THE NEW 2023 450 XCF-W AND EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT IT

What's up, motorcycle friends? Mike, this is Taco Motoco and Baja Taco Tours. I have a bike that I've been waiting to get my hands on for a long time, several months now, this is, for me, I think the second most exciting bike.

2023

as far as new ktm model releases go, the other one maybe a little more exciting is the 23 450 xcf, we'll take that bike and strip it down, we're waiting for that to happen, and the other new bike. that we were able to get our hands on this year is this 23 450 this with a 500 excf, which is there are three bikes that are based on that platform and this is the newest version of that design, so let's talk about this bike if it were a 500 excf and what it would have on it, so it would be a street legal bike, a 50 state street legal bike.

I would have reflectors here on the forks. It would have turn signals that this one doesn't have. It would have left and right master control switches, so over here. you would have the standard street legal on/off switch and here you would have a light or switch instead of headlight controls, turn signal horn, you would have a unique wiring harness that would be specific to that bike so you could have those street switches. legal functions, it would have a big rear end assembly back here, you've seen them for the license plate, it's a really big turn signal, it mounts on the lower fender, it just locks in here, it's a removable aftermarket piece, it would have mirrors and hangers.

So up here you would have the brackets to install the mirrors, you would have an emissions system, this hole right here is another matching hole on the other side, this hose for the gas tank would come off and go into some little connectors here that would fit into that hose and then it would be on the side of the head here, let's see if you can see there's a little eight millimeter bolt right there that would be an inlet port for the vapors and then there would be a solenoid that lives in this little cavity here, this it's next to your left foot and that's the control, so some of those features would be there for vapor recovery.

You would also have an O2 sensor that would be in the header, that's where the muffler on that bike would be. it would be the same container, it would have a different end cap, it would have this end cap here, so it has a plug, a restrictor plug and then it has a cheese grater plate that goes here on the back and that would replace this exact one from here. It would have 70 30 tires, it would have quiet tires, it wouldn't have tire lockups due to the orientation of the tires on the street, it would have a little sound dampening rubber ring that would be on that primary sprocket, that's pretty much an overview . of the things you would have if this bike was an excf and then just to point out a couple quick things, there's a fan here, there's a thermostat, it's got a 196 watt electrical system, same as that bike, it's got a throttle body 42 millimeters. a six speed wide transmission and that's fine and then to finish, the 500 would be street legal, 50 state emissions compliant and be a green label bike, those would be all the things that this machine would have to have to turn . on an excf, so what if this specific machine was the 500 xcfw?

What would be unique about that for it to have its own harness? It would be a different harness than the excf. It would have a push-pull headlight switch like this one. how you turn the headlights on and off I would have a map switch I would have these type of motocross style start/stop switches I would have this exact rear piece I would not have the license plate I would not have turn signals I would have rim locks on the tires I would have these type of all terrain tires I would have the same emissions,

everything

we talked about as far as emissions on the street legal bike, it would have all those features, it would have a slightly restrictive exhaust tip. cover it would have this one here it would still have the obstructive plug but it wouldn't have the cheese grater here at the end those dirt bikes have a skid plate where the xcf doesn't have it it would have the same engine the same as it would have it has a slightly different ecu mapping just to accommodate lack of the cheese grater on the back, that bike wouldn't be street legal, but it would have a green sticker approved for California, so it would be emissions compliant.

Now let's cover this exact bike, so this one is in a class of its own and what makes this one unique, but just like the others, with this one it has its own harness, so this is the third version of a harness for this bicycle and share many of those same. settings that we just talked about with the xcfw the 500 you have the map switch you have those start and stop switches you have this uh you have a headlight here on this bike just like you have it with the other xcf the 500 version the differences now let's talk about what it does not have this does not have controlled emissions this is not a green label bike this is a red label bike so this is a competition use only model so the 450 is competition only the 500 is emissions compliant green decal versus red decal and because this is a competition you have no emissions this goes in and pops up in a little hole here you don't have vapor recovery you don't have an O2 system you don't have the vapor recovery solenoid Down there in the bottom, you don't have the shock in the primary gear like we talked about in the xcfws and this has exactly the same wide ratio as both versions of the 500, so essentially what you have with this bike, um, and also.

