2 things went 'wrong' on my 450R last night, both of which surprised the hell out of me and don't exactly scream 'Honda quality'....

First,
While riding down a trail near my house, which is quite narrow, winding in and out of trees, and extra technical to maneuver due to the trail being covered in snow and ice (from the snow melting all day and freezing at night)....I hit a big ice patch while taking a sharp turn....my quad slid sideways and just before coming to a stop, I bumped into a tree...barely. Didnt think anything of it, as I've slammed into many a tree on my 400EX...much harder than that. I go off riding, and at some point look down to see that my front bumper is ****-eyed. On closer look, one of the 2 sides of the bumper is completely crushed. I couldnt F'ing believe it! I **TAPPED** that tree, and the bumper completely folded on itself. Yes, I understand that it was prob designed to do this, so the frame didnt take the hit, but I am telling you, if I had kicked the bumper, it would have been harder than I hit that tree. Amazing.

Wait....it gets better...

Second,
After bombing around all night with my friend on a DS650 Baja, at some point I wound up doing donuts in an open field. After burning thru the snow, I suddenly hooked up and stalled the motor...eh, it was late, i was tired. When I went to kick it over, I kicked it once or twice, and it started....but, after starting, all I can hear is that annoying CLICKING sound that you get when the kickstarter hasnt recoiled back to its resting spot. I look down, and THE KICKSTARTER WASN'T THERE. I jump off the bike, and only when my friend came over with his light shining on the side of my 'R did I notice what had happened: the kickstarter had become wedged between the engine (below the clutch cover) and the rear brake lever!!! I sheite you not. By the looks of it in this position, it looked as tho the kickstarter was broken, or seriously disfigured/bent. I killed the engine, and it took me a minute or so to get the kickstarter out of there. Once freed, it retracted back to the stock location, and looks to be ok. Repeated kicks after that, were fine. Going to have to check it closer this am.

Just a heads up on these 2 things. Most importantly, be careful at what angle you kick this thing over, or this may happen to you.

 

Can't comment on the kick starter, I haven't had any problems with it. I found that when I replaced the bumper, the stock one was very light and didn't look the least bit sturdy. I'm even more glad that I didn't hit anything with it after hearing your story.



Go with the AC racing bumper, just make sure you have a hammer and pry bar handy. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I don't know about the bumper issue, but the kickstarter thing has been discussed in another forum, and it has been decided that both the heat shield on the head pipe and the kick starter need to have their mounting screws torqued down after the first ride, and possibly lock-tited. For some reason Honda didn't torque these down enough. This is probably why the kicker got lodged under your clutch cover.

I don't know how well lock-tite will hold up to exhaust temperatures though...My guess on the heat shield is that neither the headpipe, nor the shield were heat treated prior to sale, and they do some expanding and contracting after they get heated up to full temperature the first time. Torquing it down after the first ride will probably be sufficient.

 

You can buy high temp loctite. It works great. I doubt if I ever buy the regular stuff again, I mean why wouldn't you always get the high temp stuff?
JP

 

Regular loctite worked on mine. Heat shield bolts wont budge now.

Going to check bolts on the kicker...