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MXA RETRO TEST: HOW GOOD WAS THE 2008 HONDA CRF450?

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This is the last Honda to win MXA’s 450 Shootout (only it’s a mod version with yellow plastic).

This MXA “Retro Test” is from the September 2014 issue of MXA. We bring it to you to show that new technology isn’t always an improvement over what we had before.

As time marches on with each passing model year, more than ever we are reminded that the 2008 Honda CRF450 was a true classic. It was the bike every manufacturer tried to replicate and every rider wanted to race. The bike was lighting fast and bulletproof, and the ergonomics were superb. But 2008 marked the end of an era for Honda. It was the last year the Honda CRF450 would be carbureted. It was also the culmination of decades of refinement.

The following year Honda unveiled a radically new CRF450 that was, in our collective opinion, a huge step backward. The 2009 through 2012 CRF450s CRF450s had weak engines, shoddy clutches, suspect suspensions and bizarre handling traits. As amazing as the 2008 CRF450 was (and it would be the last time that Honda won MXA’s 450 shootout), this bike serves as a reminder of the dangers of living on the cutting edge of technology. Sadly, when Honda ditched the 2008 CRF450 blueprints, they threw the baby out with the bath water.

OUR PLAN WAS TO REBUILD IT TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY—BECAUSE TO DO LESS WOULD DEFEAT THE PROJECT BEFORE WE EVEN STARTED.

In the years since, the 2008 CRF450 has come up in conversation more times than we can count. It’s a nostalgic machine that very well could be considered one of the best four-stroke motocross bikes ever produced. Unfortunately, the sands of time have moved us further away from the glory days of the 2008 Honda CRF450. We might long for that mighty 2008 model, but with each passing year the venerable oh-eight becomes more of a relic than a race bike.

Truth be told, MXA decided that the only way to revisit the past was to check our six and see if our collective hindsight was 20-20 or 20-450.

So, you can understand our excitement when we managed to find a running 2008 Honda CRF450. Not surprisingly, the bike had been well used and badly abused. Countless hours had been put on the Unicam engine, and routine maintenance appeared to have been an afterthought. Our prospective 2008 Honda CRF450 time traveler needed some tender-loving care, so we opened up the boss’ checkbook and went to work.

Rejuvenating our project CRF450 was a tedious process, but like paging through an old high school yearbook, it made us feel nostalgic. As we disassembled the bike, it felt like we were taking a trip down memory lane. New parts were ordered. The engine was cracked open. The wheels and plastic went into the trash. As a rule, the MXA wrecking crew doesn’t have a set budget for its project bikes. If we did, they would go more over-budget than an Abrams M1 tank. Our plan was to rebuild it to the best of our ability, because to do less would defeat the project before we even started.

We started with a Hot Rod bottom-end kit (crankshaft, main bearings and gaskets), new Cylinder Works cylinder (with a standard bore), forged Vertex high-compression piston and Cometic top-end gasket kit. We thought about reusing the cam, but skimping on a complete update seemed criminal, so we opted for a Stage Two Hot Cams setup. We also sprung for a bulletproof Hinson clutch.

We sent the old warhorse’s suspension to Mike Battista at MB1—in large part because Mike was at Team Honda back in the day and had intimate knowledge of the valving and the internals of the 2008 Showa suspension.

Our most obvious update was to the aesthetics; yellow Cycra Racing Powerflow kit and Faster USA wheels mated to all-new Dunlop MX32 tires. With the package complete, it was finally time to rip around the track and have joyous memories of the impeccable 2008 Honda CRF450 come flooding back. We used a 2014 Honda CRF450 as our comparison bike. It was seven years newer, and it was not one of Honda’s doomed Gyro Gearloose design projects that lasted from 2009 to 2012. Unfortunately, the 2014 model was saddled with Honda’s “Slower Is Better” philosophy. In short, it was slow. This bike should stay as far away from a dyno as possible. Dynos don’t like it. The 2014 Honda CRF450 makes the least horsepower of any bike on the showroom floor. Peak horsepower on the 2014 Honda CRF450 is 53.03. That is almost 4 horsepower less at peak than the 2014 Yamaha YZ450F. Even worse, at 10,000 rpm, the Honda gives up 7-1/2 horsepower to the YZ450F.

IT TRACKED INCREDIBLY STRAIGHT AND WASN’T TWITCHY LIKE THE NEWER MODELS, BUT, ON THE ENTRANCE OF CORNERS, IT FELT LIKE A TANK (PERHAPS AN ABRAMS M1).

The first thing our test riders noticed when they hit the track on our renovated 2008 CRF450 was the heavy feeling of the bike compared to the newer-generation CRF450 models, which are lighter and more aggressive with their cab-forward chassis. Even though the weight between old and new was just a few pounds, it was noticeable. Equally noticeable was how much more stable the 2008 chassis felt in the rough. It tracked incredibly straight and wasn’t twitchy like the newer models, but in the air and on the entrance of corners, it felt like a tank (perhaps an Abrams M1).

Surprisingly, after all these years, the 2008 engine is still competitive.

We also noticed the raw, unbridled power of the carbureted bike. Don’t let anyone tell you that fuel-injected bikes have more hop-up potential than carbureted bikes. Our 2008 CRF450 was scary fast compared to the 2014 CRF450. The power was explosive, with more than enough bottom and midrange grunt to satisfy our Pro-level testers. Yes, the engine still signed off a little too early, but it had the torque and horsepower to pull the next gear no matter how soon we shifted to it.

Back in 2008, the CRF450 Showa forks had a reputation for being harsh. Knowing this in advance thanks to seven years of history, our primary goal was to smooth out the harshness. Mike Battista met us at Glen Helen to dial in the settings. The track was beat up and rough…perfect for suspension testing. Battista had an excellent initial fork setting, because the forks were progressive and soaked up the bumps quite well. But, the MXA test riders weren’t so enchanted by the shock setting. The rear end had a tendency to kick like a spooked horse. Fortunately, MB1 had a quick fix. They lessened the race sag and stiffened the high-speed compression. These changes allowed the bike to ride higher in the stroke and stay as straight as an arrow.

Did we like what this old dog had to offer? Absolutely. Could you win on this bike today? You bet. It may be true that you can’t relive the past, but we wish we could, because we miss the explosiveness of the old carbureted bikes. Not as crisp as EFI, carbs have the magic ability to produce not just the right amount of power but that little bit extra when you need it. MXA’s 2008 CRF450 proved that new tech isn’t always better.

You can’t go fast if you can’t stop fast. The oversized rotor takes care of that.