Gas Gas 450

[msmit150]

I have an 04 Gas Gas 450, I have it a few months now after buying a new YFZ450 only to find out that the suspension is far to hard for racing with me being 11.5 stone and not wanting to spend a shed of money on it.:ermm:

The Gas Gas is very good for a standard bike having skids, ohlins, pro peg nerfs and wide track standard, the only thing wrong with it is that it to much front castor at 14 degrees but I've sorted this by getting the upper arms bent forward an inch which takes it to 5 degrees.

I think this is the best standard quad for racing, the best in my opinion if you don't want to spend money on a load of after market bits which I have done in the past with a Z400

I would like to hear if anyone else has one for racing and what they think of it as well as what they have done to it to improve it.

Thanks
:)

[mscottiel]

i have a 03 gasgas 450 and i have done so much to it over the past year i can't even think of where to start.

1. ltr aluminum water pump. helps keep it cool by moving more water and it won't melt if it does get too hot.

2. plugged stock radiator cap and installed and new high pressure 1.6 bar radiator cap. this keeps more pressure in cooling system and keeps it from boiling over.

3. replaced stock cooling fan with a kawasaki ninja fan - - i had to weld new mounts to the fan mount but it was relatively easy. this moves more air and keeps it cooler.

4. put evans waterless coolant (npg-r) in system to keep it cooler and with less maintenance than antifreeze.

all of the above were done to keep engine cool and to extend engine life.

5. in muddy conditions the fenders like to hold alot of mud so i cut off the part at the edges that turns down and that lets alot of mud fly out instead of sticking.

6. removed all lights and unnecessary wiring over 4 pounds of lights and wires all together.

7. installed tag handlebars and terrycable thumb throttle/cable.

8. original seat was very comfortable but way to soft for aggressive racing so i swapped the foam with stock 400ex foam and it was an exact match but is much firmer and easier to manuever on.

9. installed white bros. e series exhaust off of a z400.

10. installed a techlusion efi controller. this was a great modification and makes the bike run at it best.

11. removed seat lock and made custom linch pin seat latch so i don't have to have a key to remove seat.

12. got rid of stock gas cap and have a race style twist off cap now.

13. replaced upper a arm joints with adjustable heim joints so i can adjust caster and i moved lower shock mounts to lower ride height and get a stronger mount.

14. got rid of crappy and weak plastic battery box and made custom aluminum box to house battery( put in a bigger battery to help with starting), starter relay, fuel injection relay, and computer. this keeps the battery from bottoming out on brake caliper and falling out in the middle of a race like it did to me.:mad:

15. ac racing bumper

16. douglas ultimate beadlocks on rear and douglas ultimate 4:1 offset fronts with holeshots all around.

17. sprocket specialist titan tough 40 tooth rear sprocket.

18. cycra stealth hand guards

19. no toil air filter

20. bent out brake pedal to keep it from hitting clutch cover.

21. aftermarket clutch plates and springs.

22. cometic head gasket. stock ones are crap.

23. replaced battery cable ends with heavy duty brass ones cause the stock ones will break from vibration. one broke on me just as i took off from a jump and i came up short. the quad flipped and i went flying. i knew it was getting worn and i just waited too long to replace it.



alot of this stuff is just cosmetic but some of it must be done to race one cause the stock components just won't hold up long if you are hard on it.

most important it to make sure you are not overheating and that the motor is getting the proper fuel.

some of the problems with the 03 models were fixed on the 04 so these mods may not apply to you.

there have been other things but they are small and may not happen to you. for example one of the oil lines on mine came out of the valve cover and i had to loctite it and tap it in with a hammer. lots of little things happen when you are hard on stuff and put it through racing situations but maintenance is the key to keeping yourself safe and your bike running.

any more questions just ask. i will be posting lots of pics in the quad builder contest soon.

in my opinion you have a good quad to start with and with a little work you will be very competive on it. the spanish made gasgas will hold its own with any of the new japanese quads out there and require the least amount of modification to be "race ready".

good luck.

