WORCS Honda TRX 450R

[X-tech]

The 2009 WORCS season is just around the corner. I don't want to wait for the last minute and decided to start my build much earlier this year. At the same time, some of you might want to know what's involved in building a Pro Level WORCS racer, so I decided to post it for everyone to see. Not eveything that get's done on this Honda has to be done, but I thought it would be an interesting story.

This 1st thing I did was to find a good used 2005 Honda TRX 450R. I really believe that the 2005 trannies are the only way to go and I like having the oil cooler. I also would not have to be changing out the spindles. The only thing I robbed off of the 2006 and later models was a swing-arm.

1st thing I did was strip the bike down so that I could gusset and powder coat the frame. It is a candy red over a sparkle base.

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Here's another.

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Next, I had Pro Armor (one of my sponsors) send me all the aluminum I needed in natural color. I then took all of the aluminum that gets beat up or worn out and had it Hard Anodized Black in Livermore at Livermore Anodize. The hard anodize will not flake like Powder Coating and actually still looks good after getting pelted with rocks and pebbles. It also helps the spacers in the motor mounts not wear out as quick and the same goes for the slot that hooks onto the swing-arm in the rear brake stay. I know this from experience when running a Hard Anodized Black bumper in the BITD series. Plus it weighs nothing compared to Powder Coating.

[Sjorge450R]

just wondering. Do the motor mount spacers really wear? I never even considered this but i can fully understand it being possible.

[X-tech]

I had a set that were a bit mushroomed on the ends after about 3000 miles of desert racing. I have never hard anodized these, but decided to give it a try and see if it makes a difference since I was hard anodizing everything else.

[X-tech]

Next was time to take care of a few things that could come lose during long distance racing. I am building this thing as if I was doing the Baja 1000. It may be overkill, but after years of desert racing, I have learned to plan for the worst and hope that it never happens.

I like to keep as many things oem as possible, so I ordered a bunch of lock nuts from Honda that are made for the tie-rod ends and put them on as many bolts as I coult find that they would fit that didn't already have them. A few are the motor mount bolts and sub-frame bolts. Then I took as many bolts that I could find that didn't have nuts on the opposite side and drilled holes in them for safety wiring. Some of these would be the smaller motor mount bolts and the swing-arm pivot nut.

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The drilling.

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I've also come to love the ProGrip Pegs from Pro Armor. I wouldn't use anything else.

[Dave400ex]

How much does the anodizing cost for that stuff? Sounds like a good idea.

[X-tech]

I did a bunch of wheels in regular anodize and some beadlock rings in another color, so I'm not sure what just the Pro Armor stuff was. I'm going to guess that it was around $125.00. I believe that their lot charge starts at $90.00.

[Groves187]

There is so much prep work in a worcs bike! everything ether has to be saftey wired or red loctited up. I have been helping Angela Butler prep her bike for the races and it kinda sucks..hah.

[X-tech]

OK! Back at it again. I made some time today to work on the intake system. !st off, I wanted to use the 2006 and newer filters because of the bigger size. I also wanted to clean up the intake tract and get a few more horsepower, so I opted to use the Fuel Customs intake with their transition ring. I have this system feeding into a 2007 CRF Carb from Honda. The only problem is that the '04 & '05 Fuel Customs system is designed to stick out of the top of the air box so you can't run a lid. I want to be able to run a lid incase of mud or to just pressure wash the quad, it is nice to be able to put the lid on. To do this, I also had to make up a custom airbox lift kit so that it would be to high. Most airbox lift kits are so high that you can't run your lid even if you want to cause the seat will hit it.

The solution:
I bought a 2006 air box off ebay. This allowed me the extra room I needed for the larger air filter. Next I called up another one of my sponsors, Garret over at Fuel Customs. He supplied me with one of their intakes for the 2005 TRX 450R. They supply a nice adapter to mate the intake to the 2005 air box, but since my application was custom, I fabbed up my own adapter to mate to the 2006 air box. They also supply a nice filter with their kit, but I wanted to run a foam filter for my set-up. I called up another sponsor of Team Teixeira Racing, UNI filter, and found out that their TRX 450R 2006 and newer air filters will clamp right onto the Fuel Customs intake flange. All I had to do was trim a little lip from the support that goes inside the filter. A really easy modification. Then I added the 2007 CRF 450R carb and swapped over. To get the TPI to work, I swapped the plastic plugs from the stock carb and this carb.

