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The first thing I noticed on the 450X was the roominess of the cockpit. I run 30mm bar raisers on my own bike and the Honda was near perfect right from the outset. The seat was firm yet comfortable and the transition from sitting to standing was accomplished with ease. The frame initially felt wide at the footpegs but I put that down to me not being used to a perimeter frame as the feeling didn't last long. The front brake has awesome stopping power and great feel making loose rocky downhills where front brake control and feel is critical, a breeze. The rear stopper offers plenty of notice before it locks up and power is good.

The 450X comes with a great stock suspension package just like it's little brother, the 250X. This thing is actually sprung well for those of us who weigh over 75kg! The front forks work really well, offering fantastic bottoming resistance and good feedback. Erosion jumps actually became fun again for me. The rear shock is more of the same, working well with no noticeable bad habits.

If I had to pick out the most outstanding feature of this bike it has got to be the steering and handling. On day two of testing I spent the entirety of it running in single track. The Honda marketing gurus couldn't have picked a better location to show off the bikes fantastic handling. The bike's centre of gravity seems quite low making the bike feel very light and chuckable. Changing direction quickly with sure footedness was easily done and encouraged you to push harder until you found the limit of the road legal Michelin AC10's which were honestly not up to the task on loose surfaces. Combine the great geometry with the razor sharp steering and you have got a big bore bike that will happily play in what was once the domain of the small bores. It really is a confidence-inspiring package out of the box. I wonder how much it would be improved if our mate Terry Hay from Shock Treatment had a fiddle with it. Dangerously good - I suspect!

The modifications done to this motor for enduro use are numerous and together make for a well-rounded package. The motor fired easily from cold with the choke on and a push of the magic button. What was life like before those things? I went in with the preconceived notion that this motor would be lacking the torque I like so much from my own bike. I was wrong. The 450's motor lugged up hills a gear too high with ease and would pull strongly from right off the bottom. It has no trouble revving happily to its redline either, with plenty of over-rev. One thing that was lacking though is engine braking, with only minimal engine braking available it is lucky the Honda had such good brakes! Gearing is the only downfall here, the bike comes stock with 13/51 which sees it starting to work hard at 80kph. Maybe 14/49 would give the CRF longer legs and make transport sections accomplished more easily. Fuel economy seemed good too, even with the short gearing. I got 90k's out of the tank and did not hit reserve. Speaking to Scott Bishop, he told me that he got 96k's before hitting reserve and that man "can go"! The only question I have about this motor is one of reliability with its titanium valves. Time will tell if Honda has done their homework and improved upon the overhead issues of the 450X's little brother.