Two of the best from Honda
Published: 27th September 2007
Author: Johnno White. Pics: Ray Archer/Redeye
THANKS to its virtually unlimitless funds and vast technology bank, not to mention the might of the HRC race department, Honda’s motocross machines have always been at the cutting edge of motorcycle technology.
The list of developments that became standard motocross issue which originated at Honda is a long one indeed and to that you can now probably add Steering Dampers.
That’s right, for the 2008, steering damper technology makes its appearance on a production motocross machine for the first time when both the CRF250R and CRF450R arrive in dealer showrooms very soon.
In use since 2004 on factory Honda machines, first in the US then on the GP circuit, the Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD) has now been rolled out onto the production machines with the aim, says Honda, of not only assisting in straight-line handling and front-wheel stability – as is the case with after-market dampers – but to also promote more aggressive, faster turning characteristics.
How big a deal is this? Well, where Honda leads, at least one of the other Japanese manufacturers follows, and as you read on you will discover that the HPSD really does seem to work very well, so don’t be surprised to see steering damper technology making appearances elsewhere rather soon.
While confident that HPSD units usher in a new era for Honda motocross machines and leave the 2008 CRF models at a level above the competition in terms of handling and stability, the company hasn’t held back and the biggest overhaul of the both the 450 and 250 for three years has taken place.
As a result of the HPSD system improving stability, the long-standing CRF450R and its smaller sibling both receive steeper steering-head geometry, moving from a 24mm off-set to 22mm, for a more aggressive chassis feel, while the CRF450R also receives new, stiffer suspension settings and a new Showa fork that includes a larger cartridge and oil piston for improved oil flow and less friction.
The CRF450R also receives a new tapered exhaust header-pipe for improved low-end and mid-range power, a new multi-map CDI unit adopted from the factory machines which provides specific mappings for each gear and thus boosts the torque and power outputs across the board. The rev-limit is also increased by 50rpm to 11,270rpm.
A friction reducing coating has been added to the clutch basket and pressure plate to improve feel and clutch life, while new works style brake rotors have also been fitted to reduce unsprung weight.
The CRF250R, meanwhile, has been the focus of significant engine modifications to boost the power output and thus benefits from a new piston with increased 13.1:1 compression ratio, new cylinder head porting, lighter valve train components and and increased rev-limit of 13,500rpm, new camshaft timing, a new exhaust system, and revised carb settings.
The other big news, and it’s not good I’m afraid, is that the longstanding CR125 and CR250 are no more. As part of Honda’s plans for an all four-stroke future, the trusty CR smokers have been consigned to the history books. It’s a real shame but we’ve all known it has been coming for a number of years now.
So with just the two four-strokes to ride, the European press were invited along to the new Donington Park GP circuit a couple of weeks back for the official launch.
JOHNNO WHITE:
SO 2008 is almost here and that can only mean one thing – new bikes to test.
It’s always a bind, honestly. It’s a nightmare ringing your sponsors up and asking for brand new kit, then having to drive to the newest GP circuit in the country, Donington Park, then having to ride the latest bikes...what a shame for me hey?
This time round it was a chance to put my leg over the new four-stroke offerings from Honda. There are no two-stroke models anymore, they have finished production, so it was just the 2008 CRF250R and CRF450R to put through their paces.
It was an interesting day because it was the European launch and there were also quite a few GP stars there from the past and present, including the now four-times world champ Dave Thorpe himself! I sat opposite him during lunch and considering he is such a legend in our sport he is a top bloke and a great role model for young riders.
Anyway, enough of this nonsense. I have to go on a bit so it looks like I’ve done loads of typing and then JD won’t ask for more...
CRF250R
THE natural starting point was the CRF250R and in recent years I feel it has been playing catch-up a bit.
It seemed to make great strides forward in its first couple of years, and its handling in particular has always been right-up there at the top of the class, but its motor has never been the strongest and in the past couple of seasons it has been caught and passed by more than one of its rivals.
For 2008 though, it seems Honda has really pushed the boat out to put the CRF250R right back up there.
Honda likes to state that it is always one step ahead of the pack and they are certainly the first manufacturer to fit a steering damper on a motocross bike from the crate.
Yes that’s right, the 2008 Honda range comes equip-ped with the Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD) system that has been in use on the factory bikes for a number of years. It’s the big USP of the CRF models for 2008 and it looks real factory too.
It mounts behind the number plate so you can’t actually see it unless you have a good nosey or you take the number plate off, but on the track it seemed to work very well indeed.