[msmit150]

Thanks bud! See you spend a bit of time in the garage!

I've done a few things myself -

1 cut front mudgaurds cause they are ugly and fill with mud

2 fitted holeshot MX tires, 20 fronts and 18 by 8 MX4's on the back

3 fitted a yamaha blaster thumb throttle

4 moved the throttle body spring round to the next notch to lighten the throttle (this is a nightmare cause the throttle body is real hard to get out)

5 front shocks re-valved softer cause I was running full soft and wanted to get them set in the mid range

6 took all the lights and wiring out

7 linked the black and black/white wires in the stop start button assembly after the stop button jammed in with dirt in it during a practice a few weeks ago. I couldn't figure out why the fuel pump wouldn't come on and that was it!

8 cut the end off the standard exhaust and riveted a new end on, this does help the power but it's 98db's

9 had to drill a hole in the right hand side of the bike so I could adjust the compression damping

10 took a link out of the chain to shorten the wheel base 1/2 an inch and to save me buying a new chain as I had ran out of adjustment (it was to long to start with, it's not worn!)



You have given me a few ideas, I have to try the EFI contrller as the dealer here has just got them. The seat is a bit too comfortable right enough!

The bike is a bit heavy and I think it's mostly at the front being in the arms and frame (did you notice the front uprights are cast iron!) but it's strong.

I am sure a YFZ or TRX would be faster but only with a lot of money spent on suspension and a arms which takes the price way over a GAS GAS. I'm happy with it and can't wait for better weather here (it is Ireland!)and the racing season to start.

By the way the 05 model has a bit more power and a higher revving engine by way of a lighter piston and a few other things.

I noticed that a few of the pros are using the same Ohlins shocks at round one of the ATVA championship.

Thanks again and I will be in touch!!!

[AndreS]

for the A-arms, you can replace just the upper ones instead of beating them into alignment.... see rebelriders (http://www.rebelriders.com).... i'll be oredering some shortly.

lt-racing (http://www.lt-racing.com) also makes case savers and pull rods for the rear suspension to raise or lower the quad a little
i removed the lighting system & dash on my 300 as well. replaced the headlight cover with a piece of plastic & used it for a number plate.

i removed the lock & cable for the seat latch & replaced it with a seat latch cable for a LT250R... just zip-tied it to the subframe above the silencer... replaced the gas cap with the screw-on one from gasgas, & viola.. no more keys.

i used a banshee throttle.

the shocks i've had redone by MX-tech and am very happy with them now.... they set them up zero-preload & revalved them.

to compensate for the width(the shocks lowered it & it got WIDE) i run douglas 4+1 billet wheels on the front most of the time


my biggest complaints are fit & finish. the seat wears on the plastic, wearing out the cover (graves motorsports makes custom covers) & i'm on my 3rd now. the gas tank still leaks(even with the new cap) and makes a mess of the quad every ride/race... this worries me due to the fact that it can catch fire.
this thread (http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138932&perpage=15&pagenumber=2) has a couple pics of my quad.

[msmit150]

Yes.......I noticed the fuel tank leaks but I only noticed when I have the bike on it's back to work on it.

I also noticed the seat cover has worn through on the under side of the seat frame, it wears on the plastic.

My upper front a-arms are a great job though after getting them bent forward 1 inch to give 5 degrees castor. Here in N.Ireland we run 3 classes of quad within each class of rider -

Modified - anything goes as long as it's under 50 inches wide

Semi Modified - standard frame, anything else goes

Production - wide axle or wheel spacers and aftermarket wheels & tires and thats it

The Gas Gas is great for production (aftermarket arms would be Semi Modified, bent ones are OK!). I must see how much a screw on gas cap is instead of that big alloy thing. I take it that it's a proper Gas Gas one? As for the seat latch I just pull the cable outer under the mudgaurd, easy!

[DirtDevilBT]

Have you fixed the pipe hitting the rear axle? Is that why you cut off the end of the other one? Nice bike!

