A Motovlog where you can expect: -Tips and Tricks about riding, maintenance and upgrades -High authenticity-to-bullpoop ratio -Hopefully humorous comments about the predicaments I inflict on myself -Mostly off road weekend excursions and some bigger adventures -General disregard across the board
www.offroad-offcourse.com facebook.com/OFFroadOFFcourse - Where I publish invitations to my events and sunday rides instagram.com/offroad_offcourse/ - Where I keep you updated on the daily happenings
Met 3 guys on the Chunnel a couple of weeks ago who said exactly the same thing about the level of difficulty. It’s challenging and definitely harder than they expected.
🤔para iniciantes no offroad, ou quem procura conforto e não quer ser piloto, a mota certa é a Honda crf300L ou a crf 300 rally. Todos querem "race specs" mas depois sentem a falta do conforto.😅 Para ter performance e conforto ao mesmo tempo é preciso adicionar €€ á equação.
Well, I am not an amateur and I didnt enjoy the jerky throttle. I can work with it, but its an unecessary pain in the butt. Gladly, they altready made it much better with the new injection map (or so i've heard.. i didnt try it yet) As for the throttle slack... why do you say it needs to be? I only know 3 or 4 models that have it.
Cast vs CNC Milled, the downside of casting is the chance of air bubbles in the metal which could lead to cracks. On the good side, it also makes it cheaper to replace.
Hello Diogo, thanx for sharing this valuable information! I have a question in regard to your skid plate. I see in your new video's that you have a bulkier version. Did you install it yourself and if i may ask which make? Or do you have a link.. greetings Sebastiaan
Hello! Yeah I installed it myself. Its not a hard job, only a few bolts :) This is the one I have unclewang.net/products/450mt-engine-protection-c?_pos=44&_sid=bdc39a947&_ss=r
@@OFFroadOFFcourse Hello Diogo thank you very much... I came across unclewang to... and was curious if he was legit so your answer covers 2 flies with one stroke (as they say in the Netherlands :-)). Do you have good experience with Unlewang? Or was this your first order?
You do the same thing with the clutch but you put your body in a different position (basically, instead of leaning forward, to lean back). This is a very very VERY basic way to explain this, but yeah... xD
Hmm... good question! Th 450MT its probably a bit better on-road and a lot better off-road. The 390 will feel smaller and lighter (which may give it the appearence of better off-roading performance) but when you really need it, the performance isnt there. The 450MT has shown to be a very capable off-road adventure bike :)
Hello Diogo, the best review on RU-vid so far. Just test rode this bike today. It was a blast. The only thing I was not so happy about was the throttle jerkiness, but it sould be smoothed out with a change of the front sprocket to 15 teeth. Even taking it to the "offroad" the Engine has enough grunt to cope with it. Waiting for more content from you. P.s. MT stays for Mini Tenere? ;-)
MT = Mini Tenere! Oh i like that! xD In theory, the new firmware update fixes (almost entirely) the throttle jerkiness :) I am yet to test it... in Europe you need to get that update from the dealer, you cant use the wifi :( There is also a product (Coober ECU) that is supposed to fix the problem and wake up a few more horses... i am going to test it shortly
Yet people who use their phones in cars are breaking the law in some states. Intercoms, video screens and maybe watching RU-vid while you ride are becoming trendy. Riding can be dangerous enough thanks to inattentive car drivers; so are intercoms an invitation to join them? Off road sure i would have thought simply paying attention to staying upright was more important.
After a 20 year break from biking I can't decide between this or the CFMoto 450mt...i want to commute to work (4 miles) and some off roading ( if i can find somewhere)... which would you choose?.... thanks.
The CRF300L is by far a better off-road bike and a small commuter in my opinion. Its lighter, more practical, more fuel efficient, etc etc... and for me the best part is that it can take you ANYWHERE in the world. Anyone can ride it easily, its not a touring bike but it will tour for as long as you need it to, if you drop it you can pick it up easily, etc etc. The 450MT on the other hand is a very affordable and easy way to get into "adventure bikes", whatever that means :P Its a different experience, that I personally enjoy...but is it better than a good dual-sport? Not really
Oh man!... its such a difficult decision ..after a 20 year break from biking...do I buy one of these or spend an extra 1k on a less powerful but ultra reliable Honda CRF 300 Rally...such a tough choice.
