2021 Honda CRF450R vs CR500AF | The Horsepower SHOWDOWN! 

Where's Ronnie when we need him

Take into consideration that the 500 is using at best 2001 tech vs 2021 tech! Imagine a modern day 2021 cr500 thing would be a monster

This makes me miss my 87 yz250. It loved that side of sand mountain and the fingers. My wr450 is super fun too. But that built 250 at little Sahara was a riot.

The 500 Sounds way off the mark when it goes by. Sounds super low on rpm & down on power. Like the 500 is lean on the main.

'But you're still a half-second off in the Honda' lol

in all fairness the 4th round of drag racing up the sand, the 500 got an awful start due to rider error it looks so not necessarily a fair run. maybe i'm an idiot? other thoughts?

Honestly, I’m surprised the 450 is as close to the 500 as it is. The 2 stroke has 50 more cc’s and fires every revolution. But on the other hand, the 450 turns almost twice the RPM, so i guess it makes sense they’re evenly matched

So we don't upgrade 2strokes for decades and they are still in the game?

I have a KX500AF and tbh a 450 has the same power. A 450 is just more tame and manageable. The 500 isn't faster, it isn't quicker, better or anything. It's just different, and fun.

The one guy rides the 500 like he's scared of it

2 stroke = fun

I rode cr500’s for twenty years. I would gladly trade my new yz450fx for a cr500 in good shape. Honda, build a new cr500 and i will buy one.

We need an underground 2 stroke factory in the US

Cant really compare when one dude is twice the weight of the other and doesn't know how to ride . I kid guys👍💪🤙✌️

To be fair you would need a old school CR500 rider/owner to go against the 450 cuz neither one had enough experience to ride the snot out of the 500.

500 wins by a huge margin based solely on exhaust note.

Ask McGrath the 500 eats a 450 all day.

The 500 needs a rider mod😂

Cr 500 is way cheaper to maintain and way cheaper to get more power. Bring back the 2 strokes

Anybody can go fast on a 450 . The big bore 2 stroke separates the men from the boys only a certain type of person able to push its limits .

Neither of y'all rode the 500 up in it's power band. Both y'all were lugging that thing and it still kept up with the 450. 😃

I grew up on a 2-stroke (I have a 450 now) but it sure sounds to me like you guys ride that 2-stroke like a 4-stroke. It should be high in the RPMs before you shift....not like a 4-stroke necessarily. Let that 500 sing and I bet it would be a very different result in this application. On a track, the 450 would clean up but on paddles the 500 should shine. As another commenter mentioned, this is the first time I've heard of a 500 with a narrow powerband. Drive a YZ 80 and you'll know what a narrow powerband feels like. 500's have lots of power so it's spread out unlike some of the smaller 2-strokes.

I’ve owned numerous 500s including a new service Honda and many 450s also. The stock 500 af with a pipe struggles to beat a 450 but for the dunes here in Utah at elevation when I ported my 500 af with a RK tech head with bumped up compression and 100 octane fuel it was night and day and pulled the 450 hard up sand mtn. 500 is old tech but just needs a bump in compression and good fuel and it’s amazing.

Both are great bikes. I'd take the 500 for ease of maintenance and much cheaper rebuild cost

cr all day long lighter no valves to bend .ive ridden a mates 450 i had it pined in 5th when i gave it back it wouldn't start.

2 stroke

On a track the new 450 would smoke it. I love em both tho.

I bought a new CRF 450. After a couple months, I learned how expensive they are to rebuild. And not nearly as exciting to ride.

That's the first CR 500 I have seen with a narrow Powerband. They will pull skat-trak viper 10 paddle easily. Fastest in 3 counties

A 450 thumper is legitimately fast. I'd guess 99% of riders will be faster everywhere on a 450 verses the 500. While having a slightly higher peak horsepower number, the 500 has a lower redline and a peakier powerband. Most people can't launch a 500 well in a sand drag. I couldn't without a ton of clutch slip and a ton of bad launches first. My service Honda AF had an even peakier mid/top port job. The flat torque curve of the 450 makes them super easy to launch. That flat powerband makes them easier to ride fast on a track also. 20 years of refinement makes the 500 obsolete. Still a blast to ride but nostalgia will only get you so far in a race.

Let Ronnie Mac ride the CR500

100% comes down to rider ability and knowing how to ride the 500. I have had a kx500 since new from 2004 and they do not have a narrow power band. They produce plenty of power and torque all through the revs. If you can't beat a 450 in a straight line there is something very wrong. I have never had a 450 get in front of my 500.