The other thing I forgot to mention is the intake reeds, so both green label compliant versions of the 500 have intake reeds. This one doesn't have reeds. The end cap on this bike is unique and does not have a restrictive plug. Here it is completely open. It has the same outlet diameter as the two 500 models. Without cheese grater. No restricted port. It has a resonator that can be used, so the resonator is essential as a small ice cream cone device that is a sound dampener. He also acts. to move the powerband around it so it's kind of a shapeshifter when it comes to the powerband, the exc and the xcfw, so on the 500 models, this is the muffler on those bicycles and it has a resonator and it's down here at the bottom. it's the input, this is the output, so on the two 500's it's there, it's down towards the input here, as we saw, it's here at the output, so it's inverted and that's just to change the power dynamics, so the 500s are essentially tractors. long stroke engines and that's what their 500's are like, they have the same piston as the 450 bike, they just saw a long stroke so that's where they get a 500, those bikes what I tell people is essentially if you want a bike that pulls away from a stop in third gear, that's what you get, a 500 by 500 provides this really wide low power band, torque all the way down, if you want a lot more mid and top range then you want a race short and that's what the 450 engine does and to promote that midrange to the top end they just moved the resonator towards the end so here are the three and then this is the crest of the engine we'll talk about that last so this is the can and then you have the excf lid obstruction about 80 percent obstructed with the cheese grater this is just to soften the low end sound which is just for sound then you have the xcf 500 xcfw same obstruction without cheese without cheese grater this muffler is a little louder it's not street legal this is this one no and then you have this exact bike no obstructions no choke points no spark arrester resonator and the other one can resonate on this one too and then, when you look at the motocross cap this one is significantly wider so it's a wide mouth this doesn't fit this diameter here it's too big these three bikes use a different muffler than the motocross one this is a different muffler for the motocross bikes motocross and then the header parts are different than the motocross motocross bike so the exhaust systems don't carry over so this is not a motocross specific engine with some of those other features.

Basically this bike is basically built again from the two 500 model platforms, it uses a different muffler like we talked about and then there are no emissions so that's what you're looking at here you're looking at a short stroke 500 with a muffler different, a different end cap, different mapping and none of the emissions controls that are on the 500. compared to the 450 motocross bike. What would be unique and different if it were a 450 motocross bike? Well, you wouldn't have headlights, you wouldn't have lighting, you would have a unique harness, all on its own motocross bike, it wouldn't have a 196 watt stator like this, so all three.

These bikes, the two 500s and this 450, have a 196 watt stator. The motocross has a 70 watt stator. It also doesn't have the same large steering wheel as these three bikes. It has a very light steering wheel. All three bikes have the same crank. this, uh, is a heavy crank, the motocross bike has a very light crank, the motocross has a unique head and a specific camshaft and then a very unique mapping for that, it has its own exhaust, like we talk about motocross, it has a 44 millimeter throttle body where these have The 42 motocross has air forks, these are oil chamber forks, these are the explore 48, the three xcfw have 48, the explore 48 forks and then explore the shock, these three bikes have a pds, the motocross has a swing arm, sorry it has a link style swing arm, all three bikes have a cast triple clamp and that's just to meet the shocks for smoothness.

These are much more flexible triple clamps. The motocross bike has cnc motocross without thermostat, without fan, without speedometer, all three. of these bikes have a speedometer and the mx bike has a close 5 speed ratio so those would be the differentiators if this were a motocross bike. Here, Ktm has improved the chassis, so it is in 23, this is the completely new chassis in 22 and a half. the factory edition motocross bikes had the new chassis and then they were implemented in 23 across the entire platform, all the xcf and sxf have this new updated chassis that I just showed and then in 24, all the enduro ones, this is a enduro class motorcycle, all enduro motorcycles.

