KEY POINTS:
You'll need more than $400,000 to build a competitive V8 supercar. But motorbikes take racing to the real world - $30,000 buys the Honda CRF that will hold New Zealand's number one plate in the upcoming 250 motocross season.
That pays for the standard bike and all the
go-faster bits to win a national race. So any Corolla buyer can have a hardcore racer in the garage.
Remove the specialised bits and $12,500 still buys a standard MX bike that will blow your socks off.
Kiwis like speed, and many of these machines will be bought by the likes of you and me. Honda says MX sales once peaked around the season, but sales now lift mid-year as trail riders buy the hardcore bikes.
What's new?
The focus of Honda's launch was the CRF450R9 and 250R9 racers. Honda promises more neutral weight distribution, more neutral handling and battery-less fuel injection for the 450 to cut weight and increase efficiency. The suspension's harder too - for faster average speeds.
The company line
Motocross is popular; 1014 MX bikes sold in the year to June, down on the previous year. The enduro and trail market is more than half as big again, and Honda's CRF models dominate. They dominate the Peewee market too. Blue Wing Honda boss Phill Haynes says the size of the kids' MX range makes Honda unique, "and it's a factor in the serious bikes selling so well as this is where people start". What we say
Honda seems to sell a dirt bike for every taste - including a lowered CRF250X for shorties such as me, and mounts for anyone aged 5 and up. Riders at the launch ranged from current racers to journos who've never ridden off-road, and there was something for anyone game enough to try it.
On the road
Forget road, these things thrive on dirt. We took them to Kimmys MotoX park near Huntly, a great venue (and open to the public), with both track and trail available. Unfortunately it hosed down, the track was ultra-slippery and even the experts fell at times. This writer's a weekend trail rider and was well outclassed. However, the specialist press confirmed that while the 450's an animal and takes an animal to ride it - at least in these conditions - the 250's an impressive machine that proved easy to get a handle on.
Why you'll buy one
Because you want the same model ridden by NZ 250 number one Mike Phillips, who moved to Honda this season. Because you want the more powerful version of his bike. Or you'd like any CRF Honda because it'll get the job done and, however humble, it's from the same family as Phillips' hardcore racing machine.
Why you won't
You won't buy a CFF450 unless you're a gun racer with truck-sized gonads, and even the 250R is overkill for trail riding. And you won't buy any of them if two-wheeled off-roading doesn't sound like fun.