That 500 will pick up more women

That CR500af is probably down on horsepower because of that stupid dual exhaust, is everybody knows exhaust affects the 2-stroke a lot, I own a cr500af and my close friend has a crf450 it isn't nearly as close when we race, the 500 wins every time even if I let him get a head start I run him down and I weigh more.

The guy in the black shifts without letting of the gas and that makes a deference.

They should have taken them to the track and let the timer do the recording 😆

I guess I'm the only one that thought the 500 would win, I'm a dumbass

The 500 wins in every category except ease of use. The 500 is easier and cheaper to own and maintain and 10-20 years from now will still be worth more than the 450. Oh, and if that 450 drops a valve you better have a deep bank account cause 4 strokes are $$ to fix. How often to you see rollers for sale because of the repair costs on the 4 strokes? The 4 strokes are cool if you like them though but I'd take a 2T every time for off road stuff.

So the 500 2stroke is basically a 450 4stroke. This makes it very apparent that the AMA rule is unfair about making you race in the 450 class if you want to ride a 250 2stroke

I know which one would be far more painful when it came time to pay for a rebuild!

Should see a comparison on a track

Hard to call... the 450 is probably going to be faster time was for 99% of the riders... way more forgiving, more even power spread across the band, especially low down means slightly less than perfect gear changes wont be as devastating on lap times. I'd probably still want to ride the 500 though as its 2 stroke and has that sound and smell you just don't get from a 4 stroke. Probably a handful of very skilled 2 stroke riders on a suitable circuit would be able to take full advantage of the extra grunt of the 500 and beat the 450 but as much as i dont want to write if I were doing anything serious i'd ride the 450.

Four strokes overheat in deep sand,mud and high altitude. I used to be able to buy a whole used two stroke for the cost of a thumper top end overhaul. I'm light so prefer 250. I honestly couldn't kick a 500 when it's cold after camping or hot when you crash. Speaking of crashing, before electric start flooded thumpers could go from first to last. Two strokes are like Lighting the fuse on a skyrocket then it turns into a magic carpet that grants your every wish. Four strokes are like a very good race car that got cut in half lengthwise.

Put 30+ years of research and design into that cr500 motor, transmission , and carborator and see what happens. My understanding from guys who used to ride cr500 is after 1986 they reduced the power on it for some reason. I've heard cause it was just too powerful and the power made it hard to ride/controll. I have ridden a 1989 cr500 and it was not in great shape. The bike was scary fast and with the old bike tech, suspension, and design it really was only good at climbing big hills and drag racing. I ride a 1998 cr250 now and it's plenty fast/has enough power. The 4 strokes have come along way since 2000s and have a broad useable power band but, you just can't beat the way 2strokrs powerband and power delivery feels when riding. 2strokes will always have you with a grin after taking a ride. Keep the 4strokes and revive the 2strokes with current technology and it's a win for every type/ style rider.

This doesn't surprise me at all. I ride a mildly tuned BRC500 (brcracing.ca) which uses a CR500 piston, and I frequently race all of my buddies on their various 450's, 500 4t's, and 300 2t's, and it really just comes down to who hooks up the best. Just like they mentioned here, if I can keep my bike in the sweet spot and the tire from spinning, I will normally win, but any little mistake really slows me down. Keep in mind though, that I could tune mine much more aggressively, pretty easily. I know guys who run the BRC500 kit with just carb mods, slightly higher compression, and the Hygge pipe that make nearly 10 more hp than my bike. Modern 450s are already pretty highly tuned, so it's a lot harder to get those kind of gains, without turning them into ticking time bombs.

Great video. Had a 1991 and 1995 KX500 the the motor is a monster! Like the wt of the 2 stroke but like the usable power on the 4 stroke. Smile factor, 2 stroke for sure.

CR 500 are just fun to ride.

One also has traction and launch control. And the other is old technology. But 2 stroke forever.

I'm all 2 stroke but cr500s priced them self out of the market. I rather buy a new bike for cheaper

Long live the 2stroke

Not a very reliable test really, since as the guy admitted at 9:04, the timing difference could've just been due to him hitting the timer a slower. lol

Y’all are scared of the 500 to let her sing the way she should

I am a 4 stroke guy but man I love 2 strokes and my dream 2 stroke is a mint 87cr250 and 2007 cr250

How much for the 5hundo? I got RM Cash burnin a hole in my pocket

Now that was an awesome video for sure keep them coming 👍👍

The 500 doesn’t sound very good sounds like it’s lacking in power

Great comparison! Ask J McGrath to help out next time:).

How would anyone believe a company who's main focus is to sell as many parts as possible to the continuing CFR 450 product line vs. the discontinued CR 500 product line be an honest test.

lmao. Yeah, they're so close. Except now he has to go retorque and loctite every fastener on the 500 and stop his dental working from ringing. A counterbalanced 450 is just a much better bike now. Time has marched on and left the kick-start, carb 2 strokes behind. Just adding those two items (balance shaft and e start) to a 500 would really make things interesting...

