Thinking about getting a 450R..

[NickG5755]

hey guys im new here and im in the market for a new quad!!
ive owned bikes my whole life and have been racing harescrambles on a bike for abut 2 years now..but now im 18 and i wanna go night riding with my buddies and stuff and figure id get into racing harescrambles on a quad..

i know its going to be reallyyy exspensive to be competetive on a quad..so im looking for somthing i can beat the living piss out of and not have it die

right now im looking to get a stock honda (iwas gunna get the HRC but i figure ill be doing a full exhaust with it n stuff neways so y bother) but whats holding be back is supposedly having to set the valves on them alot more often than other quads..i ride ALOT and dont want to have to set valves all the time

ive ridden 2 strokes my whole life everything from 250Rs (330r mine was) stroker banshees...400's with CR 500 motors in em and ive buitl alot of 2 stroke motors and know ALOT about 2 strokes but when it comews to 4 stokes im afraid to make an exspensive mistake that i cant fix

basically i wanna know if the valves have to be set more often than most and how hard is it?

also will i even have a fighting chance running C-class with the stock suspension? i know on a quad the suspension is huge becasue you cant go fast when your tires are constantly in the air or your being jarred around by roots n whatnot

im sorry for the novel but im 18 and dont have the money to buy the wrong quad haha

thanks

According to the maintinance manual it is only like every 20 hrs of setting valves, but 450r valves are a pain, you have to use shims, wich means you have to buy the shims. Stupid system.

[04'400ex'er]

My quad took a **** after about 15 hours on it... well not really, but It pretty much wouldn't start when it was hot. I played and played with the jetting, put it on the dyno and confirmed that I had it right, then took it to the dealership when I returned from my trip and it was the valves.

They definitely have to be adjusted very soon following the break-in period. Since then, which was over a year ago, I haven't touched them.

In my opinion, having to adjust the valves is a hassle that can easily be tolerated in return for the reliability Honda has built their reputation on. I know that you have herd it or possibly experienced it yourself if you have been around the motorsports scene much.

Keep in mind: all bikes will have failures; Honda has had the crank bearing failures with the older 450R's, but they took pretty good care of their owners from what I have herd.

The HRC kit would and at the same time wouldn't be a waste of your money. I have seen those bikes time and time again eat piped and cam-modded YFZ's all day long.

The smart route, if you are not worried about the warranty, would be to do some research on which pipe performs best on the bike. www.wppracing.com has a list of dyno sheets from pipe shootouts on their site. Buy a Hot Cam of eBay for $130, get a HRC needle from WPP, and add a filter and you have a bike that will compete in the C class.

For the suspension aspect, if you are worried about spending a lot of money, I would send all of your stock shocks to GT Thunder or C&D Racing and have them re-spring and re-valve them for +2 STD travel a arms. Check out SMC for a nice set of those at an unbeatable price.
http://www.smcfabrication.com/TRX450R.html
You can get a G Force + 2 axle at a very reasonable price from rocky mountain atv.

This is somewhat the route that I plan to take with my bike, and with these reasonable modifications, you would have a very competitive bike to race in the class you are talking about. Plus you have a reliable Honda

;)
Hope this helps and lmk if you have any other questions

[NickG5755]

ohh yea i forgot someone told me aobut the shims..i mean im sure i could get used to it....ive been wrenchin as ong as i can remember

im almost sold on the TRX with a HRC kit.. im not gettin one till i graduate so like a month and a half or so..
heres my plan
07 mayb an 06 so that i can get it cheaper haha
red
BarkBusters before i ever even ride it

Full skids starting with the Swingarm then belly then a arms as soon as i get the money.. by then the motor will be broken in and ill annoy te shop with phone calls until they get the valves reset and all that fun stuff becasue you best belive im gettin a waranty

then for goodies!
im not sure which pipe yet.......blah
Foam Filter (K&n's suckkk for this coal region soot)
Rzr 2's all around
spacers in the rear mayb the front idk depends
big ole bumper and grab bar
ohh and ive been doing alot of reading on chains and i feel the Xring is the best bang for your buck


after this short list (probably before i even get to complete it) im goin racin!

what do yous feel is the best performance mod for the TRX besides exhaust? i hear a cam will really make this motor flat out haul

[04'400ex'er]

If you are shopping pipes, I believe the Rossier Engineering is the best bang for the buck. I have their full system, which came with some jets and the HRC needle, shipped for under $450. Slap a HotCam in her with a filter and you will have a strong running bike.

I personally hate skid plates, especially the A Arm's and Chassis. I realize that the Swinger skid is very necessary on these quads, and really probably need one myself, but Chassis skids and A Arm skids suck.

