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The Day in Old Fox'sUser Review of the Honda CRF450
Rider: Vivek Sharma
Vivek is a very experienced campaigner on motorcycles, both on and off-road. He had won the 2008 Raid De Himalaya in Group D and was placed 8th overall. This is apart from winning numerous other off-road competitions over the past few years.
Here are his views on Saturday's ride and the motorcycle-
I had been waiting to try my hands on one of these ultimate machines which are mass produced for making people discover the "dirty" side of motorcycling and it's hidden pleasures. Made for sheer fun, these motorcycles teach the rider what "Throttle Control " is, and how important is it.This Saturday, I had more than 4 times the horses on my call compared to my commuter motorcycle, but I knew what does it mean to provoke all of them even on a straight line, forget the corner. In fact I needed more of them over the corners rather than straights.
The riding experience-
Initially I was scared of riding it, but gradually the confidence inspiring chassis and precision of throttle started hypnotizing me. It was fun to ride the motorcycle that understands the protocol between the rider, the terrain and it's own behavior.A given motorcycle built for a given purpose has to behave/react in a given way for given inputs on a given surface. The surface here can be qualified as hard pack, loose dirt, bumps, bermed turns, flat turns etc. each rider plays exactly with above parameters to derive his own version of "riding pleasure" from a motorcycle.
The inputs can be weight transfer, steering inputs, clutch, brakes and off course and most importantly the throttle. The more I started pushing it with the right inputs, the more obedient it was getting. I have never felt this on any bike. Soon after 1st 4-5 laps I was deliberately trying to make the mistakes of lower intensity to judge the tolerance of the bike towards rider's mistakes.The motorcycle turned out to be very cooperative but was leaving very small window to accommodate mistakes. That was a very good reminder of the ground rules. One has to respect the machine as much as one wants command over it.I have seen people quickly turning these bikes and making controlled slides and spins for taking turns. This bike allowed even a novice like me to do that, but one mistake in the middle of maneuver due to lack of confidence or sharp practice, and it hits back hard.
Old Fox has written a very elaborate description of what all happened that day, but I was in altogether a different world. A world where everything is perfect. I was imagining people(honda in this case) building the machines for which others pay willingly. Things are expensive, but the experience you get out of them is richer.Nothing was pressing me to ride the bike faster, but my inner self wanted to explore it more and derivative was, I was exploring myself more. I was trying to be one with the motorcycle, I did not recall any instance when I felt that the bike was not mine. That time, I was toying with marvel of the technology. Just buying such a motorcycle will not give one the pleasure like other material things. One has to friend with that and has to earn that pleasure. Purchasing these machines is just the beginning. But as I understand, anyone who aims to purchase it, already knows what it means to buy a motorcycle that does not qualify to be a "motorcycle" by my standards because -
It is no good for touring , economic commuting, carrying passengers and do not last very long on a particular setup. These need to be tuned frequently. These do not have a main stand. The tires wear off very soon and the fuel tank range is very low. I can go on describing the disqualifications. But I am short of words to describe what does it bring along - ownership experience of a off road super-bike.
I rode a WR250 another purpose built off-roader back in 2008 and a WR450 this year in March. But those ride lasted only for 3-4 minutes and were on tarmac.But this session gave me a true feeling of a competitive off-road machine and it's character. These machines are easy to master because these are so light and a very slight input of rider's weight transfer translates into bigger proportion of combined mass transfer. The front end is designed for sitting near the front fork and loading it on a corner and it helps in accelerating out of corner. Any jerk to the throttle means rear tire will try to overtake front. YOU cannot kill the throttle in reaction, the throttle needs to be let of by few mm's and rear will gain traction again. So in short, the most important factor on these bikes are throttle. If you are going in straight line, throttle up. If you want to turn, throttle up more. If you can handle a situation, throttle up and if you cannot, throttle little more.
Finally, after writing few paragraphs, I give up trying to describe in words about the bike and my experience with that. All in all I would term it as ultimate bike for dirt and I am thankful to everyone who presented me this opportunity of riding my dream machine. I just wish to have enough skills in me someday to even utilize 40% of this motorcycle.
Happy riding
MORE!
More!
