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View Full Version : MX & Open Desert Review/Opinion



Baracudaaa
03-27-2006, 04:24 PM
(i posted this on another site, just wanted to post here too)


I had my LTR on both kinds of terrain and thought I would post a quick review for a NON-pro recreational rider. I like to ride for fun, and have made the move from a 660 Raptor.

My Stats- Experienced desert rider, super rookie MX rider(about 1 year), GP racer(average, usually mid pack).

Desert- The light weight really helps dodging bad things like cactus, rocks, donkeys, ect. Coming off a heavy but powerful bike I feel more confident on the gas longer because of the maneuverability. This really helped me get ahead of others in my group that were hitting the breaks sooner to slow down their heavy quads, or to move around big obstacles. A down side is the low clearance (I was running 18" Holeshots). I hit or had to slow down for just about anything in my way where i usually would have just ran right over it. This can easily be solved with a set of taller ITP H/D's and skid plates, which i dont have yet(hurry up PRM!). When we got down to badly whooped single track the suspension easily sucked it up, but the light weight seemed to make the rear 'track' a lot in motorcycle ruts. This started to concern me so I often chose to run off the trail and go straight to kamakazi style bomber runs on the sides and I didnt think I would get far. To my suprise, I could actually make better time in un-familiar open riding than on a beat up trail. Its a small feeling bike, but after I got used to that, I started passing people. It was much more smoothe than a big bike, and soaked up a complete suprise casing on the face of a 3' wash. It will require way bigger gearing to be able to run with bigger cc quads though. I was pinning it in 5th and getting about 65 mph out of it, where I can get close to 90 on big gears on my Raptor. It also felt like the high speed compression can use a little working over too. Running wide open in 5th through 6" to 1' whoops the rear started having a hard time keeping up. Also, the shaft and piggyback got really hot. So I am going to have to have this delt with, I hear Derisi racing can fix this with re-valving and new linkage. In big chop, up to 3' in areas, it was better than most XC or highly modified quads I have ever ridden. I could get on top and stay up there where other bikes would just start plowing through with an inevitable casing. Once again, I am not a pro rider with access to any and all quads, and this is just my opinion so far. So for Open desert or even GP racing, I am completely stunned by its performance, and can wait for the next race!

MX- Like I said, I am just getting used to track riding. I wont jump anything over 60 ft long, & get freaked out being over 8 or 9 feet off the ground. All I have done so far (freakin parts are slow to get here) is the baf/lid/CB mod. Now with that being said, shouldnt a good rider on a $15,000 race bike be able to easily ditch me? NOPE!!! With myself (6'4"-210lbs) on the LTR I was able to run with and at times pass these kind of bikes, although for a short period. I would back out on the big table tops where these other guys could clear the entire thing. Now it wasnt the LTR that couldnt do it, it was me, I will easily admit. I must return to work in 1 piece on mondays. Comparing the LTR to my old Raptor on the MX track is just impossible. I was happy with the way the Raptor worked, especially in straight scections, and even jumping, but turning and controllability in the air, the LTR is a whole different story. After doing my best to dial in the suspension I could easily add another 4 laps before fatigue and much faster lap times than on the old big bike. I dont have any comparisons to the honda or yamaha 450s' on a track, but for someone looking at changing from a big cc quad to the 450, DO IT NOW!!! The LTR pulls harder than my Raptor, and took tons less muscle to controll which will help, especially in GP racing which runs for about 1 1/4 hr per race. I did notice that it had a tough time hooking up on hard starts, the rear end seems to break loose real easy(ITP MXR4 Holeshots), and I also think the high speed compression can also use work here too. In bumped out high speed sweeper turns, the rear was hard to keep down, making it feel to me like a ton of over steer. I think I could resolve some of this with some more education in suspension dialing which seems like an on going learning process. Overall, if my rookie track riding *** can keep up with some very expensive 'race' quads, I think the Suzuki was the best cost/race/fun quad there is out there right now.
Once again, these are just my personal opinions from someone who like to ride for fun, show off a little, and scare the s**t out of yourself at times.

clutt225
03-27-2006, 05:41 PM
good review

MXracer16
03-27-2006, 07:00 PM
PRM has skid plates for the R450 on their website. Are they just not shipping them yet?

quadfam4
03-27-2006, 07:51 PM
Got my PRM skid plate a couple weeks ago. Bolted up perfectly. Front support has a hokie hose clamp fit up to hold it to the swingarm but I couldn't think of any other way to fasten it with that much coverage. Don't know if it would hold up to a dez race. I think your pretty brave to run it on 18"s and stock protection. Agree with handling, it's awsome! Have only had 20" sand tires, works great, wonder what 23" fronts and 22" dez tires would do to handling. Too bad you weren't coming off a honda, you could throw those tires on there.

Santo DeRisi
03-29-2006, 05:40 AM
We have most of the AC Parts in stock for the LTR450 Just not sure how long they are going to last. We also have PRM skids in stock too.

Baracudaaa
03-31-2006, 10:25 PM
Hey Santo, are you doing your magic revalving and springs on stock LTR shocks yet? How about a rear link? Just curious, I have heard great things about your work on honda 450 suspension.