Take this with a grain of salt because I realize that you need these things when racing cross country and GNCC, but I think the UGLY a arm skids aren't a must. I had them on my old EX and had to sell them because they looked so bad IMO. The chassis is a must in most cases, but it is just such a pain with all of the dirt, leaves, and sand that gets stuck under them. Not to mention the mess you get when changing the oil. :rolleyes:

Anyhow, If I were you and were interested in racing on a budget, I would to the motor mods I listed earlier, slap a swinger skid on, and go straight for the suspension. There is absolutely no reason to go off replacing chains and stuff like that. Have your shocks re-sprung and re-valved like I stated earlier because that will make even more difference in you lap times than say your engine mods in many cases.

I am sure there are others that will back these claims up.

[04'400ex'er]

Oh, btw I pulled 40hp with the pipe on my stock 06 so there are some numbers for ya to compare with.

[Benjithx]

Just do it, I promise that you will love your R as much as the rest of us. The maintenance is easy and kind of fun if you ask me.

Watch out for the mod bug though... trust me, It gets really pricey!!!

[04'400ex'er]

Originally posted by Benjithx
Just do it, I promise that you will love your R as much as the rest of us. The maintenance is easy and kind of fun if you ask me.

Watch out for the mod bug though... trust me, It gets really pricey!!! Good point, who doesn't have fun wrenching and cleaning on their baby every once in awhile!

[NickG5755]

haha yea the mod bug is a very easy one to catch..and i dont plan on replacing the chain right away but i did see a comparison on chains and found out that a crappy chain will make you lose as much as 10% of power which on a mchine only making around 38 hp give or take is big....the Xring stays nice and free rolling in most conditions which means your getting all of your power...

but yea im pretty sure ill be happy with the TRX i mean it doesnt have reverse but o well im over it....i wont be wrecking or going off the track much anyways haha

yes i agree a good suspension is a must..no need for all sorts of horsepower if your being flung around all the time...i was hoping i could keep it stock for a while suspension wise and jsut push the stock suspension as hard as i can till i realize its holding me back...at least until after i get a pipe n stuff.....im a firm beliver that loud pipees save lives...ive found this out first hand...

i was on my Craptor one time and my buddy was riding his stock YFZ and we were going to meet eachother (this was when our bikes were stock) and we came ripping around the same trun and BAM!!!!!!! next thing ya know i need 2 new a arms a wheel some other randomstuff and my confidence while riding all but disappered....then he got a pipe (a HMF Ballance edition) and
i swear it was on the sameeeee corner andthis time i heard him coming so i drove my quad right into sticker bushes to miss him
i felt dumb at first but then realized i just saved myself alot of doughh

anyway..thanks guys im pretty well set on the Honda at least until i ride something else or read something veryyyyy persasuive against it.....so who wants to help me pay for it????? lol


and how much of a difference does the HRC kit make? im not sure whats included but im guessing a cam a header and some jetting stuff?

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[smithn1683]

Where do you live? Mine is for sale.

Originally posted by NickG5755
ohh yea i forgot someone told me aobut the shims..i mean im sure i could get used to it....ive been wrenchin as ong as i can remember


Just so you know, you purchase them individually. There are 73 different shims they go up in size .0025mm I believe. You don't know wich sizes you need until you got the thing apart, then the only way to get them is go to honda dealer, wait two weeks for them to get in. Pain in the ***, they had a solid system on the 400ex, why mess with it.

[04'400ex'er]

HRC kit makes one hell of a sleeper... but if you are going to purchase a full system, it's a waste of money IMO.

You get the CRF needle and some jets, a modified air box lid(which you don't need at all in the first place), an unrestrictive end cap and header(which is a waste if your buying a full system), and the HRC cam which you can buy individually off eBay. They also perform the green wire mod which allows the bike to rev an extra 1000RPM's.

All of this for around $400 I believe????

Now ya understand why I reccomended the HotCam, a full system, and a filter? You can get all of that for around $600 or less, and you will have a faster and lighter bike with a sharp looking full exhaust.

I wasn't Bull ****ting ya... So unless you are buying new and must have the warranty, you would be wise to go this route.

[maddmatt02]

I didnt read this in here, but I think he should know, if he already doesnt. When thinking about maintanence, arent all the 450's shim/bucket type.

[Jem450ER]

Ya even the Z400 runs the bucket and shims, pretty sure all the 450's do. And as far as shims go, my dealer will swap them out with me for free. I take in what i need and give him my old shims and he'll give me the shims i need for nothing, all in the same day.

[450rmadness]

all these are all good suggestions but like your said earlier if i were you i would get an 07 450r because my friend got a 08 se and mine will outrun it on the road and there both stock who knows why???