i am considering building a crf450 based quad from the frame up and would like to hear from anyone who has taken on this project.i would like to know what your approximate cost was and what snags you ran into and what you would do different if you had to do it all over again.thanks in advance for your response.

 

Dune- pm rodsquad and ask him. He just sold his crf450 that he had build. He is gone for a few days so be patient. What i know about it. Lonestar was used on most. He placed the order on Valentines day and it took almost 6 months. He used all the good stuff and the price was not much higher than a moto. (axis shocks, trinity pipe, roll etc) he liked the quad. I do think he was a little disapointed in the HP department of the crf450

 

I have a houser framed CRF and so far I am very happy with it. It took me somewhere around 50 hours to build it. Definetly the biggest snag is the waiting for parts. Some 250R parts are back ordered I had to wait about 2 weeks for a seat. Also, you will want an oversized radiator Atv Innovations makes a nice one, but if you find one get it cause they can be on backorder too. I ran 400EX spindles and put the Baldwin adaptors on so I could run R front brakes. You can get a throttle cable to convert the CRF carb to a thumb throttle from Terry Cable. You can also get a waterpump cover from americandreammotorsports.com which will re route your radiator hose and keep your pipe from burning it. I had Jeff Houser modify the stock CRF exhaust to fit the quad chassis and it has worked pretty well so far. I did however cut about 6" off the silencer since it stuck out past the grab bar and I didn't want to trash it if I looped it out.

One bummer is so far I haven't come up with a perfect airboot setup. I have made one myself, but I don't consider it to be a perfect set up. I have been told that the Fischer CRF frame uses CR500 linkage and allows to use a 400EX intake. So that might be something to look into. You can find out info about Fischer from Legacy Atv or directly from Fischer.

The Houser frame came together well and I didn't have any problems making things fit. It was also a good choice for me because I got the chassis in about 2 months. As far as cost goes I would say around $14k or less, but I have yet to calculate it because truth be told I dont really want to know.

 

Adamsmith.......Post some pics.Id love to see your Quad. late,zubbeyboy

 

Rodsquad biggest problem he had was the air box set up. From the carb to the air box needs a part number

 

i have a friend with a crf450 LS quad and another with a 465ex bike. Both built by sparks. I have them on video going back and forth. They are almost a dead even race. I believe both are on methanol

 

after hearing what is involved i think i may just wait and see what honda comes up with next as i can see many problems cropping up if it is not done exactly right.the money doesnt scare me but i am not one who likes to constantly tinker with everything to keep it running and i can see that happening.after my wife having to endure me going through the long process of getting my 686 raptor running right and cutting into her riding time i dont think she would be too patient with another project and as anyone who is married knows you have to keep the other half happy or life can get real interesting .

 

I got a Houser Framed CRF450R quad, it is simple AWESOME, I do have the same Airbox problem until I get the Houser Transition Airbox to Carb for $45, now is perfect no more problems no leaks, not any problem at all, and the quad run increible.
I also have 400ex spindles w/baldwin mounts for 250R calipers.
I'm just waiting for a set of new Fullbore plastics.

 

Thanks, JDSuareza, I just ordered one from Houser. As for pics I don't have any yet. I will see if I can get hold of a digital camera and get some for prosperity. Also, duneittilludie don't let me discourage you if you really want one build it. I will say this though, If I didn't race mx I probably wouldn't have done it.

 

Hello,

adamsmith can you give me any more detail on your thumb throttle setup on the 450 powered Quad?

I have a CRF450 dirt bike and normally I convert all my bikes to thumb throttles.
The CRF carb has a push pull type throttle. Did you only use one of the cables? It looks like I had the right cable ends, I couodl thumb throttle it, but I would have to unhook one of the two cables.

I emailed Terry Cable.

Lots of people make fun of me but I started on Quads, in 1986, and I think thumb throttles are better in technical terrain and bumps because it is hard to accidently gas it in the whoops.