T-Build: 2013 Honda CRF450R

Corey Bunt

Transmoto’s Corey Bunt runs us through the pros and cons he’s found on the 2013 Honda CRF450R having owned the bike for close to one year.

No messin’ around, let’s get stuck into this. I picked up my 2013 Honda CRF450R a little under one year ago now, and the first positive point I found on the bike was they way it handled.

Compared to any other system I’ve ever used, it was so easy to manoeuvre. The next thing I noticed, was the size of the machine. The model has a short wheelbase, and the light weight of the new design makes it feel as though I’m not on board a 450 at all, but instead a 250, which obviously doesn’t feel anywhere near as big and bulky.

So, negatives. After riding the bike a few times, I felt as though the motor didn’t feel as aggressive as it should, being a 450. The bike’s got a very mellow bottom-end, with a throttle response that takes a lot more to get the motor to the top-end revs required. I’d say it was a lot more tamed than any 450 I’ve had experience with in the past, really. Instead of just being able to lightly twist the throttle, I had to completely rev the bike to get that arm-pulling-feeling a 450 should provide.

Honda introduced their new twin-muffler design for 2013, which has made the bike really quiet. It plays a major factor in the motor feeling so gentle. What to do? I replaced the stock exhaust with an after-market Yoshimura Comp Series RS-9 system, which at the time, Factory Honda teams in the US were using. Smart move.

Immediately, I could hear and feel a significant difference. The bike went from being quite tamed to rather aggressive and punchy; and race-ready. Instead of having to twist the throttle all the way to get maximum revs out of it, I could lightly touch it and feel like I was riding any other 450 I’ve been on in the past. I didn’t have to play with the mapping or do any dyno testing, either. The system seemed to gel with the bike straight away, and the motor felt completely different. I could feel a lot more in the bottom-end, but it didn’t out-weigh the top-end’s power. I could feel that the front wheel didn’t want to stay on the ground coming out of ruts and corners, too, which is exactly the way a 450 should react. Anyone who purchases a stock 2013 Honda CRF450R should look at getting an after-market exhaust system as the first alteration.

A few other points. Due to the design of the bike, the air-box is very enclosed and doesn’t have much room to breathe. To get some air through to the motor, I took off the cover that sits under the seat and took out the mesh that was sitting in the filter frame. I also drilled holes five 5mm in diameter into the side plate through to the air-box, to give the air filter more cavities to suck from. If you don’t want to do that, you can buy a Moto Tassinari AIR4ORCE Tunable Inlet Tract, which will work similarly.

From a racing perspective, I’d highly recommend getting an over-sized braking disc, and a braided brake line on the front of the bike, as I’ve noticed it stops the bike straight away and helps you put it anywhere you want to. I’ve put after-market black rims on my bike as well, not just for looks though, as the stock rims seemed to feel weaker than the Zeta ones I’m running now. In the future, I’ll be hoping to add a hydraulic clutch to the bike as well.

Overall, the 2013 CRF450R is a great out-of-the-box bike that does require a few adjustments for the average racer to be competitive aboard. Stay tuned – I’ll be sending through some GoPro footage from my local track in Bendigo, Victoria soon.