CRF450R
The Honda CRF450R is the works machine developed by Team HRC’s engineers and the technical might of Honda Racing Corporation and Honda’s R&D department in Japan. It’s a masterpiece of engineering efficiency and performance
After winning the MXGP world championship on the 2019 CRF450R, Honda then completely redesigned the entire machine and repeated the success as Tim Gajser won his fourth world title in 2020 on the brand new CRF450R, with a fifth championship following a couple of years later in 2022.
Development moved as fast as the bike’s pace on track in 2014 when HRC returned to MXGP as a factory effort, and five race victories ensued, four of those coming as the season drew to its close. With an intensive programme of further development over the winter, the 2015 bike proved to be a winner again, and finished second and third in the world. In 2016, HRC’s three-year plan was realised when Tim Gajser took his CRF450R to the World Championship title – Honda’s first in 16 years. At the end of the 2016 season, the all-new 2017 CRF450R was also debuted, first by Evgeny Bobryshev at the final two rounds of the season, and then also by Gajser at the SMX Riders’ Cup where he took the new bike’s first moto win.
In the 2017 MXGP season, Tim Gajser continued the new machine’s success with eight moto victories, including overall Grand Prix wins in Argentina, Mexico and Sweden, and he and teammate Evgeny Bobryshev scored nine podiums throughout the season.
Two years later, Gajser would rewrite the Honda record books again as he won seven MXGP overalls in a row, on his way to taking the 2019 title by a massive 202 points. It was a fantastic achievement and further proved the power and performance of the Honda CRF450R.
Previously the lightest stock machine in its class, it carries these characteristics into motocross race trim following Honda’s ethos of mass centralisation, combining light weight and effortless manoeuvrability with useable power delivery. Its slim proportions feature finely tuned aerodynamics and a low centre of gravity for greater control in the air.
The factory versions of the machine are shod with Pirelli tyres and Showa suspension, and a number of custom performance parts such as billet titanium footpegs, titanium bolts to reduce weight, factory-spec cylinder head and camshaft, and custom US-Yoshimura exhausts.
The Honda CRF has remarkable motorsport lineage and is a force to be reckoned with across all off-road disciplines including AMA Supercross and Motocross, the Dakar Rally and FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship.
