A New Development for This Upcoming Model
Recently, I posted about the new 2021 Honda CRF450R that is supposed to be coming out very soon. The bike was spotted in design filings in a few different markets outside of the U.S., including Japan and New Zealand. One of the things I missed in that design filing was pointed out by the Italian publication Motociclismo. The folks at that publication noted the addition of a hydraulic clutch to this model.
This new clutch system would indicate that Honda is considering putting this on more motorcycles, and the CRF450R will be the first of its kind to eliminate the clutch cable.
As Motociclismo points out, if you look closely at the black and white images that were included with the design filing you’ll see what appears to be a hydraulic fluid reservoir on the side of the handlebars where the clutch lever is. This would seem to indicate that the clutch will be hydraulic rather than cable-actuated.
It’s important to note that Honda has not stated explicitly (at least not anywhere I can find) that this bike will use a hydraulic clutch set-up. Official images of the bike and more information should come out soon. It will be interesting to see a hydraulic clutch appears on the official information about this bike.