For those of you who don’t understand how it works, I will try and explain. When you’re going down a fast straight or through a fast corner with a lot of high speed bumps and you are getting tired it is quite normal for the front-end to push and shake from side to side unless you have arms like Popeye. So, Honda has fitted the damper to reduce this phemonenon. It’s basically like a mini shock-absorber for the steering system.
When you are in the paddock and you turn the bars slowly it doesn’t seem to do that much but when you shake them back and forth quickly you can really feel the damper working so, when you’re on the track, it really becomes noticable.
It smoothens everything out, particularly on the fast choppy stuff and if you really go in to a corner hard, and the bumps and lumps that would ordinarily push the front-end away from you or cause you to get a bit of tank-slapper on, have noticeably less effect on the bike, and if you get out of shape the damper starts to work overtime, hence less scary moments on the track.
All this contributes to a bike that feels significantly more planted and stable, particularly at higher speeds, and, importantly, takes less energy to control, thus making it and easier ride all round.
What is surprising is that this has been achieved despite the fact that the front-end has been steepened by 2mm. This may not sound a lot, but it has a huge impact on the geometry of a motorcycle and the result is a bike with a 2mm shorter wheelbase and sharper steering angle. In the past, this would have resulted in a bike that turned faster but at the sacrifice of overall handling and stability, However, because of the addition of the steering damper, Honda has achieved the feat of getting a bike to turn faster and sharper whilst actually im-proving overall bike stability.
It’s a big achievement and boosts rider confidence in the bike significantly, and I’m sure it won’t be long before all the other Japanese manufacturers will be fitting one too. When you think about it really, it’s a bit of no-brainer, and does make you wonder why steering damper technology hasn’t been applied before.
As a result, the overall handling of the CRF250R was pretty damn good and a step-up again from what was already a sweet handling bike. It cornered very smoothly and always felt planted entering and exiting, the seating position felt good and I found the bike was very easy to throw around. In fact, I didn’t get out of shape all day which isn’t bad for me! Although I did have a bit of a scary moment over the finish line tabletop but it is about 200 foot long – slight exaggeration I know, but it is big.
The suspension was really good too, especially for slightly heavier riders than your usually featherweight schoolie. The HSPD system allowed Honda to run slightly harder settings front and rear, and, while still very plush and supple off the bottom of the stroke, they were a bit firmer, which made a big difference for me and will for heavier riders, as I wasn’t ploughing through the stroke as quickly.
Ok, so the HPSD unit is great, onto the other stuff.>>
The overall look of the bike is pretty similar to last year but with the ground-breaking (yeah right) new graphics as always, and slightly modified rear fender and a new left side engine guard.
Power wise, the 2008 CRF250R was very impressive too. Although very useable, it’s not exactly been the strongest motor out there over the past few years, but the 2008 model seems much stronger than last year’s bike which is great news.
Most noticeable was a much improved bottom-end. I found it to be very responsive out of the turns and a real pleasure to ride, which is probably down to the new piston and 13.1:1 compression ratio as well as the new cylinder porting and lighter valve components that help it rev out that bit further to 13,500 rpm. All the way through the rev-range though, the bike felt stronger and more responsive which is impressive.
To sum up, I think Honda are going to be back at the front of the pack with their 2008 CRF250R, and cleverly, on Honda’s behalf, I don't necessarily think it’s be-cause it is loads better than its rivals, it’s not, although it is a contender for best all-round bike in its class. I think it’s going to be down to one little item, the HPSD steering damper. We all like to have the latest technology and the Honda Progressive Steering Damper is definitely going to turn some heads in the paddock.
CRF450R
NEXT for me to swing my leg over was the daddy, the CRF450R.
IT seems like this bike has been round for an age now, and in fact it has, the first CRF450R came out in 2001.
I remember it well. I was racing a DRZ 400 in the British Four-stroke and MR Thumpercross champion-ship and remember turning up at the first race of the season and the paddock being a sea of red. Nearly every lad in the paddock had bought a CRF450R that year and boy were they fast, and as the years have gone by the CRF450 has just got better and better.
There have been handling problems sporadically be-cause of chassis changes but in general it has been a rock, always topping the tables in magazine shoot-outs and dominating line-ups from clubman races to GPs.
Anyway, looking round the 2008 450R it is virtually identical to its little brother and adorned with the new plastics too and, in fact, it is only just short of 8kg heavier than the 250R.
