From the topic title, you notice it being called an LT-R450 instead of LT-Z450 like everyone, including me has been calling it for the last 2 months.
The “Z” is no where implemented into the name of this quad at all. Just found that out a few days ago.

Suzuki began shipping DVDs of the 450 in action…along with Gust footage on the Z and old Denton footage on the LT250R included on the disc, a couple weeks ago. I got to sit down this evening and really dig deep into what was being shown and what was being told. It wasn’t but a few minutes long, but there were a couple things that stood out. The video is under contract from all dealers to not be shown to customers. It’s even warned to the dealers clearly written on the disc. For those of you who aren’t dealers or have friends in the industry with access to it to watch for yourself…..here is what I came away with after several slow motions and still frames……..LOL

The exhaust is pretty much in the exact location as the new Polaris Outlaw other than it is not exactly centered in the frame and is very close to the grab bar compared to the Outlaw. This is very evident with a good up close shot of Gust slinging the backend around. : )

I am not so sure that this engine is related to the RMZ450 dirt bike engine like everyone, including myself has been ranting about. It could be, but I have doubts now, and here’s why….. The engine area was a bit blurred out so that no fine details could be seen. But from after disecting the best shot of it myself, it is just hard to find anything similar between the two engines. There are more differences than there are similarities.

Another thing to note about the engine is that there does APPEAR to be an electric starter on that thing. I would be able to tell for sure if I had seen a kick starter….but the only clear (if you want to call it that) engine picture was taken from the left side of the engine and a rider was onboard……so still hard to tell for sure either way.

It DOES have EFI like blackbird first mentioned here several weeks before any magazine mentioned the machine’s existence. His insider tip was dead on the money.

The plastic design is very much like that of the old LT250R QuadRacer. The T shaped seat is wider in the rear than on the Z400 but a bit narrower in the front portion. There really wasn't a good enough frame shot to get a close up the front, but there was a good still frame from the rear that left a bit of the front portion of the seat exposed when Gust was hanging off of it. it appears narrower in the front.

The 450 in the video had the headlight located in a separate pod from the hood and was mounted right below the handlebars much like the older 400EX models.

The front shocks have monsterous rezzies…piggy back style like the 450R and YFZ.

Finally,....Gust was really putting in a wild ride on that thing. I have seen him race many times and he was blitzing corners with absolutely no body roll whatsoever. The one in the video could have been an altered version of the production model, but if it wasn't...that thing has got the suspension that everyone has wanted off the showroom for years now.

The official launch will be at the show in October. No official word on when it will arrive at dealers yet. That will be announced when the quad is unveiled at the show.

Any questions pertaining to this would be nice, but I have nothing to respond with. I know nothing more than what I have said here.
I can't burn copies of that video for you to see, but I did nothing illegal by telling you what I saw myself. If you are in pretty good with your dealer, stop by and ask him if you can see it because a copy of it was sent to every Suzuki dealer in the U.S.

I have been patiently awaiting all the dealer shows this year to pick out what I will race next year.
Unless Honda and Kawasaki pull something out of their bag of tricks during their shows in September....the R450 may just very well appear in my garage because nothing has impressed me more thus far this year.

 

Just enough to tease huh! Now I gotta go tell the wife we're expecting another "R" in the family....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Do you expect Honda to really step up to THAT level this fall?

 

LTZevil400,
That pretty much sums it up. The entire video was just a tease. All of the footage pertaining to the R450 was in black and white and was fuzzy in the areas that you would be looking at for hints as to what the engine and suspension were like.
What wasn't so fuzzy was the bodywork. It's kind of a mixbag of Z400 in the rear and LT250R in the front. It looked very good.


RedGoblin,
The only thing pertaining to the 2006 TRX450R that is concrete, as told to me by the SE Honda Rep, is that there will be a 450R with electric start and other updates shown at the dealer show next month.

 

KNOWSALOT Could you tell how much wider it was the than the yfz and r

 

well i hope ltz450r does have the e-start on it the protype did not.but i would hope the suzuki learned from honda because i think that hurt the trx450r saleswith no e-start.suzuki had to go back and rework the gearbox on the ltz450r thats why their late coming out. the shocks i hear on it are the best a factory has came out with ,but i still can't see doug and jones running factory shocks.their are some ltz450r in the states ,but yoshi has them guarded like fort knox gold. the engine is not the same but somewhat like the rm-z450.think this year or next that the efi 450 quad motor is going to be in the offroad dirtbike the rm-x450.guess we will see at the dealer show if they release the efi rm-x 450 dirtbike to compete with the wr450f dirtbike.the honda trx450r the thing i am hearing is they will have e-start ,new gear ratio,new spring rates ,and the engine tilted forward and lowered (like what tim farr is running his is lowered and tilted forward)and the hrc cam in from the factory.the rumor on the kaw is a 450cc or 500cc efi geared more fro xc racing with reverse but not till late 2007.and the rumor i hear for the 2007 yfz 450 that yamaha not stiitng down on the job its going to be all new from the ground up.efi and aluminum frame is what i hear that their testing now.looks like its going to get pretty good for quad buyers to pick from in the next few years.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Call me old fashioned, but when I think of a Quadracer, it's a 2-stroke. Bah. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

But I do like how the 450s can rev to almost 11,000 rpm now!

 

Do you personally think that Honda will pose a threat to either Yamaha or Suzuki on their new machines?

 

Not to stir the pot, but the red riders have been holding their own on mx tracks. I may be wrong, but I think Team Honda's Tim Farr will has the points lead in the 450 pro production class.

 

I don't know how I could have forgotten to mention this in my first post here, but te swingarm is very radical compared to anything out there now.
Some of you may recall the swingarm that Cannondale planned to use on the Moto in the 2004 model year. It never made it ofcourse because they went bankrupt first...but the swingarm on the R450 looks just like it. It's "Y" shaped with a double bearing on each end for the axle....except that the housings are far apart and nothing is between them. I am sure this design saved quite a few pounds of weight.

yellowrider250ex,
Sorry, but it is hard to tell how it compares to the other 450 models in terms of width.

midnite,
The GNC MX series is over and done with. John Natallie won the championship this year on a TRX 450R. Honda signed Natallie to join Farr on the team for next year before the series was even over with.