We will get the new updated chassis so all the excfs a 500. xcfw with no other mission and a short stroke crank other than that you're basically looking at that exact bike so could you convert your 500 into a 450 in terms of emissions for racing use? Use in competition, just done absolutely easy. Can you convert your 500? on a on a 450 by changing the crank yes you can do that so that's also an option so you can go internally to your engine and spin your 500 450. I'm not sure it's worth it, the 450 has different power dynamics because of its short stroke it has faster acceleration and then has better mid to high gears with higher piston speeds so the question you always

know

comes up from guys who want to

know

if you convert a motocross bike into a bike from enduro and vice versa and there are so many things to change, in my opinion, no I don't recommend it when guys go down the road and say but I can get a motocross bike so cheap motocross bikes don't hold their value .

Too big a deal to talk about a motocross bike like this has a very low resale value. These things lose value very quickly and one of the reasons enduro bikes hold their value so much better is because enduro bikes are more attractive to vets. Riders who are a little more financially stable and a little more willing to spend more money on the bike and the accessories and the gear that equips them, uh, for dual sport riding and for enduro type riding, where a guy from motocross will usually just race or ride. as it is he won't really need to do much, the market tends to be saturated with motocross bikes because these bikes are attracted to, they are mainly ridden by guys who only use them on the track maybe. a little bit of trail, but they are not suitable for trail.

We talked about all the things a motocross bike doesn't have that you need and want when you're out riding trails, enduros, or dual sports and these guys. They tend to flip these bikes pretty quickly, you'll see this on a motocross track, they are generally machinesnewer so there are a lot more out there and the market is generally depressed in terms of resale value it is lower when you buy the higher value bike is it the excf with the street or us with a 50 state title so you can get a license plate in any of the 50 states with an excf so now you have national resale capability fornix cf the xcf again is more attracted to a vet passenger and it's easier to turn an excf so a guy will say yes, but I don't want the turn signals, I don't want the mirrors, I don't want all that stuff, I'm going to delete it, no problem, it's a very simple procedure to essentially downgrade an excf in terms of just removing components to turning it into a racing bike rather than going the other direction where you take a motocross bike and turn it into a dual sport bike, so it's always our opinion that it's better to remove some things than try to add some in terms of bike enduro versus motocross bike.

We'll go out and try this thing and get some impressions in a word. You all are amazing, super super cool, so you burned an hour on this paused our Technique is difficult, drive hard, aggressive roll-ons, aggressive roll-offs through the gears, all rpm, uh , we, we run them, basically, right out of the box, there's no like warm-up, heat cycles, there's none of that, um, slow, steady, gradually increasing rpm to break down. these bikes we just break them in, they're going to change my oil here when I get back so it's

everything

I expected the 450 to be it's an eager engine it's super perky it's very very energetic very lively very easy to break the front wheel . above because it is fed correctly for what is almost an open muffler, now it still has a small diameter and somewhat sound restrictive end cap compared to the 500 xcf, that is an improvement, there is no plug at all, saw we covered that , so in the stock model as it sits right now, this bike is incredibly good, incredibly fast, very easy to stay in the powerband everywhere, so if you've ridden a 350 you know it's lacking a little At the bottom end, there isn't much torque at the bottom. to get into the power band you need to be around 5000 rpm, you keep it singing, put it in low gear, keep the revs high almost a little bit, like riding a two stroke without an automatic power valve, so you get used to it to that.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that engine, the 350 is fantastic. I spent a whole year putting one together as an experiment. I never spent much time in a 350. So we bought one and spent a year using it exclusively, three trips to Baja, maybe four. and he did great, he surprised me, I surprised myself how much I liked it, how well it worked, how confident I was in all kinds of situations. tons of single track. Tons of forest worked great everywhere. The only problem is that you keep it at mid revs to get the power, that's fine, so it's a bit of a demanding bike, it just requires a lot of attention.

