I got to ride a real Team Honda works bike !

mxbundy

Sponsoring Member
Feb 16, 2001
696
6
Hemet, CA.
Christmas came a little early yesterday for the bundster!
I was supposed to go riding with a couple of guys that work at Honda yesterday. But my bike blew out the fork seals Sunday and I was not able to fix them in time, so I just loaded up the kids bike and figgured I would help out with all the kids that were going to be there.( everyone was bringing there kids, plus I brought my brother in laws kids out too)
But I had the forsight to bring my gear bag! :p

Well after getting there and getting the kids setup I settled in for the day just kicking back and watching the kids ride and talking with Bruce. ( one of the Honda guys, and my brother inlaws neighbor)
There was at least a group of about 15 to 20 riders.

After a while the subject came up about my bike, followed with the comments like "should have bought a Honda" and what not.
but what blew me away was when Chuck says " Well did you at least bring your gear?" Hell yes I replied!
So lets go for a ride he says! With which I say what am I gonna ride?
So Chuck comes back with, "Well Bruce has his 650 here and you can ride that, and we can take turns on my bike, a CR-450F."
Now I knew this was no ordinary 650, i already knew it was the 650 that they had raced in the 2000 Baja 1000! :aj:

That was the main reason I had went ahead and brought my gear. I had wanted to con my way into a ride on that bike. Bruce has been talking them up, and I am considering one as a race bike for the Best in the Desert series.

So we take off , me on the 650 and Chuck on the 450. First off, this bike had the tall baja gearing on it, good for 115 mph, and it still was a beast! First was still almost to low and 5th, well I never really got up to 5th gear! :scream:
It is basically stock motor wise, just the power up cam and a Pro-Circuit pipe. But man this thing rips. It is not a rever and I thing the tranny is optional. No mater what gear I was in nose bleeding acceleration was just a throttle twist away!
And the bike handled great for such a heavy bike. Those that know me know that I am no lite weight. (6'4"-265#)
But the bike handled the deepest whoops just fine, and the suspension was with out a dought the plushest I have ever ridden. Plush with great bottoming control.
Then we stop to take a break and Chuck says, do you want to switch bikes? Sure, so off we go with me on the 450.
Now, I dont think there could be 2 bikes this much different that are buy the same manufacturer. The tourqe of the 650 was replaced with a mad almost 2 stroke wail. It makes my KTM seem like a minibike and would spank any 520 too.
Any movement with the throttle translates into either a forward burst of speed, or a front tire clawing at the sky, usually both!
And the suspesion was beyond words. it deflected in the rocks, MX valving I thought to myself, but would suck up whoops and G outs like no bike I have ever ridden. In fact the faster you go the plusher it gets. I could hold it wide open in the nastiest desert whoops and it would just go staight as as a board. And with the power that this thing has, it would wheelie in the same whoops almost efortlessly.

After we got back to camp, I got off the bike and was just dumbfounded. I have ridden plenty of 450`s before.(a ridding buddy has a new 03) But not like this one.
So i give it the eagle eye. Almost immediatly i notice it has a works shock and fork. Okay, that explains the suspension.
So I ask Chuck about the motor, " Whats this thing got for a motor, because I have ridden plenty of 450`s and this is on another world. Cam, piston? He says it has everything and then some. Then that is when he drops the bomb, yeah this is a special bike, it was Ryan Hughes works bike and Larocco rode the last 3 nationals of the 2001 national mx series on it! It was just gathering dust in the back of the shop, so I put a clean filter in it and brought it out.
Man I just about died. :flame:
So with a closer inspection , sure enough, there was all the little frame gussets, the reinforced works radiators, the works brakes and master cylinders.
And it has a rather unique hot start button/ compression release system. When you go to start a warm engine, you always pull the hot start lever, you can feel it working on the cam lobes as you kick it. But it will start right up. I know as I stalled it a couple of times.

So you can say that I was in heaven. After our first ride I took both bikes out several more times until I flattened the front tire on the 650 slamming into a g- out that must of had a sharp rock in the bottom. So with that , I decided that I had tempted fate one to many times and decided to call it a day and just watch the kids ride.

But man this is one day that I will remember for ever!

bundy
 

firecracker22

Sponsoring Member
Oct 23, 2000
3,217
0
Wow, that is amazing. I am jealous. Cool story, Bundy. Too bad there were no trees where you were--you could have seen if the works bikes can also double as chain saws!!
 

angry jim

Sponsoring Member
Aug 4, 2000
429
0
Bundy,
You lucky ... Hey, how about bringing that thing up to Reno ;)
I've ridden some pro's bikes before, but never a factory ride. That suspension is the biggest difference from what I understand. See you in Reno dude.
 

GETMETOCA

Can't Wait For Tuesdays
Mar 17, 2002
4,768
0
Bundy, I LOVE to read stuff like this!  Glad you had a good time!  See you in Reno.
 

Patman

Pantless Wonder
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 26, 1999
19,774
0
That is SO cool Big Man! I'm seriously jealous!!!
 

flynbryan

~SPONSOR~
May 22, 2000
1,066
0
So is Chuck still unconsious in the woods from when you knocked him over the head and threw roost on him as you rode away at top speed to take the bike home? I'm not sure if I could restrain myself being on hughes' and Laracco's 450 beast;)
 

holeshot

Crazy Russian
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 25, 2000
1,823
0
Bundy, you suck :wink:
 

holeshot

Crazy Russian
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 25, 2000
1,823
0
OK, let's try that wink icon again

:wink
:wink:
wink:
 

Ol'89r

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 27, 2000
6,961
45
Very cool Bunster. :thumb:

Those things are so fast in stock condition, I can't imagine one that has been breathed on. :scream:

Oh, and to add to what holeshot said. You really do suck. ;) ;) :)
 

mxbundy

Sponsoring Member
Feb 16, 2001
696
6
Hemet, CA.
Thanks guys,

Words can not tell you how I feel , I will always treasure the time I got to spend on those bikes.
When someone tells you that a guy will be fast no matter what bike he rides, that is probably true, but after riding these bikes, I can say with out a doubt that a bike like these makes a hell of a difference too. In fact the 450 is probably too powerful and would be a hand full for the average joe. The 650 was easy to ride, but extreamly fast at the same time.

bundy


ps. The guys names where Bruce olgilve and Chuck Miller.
 

jeffd

Naïve Texan
N. Texas SP
Jun 9, 2000
1,610
0
too freakin' cool. i am green w/ envy and i am a yamaha guy!

-jeffd
 
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