Tech Articles

	Tire measurements including weight and actual diameter along with info on Goldspeeds new GPS Gravity 8 ply desert racing tire.
	My Baja Racing Information Article.  Contains all kinds of info for people who wish to try out baja racing.
	Project Tank, follow along as we build our Vegas to Reno Winning 2008 Raptor 700 into a Pro level desert racer. Huge horsepower, new chassis, custom suspension, custom fuel system, etc, etc.
	Trophy Quads / Hybrids Information page.  I compiled all the awesome custom quads I could find.
Kickstart Conversion	Some files that show how to convert an electric start 450R to kickstart as well as parts lists and more.
	My gear page, talks about Riding gear, Spot Tracker, GPS, fitness and more.
	My ATV weigh-in page.  Has race ready weights for various race quads.
	Oversize Yamaha Raptor 700 Fuel Tank System. 5.25 gallon custom aluminum fuel cell.
	How to intall a big YTZ10S or YTZ14S battery in a Honda TRX450R
	My Motowoz / Teixeira Tech Long Travel rear suspension impressions
	Click here to visit my Suspension Setup Page
	Recommended modifications and General Tips for ATV racing
	Recommendations for endurance ATV racing
	Gear calculator Spreadsheet by lilbro
Dyno	In December of 09 I dyno'd my 06 race quad which had my non race motor in it at the time.  It had the 07 450R motor out of my dads quad which has an HRC kit and a K&N filter.  After dyno'ing it I put the Dasa exhaust on it and dyno't it again 30 minutes later. I also dyno'd the 05 honda, it is the green curve on the chart.  It has a HC1 cam, 13:1 piston, rossier exhaust and k&n filter.  The engine ended up seizing up the next day so I guess it was tired. Dyno Graph

Information about my race machines, click on the link for tech section you would like to view and the page will jump to that section:

2006 TRX450R:

These links will take you to specific tech articles:

Current Information

April 2009 Rebuild- Teixeira Tech Rear Linkage, Motowoz LT shock, new LSR race frame

Lone Star Racing Chrome Moly Race Frame Install

Initial Setup

Initial Setup

2007 Raptor 700, the BITD Race Quad
The Raptor Build has its own page, go here for more info.

2005 TRX450R:
Jan 2012: This quad is ridden, raced and maintained by my good friend Adam. The quad is his now and it has a lot of upgrades.

Round 1 of Power Mod
   Carb Jetting
   Air Filter
   Muffler end cap

Suspension
   Stock Suspension Adjustment
   Aftermarket Suspension Install (A-arms, rear linkage, axle)

Other
   Killswitch install
   Stock handlebars suck
   Fasst Flexx Handlebars
   Twist Throttle
   Precision Steering Stabilizer (added 2-21-07)
   QuadTech Desert Seat

Round 2 of Power Mods
   Piston and Cam
   Rossier Exhaust
   Dyno Tune

Death of the 05

Round 3, January 2012

2006 Honda Current Information
As of January 2012 my 2006 race quad has the following parts:
LoneStar Racing DC Pro A-arms, DC Pro +2" Stem, Motowoz LT front shocks,FAST bars, precision stabilizer, Quadtech desert seat, Dasa exhaust, KMS built engine, Web 208 cam, DFR ported head, 12.5:1 piston, +4 LoneStar Racing DC Pro Axle, IMS gas tank and dry break, IMS heel guards nerfs, IMS pegs and nerfs, Douglas Ultimate Beadlock yellow label rear rims with 22" Razr II's, Hiper Racing front wheels with 23" Razr II's, JAGG oil cooler (the stock mounting tabs have to be modified to be stronger the stock ones are not sufficient), Fluidyne radiator.

I tried a univeral fit Moose Racing parking brake block off plate but it would not work with new brake pads, the brake piston would bottom out agains the plate.  A new DFR blockoff plate fixed this issue.

When I switched from the JD Performance +2 LT arms to the LSR DC Pro arms I was expecting a little better handling but I was blown away by the difference.  My quad turns so much better now it is amazing.  It used to push and plow very bad in the corners, now I can pick my line and it holds it all the way through.  I didn't even have to get my shocks revalved either.  I highly recommend the DC Pro A-arms.

