2021 CRF450R Dealer ECU ReFLASH
It’s been the talk ever since the first impression of the all-new 2021 Honda CRF450R. What is the deal with the stock ECU settings? In some cases, really down low in the RPM range, if you have large throttle openings the CRF450R can experience a hesitation or hiccup for a split second. Although it was not a total deal breaker, it is annoying and not very confidence-inspiring when it happens.
Just recently Honda has issued a dealer bulletin and information on how to reflash all 2021 CRF450R, 450RWE, and we believe 450RX. We have seen the bulletin but were not able to get a copy to publish for the public. It’s pretty simple, call your dealer and take your bike in for the update.
The issue on the aftermarket side with regard to hop-up shops such as Tokyomods and Twisted Development, they were able to make some adjustents to the settings on map #2 and map #3 only, map #1 is locked out. Because map #2 and #3 are adjustments to the base map #1, they could only make adjustments but not totally cure the issue unless the customer upgraded to a GET or Vortex ECU.
The new dealer flash replaces map #1, which in turn affects all three maps. We have ridden with the new flash on a completely stock ECU and thus far, we have yet to feel the hesitation or stumble, so far so good. So if you have ever felt an issue with your mapping or have experienced that slight low-end stumble, give your local dealer a call and you will probably have to take the bike into a Honda dealer to flash your ECU. And if you have an ECU map #2 and #3 that had already been adjusted, these maps may have a different feel since the adjustments are now based off the new base map #1 from Honda. Now go enjoy your new and improved CRF.
