Story by Trevor Hunter, Photos by Harlen Foley
Ever have those days where you can do no wrong? You nail every corner, you’re at one with the bike, and everything works flawlessly and goes to plan. We have too, but at the second round of the Legacy Off-Road Racing Association’s championship, the 610 mile Baja Nevada event, we had anything but that with problems that were both in our control and out of our control.
To start, we had an eventful week leading up to the race trying to prep our 2023 Honda CRF450X in our first foray at high speed, long distance desert racing on the red machine. We’ll do a deep dive on the bike and what all is done to it at a later time, but it’s heavily modified and very similar to what the SLR Honda team has raced to several Baja 1000 victories over the last couple of years.
Being a 600+ mile race, the Legacy crew has made this a two day event with a ~290 mile point-to-point from Pahrump, NV to Tonopah, NV on Friday followed by a ~310 mile loop starting and finishing in Tonopah, NV on Saturday. We felt this would be a perfect testing opportunity prior to lining up in the Best In The Desert series later this year as we could race on familiar terrain with the new bike while also having some time between days to try any changes if we see fit.
Per usual, motorcycles were first off the line at 5:30am Friday morning, and we were lucky enough to be the first bike off the line. This meant we’d be dust free for at least the start, and hopefully for the full 300 miles. In the first few miles, vision through the rocky terrain around Johnnie, NV was tough with minimal daylight, but it quickly opened up and we were able to start racing at a comfortable pace, getting a feel for the new Honda. Coming into pit two at roughly sixty miles, the plan was to refuel and change riders – quick and easy. By chance, someone glanced at the rear tire (why would you need to even worry about it after only 60 miles?) and we noticed it was shredded down to the cords all the way around. Not being ready for a wheel swap, we did the best we could and changed out a rear wheel, but lost valuable time and a position on the road in the meantime.
Coming into pit four, another 60-70 miles in, we again only planned on changing riders and refueling. However, we again saw the tire was down to nothing and all of the knobs had chunked off. So again, we scrambled to change wheels as we were confused and flustered as to why this was happening. We got back on the road again, only losing time and no more physical positions as we were halfway through day one.
About 50 or so miles in, we experienced another issue with the front brake. As we were coming down a high speed, twisty mountain, we experienced a lot of front brake fade, eventually pulling the lever all the way into the handlebars and still receiving minimal braking power. I quickly pulled over and pushed the caliper in towards the wheel to back bleed it in hopes that this would solve the issue and get us a decently working front brake again. Luckily, it worked and we didn’t have any issues the rest of the day with this.
Coming into pit six, about ~70 miles since the last wheel change, we again had to change out a rear wheel. Knowing the issues we had going on, I could feel the rear tire letting go around 20 miles into the section and just tried to ride consciously smoother and easier on the throttle and braking through that 70 mile stint.
Again, we had to change another wheel, our last of four tires (that we had planned for both days of racing, not just day one). We got going and had a smooth ride into the finish from there, catching back up to the rear fender of the 1X team of Danny Cooper and only losing 1 minute on adjusted time. This go around, we went a full 90 miles and the rear tire looked normal – the only one of our tires that wasn’t the same date code as the other three!
Due to our tire issue (which ended up being a bad batch of tires), and feeling we were severely under geared with our 13/50 setup, we had some work to do overnight in preparation for day two of racing. Luckily, Jimmy Lewis had everything we needed back in Pahrump so we could restock on tires, change gearing, and prep the bike with fresh oil, an air filter, bleed the brakes, etc.
Day two rolled around and we were off at the crack of dawn, this time the second bike on the road. The 1x team led us out and we sat just in their dust for the first 70 miles on the day. At that point, they had missed a turn and started straying off course. Unfortunately, we did the same, as well as the 22x team of Cory Skaggs behind us. All three of the top teams ventured nearly 10 miles off course before realizing they had gone the wrong way. This sort of reset the race, but everyone happened to re-enter the course in the same positions they had left, just with much smaller time gaps in between.
After 90 or so miles, we sat 2nd in class but 3rd on the road (an Ironman Pro had passed into the lead by staying on course). As I got onto the bike, I quickly ran into the dust of the Ironman racer who sat between us and the 1x bike. After 15-20 miles of sucking dust, I made my way around and set out to charge towards the front. I began to notice the Honda felt slower than it should have, but knowing we were at a high elevation and with taller gearing, I thought that could’ve been the culprit and it was merely just a mental thing. As the miles wore on, the bike got slower and slower and started sounding choked up. Once the 22x bike blew by on a flat fire road, I knew we had an issue and limped it into the next pit where we would pull off to save the motor from complete destruction.
We still don’t know exactly what went wrong or why (more on this at a later time), but we can say that we’re impressed with the 450X thus far. By far its standout trait is its handling. For this kind of riding and racing, the heavier scale weight goes a long way and helps the bike stay planted and stable and we can hit stuff with less fear knowing how well this bike will handle it. With the modifications done (though we still aren’t done testing), it isn’t quite as fast as the KTM we’ve been racing or even as fast as a Yamaha, but it feels very close and the superb handling makes up for the slight lack in motor pull so far.
As far as the race goes, the Legacy crew did an outstanding job with good organization, a fun race course, and a good atmosphere overall. So much so that we plan on going back to the next race for some redemption on the Honda 450X as we continue to put it through its paces.
Thanks to those who supported us!
American Honda, DirtBikeTest.com, 1-800-Dent-Doc, Kenda, TCS Powersports, GPR Stabilizer, Pro Circuit, IMS Products, Maxima USA, DDC Sprockets, TM Designworks, Bullet Proof Designs, Nitro Mousse, Modified Machine Works, Acerbis, RAD Custom Graphics
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