Honda crf450L

Another big thing I am known for is my love hate relationship with the long awaited CRF450L. I don’t lust for many things, but the 450L was something I had dreamed about since I was a kid, why the Japanese market had never released a true street legal 450cc Dual Sport had always baffled me. At the time of the release I was ecstatic, but there was no way I could afford it. With an almost $13,000 OTD price I had to wait patiently and save my pennies up until I could find a used one. Well the day had finally come and we headed all the way to Morgantown WV to pick up my new to me CRF 4shitty.. And that’s what I commonly referred to it as because we just did not get along. The bike sat dormant for 6 months while I built my shop and when the time finally came to give it a rip, I was left extremely dissatisfied.. The motocross roots were just too strong, and with the constant flameouts and low speed stalling issues, I just didn’t like the way the bike felt. From the way it wore its weight, to the mediocre performance in the gnarly stuff, this bike was built for speed, and I am not. I eventually sold it and went to team Orange which was the best decision I could have made at the time, but a year later I gave it ANOTHER try and picked up a second 450L with a proper Vortex ECU and full exhaust system which would supposedly fix all of my gripes with my first one. Nope, still didn’t last. While this one performed MUCH better, you just can’t get away from the MX roots and clunky ergonomics, the KTM spoiled me and for my kind of riding they really are the best of the bunch.