W

hen we first got a

glimpse of the new

Honda CRF450L last

year, we were told to

expect a CRF450R with

lights. But when we got

a chance to ride it, we realized that rumor

was unfounded. In fact, I’d almost go as far as

saying that it was ludicrous!

On my first ride it was clear this bike is an

all-purpose machine. It is the most versatile

bike I’ve ever ridden and is capable of

trailriding, commuting and even short-haul

adventure missions.

However, one of the downsides of being

versatile is that the CRF450L doesn’t excel in

any one particular area, and for me that area

is enduro riding.

The Honda is excellent on open trails where

speed and space are your friend but in the

trees and on slow rocky climbs it requires too

much rider input.

As an adventure bike it is light and can

cruise at highway speeds but the 1000km

oil-change intervals, while massive for

trailriding, are problematic on multi-day

dualsport slogs across the country.

As a commuter it sits you up tall in the

traffic but it’s still a dirtbike so comfort wasn’t

a priority for Honda and it wouldn’t be as

comfortable as the company’s roadies. I

wanted to turn this machine into a fit-for-

purpose enduro bike. As I’ve stated in Our

Garage articles the gearing is too tall for

enduro riding, the taillight assembly is too

bulky and the bike is too heavy at 131kg wet.

My plan in stage one of this build is to make

some modifications to the bike without

blowing the budget, so most of what you see

here can be done at home.

Shop

Chop

WE TAKE THE MOST VERSATILE

DIRTBIKE ON THE MARKET AND

GIVE IT SOME FOCUS

http://www.adbmag.com.au MAY 2019| 93

HONDA

CRF450L

BUILD

WORDS // MITCH LEES & MAT BOYD

PHOTOS // MITCH LEES