2009 CRF450R Ride Report - Long

B

biglou

I finally got the new bike out for the break-in run. I think my normal riding speed is about break-in level, anyway. If not, I may have pushed her a little too hard, so don't tell anyone...

It started with 3-4 of us commited to a ride today. One by one, the calls came in: "I hafta go outta town." "I gotta help my brother move." And, at 0730 this morning: "Have you looked outside yet? Looks kinda drizzly..." Me: *sigh*"Yes, I've already been out. It's 44degrees with no wind. It's awesome outside!" Last riding buddy standing: "Well, work called and they want me to come in if I can..."

Fine. I'll go alone! In the 45 minutes it took me to drive to the track, the temp went from 44-39, and the occasional sprinkle turned into a steady drizzle. Once I get to the track, I see that I am not the craziest person in Missouri. I'm the 2nd craziest on account of there was one other rider there before me. And, as I pulled in, it stopped raining. Because it changed over to SLEET. At least the wind picked up and switched around to the north. Yay...

I park facing downhill a bit, unload the bike, grab the gear bag and opt to just put on pants and boots. No Leatt, no Asterisks, and no CP. Riding pants and boots, hoodie, helmet and gloves. It was too cold to be standing half naked in a field in west-central Missouri.

I wave to the other crazy person in the giant parking area. He waved back and kinda looked at me like I was crazy.

Ok, it's been two days shy of four weeks since I kicked this red beast over. Let's see how good this FI is after nearly an hour in almost freezing temps. Pull the "choke", or whatever they call it. One kick, two kicks, a little rumble, third kick and she fired right off. Hey! This is kinda sweet!

I push the choke in, let her warm up for a minute or so, and off I go. A quick lap around this little oval to warm up the gearbox, and I hit the start straight. Temptation to hammer it was just barely restrained. 1st lap was extra slow since there were some minor changes for the last state race, so that helped me stay out of it. After that, I got on it progressively more and more. All things being relative, I was pushing what I would consider my "race pace", although only in sections. I would attack a straightaway, or a turn, then back way off. My intent was to almost constantly vary the RPM's.

All of that being said, and keeping in mind this is all relative to an old, fat, slow guy, here are my various impressions of the different aspects of this bike:


Me: 42, 6'0", 250lbs., mid-pack C rider on a very good day, coming off 3-1/2 years on a 2005 YZ250 2-stroke. Prior to that was a 2004 YZ450F and before that was a 2001 YZ426F.

The track: Midwest Extreme Park, located just outside of beautiful downtown Merwin, MO (pop. 75). The track was dry, but other than that was in great shape. Not its usual blue-groove, but not race-prepped flypaper tacky by a longshot.

Weather: As stated above, cold, overcast, spitting sleet and rain, north wind. Kinda miserable, actually.

The bike started easily for me. Nothing to it, really.

The bike feels SOLID. The seat is very firm, and the suspension seems pretty much spot-on for my riding ability. It did seem to loosen up a bit toward the end of the ride.

Power delivery is not "right now", it is "a half second ago." There's NO lag whatsoever between the engine and the throttle. Whatever you do to the throttle, happens instantaneously at the engine. Period. It took me a few laps to get used to it. If you move around and twist the throttle a bit (like you used to do on your carburetored bike) you will know it. Instantly. You can scare the poop out of yourself at times until you start getting into that instant response groove.

In stock form (I did not buy the ignition remapping software...yet) the power delivery is very linear. There's no real hit (not counting right off idle), but if you twist the throttle, the engine responds with power. It's a 1:1 ratio kinda thing. Hard to describe the feel. Not the big hit of the 06-up models, but not that anemic feel of the 02's by a longshot. I flirted with wrapping her out into the higher revs on occasion on the 3rd and 4th sessions, and it was all there. I probably never twisted the throttle past 1/2 way, but whatever I gave the throttle, the engine responded. After a fluids change, it will be time to see what she's really made of. I have a feeling I will not be disappointed.

Standing on the pegs, in the attack position, I could lift the front wheel just by thinking about it. Any kind of small roller and I could choose just how much I wanted to unweight the front end by applying a little more throttle. I was amazed at how easily the front wheel unweighted and lifted. It was awesome.

