450R 250R 150R
Honda worked hard to keep the injection under wraps for some time. Most dirt journos keep a keen eye on the Japanese domestic championship, and scour the images of the new bikes competing there as the big four generally trial development prototypes in that series first, and last year the factory Honda 450s had plastic covers hiding the cavity normally filled by the carby. Was it a new injector, or was it just teasing the market? We now know it was indeed battery-less EFI, and the bikes are now here and ready to roost.
As a non-racing bush-basher, hearing my opinion of a quick squirt on the new red MX machines would be as valid as a vegetarian’s advice on cooking the perfect steak, so I enlisted the trusted ‘from the saddle’ views of regular racer Ryan Buxeda and dragged him along to the NZ launch. Ryan has also owned every new Honda 450 MXer since 2003, so has a fairly solid grasp on the bike’s development to this point to back up his initial riding impressions.
CRF450R – Big changes for 2009
The big bore machine has certainly gobbled up the bulk of the annual R&D budget, with a plethora of changes, and not just on the mechanical front. The new machine comes attached to a fifth generation version of Honda’s class leading and well-respected twin-spar aluminium frame, which retains the steering damper system introduced last year, and features a slimmer profile that carries the engine slightly further back to centralise weight. Attached is also a new slimmer subframe with less required cross-members and brackets to help lower overall weight and allow easier air filter access.
The swingarm weighs the same as ‘08 even though it is actually 18mm longer, and is mounted 15mm closer to the front than its predecessor. The new slimmer seat is also longer and now wraps up and around the fuel cap, and the whole package is slimmer from front fender, radiator shrouds, and rear side covers. With injected efficiency the fuel tank has been able to drop in size by 1.5 to a mere 5.7litres to fit within the new narrow package.
The big new addition mechanically is the programmable 12-hole battery-less fuel injection, which claims to maximise power, response, and efficiency with optimal fuel atomisation. The 50mm body and 50psi pump of the PGM-F1 system also automatically adjusts for condition changes such as temperature, altitude, and fuel type. Claimed power has increased from 37.8kW to 41.5kW at a lower 8500rpm (‘08 peak was at 9000rpm) and torque from 46.9Nm to 50.3Nm at 7000rpm.
Other mechanical tweaks include the exhaust now exiting the left-hand side of the cylinder head before wrapping around to the right towards the short stubby muffler. This gives a longer pipe length yet allows the muffler to move closer into the frame and more out of potential harm’s way at the rear end, and again centralises and lowers the centre of mass. The engine is also shorter and slimmer than previous models.
The other big change is the move from Showa to Kayaba (KYB) forks and rear shock. The front end wears 48mm KYB USD twin-chamber forks with 18-way compression and 16-way rebound adjustability and 310mm of travel. At the rear, the Pro-Link set-up with KYB shock has low and high speed compression and rebound damping adjustability and 320mm of travel. Honda states the factory pre-set suspension setting is harder at both ends and better out of the box for racing and jump landing but the new suspension offers better adjustment/personalising flexibility.
Ryan’s view
Having owned every CRF450 from ‘03 to ‘08, I guess Dene figured I was the perfect guy to test the all new fuel injected ‘09 model, and to be honest I was real keen to see if all the hype surrounding its release was true! I finally got my chance at the Honda press day held at Kimmie’s farm. It was raining most of the morning so the track was pretty slick but by the afternoon it had tacked up enough to get a few good laps in.
When I got on, my first impression of the bike was how small and slim it felt. The seat was a lot flatter than the previous year and actually wraps around the petrol cap slightly, allowing you to get right forward on the bike. After spending a few minutes looking for the choke (before I clicked it doesn’t need one!) it started first kick!
Once on the track, the engine felt strong, not noticeably stronger than the ‘08 but a lot smoother, and it certainly didn’t feel like it was trying to pull your arms off like the ‘08 can. I also felt there was more over-rev. I know every year we hear someone swear that one of the new 450 turns like a 250F but this year I actually think it could finally be true – this is definitely the best turning 450 I have ever ridden. After riding the ‘09 and climbing straight back on my ’08, it felt a bit like a gate! Well that’s probably a slight exaggeration but it was nowhere near as easy through tight turns.
The new KYB suspension package seemed pretty good, but since the track was smooth and slick, it was a bit hard to tell; my only complaint was that the rear felt a little on the stiff side, but this could have been due to the shock not being fully bedded in yet! The new works style wave rotor brakes felt better than previous years too.
