ATV Action modded 450 shootout

[MX MaNiAc 06]

They seemed to like the Honda the best. But i found a few things strange..

They said Honda was 33 hp stock and the other 2 were 38-39. Not that i really care about hp but thats a big difference. I thought they were all pretty equal.

I liked how they said the Suzuki needs $1000 to be MX ready n the other 2 need $3000. Maybe with the deals they got on the parts.. Shock rebuild, pipe, cam, tires, nerfs, steering stem, graphics, handlebars came to $1000.. bullchit!

[400exrider0004]

Those hp numbers are WAY off

[Edawg112091]

The HP should be close to around 50 if im right!!!???

[TMSmx47]

Stock numbers are gonna be around 40... close to 50 modded with bolt ons. All in all, the 3 of them are probably only 1-3hp different from one another.

[trx4ever]

stock are only mid 30 at the best

[CMPX3]

All the mags have advertizer adgenda!!!!!!

[MX MaNiAc 06]

I reread it and the $1000 for the Suzuki is only for the shock revalves and tires. They said the Suzuki is a pain to work on which i noticed when i saw it. U have to take off a skid plate to change the oil. Also u have to remove the plastic and gas tank to get the spark plug out.

[red2004 TRX450R]

Originally posted by MX MaNiAc 06
I reread it and the $1000 for the Suzuki is only for the shock revalves and tires. They said the Suzuki is a pain to work on which i noticed when i saw it. U have to take off a skid plate to change the oil. Also u have to remove the plastic and gas tank to get the spark plug out.

i guess you never changed the spark plug on your quad then! not a big deal.

[450raider]

well those numbers do seem fuzzy but we all know that atv and that other mag always seem to plug yamaha every chance they get so thats no suprise, and they are jumping on suzukis bandwagon but i happen to believe that you cant get 7hp handed to you by plugging a little plastic thing somewhere that just sounds a little to easy, which leads me to believe that honda is robbed sometimes im not saying that the 450r is the greatest at everything just that the mag companies shouldnt be as hasty as they are. :rolleyes:

[400exrider0004]

450r has the highest number of horsepower out of the three with 42-43 stock. The Yamaha is second with 41-42 stock, and Suzuki with 31 hp. That is why they want you to use the Cherry Bomb to open the bike up so much. With bolt ons for all of the bikes they will all be in the high 40's.

[tltcracing]

i didnt read the article but this is what i alwase thought of the three:
best of the 3 out of the box: LTR
best of the 3 with just a little bit of money put into it: YFZ
best of the 3 full blown mx, with no expence spared: TRX

and the other way i alwase looked at it:
if you know you are going to buy all aftermarket stuff anyway why pay more for stock stuff your are not going to use(ie. LTR vs TRX or YFZ)

so in the end it all comes down to how the quad feels to you, your opion of the compainy, and how easy it is to take care of and wrench on. honda usualy has the best urgonomics*, best reputation as a comainy, and easyest to work on( all the case in the 450 market). so the choice was alwase clear to me. but thats JMO.

[MXracer16]

Originally posted by 400exrider0004
450r has the highest number of horsepower out of the three with 42-43 stock. The Yamaha is second with 41-42 stock, and Suzuki with 31 hp. That is why they want you to use the Cherry Bomb to open the bike up so much. With bolt ons for all of the bikes they will all be in the high 40's.

You couldn't be more wrong. 450r has the lowest horsepower, then the YFZ, then the LT-R. The thing is the 450R has the best torque curve to match the horsepower. The LT-R does have the highest horsepower but it has a terrible torque curve. With the modded engines that they had, every quad hit 50 horsepower, they were all within 1 horse of eachother.

Also, what they were trying to get at is it only takes $1000 to get it race ready, ie. revalve the shocks and nerfs and the regular stuff like that. You dont even need new tires if you dont want them. Thats about it. The others you need to do the above and then a-arms and axle and wheels and tires.

