyle’s testing and development.
OVERALL
The #96 Boost Mobile HRC Honda CRF450R of Webster is an absolute work of art. The bike was everything I’d hoped it would be. Watching Kyle race this machine closely throughout the Pro MX series it was clear to see that this bike works amazingly well on all surfaces.
For a rider like Webster who comes from the sandy state of WA it was a breath of fresh air to see that his strongest asset this year was the hard pack rounds. A brilliant chassis/suspension package combined with a motor that does it all. It’s a well deserved #1 plate for Kyle and his red rocket.
BITS AND PIECES
2024 BOOST MOBILE HRC HONDA CRF450R
Chassis and Cosmetics:
Showa A kit suspension fork and shock
Fork Springs: 5.2Nm
Shock Spring: 5.3Nm
Standard Triple Clamps
HRC shock linkage
Factory Dunlop tyres front and rear
Dunlop Mousse tubes front and rear
MotoMaster Sprockets 13/49
MotoMaster oversized front disc rotor and rear rotor
Factory front brake caliper
DID ER520 Gold chain
ODI grips and handlebars
SKDA Graphics and seatcover
HGS full titanium exhaust system
Twin Air Powerflow air filter kit
Twin Air 1.8 radiator cap
EZE wheel set
Samco radiator blue hose kit
PowerPlant:
Works/Factory cylinder head
Works piston kit comp ratio 14.1 to 1
Works crankshaft
Hinson full clutch kit
Vortex ECU custom tune PTR
LH- Kyle congratulations on your MX1 title for 2024.
KW- Thanks Hoges, it got a little too close for comfort at the end there.
LH- Tell us what your favourite aspect of your bike was this year.
KW- My favourite part of the bike is how well it gets off the start line (laughs) Even when I didn’t completely nail the start I was still right there in the mix.
LH- What were the major changes that you made to your outdoor setup coming into 2024?
KW- We worked hard this year with Matt and Bruce on getting my bike set up for hard pack. Everything from the chassis to obviously the suspension set up.
