Ricky Brabec's Honda CRF450 Rally | Feature Friday – Method Race Wheels

Let’s address the elephant in the room. There aren’t Method Race Wheels on Ricky Brabec’s motorcycle. But that doesn’t stop him from being a Method Race Wheels athlete and as the winner from last year’s Dakar, all eyes are on him. Obviously this isn’t the normal Feature Friday you would see on our site, but we wanted to highlight Ricky Brabec’s vehicle for Dakar and give you the chance to learn more about Ricky in the exceptional video that Monster Energy drink has produced.

It starts off with a Honda CRF450 Rally, in which Honda Racing Development spent years to develop. In 2013, Team HRC used a prototype bike based on a commercial competition endure model to get valuable information on key areas: engine power, aerodynamic performance, durability and maintenance. All of that key information would lay the groundwork for the design of the new CRF450 Rally. As technology improved the Rally bike and was updated in 2015 and every year until 2018.

The engine is a 449.4cc liquid cooled single cylinder DOHC and mated to a six-speed transmission. The bore x stroke is at 97.9 x 60.8mm and lubricant comes in the form of Motul 300V. To keep things light the frame type is an aluminum twin tube and the sub-frame is carbon fiber. Up front the fork has a Showa type invert with 310 mm travel and in the rear a single tube with 305mm.

This year Ricky is looking to join the prestigious inner circle of just seven bike riders who've won the Dakar consecutively. Be sure to check back our Dakar page for daily updates and coverage on the 43rd edition of Dakar.