[leadfoot_52]

I would have to say that the numbers that they gave are correct. My 06 450r Out of the box would barely beat a slightly modded 400EX. I was Pist! So I bought the HRC Kit, and It helped ALOT. I raced a stock LT-R 450 with My HRC kit and barely beat It. I dont think the Hondas get close to 50 HP with the HRC- I Think it is more around 45. Yamaha seems to have the most power of all 3 of them- I have a friend with the new Suzuki, a friend with an 05 YFZ 450, and I own a 06 450ER and stock for stock, I got smoked by them both (That is drag Racing). I know this is a Honda Forum But everyone seems to be so biased towards the stock Honda. Lets face it-Stock the Hondas are slow, but when you mod them is when their true potential reaches its limits.

[DEAL]

Its all personal preference..
The yamaha and suzuki have a similar feel, ergo wise, the honda is a bit different but some people prefer to have the larger tank between their legs (me included).
I've ridden plenty of yfzs but have only spent a couple of minutes on an ltr.
I can ride just as fast on either of them as my honda so its all up to the person now .. unlike the days of the 400ex, banshee, raptor cannondale , .. or even farther back with the lt250r, trx250r and tecate.
Neither of the 3 completely out performs the other.

[DEAL]

Originally posted by MXracer16
You couldn't be more wrong. 450r has the lowest horsepower, then the YFZ, then the LT-R. The thing is the 450R has the best torque curve to match the horsepower. The LT-R does have the highest horsepower but it has a terrible torque curve. With the modded engines that they had, every quad hit 50 horsepower, they were all within 1 horse of eachother.

Also, what they were trying to get at is it only takes $1000 to get it race ready, ie. revalve the shocks and nerfs and the regular stuff like that. You dont even need new tires if you dont want them. Thats about it. The others you need to do the above and then a-arms and axle and wheels and tires.

Ltr bone stock 31 hp.
Trx bone stock 32-35hp
Yfz bone stock 32-35hp

[ChrisSekerak]

I'm definately no expert, but neither of the 450's stock are at 31 HP, your on crack.

Honda claims 50 HP with the HRC kit, it's more like 47 and that's with a good pipe.

like someone mentioned, all 3 are within a few HP of each other mod for mod. it's all personall preferance.

[Flodies400ex]

hay deal the stock 450 is like not that low its around 35 -40 HP because the stock cr450 is like 50 hp so I think right now with mine is running at 45-48 hp I think

[z400rida44]

theres no way the hp is that low. i remember reading a shootout in dw between the 04 450r, yfz450 and gas gas 450. they dynoed all three and the 450r was at 37, the yfz was at 40 and the gas gas was at 42. then they put a pipe on the honda and it was at 40 and they put one on the yfz and it was at 44

[jjm400ex]

well yesterday i dragged race a ltr450 with cherrybomb and yosh pipe. my bike is 06 450er bone stock. i'd get atleast 5 bike lengths on him and by 4th gear he would slowly go by me. i thought i did good for a stock 450.

[Sickman80]

Hey all. This is the guy who did all the 450 shootouts for ATV Action. Not sure who all recognizes me, but I have been riding ATV's since I was ten years old. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering. And I am a top Pro rider (Do Pro-Ams at nationals I can attend). I built the YFZ/330R powered 400EX a few years ago too. So, I can say I have some experience with ATV's.

I can say this...all the numbers are correct. I did the dyno work myself. The 450's put out 50 horsepower numbers when they are modded...read the article, its in there. Also keep in mind, this was at sea level too (Which means these are as high of numbers you will get), so I can tell you many people exagerate horsepower numbers, so this is what they really have. Remember, in stock trim ATV's are highly restricted because they have to meet higher emission standards than motorcycles do.

Someone commented on the horsepower being less on the Honda than the Suzuki, but it was odd to them that it beat the Suzuki. Read the article. Its not about horsepower...its the entire package (type of horsepower, handling, ergos, etc). If it is about horsepower, then why don't Banshees stomp on 250R's on the MX tracks (Stock vs stock comparison with equal riders aboard)? I personally did all the wrenching on all three quads, including the engine work. I did the dyno work. I personally rode all three quads. So I know everything them, and everything in the article is factual.