I think overall the new bike felt like a smaller and noticeably more nimble version of the ‘08 with a much smoother power delivery, and I thought the ‘08 was awesome!
CRF250R – Tweak here, tweak there
As mentioned earlier, where the big fella got the full make-over, the smaller one got a tweaking, plus the obviously distinctive ‘09 livery with white rear guard and side panels.
The steering damper and cool looking twin mufflers remain, as does the cast alloy fourth generation frame. Unlike its bigger sibling, the 250 retains Showa suspension at both ends although with some slight re-valving tweaks.
The engine has had a claimed teeny increase in power, with a cylinder redesign and ignition adjustment to improve low- and mid-range response, plus the clutch has seen changes to give a lighter less fatigue-inducing feel and to work with some wee changes in the shift selector mechanism. The CRF250R also gets a new 240mm works style wavey disc rotors to match the 450, and lastly new redesigned handlebars with longer grips.
Ryan’s thoughts
If you were expecting some big changes for the ‘09 CRF250, you are going to be a little disappointed. The ‘09 CRF250 hasn’t been fully redesigned like the CRF450, and apart from disc rotors, white plastics and some small cylinder head mods, it remains unchanged for ‘09. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing since the ‘08 was a great bike.
On the track, the engine felt strong off the bottom and pulled out of corners with ease. The CRF250s have always had a decent top end (this year being no exception) but many have found they tend to go even better once you ditch the stock twin pipes and move to an after market single system.
The only complaint I had with the engine is that it still has what I call the “bog”. The CRF250R has been suffering from this problem ever since Honda went to a bigger carb in ‘06, which is if you land hard off a jump and gas it, sometimes it will cough and hesitate, (which in some situations can be pretty unnerving). However I’ve found this problem is easily fixed with an after market carb kit.
Suspension wise it felt identical to the ‘08 though it was hard to tell in the slippery conditions and the constant rain meaning I didn’t get in as many laps as I would have liked. Still a great bike!
CRF150R – As per
The baby of the red MX fleet is the mighty 150. As per last year the junior bike with the bark of a full sizer is still literally in a class of its own, and remains the only thumper in the serious junior ranks. The question is, for how much longer? I don’t believe it’s a matter of the rest playing mechanical catch-up either, more to do with Honda’s somewhat sad corporate decision to retire the two-smoker and go it on all fours across the board. If racing legislation forces the change, I’m positive the other blokes will be ready to roll in a season, but that’s another evolving story.
There are no changes posted for the 150 for 2009, other than the new graphics, although for some reason without the ‘09 white rear guard adopted on the bigger machines. Again I’ll hand it over to Ryan Buxeda, who squeezed himself aboard the baby of the MX fleet to add this...
After eventually having to give up my turn on the 250F and 450F we decided to get a few photos of the CRF150 in action. The CRF150 also remains unchanged for ‘09 and is still alone in its class with none of the other manufacturers releasing a 150F yet. Having a notable power advantage over a two-stroke 85cc, it has at this stage been sidelined from the 85cc class in pretty much every country, and after riding it I can see why!
With what seems like almost as much power as a CRF250 these little four-strokes rip! Don’t get me wrong, you still have to keep them at the upper rev range but they don’t have the vicious power band of the two-stroke 85s and are definitely a little more forgiving if you let it fall off the pipe.
I think they are also far easier to ride than an 85 and would be perfect for beginners and kids thinking of making the transition to 250F but aren’t quite big enough. Being far from the ideal size and weight for the 150, its impossible for me to give an accurate opinion on its suspension and handling but it was a blast to throw into corners! All arms and legs in my case!
Podium hounds
Blue Wing Honda boss Phil Haynes and race team chief Shayne King are pretty clear in their racing goal to take the ‘09 Hondas to the top spot on the podium in every class possible, and they both reckon the new bikes are well up to it. To further scare the opposition, they have even designed a safari graphic to join the trick aftermarket race bling adorning the NZ team bikes. I’m not sold on the stickers, but good luck with that. I’ll leave you with the specs, and a thought or two.
Apart from the move to four-strokes, alloy frames and now fuel injection, most annual MX production mods are about squeezing a tad more usable power and refining the package to handle those changes. So what do you reckon the next big thing is going to be?