Then when you're on the 500, because it's a tractor, you'll put it in any gear you can use. in the wrong gear and still get out of trouble, you can still get the front wheel up on the 350. I think I've mentioned this kind of analogy before that the 350 is a bit like a Honda Civic RR, a little high-tension four-cylinder . At revs it's fun, the 500 is like a high powered diesel stump puller. The 450 really has this torque, not quite where the 500 is, but it has plenty of torque, very capable of lifting the front wheel to get you out of trouble in almost any gear.

As forgiving as a 500 but very lively, so the 450 is essentially the sweet spot if you're a fast, aggressive rider and don't need that carrying capacity of the 500. The 500 takes a moment or two to kick in. it will break, so with the graves it slides into a getty cu or an amycu, everything marked on the 500 is a cool engine, amazing, so good, the 450 has an advantage, the 450 winds faster, hits harder, It hits you in the face. a little bit harder, it's angrier, it's more aggressive, it's the sweet spot, so it's goldilocks size, so having a 450 now as an open class bike is a great move and this is a fantastic execution , where, where, where does this bike need something? so the suspension is essentially the original wp rear end is too demanding, requires too much attention to keep under control, not very forgiving at high speeds, obviously not if you buy this bike and are going to race. 1000 on it, you're not going to keep the stock set up, you're going to have everything completely tuned and we have a fantastic formula, now we have an in-house suspension shop so our formula is fantastic, so that's the first thing I do with this is to pull the shock and the forks give it to Ryan to dial everything in.

The power is incredible for a stock bike, it's exceptional, it's as good as a stock motocross bike, so we're going to do something to Of course, we're going to blow up a grave there, we're going to throw a get and a name and we're going to get a tune , we will mark everything. Chuck Graves is working on a header for this, so this will put a little bit of excitement under him to finish that project, I know with material and labor shortages and whatnot, it's taking longer, but we're finally excited to get a complete titanium system for this 450 to 501 um class bike and much more.

I honestly don't know if this bike needs much more, it doesn't even need suspension, you don't need more power, this bike has enough for all the non-racing, all weekend, every Sunday riders. everyone who doesn't want to dive into those depths, this machine doesn't need to be fully stocked as is, it's ready to go impressively, so the ceiling is very high if you want to get into some of that stuff like we do. We talked about that and this is about 1000 podium bikes right here. What you'll see is a lot of the guys getting ready for the scoring series and some of the other Western State open class series.

I know the bike on the podiums, um, and it's got what it takes, so what's the difference? This is something I had a conversation with someone the other day, what is the difference between a motocross bike and an enduro bike, why are motocross bikes designed the same? how are they what is the engineering concept behind it and then what is the engineering concept behind it enduro bikes so a motocross bike is essentially a drag race a machine a motocross race is a drag race the door drops and you're wide open to the first turn and then you're wide open to the jump and then you're wide open to the next turn and so on and so on and so on essentially you're going on a motocross bike it actually only has two speeds, it has idle and wide open and the goal is to open wide to reach maximum power as quickly as possible and that's why there's no flywheel, there's no flywheel effect, there's no crank effect, uh, very aggressive camshaft, it's because That's why a motocross bike is a terrible desert bike to negotiate single track riding. trails because the power is so fast, harsh, pointy and aggressive that it is demanding and fatiguing, and they are often ridden by guys who are attracted to them because they are cheap, we talk about them just not performing well in this type of situation.

Because they are designed and manufactured specifically for your application and do exactly what they are supposed to do very well, so what is an enduro bike? What is an enduro class bike? We're talking about that heavier crankshaft, heavier flywheel, higher power electrical system, you often have lighting. you have a more compliant suspension, you have a more adjustable suspension, although there are some bumps here that are widely known about the wp explorer series, they still offer some adjustability that produces some results, so if you are a desert trail rider, so this is kind of a bike, those are the engineering inputs you're looking for, a little bit softer camshaft, a little bit better bottom end, you give up a little bit to the midrange at the top end compared to a bike. motocross, but much more. more forgiving to ride, much more transportable, so that's the separation, so I think for the 1000 for the bahama 1000 for those guys, you'll probably still see guys that will reject this because it's not based on the motocross bike itself. it has heavier internals like we talked about so there will be guys that will say no they don't want it to be a street bike and will stick to their motocross conversions where they take those xcfs mainly and make them laugh and stick in 6th gear and they improvise the electrical system, which is totally viable.

