Yes I am interested as well. I read some time ago where a person was saying that "honda" recommends a rebuild after 15 hours if the quad is use for racing.
I would like to know if this is true?

 

i havent seen it in the 2004 trx450R manual to rebuild it every 15hrs. ive had my bike for 2 yrs and not one problem.
runs most excellently.

the 04/05 crf and trx engines are very different internally. honda made the trx engine more 'durable' and less volitile. honda has been quoted on the first stages of 450R development a few years ago as saying the crf engine, "...wasnt feasible for and not intended for atv use." of course, they changed it for the early trx450R's...

for 06, perhaps that has changed- but i would love to get a copy of that owners manual to see what they reccomend now...

 

And, twentycharacters always goes "by the manual"! (http://forums.atvconnection.com/mess...did/477480.cfm)

I have a half dozen Honda dealerships within 15 miles of my house, including Chaparral which sells and services hundreds of bikes and quads every month. I have asked them all about the rebuild interval of the dirt bikes that come in to the service departments. They are saying 100 hours for bikes that are ridden hard. A quad has a different engine, but the again a quad is way heavier than a dirt bike, so it's engine works harder. So, that is another variable to account for.

None of them have any horor stories about valves or whatever to tell! I think the 5 guys who have had problems, have posted these all over the internet and everybody has gotten the idea that these engines are going to grenade. I know one kid who has a CRF250R with 200 hours on it, and it gets MX'd hard! The kid's dad is a mechanical engineer, so the bike gets watched carefully.

But, my R gets babied, so I can't give you a testimony. I only have space for 4 bikes in my trailer, so that means the Z400, 400EX, 250EX, and 90 get taken on the long trips, and the R gets left home.

 

c'mon recon, a little jab there! you know better than that! I change it every 10-12hrs just like i stated in the other thread, according to the honda manual....

By the way, your buddies at DUNCAN emailed me back and said 10-12hrs between oil changes was FINE for rec riders like you and me..but not for racers. i dont think either one of us races professionally...if i did and was making a good living at it, heck, id have my mechanic change it or my engine at every race (like i heard that doug gust does- changes engines VERY frequently on that Z). ive seen one of his Z's on ebay before. they wanted alot for it. i passed on it even though it could blow my bike away.

hmmmmm....but that may be my next project...taking a z400 and yoshifying it to 450 and all the trimmings....they run pretty good...still deciding though. (i like the new quadracer but may be veering towards an all round, nimble, fast, light bike with reverse and not 49-50" wide). we'll see...

im happy with the 450R, its been very reliable and pretty impressive even though i prefer my 250Rs handling still (lower center of gravity).

 

Well, I looked at my R owner's manual and it says change oil at 100 miles (initial). I don't know how fast you ride, but for me in the open desert 100 miles IS about 2 hours! Hey, I'm doing it by the book. How did that happen? They say 600 after that. Guess that's your 12 hours.

 

Not neccessarily. The quad engine has lower compressoin, 3rings on the piston instead of 2, lower rev minter, a longer piston skirt, different bore, stroke, tranny gears were reinforced AND changed to compensate for the quads driveline and demands... and more...alot of changes took place to make that engine good for a quad...didn't you read the CRF/TRX comparison list when the TRX came out? It was all over the internet and the mags and in the official honda publications/demo videos.

 

But, not true for the 06 engine. It's right out of the CRF450X. Now that's not the CRF450R engine, but still there are lots of X owners in the dirt bike forums worrying about their engines. And CRF450R owners, sleep in the garage with a wrench in their hand.

 

uh oh. maybe you should stop and change it every 2 hrs now, otherwise, you are just being "lazy" and not properly maintaining your bike. shame, shame...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

in the baja 1000, with all the top finishers being 450Rs and im pretty sure with the throttle pinned, did they stop every hr and change their oil? if they did, i want to see some maintenance records...

i guess you ignore what duncan said, huh? you reccomended them as the unrivaled experts on the 450R engine...
they said 10-12hrs between oil changes was fine. honda (every dealer and honda mechanic ive talked to) said its fine, everywhere i checked it was fine. why the bull over it? you just cant stand that a 3-4 hr interval is paranoid for a rec rider and really intended for racers and CRFs.

i dont know why you want to keep this up, your like 50yrs old and want to bicker over this and ive shown you fact after fact....it's ridiculous. what's the matter, the wife is away tonight and you have nothing better to do? go watch a movie or something. go call honda....

I can garantee you my bike is in equal shape as yours even though every time you start yours- you change your oil...

you see on your favorite resource, thumperfaq.com, they tell you about reading the owners manual and about looking at your oil for problems. if its dark, shavings, etc..mine doesnt do this. the oil is never dark, there are no shavings...my oil is perfect. my engine purs like a kitten but roars like a lion when needed to.

 

i know the 06 engine is more volitle. ive said it in ALL these threads. and with the absense of an oil cooler
(hot oil=more problems) i would expect the intervals to be different than the models we have.

But there are a few differences between the r and x versions. ask honda. i know the crf250x is different from the R version...im pretty sure the 450x is too. honda geared these towards xc and rec riders. they changed a few things and did not just slap lights, and an electric starter on them. the frames, forks and some engine components are different...


yep. that's good reasoning


cant we all just get along!
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]