Chronic's 2012 Rebuild

[chronicsmoke]

I'm about to start getting my 450 ready for the 2012 season. I'm going to keep the same colours for this year, next year will be something different.

Late in the game compared to some guys, been busy shredding all winter:cool:.

Link to last year's thread http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=461367&perpage=10&pagenumber=2


Whats new:

Houser +2.25 LT A-Arms
Houser +1.25 Swingarm
Houser Airbox lift kit
Stadium LT Front Shocks
Elka LT Rear Shock
Elka LT Linkage
Quad Tech Hood
Quad Tech Seat
Pro Armour Nerfs w/Heelguards
Tag +1 Stem
1 1/8th Pro Taper bars
any other ods and ends I'll add to this list

Before pics.. (from after the last build)

[chronicsmoke]

**Anybody considering doing suspension work, heed my advice; Do it right, do it once. I bought all ST shocks/arms/links last year and ended up selling it all, and buying a LT setup. It's a hassle! Save up and just get LT from the beginning!**

Back View

[anderson3064]

Originally posted by chronicsmoke
**Anybody considering doing suspension work, heed my advice; Do it right, do it once. I bought all ST shocks/arms/links last year and ended up selling it all, and buying a LT setup. It's a hassle! Save up and just get LT from the beginning!**

Back View

i have been actually thinking about getting my stockers done at Jet with some JD MGC a-arms. Then recently i just decided that im gonna save and go LT from the get go. Very god advice. its really not much more for LT of ST. so if all works out right I will be sitting on a LT setup by early may at best. I was looking at the JD LT MGC's with motowoz shocks. about 2g's for the set up. i may go elkas though. just depends on how ancy i get.

[chronicsmoke]

Originally posted by anderson3064
Very god advice. its really not much more for LT of ST. so if all works out right I will be sitting on a LT setup by early may at best. I was looking at the JD LT MGC's with motowoz shocks. about 2g's for the set up. i may go elkas though. just depends on how ancy i get.

It really wasn't that much more.. maybe an extra $300-$400 MAX (Front & Rear Setups). I lost about that much just through shipping and such trying to sell my ST stuff..

Go for the Motowoz if you can swing the coin :macho

Love your sig too, A-men. haha

[Kovatch]

Build looks good. 2012 should be a blast.

I cannot stress enough to younger or more budget conscious riders to just wait until you get the money for LT. Revalves work, but LT is just soooooo much better. another 1-2" of wheel travel can mean a lot in 4th gear!

It's awesome to buy stuff, but get what's good and roll on!

[chronicsmoke]

Just a little update;

Shocks are being sent to Stadium, houser front end/Tag stem are all together. Hood & seat are on. Prepping the Houser swinger for PC.. Hoping to have the rear end back together by next week. Pro armor nerfs are in and will go on soon too, still waiting on the bumper

How it sits.. still waiting to get the Kubota we use for snow removal our of my shop in town..

[chronicsmoke]

what the stem looked like after an unnplaned dismount in November.. the stem severed the Hotstart wire when it snapped.. snapped a balljoint too

[chronicsmoke]

Rear shock being boxed up

[chronicsmoke]

fronts getting boxed up.. that green has to go :p

[dustin_j]

Originally posted by Kovatch
Build looks good. 2012 should be a blast.

I cannot stress enough to younger or more budget conscious riders to just wait until you get the money for LT. Revalves work, but LT is just soooooo much better. another 1-2" of wheel travel can mean a lot in 4th gear!

It's awesome to buy stuff, but get what's good and roll on!

I don't want to turn your thread into an ST vs LT debate. However, I feel the need to correct the above statement. ST and LT can have the same wheel travel; this is limited by ball joint travel, not shock travel. The difference is in the possible leverage ratios between ST and LT, which can result in more shaft travel for LT setups. My ST houser setup with stock revalves has 10.5" wheel travel with 5" shaft travel.

It looks like you had a fun ride when the stem broke. Sounds like a great build!

[chronicsmoke]

Originally posted by dustin_j
It looks like you had a fun ride when the stem broke. Sounds like a great build!

Thanks Dustin! It was a pretty wild ride that broke the stem, haven't got to ride since then. :ermm:

[chronicsmoke]

Finally got the swinger repowdered and new stickers on.. Now I can put the rear end back together.

Should have the shocks back within a week. I'll be riding next weekend..

[chronicsmoke]

had some OMF beadlocks done while I was at it

(Mirror Black w/5% White speckle)

[J51S]

Wow I like the before look, can wait to see the new one. Keep us updated, progress looks great!

[twink07]

Hey man I seen u had a houser swing arm I didn't know if u had a houser linkage ?? I have one for sale makes in long travel 200 shipped

[chronicsmoke]

Got the tires mounted on the fresh beadlocks.. bearings pressed into the swinger, but I only bought 2 dust seals instead of 4 so I have to wait until Friday to put the swinger on the bike. :rolleyes: what a piss off..

