Honda CRF450R 2021

Broseph wrote:

How about that weight? Says it lost 3lbs overall, but 2.7lbs of that was the single exhaust. That puts the rest of the bike at a...

How about that weight? Says it lost 3lbs overall, but 2.7lbs of that was the single exhaust. That puts the rest of the bike at a 0.3lb weight loss. I was expecting a little more considering the new frame and all.

Dirty Points wrote:

Total weight loss was 4.2 lbs. -- New frame/subframe lost just over 2 lbs. So half a pound was gained elsewhere (hydro clutch, larger airbox assembly...

Total weight loss was 4.2 lbs. -- New frame/subframe lost just over 2 lbs. So half a pound was gained elsewhere (hydro clutch, larger airbox assembly, etc).

Broseph wrote:

How about that weight? Says it lost 3lbs overall, but 2.7lbs of that was the single exhaust. That puts the rest of the bike at a...

How about that weight? Says it lost 3lbs overall, but 2.7lbs of that was the single exhaust. That puts the rest of the bike at a 0.3lb weight loss. I was expecting a little more considering the new frame and all.

Dirty Points wrote:

Total weight loss was 4.2 lbs. -- New frame/subframe lost just over 2 lbs. So half a pound was gained elsewhere (hydro clutch, larger airbox assembly...

Total weight loss was 4.2 lbs. -- New frame/subframe lost just over 2 lbs. So half a pound was gained elsewhere (hydro clutch, larger airbox assembly, etc).

Broseph wrote:

Where did you see 4.2 lbs? The Vital article says 3 lb savings and Honda’s website agrees.

DynoDan22 wrote:

Did anyone catch that Honda is also producing another production run of '20 CRF 450's for the '21 model year? Retail for the old model is...

Did anyone catch that Honda is also producing another production run of '20 CRF 450's for the '21 model year? Retail for the old model is $8599. Interesting.

Crush wrote:

Surprised reading the racerxonline article that the Honda 450 is the top selling full-size motocross bike. Thought that might have been Yamaha or KTM to be...

Surprised reading the racerxonline article that the Honda 450 is the top selling full-size motocross bike. Thought that might have been Yamaha or KTM to be honest.

Alex.434 wrote:

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/14/437858/s1200_2021_HONDA_CRF450_434.jpg[/img]

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila.

Johnny Ringo wrote:

It may look a little KTMish to some but I’ll take Honda quality over KTM quality any day of the week

Johnny Ringo wrote:

It may look a little KTMish to some but I’ll take Honda quality over KTM quality any day of the week

Johnny Ringo wrote:

It may look a little KTMish to some but I’ll take Honda quality over KTM quality any day of the week

gjbruny wrote:

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up...

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up is very high. It seems to only get better with each generation. Honda certainly had its teething problems but has also gotten better with each gen of 4 strokes. I own a large landscape maintenance company and i can tell u that on that side of things Honda quality has gone down over the last 20 years.... WAY down.

As far as dirt bikes go id say austrian quality is right up at the top of the heap. Are they perfect... nope. But no e of them are. As of right now all but zuke owners can thank ktm for e-start. A couple can thank ktm for some of the engine/valve train tech. Honda, kawi (and im sure yamaha soon) can thank ktm for juice clutches.... tho the actual components still arent up to par. Soon they (at least i hope) they can thank ktm for stellar brakes. Quality is certainly not an issue for the orange and white bikes... if ktms came with SSS forks valved to yamaha factory specs, some people would still bag on them with no basis for it.

They are all damn good bikes.... and personally id say the hondas would be the nicest looking bikes out there if they came in the rendition above with the blue seat and white backgrounds... but i dont know if id rate them the highest quality out of the bunch. Certainly not the worst either... but to be honest i do t think any of them are of low quality. Having said that, Lets hope this new clutch holds up better than the trash they had for the last 10+ years

Johnny Ringo wrote:

It may look a little KTMish to some but I’ll take Honda quality over KTM quality any day of the week

gjbruny wrote:

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up...

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up is very high. It seems to only get better with each generation. Honda certainly had its teething problems but has also gotten better with each gen of 4 strokes. I own a large landscape maintenance company and i can tell u that on that side of things Honda quality has gone down over the last 20 years.... WAY down.

