2021 - 2022 Honda CRF450RL Review of Specs + CRF450L Dual Sport Motorcycle Changes Explained

today we're going to be taking a look at the 2021 honda crf 450 rl dual sport motorcycle say goodbye to the crf450l that ran from 2019 to 2020 as this is its replacement honda went and added an extra r in there like they did with the 28 thousand dollar 2021 cbr 1000 triple r rrsp fireblade and as we all know adding an extra r in there is like slapping on a few stickers it's instant horsepower in short though why did they add an r in there it's all marketing it's to remind you that this bike is based off of the crf 450r platform did they actually change anything for 2021 though a couple of things and we're going to touch on those and more but first if you find any parts of this video helpful please hit the like button below so youtube's algorithm will allow my channel to grow and in return bring you guys more videos so what did honda change for 2021 aside from throwing an extra letter in the name they decided to throw on a set of hand guards new graphics and an updated ecu with more fine-tuned fuel injection settings now normally when you have new changes thrown at a bike you'll see a price increase but thankfully we didn't in this case we actually saw the opposite originally the 450 rl was released at 10 399 which was the same price as the outgoing 450 l but then honda did something they don't do often a ppr which is a permanent price reduction and brought it down to nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars and thankfully honda has kept the 2022 450rl at that same figure as well and you can check out more info on the 2022 450rl and other 2022 bikes over at hondaprokevin.com i want to take a quick second and say thank you to southern honda powersports for opening their doors to me and allowing me to come pick through their inventory for these videos they are a massive honda power sports dealer here in chattanooga tennessee with tons of inventory from new hondas to used harleys and everything in between that they sell to people from all over the usa so check out the link in the description below and head over to their website see if they can save you some money on your next toy now this spike has a lot of really cool details that we just don't have the time to cover it would take about an hour if you're the type of person that wants to see all of that nitty gritty info when it comes to research and development the bike stripped down as a frame technical engine info and more then i'm going to do one more shameless plug and tell you to check out hondaprokevin.com and i'll have a link below sending you straight to the 450rl page where it goes over more information than what i can cover in this video with that out of the way let's get into some of the details that make this bike what it is this is hands down the baddest dual sport bike that honda has ever built why because honda wasn't chasing a budget with this bike like they were with the 230l that turned into the 250 and then the 300 l that we have today and then you've got the classic xr 650l that hasn't been touched in over 20 years you see that though when it comes to pricing as this 450 rl is almost twice the price of the 300 l and 3 000 more than the 650 l is it worth it though it all depends on what you plan on using the bike for if you just want to commute and head down a few trails here and there and you aren't the kind of person that has to have quote unquote the best of everything and you're happy with not having acceleration that wants to float the front tire in the first few gears get the 300l on the other hand if you want an animal something that can do anything and everything you want to throw at it and 10 000 bucks is in your budget this bike is hard to beat up front you have a fully adjustable 49 millimeter showa coil spring fork with 12.2 inches of travel paired up with a pro link design in the rear with a matching adjustable showa shock that has 11.8 inches of wheel travel these aren't just copy and pasted from the 450r though the rl has dedicated settings that are more suited for trail riding compared to motocross and when it comes to braking honda has made some changes over the 450r there too it uses the 450rs design but with additional fade resistance thanks to thicker discs and a large capacity reservoir to cut down on brake fade and for brake specs you have a two piston 260 millimeter setup up front with a one piston 240 millimeter outback and when it comes to wheels and tires unlike the 450r that uses a 19 inch rear wheel the 450rl has an 18 inch setup with the addition of a cush drive to absorb chain shock and you have a 21 inch front wheel up front and both are wrapped in irc gp tires honda went through a lot of effort to keep noise and vibrations to a minimum on this bike and if you've ever ridden a 450r that has been converted into supermoto setup then you know what i'm talking about and that's what honda wanted to combat by making some of the changes you'll find on the rl when compared to the r model and here's a couple of quick examples now the swing arm was injected with urethane to reduce road noise and then you have the sprockets have you ever noticed the funny looking rubber stuff on them it's to cut down on sound and vibration and the same thing goes with the engine case covers that you'll find on this bike it's to cut down on sound and vibration and the same thing goes with the engine case covers that you'll find on this bike that you won't see on the r models honda went through a lot of effort to make this bike more friendly on the street rather than just taking the 450r and throwing lights on it and calling it a day like they could have and now we'll take a quick second we'll start the bike up give it a few revs let you guys hear what it sounds like and then we'll come back and touch on some more specs [Applause] [Music] and next up we have the engine it's a liquid cooled 449.7 cc single cylinder four-stroke unicam engine while the fundamental architecture of the four-valve unicam engine remains the same next to the 450r many details had to be changed to support the broader role of making a dual sport motorcycle compared to a motocross bike the crank's mass was increased resulting in 13 percent more inertia which for a trail rider equals improved torque fill and response valve timing was revised to give a more broad and smoother spread of power and torque throughout the power band now the bore and stroke are unchanged from the 450r but the piston uses three rings now instead of two for increased durability the compression ratio was also dropped 1.5 points and the air box was redesigned and you also have the addition of an extra gear for the street making it a 6-speed compared to the 450rs 5-speed transmission and now what does all of this equal in the performance department she has 41.7 horsepower and 23.6 foot-pounds of torque and when it comes to maintenance this isn't like the 250 and 300 l models where you can go 8 000 miles between oil changes i'm sure you've heard the term pay to play and that rings true here too for that performance increase you go from 8 000 miles to every 600 miles on the 450 rl model and that's why i recommend a cheaper alternative if you're not really going to use this bike and the way it was designed for the 300l will get the job done for most of us but if you're like me the 450rl is where it's at and you don't care how much extra it cost it's 100 percent worth it but everybody is different but that's one thing to keep in mind though when you're shopping this bike compared to another one is maintenance intervals which is something that a lot of people don't pay enough attention to until it's too late and now we've made this video a lot longer than it was supposed to be so we're going to quickly cover some other highlights on the bike it has a two gallon titanium fuel tank to save a few ounces here and there and that ties into the lightweight lithium-ion battery that honda ships in these to power all of your electrical components like the led lights and more and that helps bring its curb weight down with all fluids it tips the scales at 291 pounds and for a few more numbers its seat height comes in at 37.2 inches ground clearance at 12.6 inches and its wheelbase is 58.9 inches and if you want any more of the technical specs check out the links below in the description and that's the 2021 honda crf 450 what do you guys think about the new changes that honda threw at it for 2021 is it perfect now or did they need to do a little bit more a little more horsepower maybe what do you guys think and that'll do it for this video guys thanks again for watching i really appreciate the support and we'll see in the next one

Channel: HondaPro Kevin

Views: 46,582

Rating: 4.93361 out of 5

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Id: _HB-i8GOYSs

Length: 11min 5sec (665 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 22 2021