Motivated by a desire to experience a foreign land and somehow spend five days in Japan without embarrassing himself, our man Aaron Hansel hopped on a jet and flew to the other side of the globe to test out Honda’s brand-new CRF450R

WORDS: AARON HANSEL
PHOTOS: SIMON CUDBY & AARON HANSEL

“Hansel, is your passport current?” Kris Keefer asked me abruptly on the phone on a random Monday morning. The answer was yes, but it’s not often Keefer starts a conversation like that, and a part of me wondered if he needed my help fleeing the country. It turns out he was slated to go to Japan to check out the 2027 Honda CRF450R for Racer X but had something unexpected come up. Turns out he was checking to see if I could go in his place. Without asking him anything, checking dates, or being a responsible adult, husband, and father in any way whatsoever, I immediately agreed to go!