As far as dirt bikes go id say austrian quality is right up at the top of the heap. Are they perfect... nope. But no e of them are. As of right now all but zuke owners can thank ktm for e-start. A couple can thank ktm for some of the engine/valve train tech. Honda, kawi (and im sure yamaha soon) can thank ktm for juice clutches.... tho the actual components still arent up to par. Soon they (at least i hope) they can thank ktm for stellar brakes. Quality is certainly not an issue for the orange and white bikes... if ktms came with SSS forks valved to yamaha factory specs, some people would still bag on them with no basis for it.

They are all damn good bikes.... and personally id say the hondas would be the nicest looking bikes out there if they came in the rendition above with the blue seat and white backgrounds... but i dont know if id rate them the highest quality out of the bunch. Certainly not the worst either... but to be honest i do t think any of them are of low quality. Having said that, Lets hope this new clutch holds up better than the trash they had for the last 10+ years

Peanut M&Ms wrote:

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things... A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO...

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things...

A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO changes).. in the 90's early 00's they over spec'd a lot of the base materials used in manufacturing... they made some great cars and bikes but didn't maximize profits... CEO changed and they moved to a more profit based philosophy and when cutting costs the over spec'd manufacturing materials went... and it shows in a lot of the products they manufactured.. they are trying to rectify this problem now

the second problem is Japan's ageing population. this is not just for Honda either. A vast majority of the staff in the factories have now since retired and taken their manufacturing know how with them.. the younger people that replaced them don't have the same skill and thus produce an inferior product... (the Honda factory in Kumamoto (where the 450 is made) is good example of this...



that being said... i really like the 2021 bike but it does look a lot better with the blue seat and white side panel backgrounds

gjbruny wrote:

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up...

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up is very high. It seems to only get better with each generation. Honda certainly had its teething problems but has also gotten better with each gen of 4 strokes. I own a large landscape maintenance company and i can tell u that on that side of things Honda quality has gone down over the last 20 years.... WAY down.

As far as dirt bikes go id say austrian quality is right up at the top of the heap. Are they perfect... nope. But no e of them are. As of right now all but zuke owners can thank ktm for e-start. A couple can thank ktm for some of the engine/valve train tech. Honda, kawi (and im sure yamaha soon) can thank ktm for juice clutches.... tho the actual components still arent up to par. Soon they (at least i hope) they can thank ktm for stellar brakes. Quality is certainly not an issue for the orange and white bikes... if ktms came with SSS forks valved to yamaha factory specs, some people would still bag on them with no basis for it.

They are all damn good bikes.... and personally id say the hondas would be the nicest looking bikes out there if they came in the rendition above with the blue seat and white backgrounds... but i dont know if id rate them the highest quality out of the bunch. Certainly not the worst either... but to be honest i do t think any of them are of low quality. Having said that, Lets hope this new clutch holds up better than the trash they had for the last 10+ years

Peanut M&Ms wrote:

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things... A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO...

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things...

A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO changes).. in the 90's early 00's they over spec'd a lot of the base materials used in manufacturing... they made some great cars and bikes but didn't maximize profits... CEO changed and they moved to a more profit based philosophy and when cutting costs the over spec'd manufacturing materials went... and it shows in a lot of the products they manufactured.. they are trying to rectify this problem now

the second problem is Japan's ageing population. this is not just for Honda either. A vast majority of the staff in the factories have now since retired and taken their manufacturing know how with them.. the younger people that replaced them don't have the same skill and thus produce an inferior product... (the Honda factory in Kumamoto (where the 450 is made) is good example of this...



that being said... i really like the 2021 bike but it does look a lot better with the blue seat and white side panel backgrounds

kiwifan wrote:

Lets agree to disagree that Hondas are an inferior product

Peanut M&Ms wrote:

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things... A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO...

"Honda Quality" has indeed dropped off across the board.... and really comes down to two things...

A change in the companies philosophy (changes when the CEO changes).. in the 90's early 00's they over spec'd a lot of the base materials used in manufacturing... they made some great cars and bikes but didn't maximize profits... CEO changed and they moved to a more profit based philosophy and when cutting costs the over spec'd manufacturing materials went... and it shows in a lot of the products they manufactured.. they are trying to rectify this problem now

the second problem is Japan's ageing population. this is not just for Honda either. A vast majority of the staff in the factories have now since retired and taken their manufacturing know how with them.. the younger people that replaced them don't have the same skill and thus produce an inferior product... (the Honda factory in Kumamoto (where the 450 is made) is good example of this...



that being said... i really like the 2021 bike but it does look a lot better with the blue seat and white side panel backgrounds

kiwifan wrote:

Lets agree to disagree that Hondas are an inferior product

NoMuff2Tuff wrote:

I worked on every brand bike and owned plenty from the 80's until now and without a doubt Honda has always had the best quality and...

