450R Owners: Dealer Prep. / Issues & Questions

[MIA450R]

All of you that have your 450R...a few questions and observations:

1/ Regarding the tranny fluid: Per the manual, you check the tranny fluid level by unscrewing the check bolt, and as the book says: "A small amount of oil should flow out of the oil check bolt hole." Well I did this, and oil started flowing out, and kept coming and coming, with no signs of slowing down. Can you please check yours and post your findings? I let quite a bit come out, and it will keep flowing out of the hole if I let it. According to the book, If no oil comes out, you should "add oil until it just starts coming out of the check hole." I think the dealer may have way over-filled it, and just want a sanity check from you guys...

2/ I just noticed on my 'R that 2 of the 3 white debris deflectors (in front of the radiator) were not mounted properly in their rubber grommets...you may want to check yours too, before they fall out while riding. I don't know if these were assembled by Honda or the dealer.

3/ The "headlight cover" or "hood" vibrates like crazy on mine. How about you guys? I am going to use some cushon tape or something to stop that...

4/ Check your throttle free-play. Its supposed to be 3-8mm, and mine was way more than that. This can keep you from reaching full throttle. Adjust it to proper spec.

5/ During the 15hour break-in, do you think its ok to go Wide Open Throttle and bounce off the rev-limiter? The book says no WOT starts, and no rapid acceleration (lol)...but says nothing about reving to the limiter.

6/ How long are you guys going to go before changing the oils? Are you going to wait until the 1st maintenance (100miles) or do it sooner...like after the breakin period, or after 1 full tank of gas?

7/ Anyone know for certain whether the 400EX oil filter is the same as the 450R's?


Just some of the things I've come across. Gimme some answers and let me know what else you all find on yours...thanks.

[MIA450R]

LoL....no responses yet. Well, I just came in from a day of blasting around in the snow on the 'R, so I guess everyone else that has theirs is doing the same.

ttt

[2004TRX450R]

It is very possible that they over filled it a little. This isn't a big deal. The oil comes out so slow that it could come out for a bit and still not much will have actually come out. The best way to refill it is to drain it completely and measure it when you put it back in. The amount is on the side of the case.

I haven't noticed the debris shields being loose on mine but haven't checked. It is something that Honda puts together. They come all assembled in the crate with the exception of the heel guards and the skid plate.

Yes my hood vibrates as well. Only at a certain rpm usually just above idle is when it is really bad. I've been going to put some rubber tape of some sort in there but haven't got a chance to do it yet.

The throttle freeplay on any of the Hondas is usually really loose from the factory. They just screw the cable all the way in the throttle houseing. The shop should have adjusted it as part of the PDI but I guess they didn't.

I'd try to stay away from the rev limiter anytime. I usually like to start the bike and let it idle and blip the throttle every so often until it reaches opertating temp then let it cool completely a few times then ride it easy for awhile then hammer on it. That is basicly what I did. Probably didn't wait long enough before I started hammering on it but when I'm rideing with frineds there is no time to put around.:D

I changed my oil after the first weekend of rideing. I usually alway change my oil after a rideing trip. It is cheap and keeping fresh oil in it all the time will help it last longer.

The 400EX filter is completely different.

I broke mine in the same way 2004TRX450R did his. I warmed it up rode it easy for about 5 min then rode it like I would ride anything. It only took 45 min to roll it and put a hole in the hood and bend the headlight/plastic bracket. I need to get a hood that will eliminate the headlights

[86atc250r]

I've been wondering about the throttle adjustment.

The 400EX's improper throttle adjustment was the root of many flaming threads about it being "slow". I'm sure this will be the root of more than one "TRX450R's are slow" thread.

The problem is that most (if not all) Honda ATVs are shipped with the throttle cable adjusted all the way in. If the dealer doesn't catch it during PDI your ATV only gets 70% or so throttle.....

[granticimo]

As far as oil filters go, I think that the crf450 is the same one. I am about 99% sure that it is. One thing that pissed me off about my dealer was I asked what kind of gas they put in it and they told me that they just put 87 octane in it. I said why would you do that when the book calls for 91 or higher? I know that whenever you try to claim something on warrenty they always try to put the blame on you. Anyway I dumped it out and put in some much better fuel. I went over my whole bike and I have found a few loose nuts and bolts and i have about 5 mins of ride time on it. They didnt check it out that good.

[dlboyes]

On the third day of riding (5 hours total) I lost one of the allen head bolts from the header heat shield. The remaining two were also loose. This is a special order bolt in case you lost yours already. If not, the service mgr said some blue loctite will help but to chase all the bolts occasionally due to the vibration of a thumper. That's funny, the EX didn't have bolts falling off.

[86atc250r]

That's funny, the EX didn't have bolts falling off.

Huh? :huh

That's the first thing I did to my 400EX the day I bought it since I had a couple friends that lost several bolts out of theirs when new....

Even after that I found that I forgot to do the fuel selector screw and lost it....

If you dig thru old 400EX posts on what to do with them when new, you'll find the throttle adjustment tip and loctite tip numerous times.

