So what is the important maintance the the 450r on my 400ex I changed the oil every 6 months depends on how much I ride. in atv mag. they said the yz450 a tough up keep. Just some pointers from you guys would be great. check out the shootout against the yzf in this months dirtwheels.

 

Use a very high quality oil, and change it often! That means every 3-5 hours for me. I am running Maxima Extra Ester Synthetic (http://www.maximausa.com/) in both the engine side and transmission (or Ultra if you are a racer who wants to milk evey bit of hp out of your engine). And, frequent valve adjustments.

http://www.thumperfaq.com/oil.htm

 

I was always told not to use synthetic on the clutch side, or it will slip..

 

does the owner manual actually state change the oil ever 3 hours?????????????? that would mean people in my group should be changing oil 2 times a ride???? thats crazy, none of them change it close to that, where did u get that info from?

 

the 04 TRX450R manual does NOT say this. that is ridiculous unless you are an extremley hard racer....if memory serves correctly (the book is in the truck and i dont want to go get it right now!) Honda suggests changing it in the engine side after the first like 10hrs or something and the transmission side after the first 20hrs...then after that its about the same interval. i do mine about every 10-12hrs. however, its not difficult to change, so just change them both at the same time with the proper oils reccomended in the manual.

the honda shop told me not to run the synthetic in the engine side at first and they gave me the HP "250R" oil (i think its semi-synthetic?) to run in the tranny side. they looked it up in the shop manual (i saw the book too) they have and that's what it said to run, so i bought it and put it in. ive had no problems. i want to go to the HP4 or maxima in the engine side.

one thing to note though, get extra oil! The manual says the engine takes like .98 of a quart- well it takes a little more than that. Same goes for the other side- 650cc- not quite; it takes a little more than that. Squeeze it in until it runs out the check hole just like that book says. But ive found that you have to squeeze more than 650cc or whatever in there for stuff to start running out.

but dont be scared off buy these machines just b/c you have to do a little more maintenace on them; they are pretty impressive for 4 strokes, and, like anything - if you take care of it, it will last.

 

Hey, it's your engine. Believe me or don't, what do I care??? Be conservative and be safe, or be lazy and take a chance.......... I won't be buying your quad used, so what's it to me???

All the big engine builders, like Duncan etc., are calling for VERY frequent oil changes, like every couple of rides!

Synthetics will not make your clutch slip. Any oil that is JASO MA is formulated for a wet clutch.

 

are you talkin to me, RR? i am not "not beleiving" you. you have alot to offer this forum and are one of the most knowledgeable ones on here, with no BS. I respect that about you. but know this about me: i am in no way lazy. all my bikes are kept in perfect condition and i get top dollar for them. I take care of everything i got.

Im following the owner's manual with my maintenance. My oil is never dark, nor do i have shavings coming out. My engine runs perfect. does yours?

Read your book, dude. You know, they're just HONDA, the people that designed and built the thing, what the hell do they know about the proper maintenance schedule for the 450R? Mine is followed to their specs. I dont disagree with the, "more frequent the better approach," but you may just be wasting time if your oil hasnt broken down, lost viscosity, is causing engine wear, or if you are not racing competitively, or if you just changed it 3 hrs prior - which if it was 10hrs none of this would be even happening yet.

I think you are little extreme with every 3-4 hrs. Thats kinda paranoid... and no honda dealer has ever even suggested that or gone against what their manuals say....But ok... say you go on a 6 hr ride...do you stop in the middle of the trail and at exactly 3hrs, and change all your oil? I ride with alot of YFZ/450R people and not one of them changes their oil every 3-4 hrs and their machines run great and i have heard of no problems.

10-12hrs is not unreasonable and its in the book. it wont cause any damage to your engine. I'll bet a honda engineer would tell you that as well (after all THEY wrote the manual). Keep in mind that at 10-12hrs, is still MUCH greater of an interval than on like a 400ex or something....


[quote]
All the big engine builders, like Duncan etc., are calling for VERY frequent oil changes, like every couple of rides!/Q]

im sure "every couple of rides" equates to 10-12hrs in their book as well. not 3-4. 3-4hrs is not even A ride!


however i think that the lack of an oil cooler and more volitle engine on the 06 will require one to pay attention to the oil more so than on the 04/05 models. but what does the HONDA manual say about the 2006 TRX450R's mantenance schedule? i bet its a little different than the 04/05 model.

 

Every manufacturer has a vested interest in presenting their vehicles as being "low maintenance". The maintenance intervals in the manual are based on ideal conditions, like no dust and riding around like an old lady. They represent a best case scenario, which has never actually existed in the real world!

Read stuff from engine builders, or even give them a call. Call Duncan, call Sparks, etc. See what they say. The three common pieces of advice you will hear are: frequent oil changes, frequent valve adjustments, and run high enough octane that you will absolutely never experience detonation.

And again, if you toast your motor from neglected maintenance, what's that to me? So do whatever you like!

 

So i could sue Honda for publishing false information about the care of the bike they designed? If they do put something false in there, you know they can be held responsible, right? Their warranty is written to coincide with what's in that book and you and I both know that if you ont do what is in THEIR book, they wont pay for crap.

You must know that they (HONDA) tested that engine for countless hours and you're going to tell me that what they wrote in the manual is just a bunch of BS to protect their image for making a low mantenace machine for "riding around like an old lady?" C'mon. They built a high revving/hp machine and wrote a manual for its care. If they are wrong, then they have a legal issue if something happens, and God knows with all the mess they went thru in the 80's, they dont want that again.....RR, You've been around for awhile in this industry. This is conservative HONDA we are talking about. Their engineers wrote the manual. The bike could probably go for longer intervals, but HONDA will only speak the conservative truth about their machine(and cars for that matter).

if they say 10-12 hrs, then I beleive them. IF you live in extremely dusty conditions- then common sense tells you to bump up the schedule. It says that too in the manual. I've followed every maintenace manual to the T on every bike ive had for the last 25yrs and with my autos. NEVER HAD problems with any one of them.

And again, my engine is no where near being "toast" due to "degelected maintenace."
I've had my bike for 2yrs now. Not a single problem. OIL ALWAYS looks fine.

Once again I reiterate, i dont think DUNCAN, or Sparks' definition of "frequent oil changes" is defined as
every 3-4 hrs. IF you are a HARD@SS RACER, maybe so....For amusement, I'll call them to see what they say.
I dont discount your or their advice of frequent oil changes, valve adjustments, high octane..Its the definition of "frequent," I question.

The inventor/manufacturer, Honda, will just guide me to the allegedly wrong, illegal manual they wrote, so I wouldn't want to waste time calling them about it...

 

Ok.. let me know who wins this argument... I'm out of this thread. Depalma all i can say change it REGULARLY (whatever you feel that is) Good luck to yah