[X-tech]

A view of it all installed.

[k265r]

looks good what class are you racing.

[X-tech]

We (our race team) are waiting on some responses to proposals to come back. That will be the deciding factor. It will most likely be an A class, but not sure which one yet.

[k265r]

i built a couple of quads for the worcs series

[X-tech]

Every electrical connection will be using dielectric grease to help waterproof and resist corrosion.

[X-tech]

For brake components, I made a phone call to Galfer USA, and things arrived quickly.

[X-tech]

I want to do things a little differently on this project. The rear fenders on the 2006 and newer models have some louvers in them and I thought was would be a nice touch. I ordered the 2006 plastic heat shield that sits between the motor and gas tank. It went on pretty easily. There is a spot that it rub on the valve cover. I will put some foam insulation between the 2 and things should be fine. If there are any problems mounting the 2006 fenders up when I get there, I will post the solution.

[X-tech]

For controls, I went to Universal for the handlebars, which I think are a really cool color combination. ASV supplied the clutch lever with the hot start built in and the brake lever. Both are the short levers. I've really come to like the short levers. And of course, I used one of our Teixeira Adjustable bar clamps to go in the Teixeira +1 Anti-Vibe stem. Grips are courtesy of Oury. Their road grips are my favorite.

[bluebaron]

Why not Flex bars? I thought they would be a staple of long distance racing.

[X-tech]

Originally posted by bluebaron
Why not Flex bars? I thought they would be a staple of long distance racing.

I'm loyal to my sponsors. Universal and ASV are 2 of them.

[Black R/T]

nice build so far, i like the extra "little" things that youre doing.

[73watermutt]

Lookin good

[X-tech]

Today, I decided to tackle a problem I've had in the past. I have either bent or broken just about every lower fender suppport I have ever had. I decided it was time for a fix. I decided to make a gusset to address this problem. This gusset will now be a part of the Teixeira Tech Gusset Kit that we sell.

[X-tech]

And the opposite side.

[esr250r86]

That gusset kit is an awesome Idea! I break those all the time!

Where did you buy those oury grips?

[WB450r]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by esr250r86
[B]That gusset kit is an awesome Idea! I break those all the time!

x2

[X-tech]

Originally posted by esr250r86
That gusset kit is an awesome Idea! I break those all the time!

Where did you buy those oury grips?

Thanks! I always try to improve on my products if possible.

I went to their site and called to buy their grips for this build, www.ourygrips.com. If you can't buy them their, I'm sure they can direct you to somewhere that you can.

[X-tech]

Cooling is always an issue on the West Coast in the summer months. To take care of this, I got in touch with Fluidyne Powersports. There radiators are top notch as you will see from the following pictures.

1st is the front.

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This is the back side where the fan bolts to.

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This is a side view. Look how thick the radiator is. It has to be nearly twice the thickness of the stock one. This radiators are works of art. I got a pretty good crunch this last season in the WORCS series. A branch, somehow came up from behind the radiator, and put a good size dent in the fins. It had to be the size of a golf ball, but the radiator never sprung a leak all year.

[X-tech]

Here is a close up of the welds. Quality stuff.

[k265r]

does the fluidyne radiator use a stock cap?

[quad2xtreme]

great buildup coverage.

Walsh makes a set of aluminum rear fender brackets that won't break...albeit a little pricy at $100.

or these...

link (http://www.hepatv.com/products/honda_trx450_products.html)

[X-tech]

Originally posted by k265r
does the fluidyne radiator use a stock cap?

No, the Fluidyne Radiator comes with it's own 16lbs. cap.

