Honda unveils street-legal dirt bike CRF450L

MANILA:  Honda has taken covers off the 450cc motocross bike that is actually made for the road. Earlier, the choice of owning a street-legal dirt bike was limited to just two motorcycles from Honda, the CRF250L, and the CRF1000L, popularly known as Africa Twin. To fill the void in between, Honda has introduced a new street-legal dirt bike CRF450L for the international market.

The new CRF450L is powered by a 450cc engine that churns out a max power of 25.3 PS, mated to a 6-speed gearbox. It comes with a chain system to transfer power to the rear wheel. Honda has bestowed the road-ready version with an exclusive clutch design for reduced lever effort. The bike is fitted with a lithium-ion battery that keeps the weight to a minimum. It tips the scales at 131kg (road-ready with fuel).

The bike is based on the CRF450R, which is a motocross bike. It gets LED lights, rear view mirrors, electric starter and license plates to get you going on the road without hassles. Further, it gets the Honda’s Pro-Link design suspension system with 49mm Showa front forks and a monoshock unit at the rear.

Braking on the bike is taken care of by the discs at the front as well as at the rear. It comes with 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wire-spoke wheels. The seat height is 940 mm, which is quite high as far as road bikes are concerned.

The new CRF450L will go on sale in 2019 globally. Will it make to the Philippines shores? At the moment, we have no clue about it as we are still about twelve months away from the official launch.