The Honda CRF450X enduro bike made headlines recently for its one-two finish in the 2011 Australasian Safari (aka the Dakar Down Under) at the hands of Todd and Jacob Smith. An interesting innovation from the USA made us wonder if the Honda's would have been even quicker had they had implemented this secret weapon...
Meet the two-wheel drive Honda CRF450X.
Developed by Steve Christini, the modified CRF450X has been dubbed the Christini AWD 450 and instead of a second chain drive running to the front wheel, the system uses a series of shafts running through the front forks to deliver power to the front wheel.
This neat and tidy solution looks good, and we cannot vouch for the vehicle's effectiveness off road, the US military has ordered the first batch after testing it for the last four years.
While the basic powertrain of the CRF450X remains intact -- a 449cc liquid-cooled four-valve single-cylinder four-stroke unit - Christini's AWD system adds about 6.8kg of extra mass to the bike, in the form an extra chain and a number of shaft drives, two of which run the length of the front forks.
Here's how Christini explains it:
Power runs via chain from the secondary countershaft sprocket up to a gearbox located on the frame. Power is converted to a drive shaft running under the tank to the modified steering head.
Counter rotating bevel gears located within the head tube transfer power to the lower triple clamp. The lower triple clamp contains a small chain and sprocket system that drives two counter-rotating drive shafts.
The specially coated drive shafts are telescopic and incorporate linear ball spline bearings. They are counter rotating to eliminate torque effect. They run the length of the fork to the front hub.
The Christini AWD front hub is equipped with one-way clutches allowing the wheel to transfer power when needed, and freewheel when not in use.
To cut a long story short, when the rear wheel loses traction, power is sent to the front wheel and though the setup sounds a little strange, hands-on reports suggest the system is very effective.
The bikes are selling for about $7000 and you can even get them to build an up-spec MX version with a 300cc Gas Gas engine for around $9000.
If the Christini AWD system is robust enough, we may even see it competing in Dakar and Australasian rallies in the future…
Check out Christini.com for more details.
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