2014's Are Up

[susco64]

The 450 is pretty much unchanged as expected for a 2nd year of new gen. I am thoroughly confused with all the negativity revolving around the 13 450. Can only guess it's coming from peeps who have never even thrown a leg over one. My 13 is the best Honda I've ever owned or ridden, including my awesome 08 that is somehow still slated as the "Best Ever". Well as good as it was the 13 is so much better all around that it should get much better reviews than what are circulating around. I can't wait to get the wife the new 250, mostly so I can ride it too.

http://powersports.honda.com/2014/crf450r.aspx

Edited May 14, 2013 by susco64

[Motofighter]

I totally agree. I kept my 07 and sold my 09 bc i tht the 7was the best ever. I think the 13 is way better and im very honest when it comes to assesment.... And its way closer to the 07,08 than the 09 was. That simple remap and slip on breathes fire in it. I like mine stock There were 10 13s at the track this past wknd and the one guy that didnt like it was complaining abt the forks building pressure thru a moto

Edited May 15, 2013 by Motofighter

[HRC]

I love my 2013 CRF450 !

And also agree that it is much more comparable with the 2008 chassi than the 2009-2012 chassi ever was !

[matte]

Love my '13 450, except the air forks are a major PITA. If Honda thinks they're so great, I wonder why they didn't put them on the '14 250?

"It's a breeze to adjust (just use an air pump)."

LOL! Yeah, not so much! They could have been easy to adjust, if they'd bothered to angle the shrader valve like they did the compression adjustor. Then we wouldn't need to buy special $50 pumps (and even then, they're still a pain, the valve is way too close to the bars).

"And now with improved oil flow, it's even more responsive and helps the front end feel more planted."

I wonder what "improved oil flow" means? Revalve?

[CRF250rider1000]

Love my '13 450, except the air forks are a major PITA. If Honda thinks they're so great, I wonder why they didn't put them on the '14 250?

They are on the 2014 450 still though.

[jjy130]

I use my regular compressor and the gauge that I had in my tool box to set and check my forks. Not sure what the big deal is, just pull the bar pad off and everything is out in the open.

[matte]

I use my regular compressor and the gauge that I had in my tool box to set and check my forks. Not sure what the big deal is, just pull the bar pad off and everything is out in the open.

I was told not to use an air compressor to put air in the forks because air compressors always have a certain amount of water in the air which is very bad for your forks. None of the bicycle or other types of pumps I had on hand would fit because the shrader valve is too close to the handlebars at the clamps (it has nothing to do with the bar pad). So I bought the DRC pump, but the stock connector on the DRC hits the bars, so I had to get the special DRC hose with the swivel connector, which fits, but your really have to crank down on it to open the valve. It's great that you aren't having issues, but if you read the various threads on the topic, you will see that lots of people have had the same issues I did, I'm definitely not alone. With the stock bars and clamps, there is simply too little clearance for the shrader valve for reasonable maintenance.

[Eddie8v]

Spin the OEM bar clamps 180deg and you'll get a few more mm of clearance as that moves the bars backwards a tad, not enough to make much of a difference, you can rotate the bars forward the few mm to get your bar position close to where you started.

[matte]

I'll try that, thanks!

[Phil Hannah]

Have showas on mine now but had no issues with Honda pump. Could do it easily WITHOUT pulling bar pad or unhooking number plate. That was with stock bars in stock position. Bar mounts are offset so they are now in forward position.

[Eddie8v]

That's true; with the forward-mounted clamp position you should just be able to use the straight chuck that comes with the DRC pump as long as your forks are mounted so that the Schrader valves are full-forward. The gnurl will hit the bars a bit.

[motoxjeff]

$8,000 bike. People complain about buying a $50 pump. SMH...

[Eddie8v]

I don't think they're complaining as about buying the pump as they are about having to buy an adapter after buying the pump as the perception is the pump doesn't work as-is, without the swivel adapter chuck.

Edited May 18, 2013 by Eddie8v

[FGR01]

Yeah, that's the ticket. Forget your riding position and comfort. Instead, place your bars where it allows you to get at the air valves? Talk about SMH....

What happens to guys who like to run oversize bars or those that like to run clamps that place the bars even further front?

Not bagging on the air forks, per se, but the placement of the valves is a very ridiculous design oversight or lack of forethought. If you're going to design forks that require the pressure to be checked as much as every moto or at least every day, at least make it simple to do it!!

[Eddie8v]

Yep, all they needed to do was provide a taller and slightly angled Schrader valve for all to be well... Anyone need some oversized bars? ?

[susco64]

[Eddie8v]

That's an adapter, not a (replacement) screw-in fitting. It wouldn't have been terribly expensive for them to use the proper one, but they chose the cheap route with that shorty pos.

Edited May 18, 2013 by Eddie8v

[Jeramey]

Get this from crf stuff it is awesome been running it for a few months with no problems at all and actually have found that I don't always have to add pressure when I used to everytime I rode when I used the valve stem extenders

Edited May 19, 2013 by Jeramey

[Jeramey]