Dubach Racing Honda CRF450X Project Bike Photo Gallery

Honda makes a very competent off-road bike, and it just happens to be one of the best available for high-speed racing.

Taking the bike through tight, technical riding, the weight certainly became a factor, but when used correctly it feels lighter thanks to the Honda’s naturally thin and comfortable ergonomic layout.

This bike prefers wide-open spaces where speed and brute force override technical precision.

The Honda CRF450X is the premier western off-road machine. Dubach Racing let us test their version which basically put the stock bike on steroids.

It has a rigid feel initially but that starts to go away as speeds increase.

Suspension mods were handled by a known leader in desert racing, Precision Concepts.

The 47mm Showa fork and rear shock were changed internally for more controlled damping and better bottoming resistance. Our test ride was by no means full of deep whoops, but it did inflict a few hard hits and we never touched the bumpers.

Ride Engineering threw in some engine plugs and CV4 provided matching radiator hoses.

IMS footpegs add grip.

The DRD bike gets lightweight protection courtesy of a carbon fiber wrap-around skidplate from LightSpeed Performance Products.

A custom set of Dubach Racing/MotoUSA graphics from Factory Effex capped off the fresh look.

A GPR stabilizer graces the front end to keep the Universal handlebars under control.

A TM Designworks chain guide beefs up protection for the drive system.

Tag Metals sprockets provide the drive.

We tested the bike with a stock headlight, but we've seen it with burly aftermarket bulbs.

Up high are wrap-around aluminum Acerbis handguards.

Dubach Racing has years of experience putting together fast 4-strokes, and as we suspected, there wasn’t anything on the bike that we felt shouldn’t have been there.

The stainless steel and exhaust arrangement has a USFS-approved spark arrestor and can be used with a quite core insert for additional stealth.

Riders operate the clutch with an ASV unbreakable lever, but we noticed that the CRF’s notorious clutch pull is still very stiff.

Keeping an eye on the mill it is one of their hour meters.

Most of the modifications and bolt-ons used by DRD focus on making this bike tough.

There’s a bit of difference between building a bike to go fast and building one to go fast for six-, 12- or 24-hours.