[Dale512]

I've always been intrigued by the GasGas quads, specifically the 450. I was on www.gasgasatv.com or something to that effect a few months ago and in the hopups section I noticed mention of a New Exhaust, Aluminum Airbox, Oil Tank & Radiator Relocator kits for a lower center of gravity, but they seem to be gone.

[AndreS]

i had a problem with the axle hitting the pipe when i bought mine. the rear shocks of the'03 were not valved properly, & it would case out bad. i had the suspension done by mx-tech and have not had a problem since. my silencer later broke internally so i replaced it with a FMF turbine core 2.
not sure why gasgasatv.com dosn't have the parts anymore

i think gasgas stopped making the screw-on gas cap & adapter, talking to my dealer about the leaky tank, he said they redesigned it and that adapter doesn't fit... not sure why. i'll be ordering a new tank sooner or later & have to go back to the locking one

[msmit150]

I cut the arrow pipe cause it's very restrictive but cut it's maybe 105DB's. Have just bought an FMF Q core pipe last week and it hits the axle! Not to worry, I dont think the dent in the can will get any worse. Good pipe though and it keeps the noise to 93.5 DBs which is sensible and I can't feel any loss of power. Our racing assocation is getting a bit stricter on noise. See www.quadracingireland.com soon, site should be updated this week.

On saturday I had a wreck:ermm: Was doing a sprint at a farm we use for enduro's. Hit a kicker bump on a straight, was wide open in 5th (65mph), back of the quad jumped out to the right, when it landed I left the track stage left.............through 3 fence posts, a strainer post (8 inch diameter) and a lot of barbed wire. And I never broke anything! Not on me anyway, I have bad cuts and bruises, barbed wire hurts!!!!!!!

The bike needs front plastics, screen, instrument panel, grips, the bumper straightened and a seat cover. It needs more to fix it like it was but I'm not bothering cause it's going to get marked up anyhow. THESE ARE STRONG BIKES, I think a YFZ or Z400 would have just folded with a crash like this.

I'll post the pics if anyone wants to see

[mscottiel]

put up some pics of the destruction:devil:

[msmit150]

Sorry, :ermm: I forgot to take any pics before I took it to the dealer last night.

They don't have red plastics so I'll just have to wait a week or so for them coming from Spain. It doesn't look to bad anyhow, most of the damage is cosmetic, O me back!! :eek:

mscottiel, is this techlusion efi controller worth having? How much more power is there and does it run better? Dealer is recommending one to me, think they are a bit to expensive though.

[mscottiel]

i think it is worth every penny. just curious how much is your dealer telling you it will cost. it may be cheaper for you to buy it from the states where they are made and have it shipped. let me know and i can help you get one if you want.

the power is better and it is great to know i have control over how the quad runs. i can tune it just like a carb is tuned and because the quads in the states are tuned to run lean to pass emissions tests the efi controller lets the end user richen up the mixture to get it to run its best. this doesn't mean that the temperature and altitude sensors are inoperable anymore because it lets you adjust the signal to the fuel injector itself depending on how you want it to run. they are very easy to install also. what is great about it is that if you change exhaust pipes, cams, or filters or even do engine work you will have control over the amount of fuel the motor gets because with any mods you will require different fuel amounts. it is basically like a infinitely adjustable carb jetting kit. it still uses the stock fuel curves sent by the onboard computer and the signal is not modified until just before it reaches the fuel injector so it will not mess up how your computer works at all. i would recommend it if you are wanting more power or just want to be able to tune the quad to your liking. like i said if you decide to get one and need help let me know.

[msmit150]

I'll let you know, the exchange rate is 1.92 at the moment!!! I think it's about £300, almost $600, to expensive I think.

I'm going to the Unidilla round of the US championships in July but thats a bit far away, no postage to pay though!

Was set to finish 9th from 30 on Saturday past but.........wipeout with the barbed wire fence!

Gettin called BARBIE now:rolleyes:

Thanks V much mscottiel:)