2007 Christini AWD Update

I knew better than to do it, but my common sense was drowned in a raging wave of endorphins and I grabbed a handful of throttle approaching the small, blind rise. There weren't any warning markers to give my brain that extra jolt of awareness but it would have mattered little as I hurtled forward in a state of trail-shredding bliss. I hoisted my weight forward and ripped the CRF250R's throttle to the stop.

The trip had been long and arduous as I loaded the van one last time and dropped the trailer onto the hitch with a clunk of finality. Finally, the week-long testing regimen on our 2007 450 MX Shootout was finished and all that was left was to hit the road for a long drive back home, with a quick stop on top of the Grapevine to take in the sights and sounds of Dirt Rider's 24-hour torture test. It would be the final mark on a mental checklist of chores longer than Ricky Carmichael's career highlights.

Hauling a load of motocross bikes and not being able to ride the off-road course because of sound and spark arrestor requirements was torture in itself as we arrived at the Hungry Valley OHV area near Gorman, CA. Overcast weather and perfectly saturated soil was teasing the Pirellis on my roost-chucking cargo. My great hope was to find a soft-hearted industry contact somewhere in the pits and cajole them into letting me ride their bike around the enduro trail for a couple loops. If that was unsuccessful then I'd just have to squeeze my lemons into a tall glass of lemonade by spending my afternoon on the nearby I-5 MX track.

I hadn't even made it 20 feet from the van when I spotted a pair of familiar faces approaching. Scott Wynn and Steve Christini from Christini Technologies Inc. were strolling towards the sound check station to make sure their AWD250X passed emissions. Since I had only gotten to ride their bike for a couple of painstaking laps around the pro EnduroCross course during my initial quick ride, I suddenly realized there wasn't another person I'd like to sweet talk more into a free ride than these fellas. I'd only delivered the first few lines of my moto-only sob story when they beat me to the punch and offered to let me try out one of their machines later in the day. Mission accomplished.

I made fast with the rest of my social trek through the pits and started back to the van to get geared up for a few laps on the MX track. Floundering miserably through a deceivingly sloppy course I chalked up another loss to Mother Nature and packed it in. The rest of the day would be spent in anxious wait for one of the Christini bikes to become available. They were only using one AWD250X for the magazine's endurance test but had brought out several other machines including their never-ending self-evaluation on a 250R, 270X and 450X. Unfortunately, they haven't finalized the all-wheel drive system on any of the KTM models - yet.

The call to action came immediately after scarfing down an enormous plate of cheese enchiladas at the Red Bull-catered lunch. With the grease and Taurine sloshing in my gut, I ran to get my helmet and finally spend some real-world time on this fascinating machine.

I was only getting one lap around the Jimmy Lewis-designed course so when it came to the special tests I made sure to wait in line and participate - I was going to get as much seat time as possible. When it came time to choose between the 23-mile "A" loop and shorter, easier "B" trail again I opted to take the long way 'round. After all, it took at least half of my short trip to get accustomed to what was happening beneath me and start to understand what I could and couldn't get away with as the front tire helped propel me forward.

The first thing I noticed was how smooth the bike was. The AWD kit is installed on a 2006 CRF250R with a modified frame, but the engine is stock. This isn't an arm-killing machine to begin with, but the AWD really took what hit was once there and put it directly to the ground. The front wheel stays down more than normal when smacking the throttle out of corners as the 21-inch meat pulls the bike forward. As a rider, the sensation you get is that you're actually going slower. I continually wanted to fan the clutch and light the rear end like I would normally do because it felt almost sluggish. It was most notable in the deeper sand washes where a 250F motor is already at a disadvantage.

Here's how the owner, Steve Christini, explains the amount of power lost by driving all those chains and gears. Because the AWD system is the same unit regardless of engine size, the 250X is the most affected by the excess drag because it has the least amount of horsepower to begin with. Christini used the 250X to demonstrate a worst-case scenario for potential buyers.

First off, the bike was run in rear-wheel drive for five runs and those totals were averaged to find a representative number of total power (28.54 hp). Next, the same averaging method was done with the system was turned on and the front wheel reversed to allow the hub to freewheel as it would if the bike were accelerating with full traction to the rear tire. This serves to isolate only the amount of energy required to direct power to the front wheel, not the actual amount of power delivered through the wheel and to the ground (that's variable based on gearing selections). That number was 28.38 hp. Dividing the AWD hp by the total hp shows that the machine still produces 99.4% efficiency with the system engaged. The lost percentage translates into 0.16 hp on the 250X.

