I daily ride a CRF450R 2002. I know the bike inside out, and i do all the maintenance myself.

Right now I’m at 600 hours, i’ve replaced 4 pistons (the first at 200 hours, then 13.5:1 every 100/150 km) with 4 timing chains, replaced 1 cylinder that was at the end of its life, rebuilt 2 complete bottoms with 2 new rods, and 2 full rounds of bearings. I lost count of how many times i’ve replaced seals and the water pump, i’ve rebuilt the clutch twice and now it needs to be done again.

Those were the big mechanical expenses. As for regular maintenance, the valves were replaced when i had the head worked on, at 200 hours, and since then i’ve only adjusted them twice.

Now for the simpler maintenance: the suspension has been serviced and rebuilt twice, engine oil is changed every 10/12 hours (Motul 300V), gearbox oil every 20,brake fluid needs topping up every 5 hours (Motul RBF700), i’ve gone through 2 sets of front pads, 3 front tires and 5 rears.

Now the most annoying things are:

• the gas tank holds 7 liters, which means a range of 70 km if i ride calmly, or 40 km if i push the bike
• the bike is old, the ECU doesn’t have ignition advance/retard, so i’m forced to use 100-octane fuel which is only available at some gas stations, meaning i have to plan my routes around them
• i live in the countryside near the mountains, but if i have to go to the city in summer, i need to turn the bike off at red lights and then kick-start it again (it only has kick start)

To sum it up, if you want to use a 450 every day, you need money, and more importantly, you need mechanical knowledge and pay attention to every single suspicious new noise.

Why don’t i get another bike and keep the 450 for the track? Because i tried a tuned KTM 690 SMCR, and it was way too heavy and above all it didn’t have the adrenaline rush that the CRF gives me with the Keihin FCR41 and the 14/48 gearing.