FEATURE
P70
2014 HONDA CRF450F TUNE-UP
THE 2014 HONDA
CRF450F IS A
GREAT BIKE BUT
HERE ARE A FEW
THINGS THAT WE
LEARNED WILL
MAKE IT AN EVEN
BETTER BIKE.
Cycle News test
rider Jason Abbott
puts in the laps at
Starwest Park on
our FMF/Hinson-
modified 2014
Honda CRF450R.
FINISHING
TOUCH
BY THE CN STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
H
onda's pride and joy in
the big-bore class, the
CRF450R, is blessed with
above-average suspension and
solid handling. It's also light on its
feet and offers that just-right feel
that no other machine in its class
can boast. As good as the Honda
is, however, there are a few minor
and simple – though not necessar-
ily cheap (but still worth it) – things
you can do to make your 2014
CRF450R even better.
First of all, compared to some of
the other bikes in its class, like the
Kawasaki KX450F, KTM 450 SX
and Yamaha YZ450F, the Honda's
total power output is a little on the
soft side for our tastes. For some,
though, that might not be a terrible
thing but for hard-core motocross-
ers like us, the Honda, we feel,
could benefit from a bit more snap
and overall output from its motor.
Since we like to keep things rela-
tively simple, the first and most ob-
vious thought that came to our mind
was to swap out the stock exhaust
system with an aftermarket system.
And really, who doesn't do that any-
way? In this case, we went to FMF
for answers and their answer was
its Factory 4.1 RCT titanium/carbon
slip-on muffler and Power Bomb
titanium header. We chose to re-
place the stock dual-muffler system
with FMF's single-muffler version to
save weight and to just plain simplify
things. Compared to dual mufflers,
single muffler systems have less
parts to hassle with, are less sus-
