Hey, My little bro has the 400ex and I got the 300ex. I'm thinking about getting a 400ex, except I don't like the fact it's got an external oil tank. Does Honda ever change this? And does the 450r or 450er have an external oil tank?
Thanks

 

What is your concern over the external tank? It allows for a greater volume of oil, and it helps keep the oil cooler as it circulates outside the motor vs always staying inside. As long as you keep fresh oil and clean filters there should be no issues. If the oil pump goes, well that can be catastrophic regardless. The chances of trail debris causing tank or line failure is pretty slim as well, although you could run a full chassis skid to ease your mind there.

 

Those are some interesting points, thank you. But does anybody know if the 450r or 450er has an external oil tank or is it internal?

 

The 450s are not dry sump motors do to the extra weigh of a external oil tank.

I like the dry sump, the oil tank acts as a oil cooler and the crank is not churning in a bath of oil at all times.

 

What do you mean by dry sump?

 

Wet sump simply means all the oil is stored in the bottom of the engine where as the dry sump uses the aforementioned external oil tank. It should be noted that the crank, clutch, gearbox etc. ARE still bathed in oil, just not the same volume as a wet sump. Honda actually keeps separate the engine and clutch oils in their 450 class engines. The end result is that you don't get clutch contaminates in the engine lubricants, but there is a much smaller volume of oil available to both the clutch and engine side. This makes frequent oil changes essential if you push the machine hard. The system does work, as you don't really hear a lot of issues with reliability on the 450 motor in general, or oiling issues specifically.

 

So does the honda 450r and 450er have external or internal tanks. And from what ive read external is better???

 

The 450R is a wet sump design. Both designs have merit and when it comes right down to it, this would be one of the last things I would worry about when choosing a new machine.

 

think of it in car terms. most passenger cars are wet sump and alot of race cars are dry sump.