2004 WR450F bringin' her back from the dead project

[KGSloan]

i'll just say what's already been said many times over - but just wow, that is one amazing build. great work and attention to detail, i would have issues riding it at this point!

i bought my 2004 wr450 with the intention of making it a motard also - and it was clean enough to make it pretty at that point too. however, i rode it on the dirt a couple times and got hooked.....man it looks like a big heap of junk compared to that beaut!

also really enjoy the sharing of ideas (even without a lot of response at times) - especially the piston oiling. thanks for keeping this going, it's been an amazing read.

[zibbit u2]

hey thanks KGSloan, I'm glad I provided a thread entertaining enough that people would read, and maybe come up a few new ideas themselves for their bike. My bike quite frankly due to neglect was destined for the scrap yard or to be parted out, but with a little patience, creativity, funds, and hours upon hours of researching I ended up bringing it back from the dead.

[aspiring]

hello from the uk.fantastic work and attention to detail on this bike.when you say the uprated oil pump has more teeth on the gear is the difference 13 or 14 teeth? ive been looking at used pumps on ebay and some have 13 teeth and some have 14 teeth but sellers list them as coming off all different years of bikes.i have a 2004 wr450 and im not sure what pump is fitted to my bike as i havnt stripped the engine yet,hoping to do this mod in the next few weeks so im just getting the parts together.also is there any seals or bearings i can replace on a used pump bfore i fit it? thanks in advance for any help

[EBOB]

I know that I am extremely late to the topic, but I am very much intrigued on this bike and post all together. I picked up a 2004 WR450F earlier this month and immediately fell in love with it. My intentions on picking one up was to do what you did, convert it into a SM with old Bob Hannah graphics. I found this bike on the world wide web and had to have it because of the deal that it was coming with. I got the bike with many little upgrades on it but most importantly with an entirely blank YZ frame from the same year. This frame was to be used for the racing team, but once they switched over to the new aluminum frames they got rid of all the old steal frames. This frame is special to me because it has no vin number on it, mind you I live in California a.k.a. emission laws galore, which would make it a special build bike making me be able to bypass all the emission laws. I have been reading all the posts on this bike and cant help to laugh a little bit due to the fact that I can relate to zibbit, other then basically having very little to start with, I too am looking to make my bike very similar to yours and I too am also a airplane mechanic, but just for the United States Air Force  ?. I am going to continue reading more about this topic and was wondering if I could call onto you for some advice when needed, seeing how you seem full of it haha. i appreciate you posting all of this about your bike, it is truly one killer machine.

-Evan

ps. oh and the itch to work on my bike is extra annoying seeing how that I am currently deployed 

[Motomike1]

NP Maniac, glad you're getting some insparation from the thread.

incredible transformation! i like the oil idea too, but is this only for the prior to '06 models?  Does my '09 already have the advanced pump and different cover?

 

lovin' that 50th anniversary plastics!!

[Krimble]

This is my 4th re-reading of this build. It's the thread that made me do my build, haha. 

[zibbit u2]

Wow.. never knew ppl were still posting in this thread.. lol.. Guess I should check this place out more often.  Sorry about that peeps

 

I know that I am extremely late to the topic, but I am very much intrigued on this bike and post all together. I picked up a 2004 WR450F earlier this month and immediately fell in love with it. My intentions on picking one up was to do what you did, convert it into a SM with old Bob Hannah graphics. I found this bike on the world wide web and had to have it because of the deal that it was coming with. I got the bike with many little upgrades on it but most importantly with an entirely blank YZ frame from the same year. This frame was to be used for the racing team, but once they switched over to the new aluminum frames they got rid of all the old steal frames. This frame is special to me because it has no vin number on it, mind you I live in California a.k.a. emission laws galore, which would make it a special build bike making me be able to bypass all the emission laws. I have been reading all the posts on this bike and cant help to laugh a little bit due to the fact that I can relate to zibbit, other then basically having very little to start with, I too am looking to make my bike very similar to yours and I too am also a airplane mechanic, but just for the United States Air Force  ?. I am going to continue reading more about this topic and was wondering if I could call onto you for some advice when needed, seeing how you seem full of it haha. i appreciate you posting all of this about your bike, it is truly one killer machine.

-Evan

ps. oh and the itch to work on my bike is extra annoying seeing how that I am currently deployed 

 

Awesome another Airforce mechanic.  Yeah definitely if you need a hand or idea's lmk.  Have a good deployment and return home safe and sound.

 

incredible transformation! i like the oil idea too, but is this only for the prior to '06 models?  Does my '09 already have the advanced pump and different cover?

 

lovin' that 50th anniversary plastics!!

 

quite honestly I couldn't tell you if yours has it or not.  You could always pull the cover and find out.....

 

This is my 4th re-reading of this build. It's the thread that made me do my build, haha. 

 

Glad I inspired you to build.

 

On a more serious note, I keep tossing up the idea of selling the bike and moving on to a new project.. then I look back at the money, time and effort that I put into the bike and I want to keep it... even if I'm not riding it..    It's crazy, I've started the bike less than a handful of times this year, rode it for less than 20 mins at a time.. and I keep thinking that it's a shame.  I do really like riding it, but I've got no time to do it.. nor is there anyone around here without a 1000cc sportbike and/or Harley that wants to do what this bike is designed to do..

 

I'll probably keep it, but it pains me to see it unused.... at least it's payed for..

