I raced my R

[Pappy]

Well I didnt really plan on racing it, I kinda just wanted to ride it on some new trails. So after the kids finished thier race i entered myself in the 30+ class at the harescramble.


I havent practiced dead engine starts or anything so i just kinda kicked it and rode to the first turn. My plan was to just follow the class and have a good time and see what the R could do.

The second turn found the entire class (less the leader) bottlenecked and jammeed up. I geuss my competitive side kicked in and i made a new line and was gone. it only took a mile or so and I had caught the leader and passed him.

ok enough about me.

The first hillclimb I came to was pretty steep and plenty long. There were 3 riders stuck on it already so I just took a second to see what was what. As one rider got his quad kinda out of the way I dropped the hammer and up I went. I was sort of scared due to the lightness of the 450R front end but it did just fine. Id still say she needs a 13 tooth front atleast as I disliked the amount of clutching I needed to get over logs and thru very technical sections.

Another thing I noticed was the incredible steering on the R. It literally will carve and go anywhere you want it too....as long as you dont have your weight too far back on the seat. Several times the front end got light and I found myself letting off to correct for it.

Power is pretty good. After I took a tumble and jackassed my clutch lever beyond functionality I had to rely on throttle to get me back to the trailer. On several hills I came from almost an idle to WFO and she never missed a beat. The 13 tooth im sure will make this quad a beast in the woods.

The Elka suspension did awesome and my only regret is that I couldnt finish the race. I did notice the rear kicks sligtly but I think its set up on my part.

I did find myself cussing the kick start on 2 occasions. 1st was when I flipped the quad on a hillside and everytime I tried to kick her she slid about 3 feet down the hill...sideways:grr:

Second was after the wreck, with the damaged clutch lever I had stalled it in a rutted section and had a beast of a time getting it to fire. So Im not 100% liking everything but the trx is pretty good.

Just a few observations on the R

[Hammer trx450r]

Pappy were you useing the hot start lever when having the problem? Seems to help alot. And now im thinking twice on the rear setup( elka and linkage) maybe i should stick to axis. Does anyone else make the linkage in the rear shock?

[Pappy]

I had too much rebound dialed into my shock. the elka set up works great!



The hot start lever didnt seem to help me one way or the other

[Pappy]

I didnt care if I won or not, and I was looking forward to the rest of the race, but the lever was bent in such away that I couldnt hardly use it. The R needs to be clutched and it just wasnt gonna happen:p

[Hammer trx450r]

just like a honda to stay together just enough to get ya home:D
I'm ordering this week so if you say the elkas the way to go, I'll give it a try. And by the way i was in the woods yesterday for 4 hours and i think i might try to get off the mx track and try some woods runs. not to mention getting old(er);)

[Pappy]

older...lol the woods doesnt care about age so dont think its a cakewalk:p i did feel about 10 years younger when i passed the leader:D but when i flipped it my age came rushing back:mad: :blah:

[Hammer trx450r]

i've raced Mx long enough to know that unfortunatly. I was actually speaking of the fun factor with this bike in the woods. I does it for me:D

[Hammer trx450r]

trying to figure a way out of easter parties to go back out:devil:

[2001400ex]

Didn't ya try to bend the lever back? Or would it snap?

I gotta stop reading these review threads it's making me want a 450R more and more...!:D

[Hammer trx450r]

Originally posted by Pappy
older...lol the woods doesnt care about age so dont think its a cakewalk:p i did feel about 10 years younger when i passed the leader:D but when i flipped it my age came rushing back:mad: :blah:

wow in no way am i saying its for older people, that came out wronge. what i ment to say is my older body cant take big jumps with bad landings for too much longer. But when i was in the woods i felt soo smooth and had soo much fun, the older and wiser self said why havent i been riding the woods runs all these yrs. Don't worry i watch bill balance on tv with my jaw on the floor just like you guys

[greghall]

You will get use to it Pappy ,put on a 13T front sprocket & it will be a different bike,I was cussing mine the first time I rode it even got disgusted & went home,put on the 13T dialed in the suspension & it was a different bike the best thing I ever rode,as for the kick starter that will come around & you will learn not to stall it ,no body ever had a proplem kickstarting with the 250R did they:D

[Pappy]

Oh i know all about the learning curve, and ive riden kickstart quads my entire life until the 400ex. And yes, if I was on my YFZ the E button would have had me going in a flash and I would have retianed the lead. Ofcourse I couldnt have kept up the pace I was riding nor could I have finished the race with that lever. I believe bending it back would have snapped it, its jacked pretty far. I also got my exhaust end cap demolished:(

the age thing is just the simple fact I havent rode hard enough to get my sorry *** in shape....but working on it:p

[shaff107]

On my 450R i put a 13T on it and also a Duncan Fat boy 4 exhaust jet and air box mod. I can now lug in tight tech. woods in second. I also have the Elka LT rear end from Elka. Right now i have a set of LT fully adj just sittin here waiting on my houser LT arms. so the front just have the std shocks on it and it rides AWESOME. I have a 400ex and a 250R along with the 450R and the 450R is the best thing i have ever riden.

[2001400ex]

I always knew riding gave your body a beating...but the other day I was just in the mood to ride hard (I always ride hard, but today I really felt like getting my adrenaline pumping) so...I went for my usual afternoon ride but I was really gettin on the gas and whippin it around turns and havin a good time. I was doing that for about 45 minutes all over the trails behind my house, so when I came back and shut off the quad, and just relaxed for a second...but I was riding so hard that my arms were shaking and it felt like I had been working out non-stop...I can still feel it underneath my armpits and in my shoulder blades...I guess I got a little to into it because I was riding HARD...I guess I had a little bit too much adrenaline pumping...:devil:

[SRH]

i got a yfz and i love it but for some reason i wanta 450r too, dammit lol

[400exBro]

you should get the ASV clutch lever, they are unbreakable and have a 5 year grantee....

check them out they are really nice, the billet ones are but not to sure on the forged...

sounds like you need some acerbis hand gaurds pap

[nacs400ex]

Originally posted by 400exBro
you should get the ASV clutch lever, they are unbreakable and have a 5 year grantee....

check them out they are really nice, the billet ones are but not to sure on the forged...

Yeah pappy check out those levers, cant beat 'em.

[Pappy]

Originally posted by BeeeRock!
sounds like you need some acerbis hand gaurds pap

exactly. I run RTC (was running stock this race) but the gaurds would have prevented this!!

Other then tire failures, this is the first race I failed to finish due to equipment issues. I do know i'm alot faster now then ive ever been in the woods....but next time i will stick to my original plan:p

[WhiteBros400ex]

Atleast you had fun, Check out my friends quad under I Hate Hills under this forum. Hiis 450got killed after getting rolled down a huge hill at trevorton.

[MIA450R]

Go 13T, pappy, you won't be sorry you did. I would say the only drawback (?) is it will hit the rev limiter a touch faster than you're used to with the stock sprocket, but that's partly because its accelerating faster...:D

[seatec]

Pappy, what i learned from the CRF450 engine in the bike is that (and I'm not saying that you did) that you cant even look at the gas lever when you are trying to restart it. one last ditch effort can be mad when she wont fire up is to give it WFO and then kick it. that sometimes worked for me but i suspect the quad is a tad different than the bike. Better luck next time buddy.

[Pappy]

I never touch the gas when starting the R. I believe from it laying on its side for a few seconds it was being a bear to start. the second time i stalled it i tried everything except the choke which prolly would have fired her right up