new owner with a few questions!

[669966]

well, here i am with a little time off from my new wr450 and have spent a good part of the day reading all kinds of posts from a lot of interesting posters! the reason i have some extra time, is because i have only really rid'n 4.2km on this new bike before i bailed and had the bike crashed down on the back of my foot. i'm now walking with a cain (hopefully only for another few days.), and maybe even hope to get back to the trails by next w/e.

anyways, since my little spill, i have had a chance to read the manual, take off the plastic, remove a few stickers, put a few new on, re-routed the air hose on the left side of the bike into the airbox, and generally gett'n a good idea of all the differt, high tech parts that differ from my old ttr 250. all's i can say is wow, this is not a toy like the ttr, but a beast!

have'n the canadian bike, i don't have to worry about removing the grey wire, throttle stop, nor the airbox snorkel. but i did wire in a keyswitch infront of the ignition button (if only for a little piece of mind) because i have the bike street-legal, and will be driving around town from time to time.

but here are my questions! when riding at the top end of the gears my bike makes a slap'n noise in the front. sounds like it may be coming from the front brake line running down in-through the eye-guides to the front caliper. not to sure though. it only happens at high rpm's!! but maybe its the platic shock protectors??? i don't know, but it's anoying! i did have a slap'n noise going from the backend which i think i have fixed! it was the side number-plate slap'n on the the rad. res. (rear left side). i just put a little padd'n in between the two and it seems to have disapeared.

another question i had was, if anyone has wired a rear brake switch into the rear light, where did you mount the switch? i can't really see a good spot to zip-tie a switch to the bike.??? i have been try'n to find a component that actually gets wired right onto the rear master-cylinder (looks real clean), but am have'n a hard time locating one. my dealers in my area know what it is, just can't find it. any tt'ers out there know how to find one?

and finally - with that little spill i had, i busted (bent) the rightside foot peg. Sh%t. anyone recommend a good after-market peg out there for a reasonalbe price?

to finih, i would like to add that i think i have made a crazy purchace, but holy-fock, WHAT A BIKE!!! can't wait to really get it out!

[oRGie]

I've got a ktm brake light switch that goes straight onto a wr426f master cylinder, going to fit it monday.. but your master cylinder is different i think, no resovoir i believe, so it may not work for you.. worth checkin out tho i guess.. ?

[wrkaholic]

Hey, don't feel bad about eating it. I just bought a 2002 WR426 and lost it the first time out. I had ridden about 20 miles, when I had the front tire wash out on me. Scratched up the plastic, bent the pipe guard, big raspberry on my arm, and hurt my hip. Nothing too bad though, I am going riding again tomorrow with my son and his friend. Another guy I know, bought a new WR450 and also spilled it the first time out. He was pretty upset, so he bought new plastic. Probably a mistake, since he probably will go down again sometime. Anyway, these bikes are monsters, makes you think you can do stuff you can't. I personally am going to be more careful, but, I love the bike. I used to have a XR650L, pretty tricked out, but, this WR is in another league.

[yimmyhauler]

seems like the wr is "flighty in the front end" but I've heard the the tires are crap.... being old school id like some metzlers up front but have heard 156 or m12 are the thing to go with.... think I'll try the m12's up there myself

[beezer]

I tried an old style Metzler on the front 2 years ago and it sucked. They have made advances in the last 25 years.

The 756 Dunlop is a good tire.

[Sylvain]

For your info,

Brake switch :

A hydraulic brake switch replaces the regular banjo bolt. My 2002 426 wr has a reservoir, but the banjo bolt location is on the actuating piston assly where the rear brake pedal activates the mecanism. Hope it helps.

to finish, i would like to add that i think i have made a crazy purchace

I feel the same way. But what a ride. Now if I just could keep my hands on it when I twist the throttle... ?