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– 2016 CRF450R Review of Changes & Upgrades | Specifications Overview –

2016 – Year of the CRF450R? Best 450R ever manufactured by Big Red? Let’s take a more in-depth look at this B-E-A-UTIFUL Beast of a dirt bike…

I’m a little late on doing a writeup on the bread and butter dirt bike from Honda, the 2016 CRF450R. If there’s one corner of the motorcycle market Honda hasn’t cut R&D funds to when the economy tanked up until now is still the motocross / supercross 2-wheel offerings including the CRF250R & CRF450R. Honda has always been an extremely competitive force fighting for championships and they want to keep it that way. The little brother CRF250R did receive more changes and upgrades for 2016 that you can read about here but that doesn’t mean Honda left big brother out and didn’t give it any lovin’ this year.

Simply put. Let’s all say hello to the fastest, lightest, most powerful CRF dirt bike Honda has ever built! Honda’s CFR450R is the nuclear option in the motocross wars. Light, powerful, nimble, responsive, it offers the most performance and refinement of any bike in its class. For 2016, Honda made some fine-tuning changes that make it a little better, but the big features that separate it from the pack remain.

For example, there’s the CRF450R’s Engine Mode Select button that lets you choose between three settings (Standard, Smooth and Aggressive), just by pushing a handlebar-mounted button. Use that with our available HRC Fuel Injection Setting Tool, and it’s easier than ever to adjust your engine’s output for specific track conditions. Check out the 2016 CRF450R VS 2015 CRF450R Horsepower Battle here to see which comes out on top. I’m a “sport bike guy” but these bikes never disappoint me in the power department, it’s crazy how something with 50 some-odd horsepower can feel so violent! Blowing the rear tire off is effortless as well as powering the front tire off the ground with ease. The only word I can use to explain the power delivery on these new 450R’s is explosive.

Next, the CRF450R’s revolutionary KYB Air Fork features both high- and low-speed compression and rebound damping, letting you dial in the CRF450R’s suspension in much quicker.

Details like a fork that’s five millimeters longer this year and a new shock link help make the CRF450R even more stable. There’s even a new chain roller to help. All in all, you have everything you need to put you up front, from the second the start gate drops to when the checkered flag falls. This is why you’ll see big red AKA Honda on the top box of the podium this year in both amateur and pro racing quite often. I can’t wait to see the rest of this year’s battles on the track! Here’s a few details on the 2016 CRF450R and its features, specs, etc…

260mm Front Brake
The CRF450R’s large front-brake disc measures a whopping 260mm. You get great brake feel and a wave pattern that cuts down on weight. Front and rear black brake guards are part of the package too.

Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD)
The HPSD is designed to work with the front and rear suspension to give you unmatched steering precision under braking, acceleration, and in the whoops, ruts and hardpack. There’s nothing like it!

Air-Fork Front Suspension
The CRF450R’s revolutionary air fork is a 48mm inverted KYB PSF (Pneumatic Spring Fork), easily adjustable with a simple air pump. This year it’s five millimeters longer to enhance the bike’s stability. Its high/low-speed compression and rebound-damping adjustments let you can dial it in to help keep your front tire planted for better tracking through turns and across whoops.

Engine Mode Select Button
This simple handlebar-mounted button lets you dial in engine power delivery character with a push of your thumb. Choose between Standard, Smooth and Aggressive, depending on track conditions. If you want to change-up the settings, you can reprogram the Smooth and Aggressive modes with our optional HRC Tuning Tool for a custom-tailored power delivery.

Blacked-Out Accents
Blackened radiator fin guards, rear disk guard and brake line guides look sharp and help the CRF450R stand out from the competition.

Cylinder Head Layout
The CRF450R’s exhaust header exits the head from the right side, which lets us shorten the header by 320mm. The design delivers more top-end power and over-rev, plus better low-end torque feel.

Revised PGM-FI
The settings on the CRF450R’s Programmed Fuel Injection emphasize low- and mid-range power, and help deliver smooth, predictable engine performance. With our available HRC Fuel Injection Setting Tool, it’s easily adjustable to specific track conditions and refines your settings in place of the smooth and aggressive settings on the engine mode selector.

New Suspension Settings
The small refinements in fork length and the new shock link mean we also tweaked the CRF450R’s suspension settings to keep things balanced.

Next-Generation Aluminum Frame
Our Next-Gen twin spar aluminum frame is designed to work with the KYB air fork, suspension components and subframe to improve mass steering feedback, suspension action, chassis stiffness and compliance.

Chain Roller
We changed the chain roller size this year from 38mm to 34mm to fine-tune the CRF450R’s handling.

Rear Shock Link
A new shock link, working in conjunction with the new, longer fork, helps improve the CRF450R’s chassis stability.

Short Twin-Muffler Exhaust System
The CRF450R’s dual exhaust system is compact and positioned close and low in the frame’s center to take weight off the rear end and bring more mass to the bike’s center for improved handling.

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Dunlop MX52 Tires
Developed using Dunlop’s “block-on-block” technology, the unidirectional MX52FA front tire and MX52 rear tire give excellent feedback and traction, and are a perfect complement for the CRF450R’s revised suspension. More specs and information available here from Honda’s main CRF450R page.

2016 CRF450R Release Date: You can check them out now at your local Honda dealer. If you’re in the TN / GA / AL area you can check out the 2016 CRF450R at Honda of Chattanooga.

2016 CRF450R MSRP / Price: $8,699. If you’re in the market for a 2016 CRF450R and want to make sure you’re getting a competitive price on a 16′ CRF450R, you can shoot me an email to Kevin@HondaProKevin.com

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If you haven’t had the chance to check out the 2016 CRF450R and or throw a leg over the bike, you need to before you make your final decision on which brand 450 you go with from the usual suspects; Kawasaki KX450F, KTM 450 SX-F, Suzuki RMZ450 and Yamaha YZ450F. All of them are beyond awesome bikes, the cream of the crop toting the best materials and components available. Don’t go off of just spec sheets though as to which model 450 race bike makes the most horsepower etc because we all know there’s more to an all around competitive package than just carrying around the highest HP dyno sheets. All in all it’s hard to make a bad decision between them…

What are your thoughts? Who makes the best 450 race bike for 2016? KTM, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha or Honda? 

Please click “Like” and or Share below if you enjoyed checking out any of my content, pictures, videos, etc. Thanks guys. 

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2016 Honda CRF450R Specifications

ENGINE

DRIVE TRAIN

CHASSIS / SUSPENSION / BRAKES

DIMENSIONS

OTHER

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