Honda Crf450l Review

Used Buyer Review

The CRF450L is essentially a street-legal dirt bike wearing number plates, and you need to go in with that understanding firmly established. Honda took their race-proven CRF450R motocrosser, detuned it significantly for road use, and bolted on lights and mirrors. The result is a genuinely capable dual-sport that weighs around 280lbs wet and makes roughly 40hp — tractable, punchy power that suits trails far better than motorway slogs. Suspension is excellent, the engine is bulletproof if maintained, and the thing handles like nothing else on a forest track. Buying used, check the service history obsessively. The valve inspection intervals are tight at 24 hours or 6,000 miles — many owners ignore this completely. Shim replacement is expensive. Also inspect for crash damage; these bikes attract inexperienced riders who drop them repeatedly. Mileage matters less than maintenance history. Models before the 2022 updates had more aggressive gearing that made highway riding genuinely unpleasant above 65mph. Post-2022 units are notably more liveable.