One of my buddies is concidering putting 27inch Vamps on his Foreman 450, but he is worried that it will feel like a slug with those larger tires. I imagine the Foreman pulls those larger tires fairly well, but how much of a power loss will you notice?

 

not much.

 

lovinhonda,

How do you know? Do you have a Foreman 450 with 27" Vamps??????

 

are 450's spossed to be fast??

 

I do have a 450s with 27" Vampires on it. 27x9x12 fronts and 27x12x12 in back. When I went from the stock tires to the Vamps, I did not notice much,if any,power loss. But I was never a speed kind of rider anyway. What I did notice was that I was now going through mudholes that I never would have considered trying before. If speed is your thing, this may not be the right QUAD for you, but if your looking for something to get you through that big mudhole ahead, get the Vampires!

 

Yes there is a definate power loss. Why does he want Vamps? If its strictly for the mud then great, Vamps are awesome. If he wants a good all around tire for all conditions, I would recommend a less aggresive tire like blackwaters. They are not quite as good as Vamps in the mud, but they are WAY better than the stock tires and are still a smooth ride on the trails.

If the power loss is too much for your buddy, Check out highlifter.com. They have performance kits that they claim a 20% increase in power. I don't personally know anyone with one of these kits, but the magazines say they are great.

Your buddy may also want to check out aluminum wheels with the big tires. Yes they cost more, but I've heard it can be worth the extra money.

Just some things to think about. Ride on.

 

yes I do have a 450-s and it DOES NOT HAVE ANY POWER LOSE to it. now i put in a kn filter to gp faster but thats it.

[THERE IS NO POWER LOSS AT ALL!!!]

 

i have a 2000 450s with the new 27x9.75x12 biclaws on the front and 27x12x12 triclaw magnums on the rear and my bike pulls them great. i ride on wooded trails and allways in the mud . i love the new triclaws and bi claws. i had vamps andf i think these pull better and are alot easier to stear.

 

I just want to say I'm sorry for my remarks about the 450 losing power with the bigger tires. I wasn't aware that these guys bought the 450's that defy the laws of physics. Hopefully your buddy bought one of these and not the kind that loses power with bigger and heavier tires. But I will say that the 450 handles the bigger tires very well and the power loss isn't that big of a deal. On my dads 450es,(who lives across the road from me and I drive about 3 times a week) I used to be able to go into the mud holes in 2nd gear with the throttle pinned and had no problem turning the wheels with stock tires. Now, with the 27" Blackwaters, I have to be in first gear with the throttle pinned in order to turn the tires. If one of you could explain to me how this isn't a power loss, I am all ears.

 

Hey, no fair. He said POWER LOSE, not LOSS.

Seriously, ...the heavier the tire you put on your machine the more the engine has to work to START that tire spinning. The more torque a machine puts out, the less you will notice a bigger (heavier) tire. So, aluminum rims would compensate somewhat, also there are other tires that weigh less than Vamps: Mud Bugs, Bi/Tri-claws, and the new Outlaw (even more agressive than Vamps)<--check out highlifter.com for more info. Personally, I would look for the right tire/wheel combo instead of messing with a hi-performance kit (20% more power working to move 25% more rotational resistance would seem to put alot of un-needed stress on an OEM driveline over 5 - 10 years) but, it really depends on what you want. I plan on using my 450s for 15+ years of hard work, so I keep it mostly stock.

Dan