Bike: Alex Salvini's 2013 Honda CRF450R

When Alex Salvini won the premier E2 class at last year’s Enduro World Championship, it was the sole title win for Honda’s CRF450R in 2013. So, what made this Italian’s race bike so good? This article originally appeared in Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2013 December (#38) issue…

Jolly Racing – the team that helped guide the late, great Mika Ahola to five consecutive Enduro World Championship (EWC) titles – is no stranger to success. Between 2007 and 2011, they were an unbeatable double act. But in 2012, the team focused on the Enduro 1 class, and the year ended with little to celebrate. Returning to the premier E2 class for 2013, Jolly Racing signed former Husqvarna rider, Alex Salvini. And it brought a return to the good old days for the Italian team.

Prior to season 2013, ‘Salvo’ hadn’t delivered any real championship-winning form, only scoring ‘occasional’ EWC podiums since he switched from motocross to enduro at the start of 2011. At best, he was considered a top-five guy, and certainly not an E2 title contender. Pretty soon, though, Salvini proved he was the real deal and that 2013 would be his year to shine in the EWC. Salvini might have been held back during the off-season as he recovered from knee surgery, but it didn’t take long for the Italian to gel with his new team and his Honda’s CRF450R. Alex finished third Overall on Day 1 of the season opener in Chile. Just 24 hours later, he was standing on the top step of the podium, celebrating his debut Overall EWC win. And seven days on in Argentina, he had secured his third consecutive win. Leaving South America behind to return to Europe, Salvini sat atop the E2 championship ladder; a position he never relinquished.

Clinching the E2 title in style at the rain-lashed season finale in France, Salvini rode into the record books as the newly crowned Enduro 2 World Champion, breaking Italy’s EWC championship-winning drought. He also handed Honda a coveted off-road crown – the only real highlight for the manufacturer in an otherwise average year. Just like Ahola before him, Salvini did what Honda’s MX GP team had failed to do. He’d secured a world title … and he’d done it with a headlight on the front of his bike! So what makes Alex Salvini’s world title-winning HM Zanardo Honda CRF450R so special? Here’s an insight into the likeable Italian’s expertly dialled EWC race bike…

FUEL TANK

By their very nature, enduros are long distance races. So the fuel tank is one of the first modifications the team makes when adapting a motocross bike for the rigours of EWC competition. Opting to use a hand-built carbon fibre fuel tank, the team was able to increase fuel capacity by one litre over the standard tank, without adding extra weight. The super-trick screw-thread billet aluminium cap allows for a flush finish when fastened tight.

COCKPIT

For the cockpit, the team use a combination of Geco triple clamps, laced with Domino handlebars. Running the same offset as standard, Alex prefers to run the triple clamps without the ‘silent’ rubber blocks. It offers him more feeling over the front-end of the machine. Formally known as Tommi, Domino provides the braceless handlebars as well as the levers. Large in stature – Alex could play prop on the Italian Six Nations rugby team – he runs a higher-than-standard bar bend.

HEADER PIPE

There are some things money just can’t buy, and the Leo Vince spec header pipe run on this HM Honda CRF450R is one of them. It’s a unique, one-off, custom-made titanium header pipe, designed and handcrafted to Salvini’s exact needs. During winter testing, the team started out with a slightly shorter header, but after a lot of development, Salvo switched to a longer model midway through the season. This trick bolt-on offers smoother, less aggressive power for the EWC’s many technical sections.

FRONT BRAKE

Like a lot of parts on this beauty, both the front and rear discs are specially made for Salvini’s Honda. Up front, Innteck make the disc. The dimension – 240mm – is the same as standard, but the material and design differ to suit Salvni’s preference. The front calliper remains unchanged, but Salvini wanted a stronger and more responsive feeling from the front stoppers, so the team use a different brakeline configuration. Like most European racers, Alex is very particular about his brake set-up.

RADIATORS

British manufacturer, GMX, provides the aftermarket radiators. A world leader in cooling systems, GMX built these radiators to last … and to tolerate the inevitable crashes in the EWC’s often-extreme terrain. Stronger and slightly larger than standard, they’re sealed with a high-pressure Innteck radiator cap – which prevents lost coolant, should the engine overheat. To keep everything circulating nicely, the team also runs a larger water-pump.

REAR BRAKE

As with the front-end, Innteck provide the stopping power for the rear. The design of the rear disc – drilled and wavy – prevents any brake fade during the 10-minute special tests faced in the EWC. Nissin provide the calliper and, again, the brakeline is changed to offer Salvini a more responsive feel. Attached to the rear axle, the red anodised bracket is designed to hold the calliper in place for wheel changes during the allotted 15-minute work period.

MUFFLERS

Oozing class, these sexy Leo Vince twin silencers offer that final ‘factory finish’ to Salvini’s world championship-winning bike. Longer than standard, the ‘twins’ easily keep the bike inside the allotted FIM sound limits while helping to keep the look of the production-based Honda CRF450R. The dual silencer arrangement helps deliver the sort of smooth and tractable power that’s ideal for enduro applications, and help keep the bike’s mass centralised.

SHOCK

Despite his motocross background, Salvini has an incredibly smooth and relaxed riding style. He relies a lot on the rear-end of the machine for feeling, so his rear linkage is totally different to the normal motocross set-up. It is longer to allow the bike to ‘squat’ more in the rear-end. Adding extra protection to prevent any possible breakage during the extreme tests in the EWC, Innteck designed a simple but very effective linkage guard for the team to use.

FOOTPEGS

The footpegs are specific to Salvo’s needs. He’s a big guy who tends to ride over the rear of the bike a lot, so the pegs are set 5mm further back than standard to accommodate that. Together with the modified rear linkage, Salvini has developed a set-up that’s feels much more natural for his riding style. The pegs’ studs are all replaceable, and their oversized centre-hole helps prevent the build-up of mud, which can compromise grip.

RIDER – ALEX SALVINI

I’m so happy with my bike. Last year, I raced a 310cc. And the year before that, a 500cc bike. So it was great to finally get on a 450 for the EWC. It really didn’t take long to adapt to my new bike and team. In the beginning, we worked a lot on the feeling of the bike. I like to ride over the rear-end more than other riders, so we spent some time getting the linkage and chassis set up to suit that preference. Straight away, the power was great, but maybe just a little too much. We made it less aggressive and more tractable for the big hills and rocky terrain in the EWC. Overall, it’s the perfect machine for me.”

MECHANIC – TONY SPECER

“Working with Alex has been easy. Obviously it’s easier because he’s Italian, but also because he knew exactly what he wanted with his race bike and how to get it. Honestly, it didn’t take long to set the bike up to his needs during the off-season. Once we found the settings he was happy with, the bike was practically untouched during the entire EWC season. The only thing we changed was the header pipe, and that was mainly to suit the type of terrain we encountered in the back-end of the season. Proving that you can take a production-based motocross bike and build it into a world championship-winning enduro bike has been extremely satisfying.”