Changing needle on an 06 450R FCR carb

[Quadster450]

Just finished jetting my 06 Honda 450R so i figured i'd post some instructions and picutures of changing the needle. Changing the needle is a little more involved than changing the main jet.

To get to the top of the carb, you'll have to take off the tank and plastic. You may want to loosed the two clamp screws on both sides of the carb so you can rotate it little bit. Once you have access to the carb, you'll need a 3mm allen to remove the two screws as shown

[Quadster450]

Once the cover is off, you'll need a 4mm allen to remove the needle retainer that sits at the bottom.

[Quadster450]

After you take out the retainer, you'll need some small needle nose pliers or tweezers to pull out the needle. If you happen to have taken the carb completely out, you can turn it upside down and just shake it out

[Quadster450]

once you removed the old needle, make sure you've set the clip position you want on the new needle and drop it in the hole. Reverse the process to reinstall eveything. The picture below is showing both the needle and retainer removed.

[Quadster450]

Here's a picture of the original needle - on the bottom - and the replacment needle - on the top. Note that the original needle was not adjustable! It looks like it was set for about the 3rd position if it were. For my needs though, I have set the clip at the fourth position. For this carb you can use either the HRC needle or the CRF 450 needle, both available from Honda.

[1fst400]

nice write up.

An easier way to get the needle out is stab the throttle quick and be ready to grab the needle because it should fly out. Kinda like when the toast pops out of the toaster when its done.

just my .02

[CWILKES7]

Really great info........Thanks for all detail. I am novice at working on bikes but have been learning on the fly adding mods to new TRX450R. Everyone says that Jetting is easier than changing the needle but can you run down the steps I need to take?? Do I have to pull the carb all the way off?? Any help would be appreciated..........Thanks again

[Quadster450]

when changing the needle, leak jet or pilot jet, you do not have to pull the carb completely off the bike but you need to loosen it enough to be able to access the bowl screws and stuff. I loosen mine enough so i can twist it out of the clamps - you want to be able to see what you're doing. Having a second person and a flashlight is also pretty handy, but not necessary. The main jet is a little easier, it's located underneath the carb (you will probably want to loosen the clamps so you can rotate the carb just a bit) but all you would need is, i think it' s 17 mm wrench, unloosen that and the main jet is located right up inside.

[CWILKES7]

I have the jets installed and the needle but didnt do a good job of marking where the hoses hook back up to........can you put a few pictures up that show where each hose hooks to?? It would really help......Thanks

[Quadster450]

I'll try to put some up later tonight...