[X-tech]

Alright, so I finally made some time to get a little more done on this thing between building parts and reviewing 2009 resumes. I went to work on the hubs so that I could get close to buttoning up the front end.

I've always liked the Hardkor hubs and so I got on the phone to those guys to see what they had in stock. I opted to go with the red hubs with black caps. I ran this same color combo for the 2008 season and liked it, so why change a good thing. The first time I used these hubs, I noticed how much easier they rolled in the corners. I came into a corner and immediately notice how much more braking I needed to use because of how easily the quad kept rolling around the corner. Here are a couple of pics.

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And another.

[roundsy]

can't wait to see this thing done!

[cmaxx]

cant wait to see this beast done.you should deffanitly enter QOTM.

[X-tech]

Thanks guys! I appreciate all of the complements. It's going to take me a while to get it built though. I have to fit it in between all of the work I have.

[mooseracerX]

This looks like a sweet build up. It's bookmarked for sure. ;)

[woodsracer420]

Nicely built R!

If you ever plan on fielding a GNCC team, sign me up!

I was thinkin of putting a crf carb on my 05 also

[Zach648]

one thing that I did for the works races was heat shrink all of electrial connections Espically the kill switch, thats day one stuff but just to let some others knowm besides alot of what youve done.

I broke my back racing the A class of the 8hr GP at speedworld this year.

Lets hope that the opener wont be as wet as speedworld last year. Whats your name, Ill look for you in phoenix and havasu. I cant afford to race the full series, but will be at parker and a few bitd races.

[X-tech]

Originally posted by Zach648
one thing that I did for the works races was heat shrink all of electrial connections Espically the kill switch, thats day one stuff but just to let some others knowm besides alot of what youve done.

I broke my back racing the A class of the 8hr GP at speedworld this year.

Lets hope that the opener wont be as wet as speedworld last year. Whats your name, Ill look for you in phoenix and havasu. I cant afford to race the full series, but will be at parker and a few bitd races.

Good idea on the shrink tube. Look me up, name's Ed Teixeira #411.

[X-tech]

Hey, just wanted to show the difference in thickness between the stock rear disc brake and the Galfers.

[exrider12]

which ones which? and bump

[Brauap]

Wow, this was such a great read! Please update us on what is happening to your R! It looks great so far!!

btw, whats up with the air box? Why does it have (looks to be..) a dog collar on the rear? It seems like that thing will be bouncing around, and the swingarm will me whacking the heck outta it!

MORE PLEASEE!!:devil:

[X-tech]

Originally posted by exrider12
which ones which? and bump

The one on the left is the oem one from Honda. The right is the Galfer Wave Rotor.

[X-tech]

Originally posted by Brauap
Wow, this was such a great read! Please update us on what is happening to your R! It looks great so far!!

btw, whats up with the air box? Why does it have (looks to be..) a dog collar on the rear? It seems like that thing will be bouncing around, and the swingarm will me whacking the heck outta it!

MORE PLEASEE!!:devil:

The blue thing on the back of the air box is actually a tie-down that is attached to the swing-arm. It is holding it up until I get the shocks in. The air-box is held in with the small air-box lift kit and screws. The back of the air-box is slightly angled down to get the air filter to fit better and not be smached against the bottom of the air box at the back.

I will have more soon. I had a riding accident getting ready for the 2009 season and broke my fib and tib. I am not able to work on it for a couple of weeks at least. Unfortunately, I will not be racing the beginning of the WORCS season, but will be finishing this build and either using it for the end of the season or 2010. Another possibility will be to use it for one of Teixeira Tech's sponsored Pro riders to race.

Ed

[Brauap]

Originally posted by X-tech
The blue thing on the back of the air box is actually a tie-down that is attached to the swing-arm. It is holding it up until I get the shocks in. The air-box is held in with the small air-box lift kit and screws. The back of the air-box is slightly angled down to get the air filter to fit better and not be smached against the bottom of the air box at the back.

