Has anybody figured out how to find and bypass this critter yet?

 

If this is the "gizmo" I'm thinking of - a guy asked me about this the other day. If memory serves me right, it is a magnetic switch that the further away the thumb throttle moves away from the magnet, the "switch" looses magnetic current and cuts out the engine. I suggested to him to try a thin piece of ferrous metal laid against the switch pickup in the thumb throttle - to see if it would eliminate the "cutout". I haven't heard back from him, so I don't know if it worked or not.

 

Why are you wanting to do that?

 

The reason for the RPM limiter is to protect one from ones self.
Give it some thought!

 

That is precisely why I don't understand why you would want to bypass it. I have seen 450's stuck in the mud and the revs seem very high without any more.

 

Thank you for your concern regarding the function of the rev-limiter, and yes I do understand the function of it.

My point is this; The Honda 450ES is the second 450 which the family has owned. The first one ran 51 mph. all the time (just like they do in the magazine tests, 98 model). The second one runs 47 tops and then the limiter kicks in dropping top speed to 45 where it slowly begins to build again to 47 mph and the process keeps repeating itself.

I know that there are those who will say 47 mph is fast enough on an atv and I should be happy that Honda is overseeing my safety. So be it. We all have our opinions.

My wish is to run at least as fast as the old
450S (51 Mph) It would be nice to at least run in the middle of the pack rather than at the end, all of the time and choking on fire road dust. Has anybody else been there?

 

I wasn't so concerned with your physical safety as I was with you possibly having a catastrophic engine failure and no quad to ride. I was just asking to see if you were trying to gain top end speed for riding on level ground or wanted to spin your tires faster in the mud or what the reason you were needing more engine speed. Now I see why. I did not even know it had a rev limiter, so I learned something new.