2017 Honda CRF450R

With significant delays due to earthquake damage to the Honda factory in Sendai, Japan, and relatively little information being leaked to the public, the all-new Honda CRF450R has to be one of the most highly anticipated bike unveilings in the last several years. Honestly the last few years have not been the most favorable to the “Ride Red” faithful. Between injuries for the race team and the bike becoming recognized for front-end quirks and underwhelming power delivery, shining moments for the once-iconic brand have been few and far between. It’s as though the company needed to take a step back, reevaluate, and hit the reset button, and this is exactly what they’ve done. Armed with new brand ambassador Andrew Short, 2016 450 National MX Champ Ken Roczen, and an all-new-from-the-ground-up motorcycle, Honda appears to be poised for a return to greatness.

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Honda’s goals for the design are encapsulated by their new slogan #absoluteholeshot—not a gimmick or a starting device, but rather the concept of recognizing the four major elements required to achieve a perfect holeshot and applying them to the foundation of the motorcycle. The four essential design concepts are simple: increase torque and power, optimize traction, reduce weight, and centralize mass. Easier to say than to implement, but read on to hear how Honda approached the task.

To help increase power, Honda stuck with the compact Unicam engine. The new down draft intake layout increases power by reducing resistance and improves air-charging efficiency. A new combustion chamber with a higher compression ratio was utilized, and they decreased the valve angle for greater efficiency. An in-finger rocker arm allows for increased valve lift while retaining the compact layout, coils on the valve springs have oval cross-sections to permit low engine height, and there’s a new port layout with straighter flow for increased efficiency. A new piston improves combustion, and the piston pin and rocker arm are diamond-like carbon-coated (DLC) to reduce friction and increase durability. The 2017 also features a new compact dual muffler with more-gradual pipe bends for smoother exhaust flow, a shallower clutch assembly with fewer plates for narrower engine width, and while the kick-starter is standard, an electric start is available as an accessory.