Honda CRF450L Review | First Ride

Cycle World takes a first ride on the 2019 Honda CRF450L, and comes away impressed with its performance and handling. Can it be a contender for the dual-sport crown?

When Honda released first details of the 2019 CRF450L, Honda fans rejoiced as KTM, Beta, and Husqvarna grit their teeth, knowing very well the European domination of the hard-core dual-sport segment is in jeopardy. A glance down the spec sheet and all looked great for Honda and worrisome for the big three. Until nearly the last line of the sheet—289-pound curb weight? Insert record scratch here. Fanboys held their heads and detractors high-fived. How can a combatant for the DS throne weigh in 25 to 30 pounds more than its competition? Online arguments exploded and trolls threw that number around with reckless abandon. All of the speculation and bickering can be put to rest—the CRF450L is a contender, 289 pounds or not.

Built on the bones of Honda's CRF450R motocrosser, the CRF450L branches the farthest off the family tree via the CRF450RX and most closely the CRF450X. All share the same basic architecture: a 449.7cc overhead-cam Unicam engine, twin-spar aluminum perimeter frame, and premium Showa suspension. Journey from the R model through the RX to the X and the frame gets a bit wider in the hips to accommodate a six-speed wide-ratio transmission. The rear wheel morphs into an 18-inch hoop rather than a 19-incher and the tank capacity grows by just a third of gallon to 2.01 gallons. Suspension spring rates and damping settings are tailored for off-road usage.

But don’t underestimate the effort to make the jump from the X to the CRF450L. While the press materials will have you believe the genealogical makeup between Ken Roczen’s MXer and the L is trivial, in fact the amount of work to bring this dual-sport to market is monumental. Larger, more efficient radiators cool an engine that shares about 70 percent of the parts with the R, RX, or X. A three-ring piston and 12.0:1 compression ratio bring street reliability to the CRF450L, while various methods have been employed to tame the decibels emanating from every area on the bike.

Of course, the muffler is larger and contains a catalytic converter. Plastic cover and skid plates do double duty as protective parts while damping noise from the engine. Rubber-damped sprockets and a sealed chain work with IRC tires and a urethane-injected swingarm to quiet road noise. On top of all that, add emissions equipment such as an air-injection system, charcoal canister, and ratcheting fuel cap. With a final dose of street-focused LED lighting, turn signals, mirrors, license plate bracket, and reflectors along with a longer subframe reaching to the rear of the fender for support of enduro-travel bags, you now can see it’s a marvel Honda kept the CRF450L under 300 pounds.

With the tech and spec out of the way the night before, the next morning couldn’t come soon enough as Mother Nature’s water truck went to work on the trails around Packwood, Washington. With just a short press of the electric starter button (no kickstart lever here) the CRF450L fired right up and settled into a fast idle for warm-up with an exhaust tone that is unequivocally friendly to the the EPA and DOT. The ride left promptly at 8 a.m., beginning on the longest stretch of asphalt of the day (or at least it felt like that). Immediately it was striking how smooth the ride was on the road; no tire hop or shake (even on more aggressive Dunlop D606 tires), and the counterbalanced engine purred along. Only the fuzzy images in the rearview gave any hint of vibes.

Once off the pavement and onto the next section of fire road, a hard twist of the throttle found a nice torquey power delivery that surges hard right off idle, builds quickly, but then flattens out on top. Perfect for rear tire control on fast fire roads and two-track. Banging through the first few chuckholes found the 49mm Showa fork to be stiff, almost too stiff. I would hold my judgment until we hit the real-deal single-track.

[onedragon]

Nice video, 'wish honda would unleash the crf650r based on the xr650r same engine but with 15 more hp and comes with electric starter in a package that weights 250lbs dry." That would be epic.

[frankmalone]

I believe service intervals are every 1000 miles, pls correct if wrong. And with a high price tag I'll shy away from this motorcycle.

[HavyHaulr]

whats the power like to an xr650r that was uncorked or pumper carb modified

[tgafire]

The price is too high. Also I would like to see a SM version but I’m afraid they would tack on another few grand for that which I’m not sure would be worth it.

[CycleCruza]

My 2019 Yamaha YZ450FX (Now Street Legal) will eat that bike alive!

[motorcyclemichael]

Now update the big pig 650L!!
...70hp and keep it light

[josephsherman]

Nice noob review for next year's magazine issue