CRF450X Customizing Continues...

Okay, back to fortifying the CRF450X against the rigors of the trail, my penchant for riding over my head and falling off the bike, and the cruel vendetta Mistress Fate seems to have lobbied against me.

Next order of business is those flimsy plastic things Honda insults our intelligence by calling radiator guards. Biggest problem with the stock guards is not that a rock could easily pummel right through the little plastic fins (although that's highly likely!), but that there is virtually no support against impact. The radiators essentially attach on their inboard side to the bike's downtube and the outboard side just hangs by nothing more than one small bolt attached to the shrouds, which are also plastic and offer no protection against impact. As already mentioned, I fell my very first outing on the 450X. As luck would have it, the left radiator came down on high ground (the ridge between the two deep ruts that had thrown me) such that the shroud and the radiator absorbed the brunt of the impact. The result is that my left radiator isn't exactly square anymore. It looks kinda like Hulk Hogan took it in his hands and gave it a nice twist. A decent set of guards with a third attachment point could have prevented the damage.

Stock radiator guards, if you can call them that ... just flimsy plastic.

I did some research and came to the conclusion that some of the better aftermarket guards were the ones manufactured by Flatland Racing. Also, my buddy Cricket recommended them; he's got them on his KTM 450EXC. I have lots of other friends who ride their DR-Z400's, WR450's, and so on with nothing more than the stock setup, and so far their radiators seem to be doing okay (I'm not going so far as to say their radiators aren't tweaked from get-offs, though), but I think they've just been lucky. All it takes is falling just right and you're in a world of hurt.

Installation only took about an hour, despite some fitting problems caused by my out-of-spec left radiator. I'm quite pleased with them. They seem like what should have been on the bike to begin with. (Are you listening Honda?) I really wish I had installed them before I ever took the bike offroad.

Flatland Racing radiator guards ... you can see how the guard comes back around behind the radiator and mounts to the frame of the bike, providing that all important support against impact.

Not much is getting through these puppies!

Okay, radiator problem addressed. Might have added a few more pounds to the bike, but I swear I'm going to go on a diet soon. Ha!

Next thing on the agenda is protecting the bike's brake and clutch lever ... and my hands. Can't even tell you how many times I've whacked trees in passing on the tighter trails through the woods. Without handguards, I would have surely broken several fingers by now. And the levers are usually the first things to snap in a fall.

I've been pleased with the Emgo handguards on my other bike, but I wanted to try something different on the 450, something with a bit more bling. The Acerbis (say "Ah-cher-bee") Rally II guards you see below seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunately, I didn't read the catalog description closely enough. I thought the primary guard was metal, like other guards I've used. These are 100% plastic, though. Acerbis boasts, "Lighter weight with equivalent strength!" Color me skeptical. I'm too lazy to send them back, so we'll see how well they hold up. I just can't imagine them absorbing the same impact as the aluminum guards, though. Time will tell.

Acerbis Rally II handguards ... stylin'!

Hands are a terrible thing to waste...

Since I plan to sneak around a bit (illegally) on pavement (generally just to get from one trailhead to another) I bought some cheap Acerbis mirrors so I could watch for Johnny Law coming up behind me. We'll see how well these hold up, too. They kinda fold down out of the way for offroad riding, but sometimes if they're angled just right, you can blind your buddies on the trail after you pass them. Send them crashing off into the bushes! Always great fun!

Acerbis mirror.

Last thing for this blog entry (of course there'll be more another day!) is to protect my fork seals. The CRF450X has lower guards (which really need some cool stickers to cover all that blah white plastic!) to protect its inverted forks, but there's still a lot of dirt and dust that accumulates on the fork tubes and eventually eats away at the seals. Best to go ahead and hide those babies from the environment. These are Dirt Skins. They go on easy and come in many colors, including Honda red.

Unprotected fork seals.

Dirt Skins. Kinda like safe sex.

Stay tuned. I'm not done.

If you're wondering ... Yes, I will eventually get out and ride the damn thing! First, however, the Beemer and I are off to the Flint Hills Stampede, a dualsport rally in Kansas. My buddies Danny and Chris will be going with me. Maybe we'll see you there...?