They are completely different bikes. The CRF trully is begginer friendly and it will easily open your "off road horizons" even if you are a bit rusty. The 450MT is more like a mini adv bike... so, it will be slightly better on-road but much harder to tame off-road (specially when it gets gnarly). If your focus is offroad, then the CRF is the answer... if your focus is on-road, then the 450MT or any of the other 23452332 on-road oriented bikes of similar power :o By the way: I believe the crf300L is more bang for the buck then the rally version. You can save 1000dollars right there :)
I wanted to love this bike. On paper its perfect and seeing it in person its a gorgous bike. I had an opportunity to swap bikes with a friend for about an hour. I first sat on it and thought the ergonomics are perfect but the seat is pretty firm. Start the bike up and it sounds awesome, most impressive instrument cluster I have ever seen and clear even it sunlight, click into gear.. very nice, first gear nice pull, second gear .. what the hell this thing has no suspension, oh its adjustable, crank both adjusters to soft. slightly better but even my TW200 soaks up the road better. We rode some twisty roads, highway and gravel/dirt roads. The owner has never fiddled with the ride modes etc so I didn't bother either. I assume the default is rain mode or something like that because I seemed to be bouncing it off the rev limiter quite a bit and it certainly did not feel like 43 horsepower however I will say I like the engine and it was smooth enough that I would be able to ride it all day. Positives: looks, ergenomics, instrument cluster, engine. Negatives: terrible suspension (ok I said it), hard seat, KTM questionable reliability and very expensive parts. Just my opinion.
There are some suspension manufacturers that have combined adjustment for the shock that plays with both compression and rebound, so it might be the case with this bike as well. When I did a test ride on the MT450 I tried it on a pretty rocky dirt road with some "rock steps" of up to 15-20 cm, so it felt better uphill when I trow it with speed at them (comparing to my slow pace downhill when I remembered that it doesn't have crash guards and it was not my bike). Totally agree with the feeling of "short blanket" and I really hope that this will be changed with aftermarket shock with hydraulic preload and separate rebound and compression adjustments.
Thank you very much for all your information about this motorcycle and I would like you to make comparisons with other motorcycles of the same level. By the way, you didn't mention anything about the front brake pump and the brake fluid reservoir, since when the motorcycle is knocked down air can enter the brake fluid, did you know that?
Didnt know that :o So what do you mean? When the bike is down it will soak in air on the reservoir? I actually find the breaks quite good, but i didnt drop the bike yet xD
Yeah that sounds weird... so you increased (clockwise) the preload adjuster (left and right side, with the 14mm spanner) to get a sag o 6cm? Are you sure you are measuring the sag correctly?
First interesting review about this bike without trying to sell it! I love your videos, Diogo. Your mixture of thorough information, clarity, honesty, humility, and fun makes you the top bike RU-vidr for me. Once you mentioned that you admire FortNine, but I put you both on the podium, Enjoy it! I'll keep watching from my CRF300L and my Transalp 650
Thanks for the words man! Fortnine is 9932 levels ahead of me, but I am glad you can even put both of us on the same sentence :P I am a BIG fan of the CRF300L and will probably make a video comparing both in a near future
Great review, got mine a few weeks ago and totally agree with you. The jerky throttle makes me wonder too, but that's all I've found so far, the first few kilometres I found the front brake weak, but after 500-600km it has settled down and works well for now. 🙂
Hello there , i heard a lot of this bike and also you review is veri informative an well done , i am also wondering what do you think about the noe himalayan 450 ? it the cfmto competition in specs as price
I haven't tried the Himalayan. I think, in general, they will be very similar bikes (or, bettter said, capable of doing very similar things) but the 450MT will be the "racy" one, and the other one will be the "calm and smooth" one. This is only based on the reviews that I've been seeing...
Most helpful, what setting would you suggest for someone weighing 85 kg. I am also planing to lower the height would that make impact my suspension settings?
I tried the low setting for a while and quite enjoyed it (i didnt lower the front). In my quest to the "plush" suspension feel, i raised the bike again thinking it would help make the bike feel softer but nah... not as much as i hoped 😅 If you weight 85kg you will probably need to increase the preload on the rear shock. I suggest you follow my tutorial video about sag and preload :)
Is there in the COC-Documentation another Dimension for the rear tire instead of the 140/70-18 ? Possibly 140/80-18 ? That would open vast possibilities for tire options. 140/70-18 is very limited.
I dont know about documentantion, sorry. Howeverm, in some countries I believe you can deviate from the stock dimensions by 5% (which would make the 140/80 a usable size).
