Honda
02-23-2004, 10:42 AM
I got a chance to go out to the badlands this weekend. This was my first real ride on the 450R.
Let me tell you, I am very pleased with the new machine, Plenty of power and the suspension is great. They have a pretty long section of whoops in one area, I hammered those things over ond over again, it seemed like the faster I went the better the suspension worked. The suspension is great, the front end seems a little harsh over smaller bumps but at speed it seems to work flawlessly.
The conditions out at Badlands make giving a final impression sort of hard to do. The Terrain is a mix of course sand, small and medium sized rocks, lots of hills and tight woods. There really is not place to fully open up and run through the gears.
One other thing, I don't know if it due to the fact that I installed the HRC tip and Air intake snorkel without installing the other HRC parts or what, but my -R- was running pretty poorly on sunday, It seemed like anytime I tried to give it full throttle, it would make a poping sound and then the motor would cut out real bad. Now, If I easily rolled on the throttle it would eventually clear out and get up to speed, but if I stabbed at it like when trying to pull the front end off the ground, it would just cut out and act like it wanted to die. I have to try and figure that out this week, Hopefully it was not hurting the motor. This May have been a good thing also, cause it kept me from useing full throttle and accelerating quickly all day, on an unbroken-in motor.
The Machine is very stable at speed over rough terrain, and I never once got the feeling that the front end was too light. Even climbing some of the big hills the fornt end stayed on the ground. It seemed like whatever I threw at it, it was easily soaked up and the machine never once tried to throw me off
One thing I immediatly noticed, especially in the sand and gravel areas. This thing is geared WAY to TALL. You just can't putt around, you are either lugging the motor around or you are going so fast that you have to stand up in the rough sections. The 450R quite simply is geared Tall, and that is my biggest complaint with the new machine. I stalled it countless times, and trying to pull wheelies in the sand only embarrassed me because it usually ended with a stalled motor rather than the front wheels off the ground. Part of this was caused by the Throttle issues I was having, but mostly the gearing.
The thumb Throttle is very light, In fact one of the guys with us had a brand new YFZ, an hour into the ride he was complaining about his sore thumb. LOL! It's monday, my entire body is sore, my thumb, however, is not!
Overall I am very impressed with the new 450, It is definatly a better machine than my old 250R. The suspension is better, it is very comfortable and has plenty of power. More Ground clearance to clear those larger sized rocks. Fix the Gearing, and I would be 100% satisfied.
Other Items of intrest:
Lost the bolt that attaches the rear lower fender mount to the frame on the shifter side of the bike.
Aluminum Grab bar is Nice and Light, Unfortunatly so is the Flag mount. Mine Was standing tall at a 45 Degree angle after 2 hours of riding. Also noticed while going through the whoops, my Butt kept pushing on the flag Staff. May be one reason it bent.
The Tank gets scrathed very easily. Put some 16mil Clear Number backing over the sides if you don't wan't it to get scratched.
Tim Farr's quad has a bolt in the front of the rear plastic for a reason, Pounding through a long whoop section will cause the front corner of the rear fender to pop out of its rubber clip. Tim's bike has the extra bolt in it to hold the plastic to the frame where it belongs.
NOTE: If you wear Alpinestar's Tech-8 boots. The reversed buckle, the one midway on the boot facing rearward, will slice deep scratches into the bottom of your rear fender. My rear fenders are pretty scarred from the sharp edge of the buckle cutting into the plastic. I may try to modify the buckle to correct this.
Let me tell you, I am very pleased with the new machine, Plenty of power and the suspension is great. They have a pretty long section of whoops in one area, I hammered those things over ond over again, it seemed like the faster I went the better the suspension worked. The suspension is great, the front end seems a little harsh over smaller bumps but at speed it seems to work flawlessly.
The conditions out at Badlands make giving a final impression sort of hard to do. The Terrain is a mix of course sand, small and medium sized rocks, lots of hills and tight woods. There really is not place to fully open up and run through the gears.
One other thing, I don't know if it due to the fact that I installed the HRC tip and Air intake snorkel without installing the other HRC parts or what, but my -R- was running pretty poorly on sunday, It seemed like anytime I tried to give it full throttle, it would make a poping sound and then the motor would cut out real bad. Now, If I easily rolled on the throttle it would eventually clear out and get up to speed, but if I stabbed at it like when trying to pull the front end off the ground, it would just cut out and act like it wanted to die. I have to try and figure that out this week, Hopefully it was not hurting the motor. This May have been a good thing also, cause it kept me from useing full throttle and accelerating quickly all day, on an unbroken-in motor.
The Machine is very stable at speed over rough terrain, and I never once got the feeling that the front end was too light. Even climbing some of the big hills the fornt end stayed on the ground. It seemed like whatever I threw at it, it was easily soaked up and the machine never once tried to throw me off
One thing I immediatly noticed, especially in the sand and gravel areas. This thing is geared WAY to TALL. You just can't putt around, you are either lugging the motor around or you are going so fast that you have to stand up in the rough sections. The 450R quite simply is geared Tall, and that is my biggest complaint with the new machine. I stalled it countless times, and trying to pull wheelies in the sand only embarrassed me because it usually ended with a stalled motor rather than the front wheels off the ground. Part of this was caused by the Throttle issues I was having, but mostly the gearing.
The thumb Throttle is very light, In fact one of the guys with us had a brand new YFZ, an hour into the ride he was complaining about his sore thumb. LOL! It's monday, my entire body is sore, my thumb, however, is not!
Overall I am very impressed with the new 450, It is definatly a better machine than my old 250R. The suspension is better, it is very comfortable and has plenty of power. More Ground clearance to clear those larger sized rocks. Fix the Gearing, and I would be 100% satisfied.
Other Items of intrest:
Lost the bolt that attaches the rear lower fender mount to the frame on the shifter side of the bike.
Aluminum Grab bar is Nice and Light, Unfortunatly so is the Flag mount. Mine Was standing tall at a 45 Degree angle after 2 hours of riding. Also noticed while going through the whoops, my Butt kept pushing on the flag Staff. May be one reason it bent.
The Tank gets scrathed very easily. Put some 16mil Clear Number backing over the sides if you don't wan't it to get scratched.
Tim Farr's quad has a bolt in the front of the rear plastic for a reason, Pounding through a long whoop section will cause the front corner of the rear fender to pop out of its rubber clip. Tim's bike has the extra bolt in it to hold the plastic to the frame where it belongs.
NOTE: If you wear Alpinestar's Tech-8 boots. The reversed buckle, the one midway on the boot facing rearward, will slice deep scratches into the bottom of your rear fender. My rear fenders are pretty scarred from the sharp edge of the buckle cutting into the plastic. I may try to modify the buckle to correct this.