I suppose with any of this there can be some bias, but I did my abosolute best to not let personal preferences influence the article in any way. Thats why we also had other test riders...they said pretty much the same things as I did.

Anyway, I just saw this...I have been really busy as of late. Also, I no longer work at ATV Action (My last issue will be the January one), but was asked to continue as a contributor. So I plan on working with the magazines in the future. Now I am back working full time as an engineer in the aerospace world...so off to other avenues. But, I am still going to keep up with the ATV industry.

If there are ever any questions on anything I do, I will do my best to answer. But I wanted to make a reponse here and let it be known I put 100% effort into everything I do and try to cover all bases. So I can be comfortable in saying that anything I ever write is going to be about as good as you will get. But I am a busy person. I work full time and am going back to college for a law degree and have other things going on as well. So I don't spend much time on the computer these days. So if someone ever wants to touch bases with me and I am slow to respond...I am not ignoring.

Anyway, my only hope is to help others, because I know what is like to try to determine which bike or part is best. And I am one who has had to pay for everything myself, without the help of parents. So I understand what it takes to go riding and racing.

I hope everybody has a great Christmas coming up, and have fun riding!

Sincerely,

Adam "Sickman" Sick

[Sickman80]

OH, I did go back and re-read some of the postings here. As far as the Dyno numbers, I even checked with other people who have dynoed the bikes and they confirmed the numbers in stock trim. Even I was shocked with some of them.

But, people tend to look at horsepower only...and get into the mindset of needing high horsepower numbers. The magazines fuel this by show horespower only numbers. I tried to include a torque curve chart, but my boss wouldn't let me, because they just don't put that on there. Well, how the torque curve and horsepower curve interact with each other is HUGE! That is what determines how fast something, torque essentially can be viewed as a traction, and horsepower is reaction. You need both to be in synch with each other. Thats why the Honda can run well in stock trim with low HP, because they have a torque output that backs up every bit of that power.

Anyway, have a great one!

Adam

[lumi]

trx450r has the highest hp than yfz than ltr..... couldnt beat a slighty modded ex than something wrong with ur bike i bewat it bike about 10 lenghts by the end of the race stock.....



400exrider0004 450r has the highest number of horsepower out of the three with 42-43 stock. The Yamaha is second with 41-42 stock, and Suzuki with 31 hp. That is why they want you to use the Cherry Bomb to open the bike up so much. With bolt ons for all of the bikes they will all be in the high 40's.



=lumi

[JRP]

well my 450 had 36hp stock, and after cam/exhaust i had 46:devil:

[ChrisSekerak]

Originally posted by lumi
trx450r has the highest hp than yfz than ltr..... couldnt beat a slighty modded ex than something wrong with ur bike i bewat it bike about 10 lenghts by the end of the race stock.....



400exrider0004 450r has the highest number of horsepower out of the three with 42-43 stock. The Yamaha is second with 41-42 stock, and Suzuki with 31 hp. That is why they want you to use the Cherry Bomb to open the bike up so much. With bolt ons for all of the bikes they will all be in the high 40's.



=lumi

I own a 2006 trx450r. I am not a suzuki fan....i hate to tell ya, the ltr is not at 31hp stock....get your numbers right.

Sickman I couldn't agree with you more.....it's all about the entire package of the bike, HP helps but does not determine everything. It's nice to see someone know what they are talking about on here.

[400exrider0004]

For 2006 the 450r has the highest hp rating out of all three. And I couldnt agree with Sickman more, it doesnt matter about hp only but everything else that comes with the bike. But yes the ltr has low hp ratings and that is why yoshimura wants you to add the cherry bomb. If you think about it when you add seven horsepower when you add the CB you had to start out at a low number like I said. 31-33 + 7 = 38-40hp!!!