I worked on every brand bike and owned plenty from the 80's until now and without a doubt Honda has always had the best quality and attention to detail. Metallurgy, fastener quality, plastic quality, fit and finish and engineering were always second to none. I'm not saying they always had the best performing bikes and they had flaws with certain models at times but as a whole Honda was always at the top game as the most reliable well built MX brand over the last 30 years. When you work on the different bikes, tear them apart and put them back together you can see the difference in all of them. Today the gap is closer, all of the brands have quality bikes. For what its worth Honda led most of the early innovations on production bikes like lowering the center of gravity, first to have cartridge forks, removable sub frames, quick change clutch covers, dropped gas tanks, low boy pipes, aluminum frames, the basic rear Pro- link linkage design which is still used by all the manufactures today. Honda forced the other 4 brands to keep pace. Yamaha pretty much stole the CR125 cylinder port layout and pipe design from the 90's to finally get there 125 to run better. I know other brands like Yamaha had the first power valve to alter exhaust port height, start the new 4 stroke revolution and Kawi with the perimeter frame and front disc but its hard to argue what all Honda has brought to the table to help get bikes where they are today. Yea I like Honda's because they have always been the best quality built bikes and innovation, hell everybody knows that. lol but Honda has definitely been doing some KTM snooping.

Alex.434 wrote:

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/14/437858/s1200_2021_HONDA_CRF450_434.jpg[/img]

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila.

Alex.434 wrote:

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/14/437858/s1200_2021_HONDA_CRF450_434.jpg[/img]

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila.

Johnny Ringo wrote:

It may look a little KTMish to some but I’ll take Honda quality over KTM quality any day of the week

gjbruny wrote:

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up...

I dont get it when people say this. I have owned every brand multiple times over the past 40 years and ktm quality from 2008ish up is very high. It seems to only get better with each generation. Honda certainly had its teething problems but has also gotten better with each gen of 4 strokes. I own a large landscape maintenance company and i can tell u that on that side of things Honda quality has gone down over the last 20 years.... WAY down.

As far as dirt bikes go id say austrian quality is right up at the top of the heap. Are they perfect... nope. But no e of them are. As of right now all but zuke owners can thank ktm for e-start. A couple can thank ktm for some of the engine/valve train tech. Honda, kawi (and im sure yamaha soon) can thank ktm for juice clutches.... tho the actual components still arent up to par. Soon they (at least i hope) they can thank ktm for stellar brakes. Quality is certainly not an issue for the orange and white bikes... if ktms came with SSS forks valved to yamaha factory specs, some people would still bag on them with no basis for it.

They are all damn good bikes.... and personally id say the hondas would be the nicest looking bikes out there if they came in the rendition above with the blue seat and white backgrounds... but i dont know if id rate them the highest quality out of the bunch. Certainly not the worst either... but to be honest i do t think any of them are of low quality. Having said that, Lets hope this new clutch holds up better than the trash they had for the last 10+ years

Alex.434 wrote:

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/14/437858/s1200_2021_HONDA_CRF450_434.jpg[/img]

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila.

Beeby wrote:

That’s a LOT better

Alex.434 wrote:

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/14/437858/s1200_2021_HONDA_CRF450_434.jpg[/img]

I wanted to see it with number plates and a blue seat. Voila.

Bearuno wrote:

Could you do one with Gold rims, please.

One with Yellow number plate backgrounds would satisfy my old bastard 500 class memories, too.

mofomotojoe wrote:

[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/15/437925/s1200_CRF450R_retro_gold_rims.jpg[/img]

Lunch_Box wrote:

Hopefully they still have a works edition for us ol' timers with money to blow.

Question wrote:

Maybe I will just bleed blue for a little while more but it is actually not spicy and that is gonna be my last hopes. It...

Maybe I will just bleed blue for a little while more but it is actually not spicy and that is gonna be my last hopes. It is "good" but I was waiting for something as competitive as the ktm especially in the weight department. As usual we will now have to wait 10 more years to get into ktm's weights, which will then be dropped by another 4-8 pounds. And 10 years later there will be no 350 from any japanese brands. Honestly they are just giving up the highway they built in the 80's/90's. They think it is a cash cow? No problem, others want it more, the austrians, italians, even frenchies. The factory bike will be great especially with top calibers but to find out that the main weight savings comes from the single exhaust is disappointing, if not exasperating. The bike looks good but that is just it. The way it is going it is gonna be just the last decade where japanese bikes will be seen as as competive.