2006 Honda TRX450R Initial Purchase and setup:
When the 2005 blew up I decided to buy a 2006 450R and transfer some of my parts to it and eventually fix the 05 and keep it as a 2nd quad. I transferred over the steering stabilizer, handlebars, barclamp, desert seat, wheels and front bumper.  The rear bumper would not transfer along with the A-arms. So I decided to get +2 long travel a-arms this time along with aftermarket front shocks.  I knew I wanted to stick with the JD Performance A-arms because I was pleased with the ones I had on my 05 and Dave at JD is a great guy.  Based on some research I went with Motowoz front shocks. I sent the rear shock to GT thunder and got their new shock piston and new linkage.  I got the IMS nerfbars and heelguards from Jacob at absoluteracingaz.com.

Update 3-5-08: After doing several races with the Motowoz shocks I can tell you that they perform great and the tech support that Jim gives is second to none.  He has helped me any time I have needed it and even done some repairs for no charge!  Thanks Jim!

Old Front Tires: Kenda Sport 6- 22x7x10"
Old Rear Tires: Kenda Klaw- 20x11x9"
I now run Maxxis Razr II Tires all around and I love them. I think they are quite a bit better than the kendas.

2005 Honda TRX450R:
2005 Honda Current Information
As of January 2012 this quad has the following parts from LoneStar Racing- Gussett kit, axle, DC Pro A-arms.  PEP front shocks, Laker plastics, DFR Graphics, Fast Bars, Precision Stabilizer, and Stage 2 Hotcam.  Soon it will have an 06+ carb, LoneStar DC-6 linkage and Fox rear shocks.

Round 1 of Power Mods
I wanted a little extra power for little investment so I put in a 180 main jet, installed a K&N cone filter and outer sock, removed the air box lid and installed an HRC muffler end cap. These simple mods enabled my 05 450R to run exactly neck and neck with my dad's 06.

Carb Jetting
Jetting the carb on my 05 TRX 450R is really easy. Just remove the large nut on the bottom of the carb. Then using a 6mm socket (I think) you loosen the stock jet and bolt in the new one. That is all I did on mine, no moving of the clip and now pilot jet change.The bike has run fine at the dunes up at 6000 feet at the cinders and at the local 1200ft elevation tracks.

Air Filter
I bought a K&N filter kit from a local shop.  It bolts in very easily.  I also left the airbox lid off and I have never had any problems.

Muffler end cap
I purchased the Honda HRC kit muffler endcap from the trx450r.org forums for $30 shipped. Installing it kinda sucked because one of the stock allen head bolts snapped off when I was trying to unscrew it. I had to drill it out and everything else was fine. It makes the bike a little louder but not obnoxious.

Stock Suspension Adjustment
I noticed right away that my suspension could use some adjustment.  It really helps to play with the adjustments to suit your weight and riding style.

Aftermarket Suspension Install (A-arms, rear linkage, axle)
I tried to do a lot of research before deciding what to do. I knew I wanted to make some upgrades because I was having such a blast at the MX track. Keep in mind the stock stuff can handle a lot I was clearing most of the tabletops and step ups and landing nicely with the stock stuff. I initially started looking at Elka shocks, i-shocks and other expensive stuff. But based on input from people on the forums I decided to just have my stock stuff resprung and revalved for my weight by Laz at GT Thunder. I did the complete package with upgraded rear shock linkage for about $740 I believe. I wasn't sure which axle to get but based on Laz's input I went with an LSR (lonestar racing) axle. He told me that basically all axles will eventually bend and need repair but a good axle will bend and not just snap in half on you and based on his experience the LSR axles hold up well and do not snap.

For a-arms I decided to go with JD Performance.They have a very solid reputation and setting up the caster and camber on these is very simple. I went with +2 a-arms and I have very pleased with them.

I did not take good notes or photos during the install so I will only offer a few pointers. Everything was straightforward other than the balljoints. Unbolting the stock shocks took all of 15 minutes and I packaaged them up and sent them to GT Thunder. I had them back in one week. Getting the balljoints off of the spindle was very difficult. I tried all of the methods posted online- punches, hammers, blocks of aluminum, pry bars, a torch, etc. The only thing I didn't try was the honda tool because I couldn't get one and I heard they chew up the spindle. I tried a ball joint tool from a parts store and that didnt work. I also tried a regular pickle fork and that didn't work. So finally I had to buy a smaller pickle fork from pep boys. The pickle fork worked fine but it will destroy your stock ball joint seals. I didn't really care because I was bolting in all new stuff.

Putting in the new axle is straight forward.  You loosen up the axle nut, remove the axle clip, hubs and then hammer out the old axle and hammer the new on in.

I set up the alignment and ride height based on the paperwork from GT Thunder and this article on LSR.

