It's such a pity the tri-colour can't be had in base model specification or I'd have had one.
Thanks for the bashplate and luggage racks; they and the bike performed well during the maiden voyage; even got a full carton of stubbies on the back for the end of ride drinks. 1800km round trip (Toowoomba to Barrington Tops) including 5km of first-gear, back-wheel dragging, downhill switchback trail east of Glen Inness; a 1.5km rocky hill-climb near Nundle that took about 300km of life off the rear knobbly; 20 river crossings on The Barry Way and 500km in the dark.
In case anyone else is wondering about mods: B&B Big Tour luggage plate set, B&B Safari Bashplate, Barkbuster Storm handguards, transparent tank protector film, Garmin Rhino 650 GPS/UHF [not in photo], Pivot Pegz, Honda Genuine fairing bars & main stand, Hepco & Becker pannier rack, Mitas Stone Eater front tyre, Pirelli Scorpion XC mid-hard rear tyre, heavy duty inner tubes, bolt-on wheel balance weights, Wolfman 19L dry-bags and an OzTrail biker swag [not in photo].
The bike and Honda accessories; warts and all...
Good parts: super torquey motor, stable handling, fuel economy of 4.5-5.5L/100km, easy to get a foot on the ground, standard headlights are epic, ran OK on regular unleaded when we got caught out, comfortable for the first two days riding, Honda main stand is well made and works well - if you can get one, frame feels made to last, same axle spanner sizes as a later model Yamaha WR450 [which may simplify the tool kit for some], rims survived some big hits without damage, rims have a very small internal safety lip which is great for getting tyres off/on, lots of adjustment in gear shifter, thermo-fans rarely came on and were quiet when they did, hides it's weight well on the move, muffler sounds decent
Not so good: noisy chain slap on rough ground [the other CRF1K on the trip did it too], feels bigger than a KTM 950/990, battery feels a bit weak on cold starts, pillion pegs in the way for off-road work [the other CRF1K rider], not feeling the love with the suspension yet - handling was 'wallowy' when stock and now it's too 'skatey' at the rear with it firmed up, air-filters tricky to get at [but seem up to the task @ $50AUD each!], standard foot-pegs are pathetic [and painful according to the other CRF1K rider] - Memo to Honda: those that use these beasts off-road are generally big lads and gals with feet to match, standard bar weights were harder to remove than the pillion pegs [why!!!], aluminium alloy side stand feels a bit weak, fuel filler is tedious and spits back enough fuel to keep your visor down after the first fill, radial mount front brakes mean one calliper needs to come off for front wheel removal, no wheel spanners in factory tool kit, front brakes easily overwhelm the front tyre's grip if not careful, not convinced that the Honda fairing bars will survive many tumbles, low front mud-guard got close to clogging after not much sticky mud
Can't sensibly recommend such aggressive tyres, but I literally rode the bike 40km home on the road and spent a full day fitting 'farkles' before setting off in thick fog on black soil tracks that were rained on the night before. The full knobblies saved more than one lay-down in the goo.
Need a slip-on pipe to make it rumble properly, a lithium battery, high front-guard kit and serviceable air cleaners. A work in progress... but a worthy upgrade from my old RD03.
