i have an opportunity to buy a new sport quad and i have narrowed it down to these 2 based on the facts that both have steel frames and not aluminum. i do alot of trails and hill climbing as well as some mild jump. i would like to hear any suggestions on which one to get. i want something dependable and reliable.

 

No doubt go with 450R. Pretty sure ltr on 18" rims. Not enough clearance for trails.

 

The R will certainly make the better trail quad, but might benefit from some gearing changes for the tight stuff. The LTR is meant to be an out-of-the-box track quad, so it is low and wide, not exactly great trail atributes.

As for reliability, the R is the king of long distance desert endurance racing, like Baja and Vegas-to-Reno...you know, start it up and ride 1000 miles non-stop! If you don't show up on the R, you probably won't finish the race, much less win (even the privateers favor the Honda). That's all I ever needed to know....

All the 450's need frequent oil changes, and can benefit from high quality synthetic oil! These engines tolerate a lot of compression blow-by, so the oil gets rapidly contaminated by fuel mixture and diluted out. You start with nice 10W40 oil, and end up with useless 0W20. We Honda guys were all over this right from the start, so the Honda got a reputation for being high maintenance.....but they are all like this.....

Another huge advantage of the Honda is that the engine and transmission oils are seperated....God bless Honda!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconranger

.....Another huge advantage of the Honda is that the engine and transmission oils are seperated...</end quote></div>

That is one thing I don't understand why the competitors won't pick up.