It has been done for years and will continue to be done. I guarantee you there are a lot of guys who don't want to waste time on that and that's the reality too, as we've been describing, a race in the desert is not an endurance race, so having that immediate explosive electrical power of An MX drivetrain isn't totally necessary, it's fun and in the hands of a very experienced professional rider. racer, he knows what to do with it, he can ride it in amateur classes or just vet series or trail racers or non-pro racers and even pro racers, this bike will be his choice, so they will still have both camps, many boys. in the comments they're going to say no, not for me now that I know it's not based on the real motocross bike and they're going to say it's an enduro bike that's a vet bike and they'll approve, but that's me.

I'm sure this machine here will be a podium bike in all the desert series in all the open series and this will be on the back of the motorhomes. This this unit here you're going to see on the trails, this is going to be in Idaho, it's going to be all over the place, so our goal is to just boil this down and sum it up, what we're going to do is for Baja use, which is what we picked this bike for. We're going to throw, we're going to go down roads in Baja, you connect trails there, so we're going to make this drivable, we're going to throw in our in-house custom tacomato dual sport kit, we're going to throw it in there so we'll have all the electrical systems that the exc and we'll like it I said we'll throw an exhaust and an ecu on it we'll change the tires moose suspension we can go crazy and throw a tower on this and see what this would work as a rally bike now there's a really good bike app rally launch a tower all electrical systems 196 watts 450 I think this will also become a very attractive bike for that class of riders and builders, so it's a very smart move to bring this bike out.

I love it. I'll probably end up doing a year-long experiment with this one. I'll spend a year taking her to Baja. I'll do all kinds of stupid things with her. I will put her in situations she was not designed for. I think we'll hit some aggressive Idaho singletrack and see how it goes. If we do, we'll throw a prisoner at you. CX we'll probably leave the gearing the same, so it's 1452. Very good single track gearing, very much so. single track here in the desert worked very well, so that's our summary right now of this machine. If it's the right bike for you, you won't be disappointed at all.

The only consideration might be to wait until next year, next year. The same machine will be upgraded to the new generation platform, new generation chassis, so that would be my only asterisk next to everything we've said and everything we've seen, that new generation chassis is exceptional, so If you have to have the 450 right now. You don't mind running the old chassis and there are fans of it and I've been reading on some of the forums where some comments and the new thing you know it's just new the new platform is new so the guys are getting used to it, they're trying to solve it, the aftermarket we are still studying it, evaluating tearing it apart trying to figure it out, so there is the familiarity factor, this chassis is now entering its fourth year and the aftermarket support is 100 and everyone is used to this one and everyone knows it and is very familiar with it so if that is your situation it has already been fixed as far as you know there is no new model so technically this is a new model yes , But we.

We've already explained why it's not a new model, it's a sort of legacy model with just a new twist. It is based on the 20 plus 500, which is now goingits fourth year, so there are no reliability problems other than the best known ones and we have talked about them many times. Basically you have fuel pump fuel tank related issues and Takamoto addressed them all and we have fixes and updates for everything there, so in the comments let me know what you think I have. What do you think I was wrong? If you have one of these, I'd love to hear your feedback.

I'd love to know what you're doing with them and how you're modifying it. Do you see any weakness in him? I haven't noticed and I hope to hear from everyone. Thank you very much for visiting us. Thanks for enjoying motorcycles. I love it when I find them on the trails. I enjoy sport. I enjoy what it does to my mental health. this is my therapist i just got a new therapist the relationship is starting off very strong i think we have a very bright future together and y'all go out and have some adventure