Anyone removed the E-start on the WR450?

[ncmountainman]

I removed the e-starter, battery, lights etc from my 03 WR450 and it is amazing how much lighter it feels. I used a YZ front number plate and modified a YZ rear fender to fit. An automotive freeze plug works perfect for the hole where the starter plugs into the stator cover. DO NOT run the bike with an open circuit in place of the battery. I purchased a resister that is meant to mount in place of the battery on custom harleys and it works like a charm. If you do not put this in place of the battery you will fry the regulator. If I remember correctly the place I bought the resister from was called BATPACK. It was a while back so that may not be right. Do some searches for resisters to replace the battery on custom bikes and you should find something that works. The weight savings with this setup is significant. Why have an e-starter when these things kick start so easily???

if you ground the neg lead of the system at the regulator its no problem,my old 04 wr has been running like that for near 2 yrs. no BATPACK resistor,no problems

[MTRSPORTDAN]

I was at the yamaha shop the other day and saw a resistor from White brothers that was for battery removal. It was small and light, only about 3 inches long and 2-3 ounces with two kinda like battery posts on the top. I just got my wr and this is the first elec. start bike I have had. I haven't figured out if I am going to remove it yet. I would like to loose about 10lbs. off the bike.

[ncmountainman]

I was at the yamaha shop the other day and saw a resistor from White brothers that was for battery removal. It was small and light, only about 3 inches long and 2-3 ounces with two kinda like battery posts on the top. I just got my wr and this is the first elec. start bike I have had. I haven't figured out if I am going to remove it yet. I would like to loose about 10lbs. off the bike.

everything to do with the starter was 13 lbs

[MTRSPORTDAN]

WOW!!!!! what is the weight of the starter?

[ncmountainman]

WOW!!!!! what is the weight of the starter?

not sure exactly as i weighed it all together,but there was 1 lb of extra wiring(indy can vouch for that,as he bought the stuff) if you do take it off be sure to remove the reduction gear (behind the 3" round cover) and i even removed the crank gear and one way clutch behind the fw,gave it a little more zip due to less fww

[Dan_Lorenze]

WOW!!!!! what is the weight of the starter?

It's minimal weight that's carried low in the bike... I have to admit, I'm spoiled by the convenience of the button.

[ncmountainman]

its quite noticeable,flickability is greatly improved. removal of the battery also allows use of the yz airbox which is over a lb lighter. all in all i took just over 20lbs off my wr. and for all you people that think losing 20 lbs myself would do the same thing,your sadly mistaken

[mtrablue]

if only MY extra 20 lbs. was just bolted on!

[snmhanson]

I was thinking about removing my e-start. I decided that before removing it I would only kick my bike for a day to see how spoiled I had gotten by the e-start. I kicked it about five times to try to start it and ended up using the e-start for the rest of the day.

[BajaFool]

Snmhanson,

Once you've gone over to the Dark Side, there is no return.

[snmhanson]

Do you mean once you've seen the light there's no return?

[Dan_Lorenze]

I was thinking about removing one fork...

How about buying a YZ and throw a WR tranny in, it fits no problem.. Then get a flywheel weight and an 18 rear wheel and be done with it..

[BajaFool]

Dan Lorenze,

You just might have something there---if money is no object!!! By the way, I looked over my friends new 50th anniversary 2006 YZ450F last week. I noted that the engine case has the lugs for a starter motor, I would guess that we can look forward to the new style motor in an upcoming electric start WR.

[stealman]

Ncmountain man or any one else that knows, I would like to loose my starter and am trying to figure out what I can remove. Ncmountainman says to mount neg. from battery at the regulator, remove reduction gear, crank gear one way clutch. In my manual under engine where it shows this part of the engine none of these terms are used. Can someone please tell me what these parts are referred to in the manual? Thanks.

[CISCO]

Ncmountain man or any one else that knows, I would like to loose my starter and am trying to figure out what I can remove. Ncmountainman says to mount neg. from battery at the regulator, remove reduction gear, crank gear one way clutch. In my manual under engine where it shows this part of the engine none of these terms are used. Can someone please tell me what these parts are referred to in the manual? Thanks.

First off on 05 -06 WR you will need a capacitor in place of the battery. Grounding the neg lead wont work on the newer models.

You will want to remove:

>The starter, and tie up starter leads from harness. (install 1 1/4" freeze plug in the hole left in the case)

>Starter idler gear and shaft (located behind the small cover adjascent/below to starter)

>Driven starter gear. This is behind the flywheel/starter clutch

>Starter clutch. this is bolted to the flywheel.

>>>>>These parts alone wheigh 6lbs 4OZ on my fancy UPS shipping scale

Remove the battery and install capacitor. The WR battery weighs 7 lbs

There is NCmountainmans 13 lbs.

Additional weight savings:

Ditch the steel sprocket for aluminum... 1.5lb savings

Ditch the rear fender....2 lb savings

For races ditch the sidestand....3 lb savings

In reality you can YZ-ify the WR and shave 19 REAL pounds for much less than throwing a WR tranny into a YZ....(over 1K in parts)

It makes a great off road race bike this way. you also loose about 9 OZ (I think) of FWW which lets the motor rev very quickly. For the trail, keep the side stand on. They really do handle better without the weight though!

[stealman]

Thanks for the reply. I have an 04 model. Can you tell me where the regulator is or what they call it in the manual? Thanks.

[mtrablue]

First off on 05 -06 WR you will need a capacitor in place of the battery. Grounding the neg lead wont work on the newer models.

what did they change?

[CISCO]

First off on 05 -06 WR you will need a capacitor in place of the battery. Grounding the neg lead wont work on the newer models.

what did they change?

I havent gotten that far, I lack tinker time lately, but I do know it wont work like the older models.. I heard about it...tried it...yep, gotta have the battery.....or a capacitor. I think the change is in the CDI.

Ill find out for sure and post it soon.

[ncmountainman]

I havent gotten that far, I lack tinker time lately, but I do know it wont work like the older models.. I heard about it...tried it...yep, gotta have the battery.....or a capacitor. I think the change is in the CDI.

Ill find out for sure and post it soon.

everyone told me that i needed some sort of battery replacement on my 04,the feller that sells vortex ignitions out of cali was extremely adiment "theres no way it'll work without the battery" and at the time it had already been out for 6 mos i rewired the whole harness and removed everything that had anything to do with the starter. before ya spend more money than ya have to,there is a smaller black wire thats with the main ground to the batteryseperate the smaller one and ground it at the regulator bolt. remove that pos lead also as you don't want to burn it down. make sure your ign switch is pushed down (the red light will not work anymore) you can later remove the ign. switch. there is no reason the bike won't run without a battery.

[sethjtalley]

Cisco -

So what is an automotive freeze plug and where can I get one? I've got a '05 250F and assume all this is the same.....

So if I was to lighten up my 250, the only thing I'd have to buy is the freeze plug and capacitor?