Both should be good, its really a matter or personal choice. I think the 450mt will probably feel more "ready to race" than the Hima...and on the other hand the Hima will probably be more easy going and comfortable for slow speed riding. You have to try both :) Remember: there are no bad bikes, only bad choices xD
Hola Diogo. Gracias por tus videos de cf450mt. Tengo una XT660 R con 125mil km y mucho off. Quiero canviar mi moto por una trail ligera,no necesito muchos cv y cf 450mt me esta enamorando. Probé Aprilia tuareg de un amigo y vi lo bien que se puede ir con una buena supension. Del 1 al 10.... ¿Es mucho mejor la 450mt que la XT 660 tema suspension...y cuanto le falta para parecerse a la Aprilia Tuareg😅? ¿Y de motor se queda muy corta?...son 44NM vs 60NM. Mi peso 120kg y voy alegre por lo marron...se quedara justa....o al contrario trabajará bien
Hello David! Without any suspension upgrades, i will say that the 450MT is 60% as good as the Tuareg (if well adjusted, of course) If you take them to an expert and modify the shims and other internals, you can make it 80% as good as the tuaregs. They will never be as good cause you have 200mm of travel vs 240mm 😮 and also the fork with is 41mm vs 43mm As for your weight...yeah, maybe the 44cv wont feel very exciting. You have to try one...its different than the xt660, but similar at the same time 😂
Hows the power compared to XT660? Do you miss it? I see that suspension should feel superior compared to stock XT? I am experienced enduro rider and I feel that XT suspension is awful. I have come to accept them as they are because it would cost 1.5k atleast to upgrade them. But that basically turns the cost as same as that 450MT.
The suspension is much much better than the stock XT. No question about it 😂 especially on faster/harder offroad. My XT660R was very modified, 48mm WP forks, stage 4 WP rear shock and it felt just a bit superior to what comes stock on the mt450. The biggest difference i feel is precisely on that capacity i had on the XT to feel plush and performant at the same time 😅
I like your analogy of the "short blanket" it really says what it means with this solution. I think it's a price "issue". For the bike's relatively low price this is a not bad option, you need to know how many clicks your suspension and shock needs for different terrain, I get that could be a challenging experiment for new riders or for those who don't have experience of that. But for it's price, I would say, I can take that, and after warranty change the rear shock,(or during warranty if you know what you are doing) :D I would say that yeah, it's definetely a not good option but not a bad one. I still appreciate your honesty for your audience! keep up the good work! Cheers.
The 450 MT is an awesome cheap bike when you see the equipment and general quality. So it has 200 mm cheap suspensions with simple fork springs and a cheap rear suspension, very good for the price but we always want the best. It's always a problem of compromise cost/effectiveness, on trail bikes the problem is harder to solve as nowadays very few accept to have a front suspension going down at each braking. Normally It's the price to pay to get plush comfortable suspensions off road. That you describe is probably a problem with the fork springs which maybe need to be progressive and adjusted to the weight of the rider so the hydraulic settings will work. On some very good forks you could have progressive springs, or 2 different springs and even air springs (lightly compressed air in the fork). Except motocross air in the fork is now pretty rare, but progressive springs are rather affordable. For the rear shock a solution is to ask a specialized company to rebuild the shock, improving the hydraulics, and sometimes put a new spring. Generally it's far cheaper than to buy a new shock. It's almost always a good enough solution. I've always used the service of a specialist for modifying if needed and tuning my suspensions. They have plenty of experience, having tuned plenty of bikes, and have a knowledge about suspensions we can't even guess. Having the good tooling, it's a breeze for them.
The forks are actually very very good (and very adjustable), the "problem" is all in the rear, and i think a revalving will fix the problem. Honestly, the bike has been great and complaining about these suspension is basically nitpicking...its so good, its tempeting to put in a little bit more effort and make it perfect 😅
@@OFFroadOFFcourse I see that you mean. Surely the revalving will highly improve the shock. For a pro it's a piece of cake, even on a sealed shock. The general appreciation of the quality of the suspensions of the 450 MT shows that cheap does not mean poor, if the company is serious and wants to treat well his customers.
Your rear spring-rate observations sound like my KTM 390 Adventure; -18 clicks rear rebound and 0 preload and -32 clicks fork compression, -31 clicks fork rebound yields comfort (for me @ 225 pounds in 'space suit'). One can't get twin-cylinder smoothness and 59 inch wheelbase directional stability without WEIGHT ? In other words, "weight MATTERS"?
Pogressive springs Plush for low speed, getting stiffer when you ride more aggressive... the best of two worlds and less expensive than compleet cartridges or even compleet forks
I am 85kg with gear on :) To get the bike well setup for you just follow the instructions on the "sag / pre-load" video, this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jeijOYcnlvU.html