[2004TRX450R]

Yup every Honda I have ever PDIed has had the throttle all the way loose. Just the way they put them together. When the dealer does a PDI they should go over the obvious nuts and bolts for safety stuff and any other they can get to. It really isn't realistic for them to check EVERY nut and bolt on the bike so there is bound to be a loose one on a unit or two once in awhile. The units come pretty much all assembled from Honda so it is easy to assume they are all tight if the dealer get's in a hury.

On the oil filters yes it takes the same as the CRFs. I think it is a MEN filter. The earlier CRFs ('02-'03 I think it was) takes a different filter part number. I think it was a MIN or something like that. I'd have to go look it up again though. Anyway it is basicly the same filter. I think it just superceeds to the later of the two.

[holeshot19]

the shocks front and rear are extremly stiff. i went rideing yeaterday and they beat me to death i weight 190 pounds and i tryed to losen up the rebound and comp but still way to still,i had a buddy check out one at another dealer and looked at mine and said the shocks felt way differnt???????? i dont know has anyone took out the sparkarester and if so what main did you install with the air box lid on:eek2:

[MIA450R]

Originally posted by 86atc250r
Huh? :huh

That's the first thing I did to my 400EX the day I bought it since I had a couple friends that lost several bolts out of theirs when new....

Even after that I found that I forgot to do the fuel selector screw and lost it....

I agree 100%. My 400EX lost half a dozen bolts when new, until I lock-tited almost all of them. I have been carefully watching all the bolts on the 'R. So far, nothings fallen out or come loose, but I will take a look at the heat shield...

As for the throttle adjustment, I agree, being so loose the quad cant hit wide open throttle. Same issue I had withe the 400EX. Makes a small difference.

What kind of motor oil and tranny oil are you all going to use? I was thinking for the 1st few oil changes of using "regular" oil (not fully synthetic), to allow the motor to fully break in properly. Then, after say 3 oil changes, going with Mobil-1 in the motor, and Hondas own tranny fluid for the other side.

What do you think?

If you are going to use synthetic oil in the engine I would use motorcycle oil not car oil. It says in the manual NOT to use energy conserving oil. All automotive oil is energy conserving.

[86atc250r]

Same issue I had withe the 400EX. Makes a small difference.

It's different on each quad, but it made a huge difference on mine. When I first bought it, I thought a 300EX would give it a run for it's money - after the throttle adjustment there was no question it would blow the wheels off a 300.


What kind of motor oil and tranny oil are you all going to use? I was thinking for the 1st few oil changes of using "regular" oil (not fully synthetic), to allow the motor to fully break in properly. Then, after say 3 oil changes, going with Mobil-1 in the motor, and Hondas own tranny fluid for the other side.

I'll probably run whatever oil comes in it for the first change, then switch to Mobil1.

Chevrolet, Porsche, Mercedes and others use it as their factory fill in their higher end models & I've used it directly after rebuilds on my 400EX without any problems at all.

Haven't decided what I'm going to use in the trans yet. If I don't find anything I like better, I'll just use Mobil1 also.

If you are going to use synthetic oil in the engine I would use motorcycle oil not car oil. It says in the manual NOT to use energy conserving oil. All automotive oil is energy conserving.

BZZZZT. Wrong answer. Only lighter weight automotive oils are "energy conserving" - and you shouldn't be considering the lighter oils in a motorcycle engine anyways (especially an air cooled engine like a 400EX)

http://www.xcracing.com/gabe/mobil1.jpg

"Motorcycle" oil is largey Snake oil. Many motorcycle oils although claimed to handle shearing loads better than their Automotive counterparts actually perform worse when tested by independant labs. The motorcycle oil "manufacturers" (note the quotes around manufacturers) will also make claims about clutch slippage that are bogus many times, in hopes of scaring you into buying their overpriced product.

Additionally, why would it matter in a 450R what engine oil you run using the motorcycle oil people's claims since the engine oil is separate from the clutch and trans?

Motorcycle oil companies do have their place - in specialized products - like air filter oil, trans only oils (for 2 strokes and some of the new crop of 4 strokes), 2 stroke engine oil, etc... But I don't buy their claims when it comes to 4 stroke engine oil - I've got too many years of experience & too much research that says otherwise.

[MIA450R]

Good stuff, 86atc250r...

I guess I understated the throttle cable adjuster thing....I agree, it made a noticeable diff on my 400EX too.

Also, I use that same 15w50 (performance) Mobil-1 in my car--GTP (supercharged). And also noticed it wasnt "energy conserving." I'll probably go with that after 1 or 2 oil changes on the 450R using non-synthetic oil....which will put us in springtime temps, so that weight oil should be fine by then. Otherwise, I'll go with the Honda Pro 5 or10w-30. For the tranny, I'm still thinking Hondas Pro tranny oil. We'll see....


BTW....
I too, today, lost a bolt on the exhaust shield. Tighten/locktite those suckers!!!

[Quadaholic]

One thing to keep in mind about car approved oils are all the friction modifiers. Works great in cars -- no wet clutch. Can (doesn't always) promote clutch slippage. Just my $.02.

[2004TRX450R]

Originally posted by Quadaholic
One thing to keep in mind about car approved oils are all the friction modifiers. Works great in cars -- no wet clutch. Can (doesn't always) promote clutch slippage. Just my $.02.

This would be true in any other motorcycle/atv but the CRF and TRX450R both have separate tranny and engine oils. The engine oil doesn't go through the cltuch.