This update was published in ADB issue #465 – June 2018. Sherco has since discontinued its Six Days edition and is now offering Factory and Racing models.

People have asked me plenty of times: “What’s it like?” and, I now tell them, I’m loving it.

That might sound a little negative, but, as I mentioned in my previous write-up, I’ve had my differences with this model. I could never quite put on finger on what was going on with the 450 so, when Sherco approached me and suggested a long-termer, I was keen to get it to work for me.

I did a few training days on the bike in preparation for the A4DE in Cessnock. The new Six Days 450SEF-R has a bunch of trick parts on it and it looks pretty schmick.

The red, white and blue colour scheme is cool, and the white plastics are holding up better than expected. The bike feels very flat to sit on, which I like as I can get over the top of it easily, especially on flat turns. The power is crisp and the Akrapovic exhaust gives the bike a real grunty feel without being loud and it looks the part too.

I fitted a set of my old Renthal 999s to get my personal feel and it feels much better. The handlebar is a couple of years old so I will be chatting to Renthal to get a freshy for the Four-Day.

One thing I’m trying to get dialled is the suspension. The 2018 Six Days models come with the up-spec WP XPlor 48 fork, whereas the stock bikes just have WP’s open-chamber fork. The XPlor 48 feels nice. It is soft but I have been managing. I played around with the compression damping, rebound and the preload adjuster and where I am at now with it is, well, maxed out.

The bike handles great for trailriding but, as you would expect with a stocker, for sprints and racing the overall feel of the bike is soft, at pro pace. So, what I have done is attempted to firm it up without sending it away to get revalved – for now.
I had a set of 5.2nm springs in my array of spare parts accumulated over the years so I decided to chuck them in and see how it felt. This is up quite a bit from the stock 4.6 springs but it was all I had. And I was happy to feel the difference once I got on the bike. The front-end felt higher and therefore, didn’t dive as much which gave me more confidence to come charging into corners.

It is still a little soft but it is far more manageable at high-speed and it felt like the firmer springs helped the shock find its mojo too. With around 105-108mm rider sag, the bike felt much more balanced and while, yes, it was still soft overall, I was pleased with the changes.

As you can see, I also have some custom numbers on there which were taken care of by long-time supporters Holeshot Graphics and they did a great job in keeping the red, blue and white theme in sync. I fitted my preferred set of hoops, the trusty Pirelli Mid/Soft tyres as well and that made a big difference over the stock Michelin FIM tyres.

So, what’s next? Well as I write this I’m on the eve of the Four-Day. It’s only a few days away and I believe that Sherco and one of its enduro team sponsors, Chad’s Off-Road Setups, have cooked up a plan to get my 450 handling like a full-blown race bike, so stayed tuned for that! Enduro Editor Geoff Braico

SO FAR
HOURS: 6
MODS THIS MONTH: Renthal Twinwall 999 bend handlebar, Pirelli Mid/ Soft tyres, fork springs, Holeshot numbers
Mods Next Month: Chad’s Off-Road magic, full graphics kit, Four-Day spec