Need to tone down my CRF450R

[MMH]

My 2003 CRF450R is TOO MUCH for me. I just bought it after not riding for 20 years (I'm 43). I know that a CRF450X or even a CRF250X would have better suited my needs, but found a great deal on the 450R and could not find much in the x's.

Anyway, I knew I would struggle, but eventually grow into it. What can I do to tone it down? I was thinking about some hillclibing sprokets along w/ a heavier flywheel to start. I know I sound like a girly-man, but right now, I'm not riding the bike, the bike is riding me. :ohmy:

 

[Ol'89r]

I was thinking about some hillclibing sprokets along w/ a heavier flywheel to start. I'm not riding the bike, the bike is riding me. :ohmy:

Hillclimbing or lower gearing would only make the bike more responsive to the throttle. It would lower your top end speed but the bike would have a harder hit at lower speeds.

A flywheel weight will help tone it down a little and so would a insert for the muffler. Make yourself or have someone make you an aluminum insert for the muffler with a hole about the size of your thumb. This will cork up the exhaust system and tone the hit down. As you get used to the hit, you can remove the insert. You may have to do some re-jetting to get the bike to run smoothly with the insert.

Another thing that will help is to learn to hang on to the bike with your knees and lower legs. This will free up your upper body and allow you lessen your grip on the bars. A step seat, (a seat that is cut out in the front with a step in the back), will also help keep you from sliding back too far on the seat.

I have been riding a CRF450 for several years and I still find myself feeling like a flag on a flagpole every once in a while. It's just the nature of the beast. :p

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Pro Moto Billet has exactly what Ol89r is describing. The two-pieces pictured below will go a long ways towards leveling out the power delivery.

If you are willing to go into the engine, adding the CRF450X cam to the options 89r described above will give you a nice well rounded package.

http://www.promotobillet.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/46_48_36/products_id/33

 

[MMH]

Hillclimbing or lower gearing would only make the bike more responsive to the throttle. It would lower your top end speed but the bike would have a harder hit at lower speeds.:p

I understand that lower geraing would make the throttle more responsive. I have pretty good control w/ the right hand so that is not the problem. I was thinking about lower gears so that when I ride w/ my 8 yr. old boy on the 'mini' track, I could get a slower crawl speed around the tight turns.

Maybe just a heavier flywheel & more practice! What is a ballpark price for a heavier flywheel? I would be able to install myself.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Zip Ty Racing has a great kit for $150 retail. www.mxsouth.com can probably get it for you discounted.

http://www.ziptyracing.com/products/product_detail.aspx?id=MTI1MA==

 

[BSWIFT]

You could consider a Rekluse autoclutch. Properly setup, the autoclutch will enhance the rideablility of you thumper. I put one on my 03 YZ450 and it made it much easier to control. However, you can still feel like the flag on the flag pole as 89'r put it. Price is roughly $450.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Good suggestion Swifty. The Rekluse is still the best mod I've done to my CRF450.

 

[MMH]

You could consider a Rekluse autoclutch. Properly setup, the autoclutch will enhance the rideablility of you thumper. I put one on my 03 YZ450 and it made it much easier to control. However, you can still feel like the flag on the flag pole as 89'r put it. Price is roughly $450.

Is this a slipper clutch, or more like a centrifugal that you find on a kid's bike?

 

[Rich Rohrich]

It's a centrifugal clutch.

Here's the review I originally posted on 7/9/2004 :


I installed a Rekluse Z-Start clutch in my 2002 CRF450 SuperMoto bike last weekend. I know they are a sponsor but I want to make it clear that unlike the magazines I PAID for mine, and feel no particular compulsion to snuggle up to anyone just because they are kind enough to help out DRN.

This is just my evaluation as a paying customer, not a Mod on DRN. That said, here are my initial thoughts :

- Fit and finish of the parts is outstanding. First rate hardware throughout. The parts seem too pretty to hide behind a cover.