As of 8-22-06 I have had the suspension for 2 weeks and I have run one MX race and I have been to the track twice and ran two 29 mile desert laps. I am very pleased with the suspension. Even hard landings feel much softer. Having a wider stance really helps with stability. I have gotten into a few death wobbles or tank rattlers and everything felt much more predictable than before. The bike also turns much better at the MX track. I am still trying to get the compression and rebound settings perfect but I am very happy with the purchase.

I have been using this suspension for a few weeks now and I am bottoming out the front on semi-hard landings and I have the compression set too full hard. I emailed Laz with my ride height specs and he said I need to get a stiffer spring for the front. So I will be sending my fron shocks in for a harder spring.

Other:

Killswitch install
Most tracks require a tether type killswitch on all quads. It attaches to the rider so if you fly off it pulls a pin and kills the bike. A killswitch kit is $25-50 and installs easily. All you have to do is wire it inline of the stock kill switch.  Please see photos for more.

Stock handlebars suck
My dad managed to bend his stock handlebars flying off a small dune at glamis. He smashed the left side of the bars with his chest and it bent the bars but his chest was fine. Then in August of 2006 my friend tipped my quad over going into a turn at the MX track. It rolled onto its side and bent the damn bar. I wanted to upgrade to the Fasst Flexx bars but I couldn't see spending $300 plus $70 for new clamps just for handlebars.  I had a big ride the next day so I went to a local shop and got some pro taper bars for $35. They told me they were quad bars but I found out that the bend on them was actually a motorcycle bend. So the bars curve upwards towards the end. This makes it annoying to turn. After a day of riding I decided I would upgrade to the Fasst Flexx bars.

Fasst Flexx Handlebars
Everyone on the forums highly recommends these bars. They have rubber or polymer inserts which allow the bars to flex and absorb vibrations. I went on a desert ride and all of the desert racers had them and nobody had a bad thing to say about them.  This was also the same day I was stuck riding with the motorcycle bars mentioned above. So based on all the glowing reviews I decided to try them out. Also the main thing that is sore on me after riding is my hands, wrists and forearms and since I plan to race a lot I figured these would be a great investment. I purchased the bars for $260 from Derisi racing. I went with the dana bend bars since when they are bolted to the new clamps they will only be about 1/2" higher than stock. The ATV bend bars would be about 1.25" higher than stock and I didn't want that.

The Flexx bars are larger in the middle so of course you have to buy new bar clamps.  Stock bars are 7/8" and the flexx bars are 1-1/8" Everyone seems to like the trail tech clamps and who am I to argue so I ordered a set of trail tech clamps for I believe $70 from trail tech.

The part of the bar where you bolt all your stuff to is still 7/8" so you don't need to order larger clutch and brake clamps and you still run standard size grips.  I have heard that the oury grips are very comfortable. I ordered them through paypal directly from oury. They are $15 for the first set and $9 for additional sets on the same order the paypal address is ouryppa @ hotmail.com. They were shipped the same day that I ordered them.

Everything I ordered early in the week arrived on friday and I began the installation. The Trail tech clamp is very nice and it comes with a new plastic "dashboard" to mount your ignition and engine overheat light. Everything bolts on very easily. The only proble I had was popping the top of the ignitino switch off. You need to depress the two small tabs on the lower part of the ignition cylinder and then you can seperate the top of the switch from the cylinder to remove it from the stock dash and insert it into the new dash. Make sure you use loctite on everything.

I went with the fasst bars with the dana bend, trailtech bar clamps for 450R and Oury grips. I ordered the clamps directly from trailtech, the bars from Derisi racing and the grips straight from oury through their paypal account. I ordered it all on monday or tuesday and lucky for me it all arrived in time for the weekend.

Saturday I went to a MX track I had never been on, canyon off-road park north of Phoenix. The track was very hard packed and not very smooth. It is the roughest MX track I have been on and I could immediately tell the bars were helping.  Even after a day of racing on this rough track my hands, arms and wrists did not hurt like they did before on the stock bars on a smooth track. Sunday I went to the track I normally ride on. I was able to do 5 laps straight I my arms and hands were not dying as before. However my thumb still gets tired. Also i can't say enough about the oury grips, they are really comfortable and much softer than anything I have seen. I have tried stock grips, diamond grips and some other off brand and the oury is WAY better.

Count me as a believer in these bars. I think this is the best $400 I have spent on the quad ($260 bars, $75 clamps, $15 grips, plus shipping).

