Took a ride on a CRF450X this weekend

[SpeedyManiac]

Hi guys,
Went for a ride with my dad (96 XR250R) and a friend of ours (07 CRF450X), Peter. The ride was mostly two track (dirt roads and quad trails) with patches of snow, ice and mud. Also found some fun hill climbs in a burned out area where a forest fire went through last summer. My 250's been running like a champ since I rebuilt it and it was a great chance to test my new Fasstco Flexx bars. FYI, the bars are great and I love the mounting system for bark busters. I don't notice the bars moving much when I ride, but they do move a little which should help with arm pump. My suspension was way too stiff for two track cruising with my dad (it's still set for blitzing sand whoops all day long) but the faster I went, the better it worked. I still absolutely love the GasGas 250 engine with the smaller flywheel and motocross ignition. It's tractable down low, but still RIPS. Rolling the throttle on will loft the front wheel in most gears.

After a good ride we came back to the staging area and Peter wanted me to take a ride on his 450 to see what I thought. I hopped on it and firsts thing I noticed was it's more top heavy than my Gassers, Honda makes a better seat than the 07 GasGas, the bars were in my lap (I have a BRP SUB mount so my bars are high) and electric start is really cool. I took off across the field and found the X's engine to be a lot mellower than my 250. It definitely takes a different riding style on one of these thumpers! I only rode around on it for about 15-20 minutes, but it was enough to get a good first impression.

Likes:
-very plush suspension. Not sure how it would be on rough trails at race pace.
-easy to ride engine. Very smooth.
-electric start is great for thumpers!
-very comfortable seat

Dislikes:
-power is a little too mellow for racing.
-doesn't carry it's weight well. Felt very top heavy.
-cramped ergos (I'm 6'0" with long legs).
-engine braking
-no hydraulic clutch
-brakes weren't as strong as my 07 EC250, but they are stronger than my 01 EC200.
-doesn't handle as well as the 07 Gassers

So, in summary, I thought the CRF450X was a pretty fun bike, but wouldn't be my choice for racing. Maybe if it was uncorked it might be better (this one was bone stock) but in stock form the power is too mellow and the bike is too heavy. For recreational riding it would be a great bike, but for competition it's just not ready yet.

I would be intrigued to give an 08 FSE450 a go to see how it compares though.