Stadium called me last night too, I'm having the green springs replaced with black and the blue bottles swapped for gold units. I love dealing with Terry, super nice guy. Anywho, those should hopefully be back by the end of next week.

Realized I'll need a longer chain too, too bad because I bought the DID Xring chain a month or so before the season ended last year.. :ermm:

Still need:
-some decent tires to race on
-handguards
-4+1 black front rims
-number plate for the QT hood

should have everything else..


Originally posted by twink07
Hey man I seen u had a houser swing arm I didn't know if u had a houser linkage ?? I have one for sale makes in long travel 200 shipped

Thanks for the offer but I've got a elka link/shock that are going to go on it..

[chronicsmoke]

Update:

Ordered new MXR6 rears to throw on for races, I have a different set of beadlocks for those.

Ordered a new Z ring chain, and 13t front sprocket (<- my goal is to launch from 2nd, even thougn I liked the 14/38 setup, I found I was clutching too much) Who's running 13/38 on 18's? Opinions?

Ordered a new Pro Armour K-switch.

Started making some mud plugs too for my OMF scallops, i think I'm going to get them stickered today with 'crash test' symbols, that or Pacman haha. Stay Tuned

[J51S]

Whats up Chronic. I'm running 13/37 with 18's. I really like how its geared for mx. I can holeshot from both 1st and 2nd with this gearing. 1st actually has a decent amount of gearing for holeshots. 38 should be perfect for a 2nd gear launch.

I have a 36t rear sprocket I'm contemplating putting on so I can launch better in first. Kinda the opposite of what your doing tho.

[chronicsmoke]

J51S: Kind of funny that we doing the exact opposite. I find I've hardly used 1st and 5th. Some guys were saying that since they've went to a 13/38 setup they havent lost a holeshot. I also found from watching my gopro vids that I'm clutching more than I'd like to, almost like a 2-stroke in the tight sections. I'm hoping I'll pick up some TQ for those spots.. I just hope I'm, not shifting too much.

Just dropped my QT hood/mudplugs off to be stickered as well :cool:

[Balaz_73*00]

13/38 seemed to short for me. I prefer the 14/38. My motors a monster so it pulls the 14 no problem. 2nd gear starts all day

[chronicsmoke]

Originally posted by Balaz_73*00
13/38 seemed to short for me. I prefer the 14/38. My motors a monster so it pulls the 14 no problem. 2nd gear starts all day

What do you have done to your engine, Balaz?

Mine is still pretty mild (13:1, HRC, Uni, Full exhaust, mild porting)

I still have a 14 that's new in the pack, if I find the 13 too short I'll swap back to a 14.

[Balaz_73*00]

Mxp race head, oversized valves, 13:1 piston, stage 2 hotcam, wide open cut air box, and full exhaust. You should have pleanty of power to pull the 14. I just found the 13 topping out on straight a ways was a nuisance, like not worth grabbin another gear but with the 14 it just gives you a little more room

[chronicsmoke]

Yah I completely agree, I'll know within an hour with it whether I like it or not.. Most of the tracks I ride have long straights, I'll post what I end up choosing.

better porting and oversized valves are in the plans for next winter too, so I'm happy to hear that you like your setup

[chronicsmoke]

Got the shocks in the mail from Stadium yesterday:

[chronicsmoke]

Got them on, but haven't tighten anything down

Rear.

[chronicsmoke]

my phone doesn't take good pictures in the dark, but here's one of the front end.. But HOLY CRAP there is such a noticable difference just sitting on the bike over my ST suspension.. unreal. Too bad I have to wait until after Mothers Day to drive it.. :grr:

I'll have some final pictures soon once I get the hood and mud plugs back from my graphics guy/

[chronicsmoke]

Pretty much done, still need to do a few things I have some blavk rims for the front that arent pictured and a set of new mxr6s that I'll save for the races.

Suspension is pretty buttery, The shocks soak up everything I could throw at them when I tested them out on friday.

[chronicsmoke]

again

[J51S]

Looking like a beast man, good job!

[2001400exrida]

Quad looks great man! Is Deven still being a jerk on hq?

That place is lame. Lots better info here and everybody is friendly on this site I noticed.

What did u end up doing with your stock suspension?

[chronicsmoke]

Originally posted by 2001400exrida
Quad looks great man! Is Deven still being a jerk on hq?

That place is lame. Lots better info here and everybody is friendly on this site I noticed.

What did u end up doing with your stock suspension?

Hey thanks man, I don't really go over to the HQ as often as I did.. It was great and now there's just a few people that troll the chat and pick fights.. turned me off the site. I don't care how macho a keyboard warrior is 5000 miles away. There are some awesome guys there to chat with too, though.

I had a few sets of 450 shocks, front and rear.. The stock 450 shocks are on my 400ex, I sold the revalves/GTT rear setups I had (04/05 and an 06+) to pay for my long travel setup, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. All in all I've got $2300 into the suspension and my ST setups paid for $1200 of it. (I got a HELL of a deal on everything I got..)



@J51S; Thanks! Hows that '400ex' doing in the NEATV series?