The front brake seemed a little less than spectacular the first time out. I tend to use a lot of front brake, and it seemed a little flat. On my last run, I made it a point to test the brake and really concentrate on its performance. It's fine. It's more than adequate. Maybe it needed to seat in to the rotor, but it seemed to have gotten a bit better after some laps.

Ah, that fabulous Honda turning. I found myself overturning, just like when I rode Okie's 06 CRF450 three years ago. I could pick a rut and just stay with it, or flat-track it around loose turns with confidence. As a matter of fact, the bike spoke to me several times. She said: "Turn with confidence, young man." :)

Also, the bike NEVER felt twitchy to me. It cuts turns like a razor, and in the fast straights, it tracked true for me. I did go up one click on the steering damper before this ride, so that may have helped. But honestly, the bike was always planted and solid feeling.

My final verdict: I couldn't be happier. And I wouldn't say that if it weren't true. Even after writing that monster check for this bad boy. If I didn't like it, I would say so. I was jumping farther, feeling more confident, etc, than I have in quite some time. For the first time in my riding history, I have nothing to buy for a new bike except maybe some preprinted backgrounds or something. This bike doesn't need a pipe. It doesn't need anything except for me to lose 50lbs. and get my cardio up so I can ride it like it was meant to be ridden!

That's all folks! Oh, a couple pictures to prove the craziness:
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B

biglou

One thing I forgot: The ergos. They were fine. All I did was point the levers down a little more and loosen the clamps some so the don't snap off, and that was it. The bike fits me just fine.
 

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
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Glad you like it Lou, I can't wait until I get a chance to give mine it's maiden voyage, although Troy keeps saying he gets to break in the 450 since I put the time on his 250 :laugh:

I'm thinking of heading just far enough south to get some seat time in late March early April so maybe we can hook up somewhere.
 

MXSparx

Mr. Meltsomeglass
Jul 25, 1999
3,724
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NoVa
Did the front end tend to ride low off of jumps? I've talked to a few people around here that say they think it feels strange coming of the jumps, like it has a built in Bubba Scrub kind of action happening.
 
B

biglou

MXSparx said:
Did the front end tend to ride low off of jumps? I've talked to a few people around here that say they think it feels strange coming of the jumps, like it has a built in Bubba Scrub kind of action happening.
The fender angle takes some getting used to. When I first picked it up, I thought the fork angle was WAY steeper than anything I'd ridden before. When actually, it's the fender pointing down that throws off your perception. As for me, I actually landed nose high one time, but other than that, didn't notice anything weird about it wanting to drop. I did get this DV12 cobra sideways thing once coming up the "ski jump" (nikki's ridden it). But I had worse on my 426. The thing is so light and skinny, it really feels like you can make it do whatever you want in the air. Granted, that's about 0.75 seconds for me (on my bigger jumps! ;) )
 

Rich Rohrich

Moderator / BioHazard
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 27, 1999
22,838
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Chicago
I think we need to do a FVOR Spring ride , as soon as we can. ;)
 

nikki

Moto Junkie
Apr 21, 2000
5,802
1
Awesome Lew.... glad you finally got it on a track! I don't know how you could stand four weeks of it sitting in the garage before today, man.... I would go nuts! When I got my '06 CRF (Feb 14th, V-Day!), the first ride was that week with the snow falling (big flakes in the photos), and then we went to FL like 2 weeks later to ride for a week, so it soothed the itch!

The bike review sounds very dreamy... the throttle response thing really has me interested to try out an EFI bike.... looking forward to it coming to the 250F's one of these days. Bet it will be awesome for starts, and out of the turns! So how did the bike feel like in the air and in the turns compared to the other bikes you've been on? Did it feel like a 450, or did it feel lighter, more like a 250 two-stroke or four-stroke?

And more importantly, when is the next ride??? :ride:
 
B

biglou

I tried to remember everything in my review, and I keep realizing that I forgot some stuff...

Noise: In the garage, it seemed loud. On the track, not so much. It doesn't "crack" and make any obnoxious noise, it's just a smooth rumble/roar. And in the cold air yesterday, that says a lot.

Clutch and shifting: Smoothe like BUTTAH! 'nuff said

In the air: I was trying to quantify how it felt. The bike is crazy narrow, and light. I'd have to say it feels AT LEAST as light as my 05 YZ250 did, only narrower. It's quite amazing.

