New And Improved
Story by Trevor Hunter, Photos by Trevor Hunter, Simon Cudby
Honda completely revamped the CRF line of bikes for 2025, and that includes the popular CRF450RX off-road racer. The 450RX has race winning pedigree with the SLR Honda and JCR Honda teams here on the west coast, with Phoenix Honda handling the GNCC and east coast racing duties. Big red sees a 70% new chassis with essentially a stiffer frame and more rigid components as they felt it was flexing too much, wreaking havoc on chassis feel and comfort. Suspension components and settings were updated to match, as well some small engine refinements, but a large majority of the changes were aimed at improving the chassis. We spent a few hours riding the new platform at Motoventures in Anza, CA and have a few key takeaways from the day.
The engine received minimal changes, yet there is a noticeable difference in power delivery and performance on the trail. The previous gen bike had one of the more favored powerplants with our group of testers, so we were glad to see it remain largely intact. However, a different air intake, revised ECU settings, and some clutch updates give the bike a more free feeling engine that spools up a touch quicker. Overall, we’d say the spread is longer and more effective from top to bottom with a more exciting, yet still very controllable power output.
One of the better attributes is we experienced less flame outs and stalling in slow speed, technical singletrack. The old bike stalled so frequently that we went to a Rekluse auto clutch to remedy this in a true off-road setting. Today, we had no issues lugging the bike in taller gears with little clutch work and enough torque to pull through and build up the revs in time.
The 5-speed MX transmission isn’t ideal for off-road, but Honda has retained that for the 2025 bike. Unlike some of the other MX transmissions in the class, first gear feels slightly lower and more usable than others, but it’s still going to be tall if you take it into anything overly technical without regearing. Likewise, fifth gear can run out rather quickly on faster tracks, though we had neither here today to test the limits of the gearbox.
We’ve been saying this for a few years now, but it’s never rang truer than now – these Showa components have A LOT of comfort. The CRF450RX is set up in a softer manner no doubt, but for hare scramble type riding without big hits and whoops, the bike is very comforting and free moving throughout the stroke. The speeds were minimal and there wasn’t much to test hold up, but the initial compliance worked well and we experienced no deflection in the rocks. If we were to take this to a fast desert race or grand prix, our Pro level riders would need more out of the suspension, but the average rider should have no problem getting a good setting out of this in stock trim. We kept sag at 104-105mm all day and ran the forks at stock height with no need to drop them in the clamps like we did on the previous gen bike.
The chassis is what received the most work over the “off-season” and it shows on the track. Previously, we would’ve dreaded riding a CRF450 in conditions like we had today – dry, slippery, and choppy. The old chassis was very finicky and sensitive to terrain and the rider, and we found these conditions were the toughest to get a good feel on. Similar to the CRF450R motocrosser we rode earlier this year, we were pleasantly surprised with the feel of this new chassis and how well it worked. The bike retains much of its cornering prowess that many of our testers loved on the old bike, but the predictability is increased tenfold on the new platform. We could hit the same bumps and the same line over and over again and get the same result, a rather good one actually, and feel more confident in the machine underneath us. We also felt less jarring feedback through the bike, surprising considering they stiffened the frame in several areas.
As good as this bike is, there are a few areas we’d like to see improved. First, the gas tank is larger and wider than it needs to be at the capacity that it is. It carries over from the last bike so your old aftermarket tank will bolt right up, but we find the wide stock tank obtrusive and uncomfortable at times. Next, we dislike the tires (especially the front) and would recommend at the very least that you have your favorite front tire in stock when you pick up this bike. The previous gen bike improved greatly from just replacing the front tire, and we suspect this bike will be the same. The tire is stiff, has poor traction across the board, and overall just hurts the bike’s performance. Dunlop’s AT82 is a very good replacement tire that would be the first modification to this bike if we’re looking to stick with Dunlop tires. Lastly, and this is a tougher one as it isn’t simple, but we wish the transmission was altered on the RX. A 6-speed tranny would be ideal, but less likely to happen. A wider ratio 5-speed transmission would be acceptable and make it easier to set up for off-road riding and racing without constantly changing gearing and compromising the power delivery.
Honda made a lot of instrumental changes to this bike, some big and some small, but all effective and in the right direction for our opinion. Today, we had two testers that didn’t particularly enjoy the last CRF450RX all the time, but were pleased with the performance and eager to spend more time on the new bike. We hope to get one of these long term to dive into it as we feel this is a much better starting point than the previous generation bike.
