"There's So Much Power, But It's Very Linear" - Inside Hunter Lawrence's Race Bike

Hunter Lawrence is learning the ropes of the 450SX class this year as a rookie and that also means adapting to more power underneath him. He remained with Honda HRC for his jump up and his mechanic Cameron Camera is still in his corner, so Kris Keefer grabbed Cameron at Anaheim 2 to dig deeper into what Hunter Lawrence likes about his 450SX race bike. They discuss engine package, frame, rider triangle, lever positioning, gear ratio, and much more.
Film/edit: Kellen Brauer
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[@torr-michaelbennetta9785]

Kris, great job asking more detailed questions, solid interview with detail. This could have been a 6 minute ordeal, but you kept him talking for 15 minutes. Love it. Keep it coming!!! Do the PC bikes, please!

[@cdavies102]

Yes!

[@mrfaceforest]

Cam is my favorite mechanic in the pits, hands down, i had the pleasure of chatting with him at last year's Denver SX.

[@mjodr]

Absolutely love this kind of information!

[@baggszilla]

Wow what a kool guy! And what a gorgeous bike! Really is nothing that looks as good as a factory Honda!

[@robertscofield7845]

Amen!

[@tajjson]

Cool mechanic and coolest bikes in the pits ❤

[@moto3463]

Best bikes in the class. Can’t beat a factory Honda pure work of art. Love the new graphics too very clean.

[@robertscofield7845]

WFO, for sure!

[@theskyrack6433]

Great interview by kris 👍👍

[@dekancaine]

They kill me with the measurement stuff. U don’t think I can figure it out with a pic and some software? It’s not that big of a deal. What worked for him not gonna work for someone else. But this industry is crazy lol. Gj in the video tho.

[@HUSKY7-1]

Oil cooler fitted for non mud race?

[@johnhumphrey9141]

Love the Honda ❤

[@31Daca]

Love a keefer bike check

[@shocker5370]

🏆 I guess that’s 🔥

[@williswombat6995]

the measurement is as long as you can get it plus a spare 10mm for stretching

[@jayred3777]

2 questions, what is that device on the front fender ? And 2 Are some people running a green light on the front of the bike and why ? I guess that’s 3 but who’s counting!

[@robertscofield7845]

For when you do an impromptu Superman W, it gives you something to look at…

[@St.Sheaattack]

Race leader activates green light, somewhere on forks.

[@JimG1964]

It seems very odd to me that the production stock bikes are more torquey and less linear than a works bike. It seems like it would be the other way around. My main complaint with my Yamaha is just that - way to hyper sensitive and torquey in the ruts/corners so it makes throttle control very tricky.

[@robertscofield7845]

Feather the clutch a bit, or just go ahead and get a Honda?

[@JimG1964]

@@robertscofield7845 Maybe. I think ktm has less engine braking and smoother power delivery? I think you can adjust it with mapping too. I'll just have to figure it out.

[@robertscofield7845]

@@JimG1964 You’re right, KTM is very good also, and about even price. I just favor Honda because of the rags to riches history story, and they look so good, like motocross candy!

[@johndepperschmidt8984]

Longer swingarm?

[@robertscofield7845]

No, longer crank, in order to ride with…

[@MrBlank-ig6fo]

I wonder why the stock clutch perch and lever was a pain in the but for the mechanic

[@robertscofield7845]

You don’t need it! Just speed shift…

[@michaelanderson2689]

Don’t need tape measure to get swing arm length, with technology these days can be worked out from a photo graph! 🤔😊

[@tylerginter6235]

No post race weege show? Wut

[@kevinbreaux7552]

I've been riding for 40yrs, never crashed out and hurt myself until I bought a KTM 300 xcw,crashed 3 times and laid up every time,back of bike jumps around to much

[@mjodr]

cool story bro

[@joshfold4035]

Did u set the sag what are your suspension adjustments

[@kevinbreaux7552]

Sag is set correctly, have factory connections suspension, dialed in for my weight

[@Jessy413-pk13]

Best mader motorbike

[@bobhannah9944]

You work for Honda- but said you rode a Harley in to work( or today)! WTF - that is just stupid to say on camera!

[@robertscofield7845]

Be nice! If we rode Harley hogs, being old, fat dudes, we’d want to work a cool job like Honda, too, right?

[@brdllc]

It doesn’t matter lmao

[@zeke458]

Rear brake looks HIGH 😮

[@OGLD]

I run mine that way. Try it. Helps you have better foot position while braking

[@sharpes07ify]

I just did that too 100% better braking when standing. Still getting used to hitting it sitting down. 😂

[@KingFriday274]

Well, I don't want to call hunter thick, so I'll call him fat.

[@dennismillus4581]

Of course.after riding and testing out that CR500 last year. He is in search of more power from that 450 4puke.

[@OtisFlint]

That 450 has more beans than a 500

[@dennismillus4581]

@OtisFlint you are wrong buddy.

[@mikebrown41182]

@@dennismillus4581 So what are the numbers for this factory Honda? I mean you seem to know :).

[@dennismillus4581]

@mikebrown41182 lower than what is advertised. My guess would be 58hp. With a measly 38ftlbs of Torque. The Stock CR500 has anywhere from 55-56 hp. With more than 45ftlbs of Torque.. With roughly the same weight. Stock for Stock. You would probably never know or understand if you never tested a CR500 Stock. Heck a bet a young Privileged millennail such as yourself may have never seen a CR500.

[@mikebrown41182]

@@dennismillus4581? I was borned in 87. I saw my fair share in the 90s and early 2000s at my local track. And i know some factory mechanics on a personal level so i had the discussion up on the table before, but mainly the topic of the 250 two strokes not so much on the 500s as they are long gone. Majority of the riders wants them detuned anyway to fit the charachteristics they look for corresponding with the racetracks, you can only go so fast with on the tracks as they are formed and shaped, it still needs to be usable power and traction, right. So in the end peak HP is not a truly honest measurebar to reference. If anything torque / rpm. You could definitly get any of thesr modern 450 to match a 500 today as there is endless tuning and mods available but what for? It still needs to translate to usable power, so the caviat is that there is to many variabels. And numbers reads different on almost every dyno there is aswell. E.g. MXA scored the crf (2019) 450 at 60.1 peak hp (pro circuit) dyno. CRF450 makes 36.25 lb/-ft of torque at 7500 rpm.