Riding in the sand wasn't all bad, however. The damping effect I disliked inside the tight Orleans Arena really kept the bike straight and added to the overall smoothness. Several times the front end tried to wash on me enough to where I pinched the seat with my cheeks and threw some muscle into the bars. Each time I realized that it hadn't been necessary because the powered front wheel makes the bike automatically correct itself. Once I figured it out I was able to pick up the pace considerably in the sand.

Past the first section of washes, the trail turned upwards through a series of small climbs and descents. Again I soon discovered that I was going faster than it seemed. It was easier to be precise with the front wheel because it literally pulls the front end to wherever you point it. Combine that with a rear end that never spun wildly and I was in control more than any bike I've ridden. Never did I have to rock my body weight forward and aft in the time-honored hillclimbing ballet. At one point I wallowed through a sharp left-hander and found myself horribly out of shape at the base of a steep incline. I literally put no effort into correcting my posture and instead laid my chest on the handlebars, pinned it and let both of my boots flop uselessly behind me. It was sweet - ugly, but sweet and the Christini yarded me straight up to the crest.

Searching for traction in the rollercoaster terrain was never a problem even on the quad-width trails which featured acceleration bumps from mid-corner through the exit. These weren't your standard acceleration bumps, but those nasty, diagonal bastards that send the front end of a normal bike skating away. Turning a corner on the gas and seeing those slippery devils sends a direct, uncontrollable impulse from my brain to my right wrist that chops the throttle and screws my momentum and drive up the incline. The usual course of action is to plan ahead and switch lines before encountering the obstacles but with the Christini all you have to do is liberally apply the gas and pretend they aren't there. It all works out well because going faster is the best way to smooth these rough sections anyway.

By this point I was allowing more and more faith in the AWD system and the results were getting better as we went. The extra weight of the gear-driven system was never an issue on my short ride as I hopped over whoops and irregularities in the trail. It all led me to the situation presented at the start of this story. With eyes bulging, tongue wagging, wrist cramping and valves floating I launched myself full-steam into tricky situation. It was a mud puddle that spanned the entire trail. The puddle itself was fairly nondescript as mud puddles go, but it was one of those where a thin layer of water, no more than a couple inches, hid an additional few inches of slimy, direction-changing goo. I've crashed more in my life on these thin, sketchy splashers than any wheel-gobbling quagmires. The one I bombed into with the Christini had been waiting for me all day and was hell-bent on taking me down.

Enter the beauty of Christini's one-way clutches in the purpose-built front hub. The front drive system turns at a slower rate than the rear which means it only really puts power down when the front wheel skids or the rear begins to spin, which mine did in rapid succession. It really was amazing how the AWD virtually eliminated the negative aspects of negotiating mud. On trails like the one I was on where there are only patches of moisture, I was able to ride as though they weren't even there. I only wish I had figured it out faster instead of tiptoeing through the first half of my ride.

This was the real-world experience I desperately longed for after the first time I rode a Christini creation. They assured me then that the AWD system pays its biggest dividends on an everyman's trail ride. After only one short ride in Hungry Valley I'm convinced they're right. It isn't a perfect machine and, to be truthful, it does eliminate some of the fun of riding a normal bike. Fortunately, the system is capable of being turned off when needed/wanted, which is nice. We haven't been able to put one of these through our own long-term assessment, but the bikes I've ridden are the same ones that participated in Last Man Standing, EnduroCross and the Dirt Rider 24-hour event. So far, the Christini crew appears to be telling the truth about how resilient their product is and the pricetag is subsequently much easier to swallow.

We'd all like to think that our motorcycle lives are governed by the old saying "When in doubt, pin it," but in my case it carries as much weight as a Ted Haggard sermon about the sanctity of marriage. An over-developed sense of self-preservation has always overpowered the fearless hooligan hiding deep within my psyche. With the Christini, at least the 250R version, that Hyde personality is unlocked and the fear of what lies beyond the next rise succumbs to a pair of roosting tires. It isn't that you can't get into trouble with an AWD bike, but you'll certainly find yourself looking for it - I know I did.


Talk about the Christini AWD in the MotoUSA Forum.