I will have more soon. I had a riding accident getting ready for the 2009 season and broke my fib and tib. I am not able to work on it for a couple of weeks at least. Unfortunately, I will not be racing the beginning of the WORCS season, but will be finishing this build and either using it for the end of the season or 2010. Another possibility will be to use it for one of Teixeira Tech's sponsored Pro riders to race.

Ed

Well, we all hope you get better soon! Sad about you having to miss the 09 WORCS :ermm:

[D Bergstrom]

Originally posted by X-tech
I had a riding accident getting ready for the 2009 season and broke my fib and tib.

Ouch Ed, hope you heal up quick.

Bike looks great as always.

Doug

[X-tech]

Alright everyone. It is time to get this project finished. The leg is doing better and I have an oppointment with the doctor in 2 weeks. If you releases me, I need to have this thing ready to start riding again.

Here is the rear suspension with some new protection that is going to get mounted up.

[X-tech]

I've had few of you ask how this rear end gets mounted up and this is the easiest way that I have come up with.

1) Mount the shock up on the top frame mount
2) If you purchased one of the stainless steel Bone Guards that mount the Bone, mount that next with blue loctite and the suplied screws. Then Mount the Bone to the swing-arm.
3) Bolt the bottom of the shock to the Bone.
4) Bolt the Pull Rod (wishbone looking part of linkage) to the Bone.
5) Bolt the Pull Rod to the frame.
6) If you purchased a UHMW skid plate for the Pull Rod, screw it in last with the supplied screws.

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Next step.

[X-tech]

Final step and finished installation.

[X-tech]

For the front suspension, I am using the Teixeira Tech MX A-arms. I have updated these a-arms with 2 needle bearings per mount and o-ring sealed delrin bushings with hardened pivot sleeves. This is topped off with a zerk fitting to keep the bearings well greased. After extensive tesing with Duane Johnson, this is the best most cost effective set-up we could come up with. Duane was an asset in get this figured out after the 1st couple of muddy GNCC races.

[X-tech]

needle bearing with o-ring sealed delrin bushing.

[X-tech]

For this build, I opted for the Precision "Pro Model" Stabilizer. Since our races can start off at 60 degrees in the moring (even lower in BITD racing) and be in the 100's by the afternoon, I felt this was a must have.

[quadboy-55]

oh man, this is going to be a sweet build!!

[X-tech]

I decided to take an idea that I saw on another website to make my lubing of the stem easier and faster. I installed a zerk fitting into the upper stem bushing and drilled a hole through the bushing so that the grease could get onto the stem.

I also installed a Pro Armor tether. I don't feel that I need the key when I am racing and I would rather have the key when I am taking a weekend to play ride with the family. What I did was take get a connector kit from Trail Tech and make it so I can plug the tether in where the key used to go. I also added the same connectors to the key switch so that I can swap back and forth just by plugging and un-plugging.

[X-tech]

I am using Maier Platics for this build and at the same time, wanted all of my fasteners for the plastics to be the same head size. This way, if I desert race this quad, I only have to worry about 1 socket size to take the plastics off. This means, less tools to carry in a tool pack. I ordered a few screws form Honda so that they all matched. I also learned that Honda has some screws with smaller flanges and some with bigger. I opted for the bigger ones.

[X-tech]

I also wanted to place the oil light sensor somewhere where it would be out of the way, but still be seen. I didn't want it in the plastics, because I didn't want to disconnect it everytime I took them off. I decided to put it next to the steering stem in an existing hole. All I had to do was drill it bigger with a 5/8" bit and put it in.

[X-tech]

The last thing I did today was pick up some cable holders for the rear brake line and some black silicone. I like these cable holders better than the stock ones, just because they are cleaner looking. I used 2 of them to hold the rear brakelines. 1 in the middle and 1 at the front. I also put some black silicone in the extra threaded holes to keep the water and gunk out of the swing-arm. I figured that silicone would be easy to get out if I ever needed these holes again.

[hendershot106]

very nice grease zerk mod on the steering stem clamp... i may have to permanently borrow that idea!!!! What thread size/pitch grease zerk and what thread tap did you use?? i hate taking the clamp off and rubber off just to grease them every other race.

