Will the 450r make a good trail bike?

[grassman]

My buddy was thinking of getting one and I was wondering if it would be good for technical backwoods, high speed, rough trail riding. Any info you could give me from your experience of riding them would be great..... Thanks

[coryatver]

I got a 450r used to have a 416 ex and if you don't like going balls out wide open most of the time 400ex's are much more fun for trail riding. Taking a nice relaxing ride with a 450r is not fun at all.

[turboga16]

Grassman thats what my Nissan does to Hondas all day. lmao. I used to trail ride my TRX450 and it does awesome hauling *** and going slow even the tecnical stuff is fun. i go places with mine that friends wont go with their 4wd quads. except the mud.

[Ichoptop]

I ride mine in the nastiest mountains of Colorado. I geared it down a little and otherwise left it alone. Runs great and stays right next to the best of them.

[grassman]

My main concern was the heat. Do they ever have problems with overheating?

[Ruf Racing]

Originally posted by grassman
My main concern was the heat. Do they ever have problems with overheating?

Not a problem with overheating, as long as the fan is functioning
properly.

[pitsrule]

Mine never over heats. In stock form it does not like to be lugged around. If your on a budget drop the front sprocket one tooth..this will helo with bottom end. For about 300 dollars you can get an HRC kit. That in combination with a dropped front sprocket will make this machine awesome in the woods. All I ride is tight trails with an HRC kit and dropped front sprocket and it is perfect. I have owned 400EX for years and this by far is a better set up. I promise you if your a skilled rider in the woods there isn't a 400 that will hang.

Originally posted by pitsrule
I promise you if your a skilled rider in the woods there isn't a 400 that will hang.

From personal experience, so true. With a decent rider on the 450 i'm faster on the 400. When I ride with someone that races and what not and they are on the 450 they just keep pulling away. The extra power and snap really helps out. Now that i'll be on a 450, lets see what happens.

[lghickman21]

I have both and if I am just trail riding and with some hill climbs and occasional fast stuff, I would really rather be on my 400. Of course there is really no power comparision between the two, but the 400 is a breat all around machine. It should also be a little cheaper and he can get reverse now. A 400ex with a good front suspension and a strong motor can be very competitive in a race also.

[RideRaceLive93]

The 450r is a great platform to either build a mx or xc quad or just have fun for trail riding its the most reliable 450 and not to mention i can pick one up for 2500 around here.Its versitile with a good shock rebuid hrc kit and tires you can have yourself an amazing trail quad and a race ready bike that can compete with the full blown race bikes so what 2500+300+750+250=$3800 thats less than when i bought my R back in early 06

[turboga16]

Originally posted by Ruf Racing
Not a problem with overheating, as long as the fan is functioning
properly. While your trail riding, you are also constantly moving keeping airflow to the radiator, the faster you go the faster the airflows, well and the engine get alil warmer at the same time. My fan hardly ever runs unless im sitting still or going 1st gear slow for a few minutes.

[sameltoe]

It's better than my 660craptor was lol, I went down one tooth on the front countershaft sprocket and that help'd alot in the trails. . but i've been thinking about a heavier flywheel. Do you guys have any experiance with that?

[86250rrider]

i run woods at at hard pace, quit racing x/c and feel once set up is waay above a 400ex. i have a rekluse setup and the crf cam and with that and a 41tooth rear sprocket it is incredible everywhere ...lots of snap,NO STALLING, and flat out rips when you need it . its retarded how it can go from tight technical stuff to hang on instantly! in stock form it was easy to stall when lugged and needed to be revved to run good,now its a monster everywhere. with the rekluse it is also able to be shifted less with better traction and still have a charge right off idle. i love my setup !! i never worry about having the power...i worry about me controlling what i do with it. THATS A GREAT PROBLEM

if you can run near full throttle all the time, the the 450r is great...if you have to slow down and "crawl" over things, then no...there is a lot of clutch work and throttle work involved to keep it from stalling....for me, it was more work than fun so i went back to a 400ex

[Sjorge450R]

for me this is an easy question..
Ask yourself these questions

1) Are you going to be racing

2) Are you just trail riding

if you said yes to question one, get the R

if you said yes to question two, get the ex

[86250rrider]

i run a rekluse clutch on mine with a crf cam and 41 rear and its great in the woods and in the opens. it hauls !! the rekluse all but eliminates the stalls and its easier in the tight stuff due to no clutching. this setup is great for woods racing and technical riding imo.

yes the rekluse is nice, but not every one wants to spend another 500 on a rekluse, or spend money to have their shocks revalved as i found them too stiff in stock form to take slower speed bumps...

[86250rrider]

thats true....but a 450 has waay more power and rip to it. all a matter of preference. i happen to like the 400ex...i should sell the 250ex (loaner) and get an ex as a 3rd bike. my 450r is waay modded and does every great but go in reverse or start with a button !

to be honest, there was not as much of a difference between the ex and the r as i had expected powerwise. yes it is there and there is a big difference, but the way everyone talked before i bought my r, i thought i was going to be hanging on for dear life and i would have issues keeping the front end down...not so...

like sjorge said..if your racing get the450r, if your riding trails get the 400ex

and if you end up with a 450r...try to get a kicker...the e-start ones are a p.i.t.a. to get started when warm...i would sit on the trail for 5 minutes trying to start the damn thing...finally after 2 years i found the trick was to have the decompression readjusted as well as needing constant valve adjustments...

