In love with a 230lb Redhead.

[Smitty]

Really got my CRF working good this weekend and wanted to post some info on my setup. Anyway, I've added the low/back IMS pegs and 3.2 tank, a tall seat, and a DH1 barmount and damper with Magura bars off a KTM. For tall guys like me (6'3") this setup feels absolutely perfect. Saturday I rode for 3 hours with a screwdriver in my boot while I messed with the suspension settings for woods work. After raising the forks 5mm, backing the comp clickers out to a few clicks short of full soft and adding some shock rebound the bike just worked awesome. Raising the forks 5mm made the biggest difference and no one should justify buying new triple clamps until they make a solid effort to tune the stock setup. The footpegs felt great when combined with the KTM bars. These bars are almost as tall as CR double hi's I used to run and are considerably straighter which really opened up the standing position, no more burning lower back after miles of standing!

I rode the 3 hours Saturday and another 3 hours on Sunday in everything from slow, loamy chop to sand whoops to 5th gear grass track and was loving every minute of it. I truly think these four strokes are unfair to traditional 250 MX'ers in most situations. I mean should it really be legal for a bike to pull fourth and fifth gear wheelies coming out a turn on baked clay roads with an S12 on the back and no clutching! :cool:

 

[Dirty Dave]

Two weekends ago while riding at Middle Creek OHV area, I had the opportunity to ride red. WOW! I recently bought a '00 Husky 610TE and thought it the t*ts. After riding the 450 I may be back in the market...
The bike felt right as soon as I threw a leg over. Awsome power in all the right places for a MX track but a snippy for woods for my taste. I'd give it a '9', easy to dance with and you won't be able to forget the experience;)

 

[woodsy]

Great writeup on the CRF!!

Hi Smitty -
I really enjoyed your comments on the changes you made to your CRF! I recently rode one (cant afford my own yet but maybe by spring) of my friends and it is truely an awesome steed to say the least!! I, like you, am also tall and can really appreciate your comments about the taller bars - I currently am riding a 2000 VOR 400MX that I had to go to ATV bars to get the standing all day thing taken care of - I dont like that low back pain either!! It sounds to me like you are building your bike up for some real aggressive trail riding. Have you checked into a lighting coil and spark arrestor for the CRF? Here in Michigan it is really worth the while to make our bikes street legal (this state has an awesome amount of trails available but the big MCCCT trail which covers the entire state in a loop requires a dual sport bike) and I was wondering if you or anyone else out there has heard of Honda making this stuff available?
The legal exhaust here is 94 decible with spark arrestor...
Also, we have been doing ALOT of snow riding (screws in the tires are such a riot - 5 gear wheelies across a snowy field is unreal!!). It would be nice if there were a lighting coil available that put out 150 watts for heated grips!!
Scott/Woodsy
Come ride with us some time!!

 

[-chilly]

Hey Woodsy,

Dirt Rider dual sported a CRF with a kit from White Brothers, I'm pretty sure. I know I remember that Electrix made the coil and it only produced 45 watts.
They went on about what you needed to do to get it through California DMV to make it a Green Sticker (ride all year) bike, but I noticed they had a few of the details wrong.

One good point they brought up was the fact the CRF only holds a little over a quart of oil. They said that a four stroke normally blows oil out the crankcase vent while sustaining high rpm for long periods. The CRF does have a series of baffles that helps keep the oil in the motor, but they kept an eye on it just in case. They didn't notice any oil lose, but they said Honda engineers must be cringing about the thought of a dual sport CRF.

See ya,
Carl

 

[Bucko]

How is she in the tight woods, I've heard how great it is in the MX park but would like to get some info in the woods area, gonna be doing more MX in the next couple of years and wondering if I should keep the WR426 for the woods and the CRF for the parks.

Bucko

 

[holeshot]

Late at night...

They all look good after a few beer, even the 230 pounders...:confused:

It's good to hear that she still looked good the morning after - I may be in for an '03 model (unless Yamaha comes up with an auto decompress 250F).:)