In the turns: You don't even have to really think about turning. My 04 YZ450 turned like a battleship. It wanted to stand up in the ruts, and the rear wheel wanted to walk out of the ruts. On this one, all I need to do is give it more gas to keep it from turning too tight and going out of the inside of the rut. It tracks beautifully. Never felt skittish or twitchy. On a dry, loose track, it went wherever I pointed it. It was incredible. The turning and overall feel of the lightness of the CRF is what had me almost coming home from Dallas in 05 with Okie's CRF450 in the back of my truck. After almost 4 years, I finally have my own! :)

Next ride: Maybe (big maybe) tomorrow. It's misting now, with some snow in the forecast. Tomorrow is supposed to be windy and colder. Mid-30's with 20+ MPH winds. I have a feeling my three buds are going to cancel, lol! I will change the oils today so I am ready just in case. RJ said he might not even open tomorrow if the weather is crappy.
 

whenfoxforks-ruled

Old MX Racer
~SPONSOR~
Oct 19, 2006
8,129
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Merrillville,Indiana
Could you imagine, turning quicker? The CRF is still laid out. The aftermaket will still sell shorter raked triple clamps. Thanks for sending the alberta clipper our way Lou! You should be good Sunday, if you can find riding buddies? Man, if I knew someone with a new bike, and wanted to go riding,,,
 

Sawblade

Timmy Timmy Timmy!
Sep 24, 2000
1,491
0
Lou - Glad to see you finally got a ride in! Did you set the sag or spin any of the clickers on the suspension?

Told ya, EFI is cool just like Miles Davis!
 
B

biglou

Just changed the fluids. Track is closed tomorrow, though. Anyway, 0.5HR on the meter, oil was a little gray, but not too bad. Engine side is pretty easy to change. The bolt points straight down, and even has a guard cast into the case in front of it.

Trans side kinda sucks. It's easy enough to do, but the oil pretty much goes everywhere. It's a side mounted bolt, tucked up behind the shift lever. All in all, about a 30-45 minute job for both sides and a new filter.

Also, it looks like I burned about a quart of gas in that half hour of riding. Seems pretty efficient to me.
 
B

biglou

biglou said:
For the first time in my riding history, I have nothing to buy for a new bike except maybe some preprinted backgrounds or something. This bike doesn't need a pipe. It doesn't need anything except for me to lose 50lbs. and get my cardio up so I can ride it like it was meant to be ridden!.
Spoken before winter set in with a vengeance. Custom cut the Factory Effex black universal rear fender sticker last week (looks sweet on the white fender!), Fastway Evolution footpegs and D.I.D. gold chain arrive today. Factory Effex Works DX1 preprinted backgrounds on order. These will surely make me faster... :)
 

_JOE_

~SPONSOR~
May 10, 2007
4,697
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biglou said:
Spoken before winter set in with a vengeance. Custom cut the Factory Effex black universal rear fender sticker last week (looks sweet on the white fender!), Fastway Evolution footpegs and D.I.D. gold chain arrive today. Factory Effex Works DX1 preprinted backgrounds on order. These will surely make me faster... :)
I bling my bike up so it distracts the faster guys when they pass me. Maybe, just maybe, a stray light beam reflected off my bike will blind them for an instant and keep them behind me. :)
 
B

biglou

You guys know where I'm comin' from, lol! :)

And, come to find out they got almost no snow at the track (35 miles south), so...50-55degrees and Prepped Practice this weekend! :yeehaw:
 

whenfoxforks-ruled

Old MX Racer
~SPONSOR~
Oct 19, 2006
8,129
2
Merrillville,Indiana
I heard from a guy,,,,,, a really good source,,,, he has been running the 09 450 efi for a few months now,,,,, seemingly a part of the decompression released, errrr, released a part when its not supposed to! Guy talk, isolated, just a heads up.
 

_JOE_

~SPONSOR~
May 10, 2007
4,697
3
whenfoxforks-ruled said:
Look'in sweet Lou! White plastics Lou(subliminal message) White plastics Lou, Oh yeah, a heat wave is coming this weekend! White plastics Lou,,,,
Yeah, all the cool kids got the white plastic. :)

Did you go standard or O-ring on the chain? I went with the X-ring and it's held up great. Still looks like it fell off Mr T's neck after 70ish hours. No considerable stretch either, though I imagine that big bore monster will eat a chain up much quicker than my lil' pea-shooter. :nod:
 
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