- The installation directions for the clutch were really good but needed LOTS MORE PICTURES to make things clearer for the average guy who doesn't have these things apart all the time. Some clear model specific pictures would put the directions in the EXCELLENT category. The install took about 20 -30 minutes and went along without a hitch. The little set screws they included to align everything sure made the install much simpler. I think almost anyone with minimal mechanical skills could handle this easily if they work carefully and closely follow the directions. More pictures would ensure a smooth go for the guy working at home.

- I also purchased the optional handlebar mount override/ adjuster. This is a $99.00 option that allows you to use adjust the stall speed from the bars and override the auto-clutch. The directions for the handlebar mount override adjuster were absolutely miserable.:yikes: The pictures were non-specific, poorly shot and there were only a few of them. The override installation instructions were hard to understand and just flat confusing. Hard to believe the same folks who wrote the great instructions for the clutch wrote this mess of words. :( I found it too annoying to properly evaluate so I set the adjuster to the side and will come back to re-evaluate them another day. Maybe I'm being too hard on them , so I'll look at them again from a fresh perspective and we'll see. Don't hold you breath expecting my thoughts to change though. The Rekluse guys need to do some SERIOUS work here.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, lets get on to the initial test ride.


All I can say is HOT DAMN, this thing is more fun than I could have ever guessed. I rolled it out of the shop and did a few strafing runs through the industrial park behind Forward Motion. Hammering through the gears downshifting into the corners and brake sliding on the asphalt was easy as could be. No stalling, no weird wheel hop and wicked drive out of the corners even if I purposely picked the wrong gear on the exit. For SuperMoto stuff this thing feels like cheating. I was whipping around the parking lots jumping off curbs, and having a grand old time acting like a 13 year old with his first bike. A perma-grin was plastered to my face. The coolest part was putting it into 3rd gear and launching it like my dragbike. It comes off so hard and smooth that Andrew Hines has nothing on me now. :)

After I was finished acting like a social deviant I put Eric Gorr on the bike. He was acting as goofy as me on it. Grinning and laughing the whole time he was riding it. When he got off the bike his first words were DAMN, I have to get one of these for MY bike . He especially liked being able to stop the bike in 5th gear have it sit there and idle and then roll away without shifting. While this may not be good for the clutch it sure as hell is good for grins.

In the next couple of weeks I'll get the chance to try it on a dirt track and an MX course and I'll update this.

Except for one area noted above Rekluse did a monster job with this product. It's inexpensive, easy to install and most of all it's a ton of fun.

I'll leave it to guys like AJ and Billy to tell you if it will help lower your lap times next Sunday at the local MX race. Frankly I don't care about that, what I can say without question is this feels like money well spent, and that is rare in the motorcycle business these days.

Excellent work Rekluse. :worship:

 

[_JOE_]

Hey Rich, after 2 years, how has it held up? What parts wear out and how expensive are they to replace? I've been hoping someone I know will get one so I can give it a go.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

It wears out clutch fiber plates just like you would expect. If you lug the engine in too tall a gear and use the torque, then the wear on the fiber plates is greater, just like it would be slipping the clutch by hand and running too tall gear but it's not a huge difference.

The only thing I would do different would be to run the Rekluse or Hinson clutch cover that adds a bit of extra oil capacity to the trans. Overall I have been very pleased with it, and so have the people I have talked to who own them.

 

[MMH]

You could consider a Rekluse autoclutch. Properly setup, the autoclutch will enhance the rideablility of you thumper. I put one on my 03 YZ450 and it made it much easier to control. However, you can still feel like the flag on the flag pole as 89'r put it. Price is roughly $450.

Would it be possible to rebuild the trans & put in the same gearing as the X has - that way I would get a lower 1st gear.

 

[krosser]

Anyone tried the LA Sleeve debore kit, down to 400cc?

 

[BSWIFT]

Would it be possible to rebuild the trans & put in the same gearing as the X has - that way I would get a lower 1st gear.

That's a question I can't answer. Another member did some gear swapping on a YZ250 using a '02 YZ426. Evidently, those fit perfectly. The CRF and CRX maybe the same but I have no first hand info.
Rich's write up on the ReKluse is on the money. The autoclutch is a blast on the big four strokes. The ability to lift the front wheel at anytime is awsome.
Brian