Twist Throttle
After a lot of debate I finally decided to switch to a twist throttle. My thumb and forearm was really slowing me down in the long desert races and taping my thumb into oblivion was not a good solution. I went with a Pro Motion twist throttle. I went on a long trail ride to get used to it. I heard a lot of people saying that twist throttles are not good on quads and it is dangerous in the corners because you cant control the throttle. I can whole heartedly say that is total crap. The twist throttle is great and it took very little time to adapt. The only thing you really have to concentrate on is making sure you release the throttle and keep it closed while braking and setting up for corners. At first I noticed I was using the front brake and keeping the throttle on slightly which of course caused the quad to push through the corner. At the MX track it took a little getting used to also but nothing too bad.

During long dune rides and desert races the twist throttle is awesome. My thumb of course never gets tired and my forearms and hands are in much better shape.

Precision Steering Stabilizer
After much delay I finally decided to drop the coin on the Precision Stabilizer. I ordered it from Rocky Mountain ATV and it arrived a few days later. I actually installed it out at the dunes. The installation was quite easy. I felt a major difference right away. The handlebars were so smooth through the bumpy sand highway.  I was very pleased. A few weeks later I entered the 2006 Whiplash season opener and the stabilizer helped a great deal. At one point in the race I was losing control through a turn that had some giant whoops in it. I was about the bail off the machine when things started calming down and the handlebars remained fairly centered throughout the whole ordeal. I attribute this to the stabilizer, Ireally think it saved my butt. After the race my arms were only half as tired as before. I was extremely impressed with the difference the stabilizer made for my arms and arm pump. I would say the stabilizer made a bigger difference than the FAST bars. Both of them combined really make the ride nice. On a related note my friend installed a standard shock style stabilizer and it was completely worthless. He took it off a few weeks later because it made zero difference.

QuadTech Desert Seat
I am a particularly lazy and out of shape racer so I sit down a lot, probably 90% of the time so I knew this seat would be a good investment and I was right.  I love the seat.  I got the big plushy desert seat and I love it. It does raise you up at least an inch over stock, but it is not a big deal to me. However when building my 06 I did go with a +1.25" steering stem.  In 2008 I bought one of these seats for my dad for xmas for his 2007 Honda 450R because he kept threatening to steal mine.

Round 2 of Power Mods, Cam and Piston
After a year of hard riding I figured it was time for a cam and while I was at it I wanted to do a piston. I went with a 12.5:1 piston and the HC1 cam. This cam is considered more of a mid range cam which is good for me with all the racing I do. I didn't really need a peaky cam to win drag races. Beshaw racing installed the parts for me. The power increase was noticeable but didn't really knock me on my ass or anything. I still think my dad's 06 450R with HRC kit is faster than my 05 and most of that can probably be attributed to the more agressive gear ratios and higher redline on the 06.

Round 2.5: I added the full Rossier Exhaust hoping it would pickup the power by a lot since the stock exhaust was the only bottleneck left. The power did increase by quite a bit down low but not up top. My dads quad is definitely faster than mine and my friends stock 06 gives me a decent run in a drag race. So I took the quad into DFR to have them check it out. They said the jetting was good but it definitely felt slower than it should. They checked compression, valves, etc and couldn't pinpoint anything. I then added a Dasa Ring and larger K&N filter, I also switched to a 13tooth front sprocket. The sprocket change was great and I like it a lot.  I do not feel like I am shifting too often like I thought I would.

So I took the bike to the dyno just to see where I stand and it only made 43rwhp. It seems I need to switch to a HC2 cam and maybe port the head and I think I will be good. I should have just started with the HC2 right off the bat, oh well. Here is the dyno char: HP  Torque

Death of the 05
During the 2nd lap of my race in July 2006 my quad started to stutter. Then it died and locked up. The kickstart would not move at all. The teardown showed that the rod bearing went out causing all sorts of damage. This is a fairly common occurence on 2004 and 2005's unfortunately. I had to replace the rod, piston, etc. I have been told the only way to avoid the bearing failure is to tip the quad on its side when changing the oil and pour oil into the hole where the filter goes. Then when you start the quad after the oil change ensure that the oil level drops within a few seconds. If it doesn't then stop the quad and start again. I guess the bearing fails due to damage caused due to poor lubrication after oil changes.

Thanks to sredish, 86atc250r, and MSI Racing (KillerQuad) for all the help on the trx450r.org forums. Much of this info was compiled with help from them.