way too much work to ride and to maintain for me...considering i am very anal about maintenance on my machines...i spend at least 6 hours after every riding in just cleaning alone...add in more frequent and more costly oil changes, valve adjustments, radiator fluid changes, etc etc, it was not worth it to me to keep it...so i went back to a 400ex

[86250rrider]

yes ...definately get a kicker if you get one. my sat for 2 months and started 2nd kick. if started weekly first kick. the one im running has been very reliable (knock on wood) for the last 2 years and ive raced it several times x/c and trail ride at the same pace everytime its out. once mildy modded and uncorked ,they go as fast as you need to go. they can be nasty fast

after sitting for weeks a at time, the electric one started right up, it was after riding for awhile and stopping to take a break...even letting it sit for and hour or so while we went into a local bar for food(no drinks), i would have trouble getting it to fire...the after market exhaust made it a little better for the woods, and the hrc cam made a heck of a difference with the power, but i hardly ever had it out of 1 or 2nd...4th was unheard of in the woods...

most of the time i would just blip the throttle and then coast on the clutch or else it would be stalling...it wasn't that bad when i had the rekluse in, but i sold the rekluse thinking i was getting rid of the 450r...i ended up keeping it for another year and half and could not justify spending the $$$ on another rekluse because i had no idea how long i was going to keep it

[86250rrider]

where the hell do you ride? im in the woods of pa and i use 3rd and 4th mostly i can use 2nd and 3rd more but i have power to spare with less shifting do you put around or rip speedy?:confused:

northwest pa...really tight trails here...and a lot of bringing up the rear of the pack, so i can jump in to lead if the pack gets separated. but even when i did get to take off, it was a lot of hit second and immediately need to d.s. back into first...it was a pain

[86250rrider]

it must be tight there. you are better off on the ex if its that tight. or a blaster with mods haha!!:D

the ex is perfect for here...

[86250rrider]

keep in mind when you tell everyone the 450r sucks except wide open that not all riding is not as tight as you ride. i ran 4-5 gncc and awrcs races and had no issues with mine . later

i realize that and no where did i say that it sucks...i believe that i said it was a lot harder to ride in tighter trails...which it is...i just wish i had someone give me the information that i am putting out there as it would have saved me losing my buttocks on the 450r...it was an expensive lesson to learn...

[lumi]

Not the number 1 choice for trail riding, but it can be done. I use mine on the trails alot!

Also depends on how agressive you are on the trails.

Most the time, the suspension/seat are hard for normal trail riding, but when i get on it! It makes sense :)

Slow trail riding might need to get a KRC KIT and or lower gearing as the 450r doesnt like lower gear/rpm being lugged around.

[CNC_guy]

I ride on a good mix of technical and wide open trails. I've owned a lot of quads over the years and the 450R is my favorite by far.

Every once in a while I'll ride a Rancher instead of the R and it never fails that I wish I was riding the R instead. I've never been riding the R and wish I was on the Rancher though.

[86250rrider]

Originally posted by CNC_guy
I ride on a good mix of technical and wide open trails. I've owned a lot of quads over the years and the 450R is my favorite by far.

Every once in a while I'll ride a Rancher instead of the R and it never fails that I wish I was riding the R instead. I've never been riding the R and wish I was on the Rancher though.


haha,good point !! the 400ex is a great bike ,no doubt. its a little on the tame side though. very torqey and nice ergos. but many people dump bunches of money into them and they become somewhat unreliable(studs),headgaskets,etc. i modified my 450r in the suspension mostly to soften it up and lower it. changed the cam and increased compression. the same stuff i would do to a 400ex. but in no way would a 400ex with the same motor mods run like this ! i have a kicker so i dont have the hot start issues at all. if you are not interested in running fast and are going to leave it bone stock in very tight stuff,i would go with the 400ex. if you are going to mod it up......START WITH A BETTER PLATFORM TO BUILD ON i have about 6 grand in mine total including purchase price and it is bad ***** as far as im concerned. im still thinking about a 400ex as a backup bike or chick bike as its easy to use,easy to whhelie, and has good grunt down low,low maintenace too. i like em both. but i still love my old-school 250r ....she is my baby !

[CNC_guy]

I geared my '05 R down a tooth on the front and installed the HRC kit. For my riding style it's just about perfect for our trails around here.


I probably shouldn't have said the 450R was my favorite quad by far though. I had an '88 250R that was right up there. I loved that quad and have kicked myself many times for letting it go.

The worst quad I had for trails was a 500 Quadracer. I would ride it on the weekend and work on it all week. It was heavy (for a sport quad) and cumbersome to ride. Watch out on long hills and straights though.....that thing would haul.

[86250rrider]

i have ridden 2 of them....one was just a little better than the lt250 in acceleration,the other one ripped! too big be good for dunes and opens though. a guy out by me has one with 90 hp at the wheels but looks stock. its a hillshooter and its crazy fast.very high compression and tough to start, never rode that one though. my 86250r has neils porting and is just a little off the pace of the 450r,but not by much. it actually can be lugged down in second to a crawl a crack it and its right there. very tough in a short drag to beat. it lacks serious top-end power as it was ported for gncc type racing/fast woods. i love the hit of a 2 stroke engine !!!! the bottom end is out of it now,got the parts just need to put them in it. i raced it and passed many a 4stroke on the straights in the race it was in . i picked up 4-5 positions after the 1st turn on the straightaway only to get a leg cramp and watch them all pass me. spent rest of race picking them off one by one. i was in 5th or so in second turn out of 42. i finished 13th that race after watching some of the next group pass me while down. i rode my butt off to catch em. leg cramps suck !!! too much potassium did it....funny huh ?