Vivek
Anurag
Nitin
Nitin
Vivek
Ken
Vivek
Vivek
Vivek
Rider: Vivek Sharma
Vivek is a very experienced campaigner on motorcycles, both on and off-road. He had won the 2008 Raid De Himalaya in Group D and was placed 8th overall. This is apart from winning numerous other off-road competitions over the past few years.
Here are his views on Saturday's ride and the motorcycle-
I had been waiting to try my hands on one of these ultimate machines which are mass produced for making people discover the "dirty" side of motorcycling and it's hidden pleasures. Made for sheer fun, these motorcycles teach the rider what "Throttle Control " is, and how important is it.This Saturday, I had more than 4 times the horses on my call compared to my commuter motorcycle, but I knew what does it mean to provoke all of them even on a straight line, forget the corner. In fact I needed more of them over the corners rather than straights.
The riding experience-
Initially I was scared of riding it, but gradually the confidence inspiring chassis and precision of throttle started hypnotizing me. It was fun to ride the motorcycle that understands the protocol between the rider, the terrain and it's own behavior.A given motorcycle built for a given purpose has to behave/react in a given way for given inputs on a given surface. The surface here can be qualified as hard pack, loose dirt, bumps, bermed turns, flat turns etc. each rider plays exactly with above parameters to derive his own version of "riding pleasure" from a motorcycle.
The inputs can be weight transfer, steering inputs, clutch, brakes and off course and most importantly the throttle. The more I started pushing it with the right inputs, the more obedient it was getting. I have never felt this on any bike. Soon after 1st 4-5 laps I was deliberately trying to make the mistakes of lower intensity to judge the tolerance of the bike towards rider's mistakes.The motorcycle turned out to be very cooperative but was leaving very small window to accommodate mistakes. That was a very good reminder of the ground rules. One has to respect the machine as much as one wants command over it.I have seen people quickly turning these bikes and making controlled slides and spins for taking turns. This bike allowed even a novice like me to do that, but one mistake in the middle of maneuver due to lack of confidence or sharp practice, and it hits back hard.
Old Fox has written a very elaborate description of what all happened that day, but I was in altogether a different world. A world where everything is perfect. I was imagining people(honda in this case) building the machines for which others pay willingly. Things are expensive, but the experience you get out of them is richer.Nothing was pressing me to ride the bike faster, but my inner self wanted to explore it more and derivative was, I was exploring myself more. I was trying to be one with the motorcycle, I did not recall any instance when I felt that the bike was not mine. That time, I was toying with marvel of the technology. Just buying such a motorcycle will not give one the pleasure like other material things. One has to friend with that and has to earn that pleasure. Purchasing these machines is just the beginning. But as I understand, anyone who aims to purchase it, already knows what it means to buy a motorcycle that does not qualify to be a "motorcycle" by my standards because -
It is no good for touring , economic commuting, carrying passengers and do not last very long on a particular setup. These need to be tuned frequently. These do not have a main stand. The tires wear off very soon and the fuel tank range is very low. I can go on describing the disqualifications. But I am short of words to describe what does it bring along - ownership experience of a off road super-bike.
I rode a WR250 another purpose built off-roader back in 2008 and a WR450 this year in March. But those ride lasted only for 3-4 minutes and were on tarmac.But this session gave me a true feeling of a competitive off-road machine and it's character. These machines are easy to master because these are so light and a very slight input of rider's weight transfer translates into bigger proportion of combined mass transfer. The front end is designed for sitting near the front fork and loading it on a corner and it helps in accelerating out of corner. Any jerk to the throttle means rear tire will try to overtake front. YOU cannot kill the throttle in reaction, the throttle needs to be let of by few mm's and rear will gain traction again. So in short, the most important factor on these bikes are throttle. If you are going in straight line, throttle up. If you want to turn, throttle up more. If you can handle a situation, throttle up and if you cannot, throttle little more.
Finally, after writing few paragraphs, I give up trying to describe in words about the bike and my experience with that. All in all I would term it as ultimate bike for dirt and I am thankful to everyone who presented me this opportunity of riding my dream machine. I just wish to have enough skills in me someday to even utilize 40% of this motorcycle.
Happy riding
MORE!
More!
Vivek
Anurag
Nitin
Nitin
Vivek
Ken
Vivek
Vivek
Vivek
And it is not even a year that he has started practicing.
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