Why not get a 1984 CR500 and pit it against a 1960 500 4 stroke motocrosser such as a BSA or the like and see how that turns out because that is the year difference between these two bikes

Let's look at it this way, the CR500 engine had its horsepower peak in 86 and afterwards they built em more tame. I always think people have to look at the four strokes from that time to actually see how much of a dinosaur we are looking at here, agewise.... so still a more than respectable result.

If you think the 4 stroke will win because it's more "rideable" then you don't have what it takes to ride that 500 2 stroke. Just saying.

What a great shootout with surprising results. Two Strokes forever!

Power from the two-stroke is definitely better but for usable linear power it just can't compete with a 450 four stroke

2 stroke does sound really really good xD

The 2 stroke Actually put down a lot more torque than the 4 stroke. Wish honda never stopped making them.

Tried my brother in laws kx 500 and it was one hell on an experience ! you just can't describe the feeling it's out of this world !

4 strokes are expensive and when they brake are ridiculously expensive might as well buy a new bike. 2 strokes are king. This is why 450s are allowed to race in 250 class. 4 strokes are ok I guess. But they don't put smile on my face like 2 stroke

There is nothing like riding a 500!

Such BS, a 500 will smoke a 450 every time. If you don’t know how to ride stay home.

No power valve on the cr 500 can't compete with the 450 on the big end. 450 is turning twice the rpm. Given traction 500 will pull the 450 to redline in 5th and 450 will walk right past. Plain and simple. That's given traction. Hp numbers are similar. But the 500 destroys the 450 in peak torque numbers. But!! The 450 puts down big torque all through the rpm range.

Un saludo desde república Dominicana

The new 450s are pretty crazy fast. The cr500 engine is 30 years old. Technology has grown a lot in 30 years. Good comparison video. I would have thought the 500 in sand would be way faster just because it has more horsepower.

Like everyone is saying 2strokes all the way. When did Honda stop making 500 and it just loses out to a new 450 . . . 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Now you guys have to do kx 500 vs kx 450

My 99 cr500af with a 91 engine pulled like a bear from idle.

Awesome video. Now we need to do the same test between a YZF450 vs YZ250.

Its just common sense that these 450 4 strokes are no match for those 2 stroke 500s😂

Unlimited horsepower means nothing if you can't use it. Both are way overpowered for the 85-90% of riders (basically everyone in the comments)

Some internal massaging, updated electronics, update carb. or EFI and the 500 would in a league of it's own. Modern 450's however do rock and roll, no questions about it.

500af on the mototrack all day

None of the competitive hillclimb CR500's run a Gnarly torque pipe, as they kill HP.

I'm surprised how close it was. I figured a 450 would win on a track but get whipped on the dunes. Honestly, the fact that the 500 is even competitive is impressive since it's basically 80's technology. Well, the engine anyway.

long gone are the days the 4 strokes needing twice the cc to keep up with the 2 strokes

You guys need to to a KTM 450 vs a BRC500. All modern tech. Closest comparison.

Cut the fenders off the 500 and try again.

They fact they are close just shows how hard the factories duped the AMA with the displacement advantage. I think if they evened the playing field with CC's either lowering the 450 to a 350 we might see a higher desire for 2 strokes again. The 125 should also be bumped to a 150 from all manufacturers to keep up with 250s. But the factories wanna sell you that expensive 4 stroke with the expensive maintenance since they cannot exist on pure volume anymore.

Talk to Neville Bradshaw. And he was on a Steel chassi 500. Go ahead watch his videos.

Gearing can change things around. Wicked test Madman 🇦🇺🤠🦘

Idk why everyone thinks the late model cr500s are so great id much rather take a late model kx500 way more power sitting around 61-62 hp stock

Keep up the good work, great content!

Awsome vid

You guys could also put them on a dyno to measure horsepower since it's a "Horsepower Showdown".

Why is there nothing here stating what year the 500 is? Love the smell of premix in the morning!

They could use a little more seat time on the 500 2stroke !! Run the rpms a little higher and stay in that gear all the way ..... Cuz I could barely hear that 2stroke Bark hard

Love the 500 AF

cr500 allday

My dad used to ALWAYS take off on his 500s in 2nd. Too much spin in 1st and it runs out too fast

There should be a tally on a top end rebuild if one goes south. I'd take the Cr 500 all day long.

Yall need to do a showdown between the honda 450 and the kx500 I think the results would be way different don't get me wrong I'm a huge honda fan but those kawasakis were a way different machine power wise