We settled half way with 1/4 turn out from oem. We adjusted the high speed out ½ a turn, it was better across the sharp bumps, but the shock was feeling softer the more laps we rode. For light riders <80kg or larger bumps or downhills, we would have left this as oem. This helped with drive accross the bigger accelaration bumps. Running on the stock shock on this hard pack track we opened the rebound out 2 clicks for improved drive out of the turns. With the fork height and rebound helping the fork stay up in the stroke we could now open out the compression clicker just a little. Straight up we were scared to do this change as it was a touch divey already. After this improved feeling we now adjusted comp out 3 clicks to soften it initially. We adjusted the rebound out 2 clicks for better hold up under brakes, this also made it a lot plusher in our hands across high speed chop. We needed better hold up with softer feeling. It feels overall a little soft but also a little harsh initially for our VET moto speed at park 4 mx, especially noticeable with the small chatter on the hard pack sections. The fork action dives under hard braking. Slightly harder to turn in on very slow tight corners but hugely improved on the fast turns, with a much safer feeling. We felt this bike turned in great almost too great and sometimes would produce an oversteer on fast sweepers so we quickly moved the forks 2.5mm further down to allow less aggressive turn in and better cornering on fast turns. The forks are set at 5mm fork height oem. The handlebars, foot pegs and seat all feel as before and make it super easy to get comfy on. The new thin spar alloy frame gives a lightweight look visually. With our Social feed getting slammed with ‘How does it feel?’ lets get straight to it.
We all know the great new features on this bike, and if you don’t head over to any US magazine test or website to get a full insight of the stacked changes to this all new 2021 Honda CRF450R. Thanks to our good friends at Penrite Honda Racing we were given the chance to get out on this bike and give it an initial shakedown. The highly anticipated Honda is here in Aus with bikes just about to roll off the Dealer floor.