[X-tech]

Originally posted by hendershot106
very nice grease zerk mod on the steering stem clamp... i may have to permanently borrow that idea!!!! What thread size/pitch grease zerk and what thread tap did you use?? i hate taking the clamp off and rubber off just to grease them every other race.

I used a #3 drill and then a 1/4-28 tap. I didn't have an angled zerk fitting, but if you used a 45 degree zerk, you wouldn't have to take off the hood to grease.

[X-tech]

I just got some hand guards from Powermadd. I gave them a call directly and talked to Tom. Great guy to deal with and told me about a couple of different types of hand guards that they have. I ended up with the Star Series with Hand Wraps. In all honosty, I tried 2 other brands and couldn't get either of them to mount up without some major modifications. The PowerMadd Hand Guards have so many different options and adjustments that they went on without any problems or modifications.

[Dave400ex]

Good choice with the Powermadd stuff! Awesome products and offers you to run several different setups.

[X-tech]

For the drive train, I went with a Regina Chain and IronMan Sprockets from Dirt Tricks. I didn't just pic this set-up out of the air. I have been running this set-up for about 5 years now. I have used all other set-ups and had to put a new sprocket on after every race when racing BITD. The 1st year I tried these sprockets, I ran the same sprocket the hole year. It is definetely worth looking into. They are made out of some really tough material.

[X-tech]

Hey guys! The Doctor has released me to go back to racing. I'm going to try and hit 1 of the last 2 WORCS races and a GNCC. I gues I better finish this quad up. I decide to use the Tech3 rears and CF1 fronts. It makes it so much easier to mount and dismount wheels with beadlocks. For Tires, I went with a new company and am happy that I did. I really like the GBC X-rex's and can't wait to try their new Race Rex.

[X-tech]

The Rear

[Dave400ex]

Did I read that right, your going to come to a GNCC? :D I can't wait for that! You better take those Desert a-arms off! lol

[X-tech]

I've been looking all over for a sprocket guard that didn't require me to remove the wheel hub. I don't like having to take the wheel hub off to take the sprocket guard off. If i bend a sprocket guard or want to change gearing, it can be time consuming so I decided to make a thicker sprocket guard for more strength and cut big enough reliefs on the inside to clear the wheel hub. This is what I came up with for Teixeira Tech and now you can get them too.

[X-tech]

Originally posted by Dave400ex
Did I read that right, your going to come to a GNCC? :D I can't wait for that! You better take those Desert a-arms off! lol

I'm planning on coming to one before the end of the season and I am trying to race, but we will see if that pans out. I can't go all that way and not race. :D I'm not bringing my quad out, too much $$$$ for shipping and it won't fit in the overhead or under the plane seat. LOL!!

[QuadJunkies]

Glad to hear you have been released to race!! Thats GREAT news!!
Go have yourself a good time at Glen Helen, wish I could witness the race and snap a few photos of you back in action!!
Let us all know how you done, Ill be anxiously awaiting the race results with the kids ,they are bummed not going this next round.
Quad looks sick BTW... :cool:

how much did those rear tires run you? and where did you get them from? i need some new trail tires. thanks

is it done?

[X-tech]

Originally posted by honda4life818
how much did those rear tires run you? and where did you get them from? i need some new trail tires. thanks

You can get them from a few places listed below.

www.discounttiredirect.com
www.gbctires.com

[X-tech]

Here's a video on this beast. Just released recently. http://www.atvondemand.com/index.php?page=videos&section=memberview&vid_id=100603

[arTuReX]

Wow Great read, can you post pics of the final product?

[3racers]

Great build just starting a 450 thanks for all the good info. Will b calling texera.

[X-tech]

Great! I'm glad that this was of use to some people. I'll try and get some finished photos up soon.

Ed

[X-tech]

Sorry guys! I have had a few calls and didn't realize that I had not come back and showed the finished protection for rear swing-arm. Here are some pics of the swing-arm skid plate that Teixeira Tech is selling to the public.

[X-tech]

A Side view.

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opposite side