Obviously, like the CRF250R, the CRF450R comes fitted with the HPSD unit too which, on the considerably more powerful 450 machine, where unweighting of the front-end is more of an issue, is a bigger bonus.
I’ll not go on about the workings of the damper too much because it’s exactly the same principal as the CRF250R and you’ve already read about its effect on the handling of the bike, but I would say everything that impressed with it on the 250F impressed me even more so on the CRF450R.
When you are really on the gas on the CRF450R, the front-end has had a tendency to feel a little bit loose and light, which when big kickers and rough tracks were thrown into the mix could generate a bit of head
-shake and front-end unstability, but the HPSD really helps to combat this and the front-end now feels rock solid.
It is also a lot easier to snap the bike around and throw it into corners too, thanks to the 2mm steeper front-end which results in an impressively nimble handler for a big 450. My confidence in the front-end of the CRF450R has increased significantly.
The power on this year’s bike is improved again too, which is amazing really, considering how much grunt it already has.
There is a new tapered header pipe to improve low to mid-range power and I have to be honest, the delivery was amazing. It’s very strong indeed and continues to build all the way up to the very top-end with impressive grunt.
The CRF450R also comes with a new multi-map CDI system with a transmission gear position sensor which helps the torque feel stronger in first gear and produces a wider powerband in second gear and a better stronger throttle response in the top-end torque of the last three gears and, out of the corners, I could feel just how much drive and torque the new model had. It physically pushes you back on the seat and just by riding the bike in prime of the torque it was very easy to get over the bigger jumps.
It is surely the strongest 450 motor on the market and I realised how unfit I was, after just playing around for the last four years, very quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally enjoyed riding the CRF450R but I could only manage about five hard laps before I was breathing out of my...well you know what I mean!
As far as suspension was concerned, like its little brother, it is running a slightly stiffer set-up, but on some of the more polished-up corners and choppier sections I found the front-end a little bit stiff or possibly over sprung for my liking. I prefer a more progressive feel to the front-end and I didn’t get much feeling from it. It’s easily rectified, but perhaps Honda went a bit too far this time. The rear end was fine, however, and tracked perfectly well all day.
In general, the CRF450R is again a great all round bike. It’s in its eighth year of production now but the CRF450R seems to keep pushing on and improving every year, and although all four Japanese manufacturers have a very good 450 of their own now, the CRF is still the bike to beat and will flood paddocks everywhere again.
SPECIFICATIONS
2008 model Honda CRF250R/ CRF450R
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled four-valve SOHC single four-stroke
Displacement: 249.4/ 449 cc
Bore x Stroke: 78 x 52.2 mm/ 96 x 62.1 mm
Compression Ratio: 13.1 : 1/ 12 : 1
Max Power: 32kW @11,000 rpm/ 37.8kW @ 9,000 rpm
Max Torque: 29.3Nm @ 8,500 rpm/ 46.9Nm @ 7,000 rpm
Carburation: 40 mm (with TPS)/ 41 mm Keihin FCR flat-slide carburettor
Ignition: Computer-controlled digital capacitor discharge with electronic advance
Starter: Primary kick
Transmission: 5-speed
Final Drive: #520 roller chain
CHASSIS
Type: Semi-double cradle, aluminium twin-spar
SUSPENSION
Front: 47mm Showa inverted leading-axle twin-chamber cartridge-type telescopic fork with 16-step adjustable compresion and rebound damping
Travel: 315 mm at axle
Rear: Pro-Link with Showa damper, adjustable low-speed (13-step) and high-speed (3.5- turn) compression and 17-step rebound damping
Travel: 313 mm/ 320 mm at axle
WHEELS
Front: 21 x 1.60 aluminium rim/ wire spoke
Rear: 19 x 1.85/ 19 x 2.15 aluminium rim/ wire spoke
TYRES
Front: 80/100 21 (51M)
Rear: 100/90 19 (57M)/ 110/90 19 (62M)
BRAKES
Front: 240 mm hydraulic disc with dual-piston calliper and sintered metal pads
Rear: 240 mm hydraulic disc with single-piston
DIMENSIONS
Length: 2,170 mm/ 2,189 mm
Width: 827 mm/ 825 mm
Height: 1,277 mm/ 1,283 mm
Wheelbase: 1,477 mm/ 1,489 mm
Seat Height: 965 mm/ 955 mm
Ground Clearance: 362 mm/ 340 mm
Weight: 101.2 kg/ 109 kg
Fuel Capacity: 7.3 litres/ 7.2 litres