Actually getting hold of one was proving to be a difficult feat. All the press bikes were in the West Coast fleet and there was no telling when one would make its way back east. We had all but let go of the idea when a message came through saying "one was being loaded into the truck for delivery and would we be around to meet the driver?" The G450X would be at the EDM offices in couple days... Bam! Just like that, we were in.

Three days later we were on location doing the still photography for the story and taking the time to get a good look at the 450. As we were standing around admiring it, the first topic of conversation was the unusual frame design that holds the dry sump, four valve, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 4-stroke motor. The frame cradles the motor with rigid, twin cross tubular stainless steel tubing and forged union points. It lacks the typical down tube and frame rails to hold and protect the engine, leaving it vulnerable to impact. A beefy, rubber mounted bash guard comes OEM and is up to some serious pounding. The lack of a down tube enables BMW to capitalize on this extra space and use a single radiator which has nearly a full radiator of additional cooling surface. Even though there is more radiator real estate the 450 is still equipped with a fan that switches on and off to keep precious engine parts cool. The next thing we notice is the integrated front fender/ headlight assembly which makes the G450X look a bit like a bird when viewed from the front. It's great for the street but heavy and unnecessary overkill for the trails. If you plan to us the bike off-road only you may want to consider the headlight MX conversion kit from Touratech, it offers weight savings and will make the 450 look more at home as you flog it on the trails.

Having gotten past the initial visual impact of the G450X, we start to take a closer look and the conversation shifts to the rear shock linkage or lack linkage and the swing arm pivot/ countershaft location. For the 450, BMW engineers placed the countershaft sprocket on the exact line as the swing arm pivot, making a coaxial swing arm. A hollow countershaft serves as the swing arm pivot bolt hole, allowing the countershaft sprocket to rotate around the swing arm pivot point. From a mechanical point of view it makes perfect sense to do this.