I really like the changes Honda has made to the 450R. Has anyone out there ridden one yet? If so what are your impressions?

 

wut changes have they made? the only thing i know about is the front plastic and headlights

 

Honda has made alot of changes to 06 450R. It now has e-start (or kick) and the motor now has shorter stroke and larger bore like CRF dirtbike, titanium intake valves, and FCR carb to name a few. The swingarm is 20mm (or one inch) longertoo.

 

i dont like what they did to the front end, i think its ugly. i like my 05's styling. of course i would rather have the motor off of the 06. its alright, mine will be a 470 soon enough :-D

 

yea ive had mine for three weeks now and i love it. i race at the mx track every week. im a lot smoother on this quad than i was on my yfz450. im waighting on my hrc kit right now. right now the only things i did to it was pro armer nerfs with the race pegs, hole shot mxr4s all around, cfm end cap opend up air box jeted with the crf450 needle, 14tooth front sprocket and 36 rear, took head lights and switchs off and just put a dirt bick kill switch on there for the estart.

 

Can you say choked down and restricted by the EPA !!!!

Non adjustable needle, D shaped fuel screw adjuster and that airbox inlet !!!!

 

What is it like riding the new 450? Can you ride wheelies and screw around with it, or does it want to stay on the ground like a 250R??

 

it stays down better then the 04 and 05 but it will wheely when you want it to.

 

Took my new one out this weekend. Still breaking it in. But was able to ride wheelies fairly easy (only tried it a couple of times). The new headlights are nicer than last years. They detach easily for racing and bike looks tight with our without them. Really glad they changed the front end plastics, looks like the 250r's of old a little. The ergos are awesome. It feels really light in your hands.

 

I thought the front end was a little ugly as well when I first saw it at the dealer show but I thought the same thing about the 04 when I saw it at the 03 dealer show. Now if I see both side by side the 06 looks alot cleaner and it makes taking it off for racing a snap.