...stand By...

[MIA450R]

Did anyone else notice Honda's subtly bold move in their ad for the 450R?
Yamaha's YFZ450 ad states: "Suddenly everything else is on standby..."
Then Honda's tactful, but ballsy reply, directly to Yamaha: "Standby for the TRX450R."

If you're reading this, Honda marketing executives; well done and well said...*IF* your engineers can back it up.

No-one questions whether Honda's engineers have come up with another near-bulletproof quad...that's a given. But we (die-hard Honda fans) all just pray that that they designed the new quad & engine under their own motorsports motto: "Performance First," and created a new 'R' capable of at least YFZ450 performance levels, if not higher. They know what the YFZ was capable of, as it came out months ago, and they should know by now exactly what the quad-riding public wants in a new 'R': HIGH PERFORMANCE.

If you're reading this, Honda engineers and Honda motorsports executives:
Standby for our opinions ($$$) on how well you listen to us...

[ATC83]

If performance was first why does every other high performance four stroke on earth run the FCR carb including there own CRF250 and 450 motocross bikes and the TRX450 does not. I have never heard of something so ridiculous as "safety concerns" about the two throttle cables that Honda claims is the reason why they didn't put an FCR carb on the TRX. That sounds like they put performance second.

[Pappy]

i think honda still has sore nutz from the swift kick the goverment gave them back in the late 80's

[300exOH]

Originally posted by Pappy
i think honda still has sore nutz from the swift kick the goverment gave them back in the late 80's

LMAO... Hit the nail on the head on that one!

[ATC83]

Originally posted by Pappy
i think honda still has sore nutz from the swift kick the goverment gave them back in the late 80's

I will agree with you on that, I can't remeber where I read this but In an article I came across about a year ago on lawsuits and ATVs it said that Honda was out sued 4 to 1 comapared to the other manufactures. I don't think that the safty concernes are the real reason that Honda didn't put the FCR carb on the TRX450. I think it was an issue of price. I think Honda had a certain price point that they were trying to meet and going with a lower end carb was one way of doing it. I think in there minds the performance differnce between the two wasn't that great and the decided to not go with the FCR. I have read that Yamaha went through the same dilema but ultimatly performance won out over price. I agree with Honda on a stock corked up bike the performace difference is not that great it only shows when you modify these bikes. Nothing compares to the performance of an FCR on a modified bike.

[MIA450R]

Absolutely. Honda was raped by lawsuits back in the 80's, thanks to all the (underaged) kids hurting/killing themselves on the ATCs...and the racing 250 quads got lumped into that "black eye" category.

In 1998 (when the 10 year 'ban' on sport ATV R&D was over) the 400EX was a *HUGE* 1st baby step for Honda, and the sport ATV industry. The 400EX's sales, and all sport quads that immediately followed, proved to Honda and the entire industry, that sport ATV'ing was FAR from dead...it was simply in hibernation, thanks to the CSPC/US govt. However, the 450R had better not be a 2nd baby step...

Regarding the carb...I know nothing about FCR carbs vs CV carbs vs 42mm carbs vs 10mm carbs. I would tend to think Honda would err on the side of safety in all aspects...including sacraficing perfomance.

For example, I am certain the reason the 450R and the YFZ450 weigh the same, even tho the Yammi has electric start is because Honda put slightly more weight and strength into key areas of the frame and such that Yammi skimped on to stay within 350lbs.

The real question is, how much performance was Honda willing to scrafice? If too much, the racing industry, and general public will go with the Yamaha...or whomever else sells a high performance quad that is truley HIGH performance and not SAFE performance.

[Guy400]

The YFZ does not weigh what Yamaha claims it does, it's been proven. It is closer to 385lbs as verified on race track scale. The question will be what does the TRX really weigh?

[ATC83]

I have been in this sport for almost 25 years and I can say this, no matter what the manufactures say there bikes weigh they always weigh more. It's just a game the play. As for the weight thing, when you are building a quad or motorcycle for motocross, in order to get the bike to weigh less it is comen to sacrafice durability for weight. Thats what racing is all about. Yamaha may have sacraficed durability for weight, thats how you build a great race quad. Look at Honda's motocross bikes, in order to save weight on there CRF's they designed an itergrated master cylinder for the rear brake. Sure is saves weight but it continually boiles over. Or look at the cage for the air filter on the CRF450, in order to save weight Honda reduced the amount plastic at the seal and unless you buy the aftermarket fix it lets in dirt. I could go on and with all the manufacturers. My point is, Yamaha's design seems to be focused more on closed coarsed racing and thats the kind of bike I think we were all waiting for. I think Hondas new bike is focused more on the sport market there is nothing wrong with that. I for one was looking for more of a high performance race bike.

[87250r88]

By all accounts so far the Honda is at least as fast as the Yamaha so why all the *****ing about the carbs ?

If you want the FCR so bad go buy one for the Honda.

[ATC83]

Even though I’m an engineer I don’t think you have to be one to see that an uncorked TRX450 is not going to be as powerful as an uncorked YFZ450. You have to realize you are not buying a full on race motor like the one found on the CRF450 dirt bike. The TRX has a low compression piston, mild cam and it doesn’t have an FCR carb with fuel pump accelerator. With a FCR carb, high compression piston and full race cam the TRX will be a fast bike, but that is not what Honda is selling. The Yamaha comes stock with the same full race cam, FCR carb and high compression piston as its fire preathing cousin the YZ450F. The only difference is about one millimeter on the crank.