Hey everyone,

Just like the title states I would just like to know what the best all around 450 is? for rideing a little bit of everything. I did a search on here but nothing really says what the best all around is. I currently have a 05 400trx and want to upgrade to something faster. So any input would be a great help.

Thanks. D

 

My opinion is that none of the 450's make good "all-around" machines. These engines make their power way up in the RPM range, so they need to be ridden reved out, unlike your 400EX for example which can be happily lugged down all day long. So...none of them are great trail quads, and will all require a lot of clutch slipping on a tight trail....and that gets old really fast.

Open country or fast open trails is where the 450's are at home! The Honda is the all-time king of desert racing, so that is why I chose it!!! If I did a lot of "play" riding or MX, I might pick the Yamaha.

Keep the 400EX for trails, and add a 450 to your stable for fast open country riding!

 

The 450's are a way different engine design than your old school 400EX, so they will need more frequent maintenance....particularly oil changes.

Good article on this issue:

http://www.belray.com/scripts/future...6-e27066d0d02a

 

well I do alot of more open trail riding no real tight stuff and I like to ride some tracks to so I figured instead of dropping more money into the 400 I would just upgrade to the 450. I was thinking of the ltr450

 

well I do alot of more open trail riding no real tight stuff and I like to ride some tracks to so I figured instead of dropping more money into the 400 I would just upgrade to the 450. I was thinking of the ltr450

 

I have no personal experience with the LTR, but these guys camped next to me once at Ocotillo had several of them, and they had all needed very early rebuilds...so got to wonder what was going on there????

I and all my buddies with Hondas have hundreds of hours on our engines and nobody even has a hint of needing a rebuild. My other friends with Yamahas are having good luck, as is one guy with a Kawi.

 

If you don't need 50" of width..... it is hard to beat the Honda 450R for "all around" IMO....

First of all the 450R is the cheapest of all the 450 machines, and they are pretty reliable.

I was a little surprised that my buddy just cracked the frame on his '07 450R, but he did. That is somewhat unusual for a Honda from my experience. But he got it welded, and is putting it back together for our ride Oct 2nd......

If I were to buy a 450 right now, it would come down to the Suzuki or the Honda....... I like the Yamaha too, so I would not count it out.

 

The 450 all have the same motors as the 450 Motocross short skirt high reving pistons, Longevity is not what Motocross motors are about.

If you what more power with Longevity, you would have to go with a larger lazier motor like on a 700 Raptor, or Can AM 650 DS.

They are like having a sport ATV with a durable Honda XR 650L or Suzuki DR650SE in them. These motors are derived from open country Eduro motorcycles which run high speeds with loads of torque for thounsands of miles.

Think of them as a EX 650L if Honda ever made one.

 

Predator 500 seems to be a good choice to me, thats why I'm picking one up. You can find them down to 1500 but they are gonna be beat. Normaly price is 2500-3500 depending year and condition. 03-04 had no reverse and 03 had tranny problems. No DS650 has reverse thats why I stayed away from it (600lbs dry weight and no reverse no thanks). Raptor 700 is very good choice for lugging along but my buddy has one and says that aren't very fast till you get them tuned. He just put a small turbo on it too.

My bet, if you don't want a peaky 450 I'd look at the Pred. 415lb dry weight and a machine that has great top speed but a ability to lug along with its 500 motor. Not to mention lots of aftermarket.