Edited August 31, 2013 by zibbit u2

[zibbit u2]

Wow.. it's been a little while since I've updated this thread.. So here it goes..

The motard received another engine freshen this past season, of a another 98mm Big Bore kit, and a 13.5:1 CP piston from Ebay.. I have to admit, you can definitely feel the difference between the previous 12.5:1 to the 13.5:1.. so much extra jam down low.. but wow, is the bike ever difficult to kick now.. even the starter struggles.

 

Oh and yes.. I still have the Motard.  Found out it's not worth it to sell after I tallied the costs of building it.

 

Also, as I mentioned in a previous post.. I did actually pickup another bike.. which I had to restore to factory goodness before I rode it.. anyways it's a 2006 YZF-R6V 50th Anniversary.. 

 

Only problem with the new bike.. it's SO FLAWKING uncomfortable to ride after 40 mins + compared to being on a softer long travel suspension, upright seated, supermoto WR450f.. but.. 120 km/hr in first gear before realizing you've still got another 5 gears after that makes for a pretty big smile on your face at the end of the day.  Combine that.. with a *claimed* 17,500 RPM red line.. makes for such a beautiful scream from the exhaust.

Next bike I think will be a 2015 Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle... it's kinda breaking tradition or theme with my two currently owned bikes.. but it'll be a lot more comfortable for just cruising around.

 

 

[zibbit u2]

Here's a quickie..

If anyone is looking for a 04 WR450 factory Blue gas tank, Acerbis Blue Rad shrouds, Acerbis White rear YZ fender, and offroad blue fender.. Give me a shout.. I'm trying to clear some shelf space.. so it'll go for CHEAP..  here's a picture of my bike with them mounted.. (side number plates and tail light aren't included)..

 

also I have the NEW KTM headlight assembly still sitting on my shelf that is taking up space.. it's brand new.. never actually been installed on a bike (in the pic it wasn't mounted).  Again.. letting go CHEAP.

 

 

So, the R6 posted above was sold.. and I didn't end up getting a scrambler... I got this instead.. hehe

[zibbit u2]

Well it's time for the pre-season freshen up on the WR.. so what's on the menu:

1. Revert back to a new Yamaha cable clutch system vs the Magura Hydro setup
2. Revert back to a stock bore w/ Wiseco forged 13:1 piston vs the Cylinder Works 470cc w/CP 13.5:1 piston

3. Replace Timing chain
4. Rebuild both 06 48mm forks using Yamaha rebuild kit (new seals, guides and RCE springs)

5. Change out the chain (it was due)
6. Swap bald Pilot Sport 2CV tires with Michelin Supermoto Rain tires (again it was due)
7. General bolt tightening and house cleaning/lube

8. Replace front pads due to fork oil contamination.

I'm just a little over half way through the job, and all I want to do is just go out an ride instead of having this downtime.  Ah well, I suppose it's for the better.

So, here's a few pictures;

 

 

 

mmm.. meaty

 

 

I have to admit, so far even 3 years after the bike was powder coated, it's really holding up nicely.  Oh, and I moved from Alberta to the Wet Coast.. oops I mean West Coast.

Edited February 29, 2016 by zibbit u2

[knuckleduster271]

Just read through this whole thread, nice job!

Couple questions ( might have been said already, sorry if i missed it)

Why are you steeping down to stock bore and losing the magura hyd clutch?

Do you have any plans to upgrade the suspension for sm duty?

Nice car also

Heres my 12 sec 07 waggy

Couple shots of my 07 wr

Edited March 2, 2016 by knuckleduster271

[zibbit u2]

Just read through this whole thread, nice job!

Couple questions ( might have been said already, sorry if i missed it)

Why are you steeping down to stock bore and losing the magura hyd clutch?

Do you have any plans to upgrade the suspension for sm duty?

 

I'm stepping down to stock bore/high compression because the vibrations felt in the bars from the big bore made the bike zero fun to run for any extended period of time.  Quite literally body parts would fall asleep on every engine decel.  Torque was fun.. made the front of the bike CRAZY light, but driving that heavy piston made things no fun.  I think what every BB should come with a new weighted counter balance shaft which would eliminate the bar buzz.

 

I felt the Magura Hydro clutch was too much an on/off switch, it made it almost impossible to feather the clutch to get a good launch on pavement.

 

Suspension is being setup for SM duty (hence why it's getting a good look over).  I'll be doing a fairly intensive re-spring and re-valve with some RaceTech parts soon.  During this pre-season inspection, I ended up only changing the Yamaha parts kit, and I set the oil level using 5w oil.  However once the parts show up I'll be going with Gold Valves, 0.50kg fork springs, 5.0kg rear, 100mm oil height.

 

About the wagon and bike.. nice job.  I'd totally throw a subaru/motard wave out.

 

Unfortunately I'm rocking the winter and/or offroad look on mine right now.. this was from I believe last "summer" season.

 

 

 

[knuckleduster271]

I'm stepping down to stock bore/high compression because the vibrations felt in the bars from the big bore made the bike zero fun to run for any extended period of time.  Quite literally body parts would fall asleep on every engine decel.  Torque was fun.. made the front of the bike CRAZY light, but driving that heavy piston made things no fun.  I think what every BB should come with a new weighted counter balance shaft which would eliminate the bar buzz.

 

I felt the Magura Hydro clutch was too much an on/off switch, it made it almost impossible to feather the clutch to get a good launch on pavement.

 

Suspension is being setup for SM duty (hence why it's getting a good look over).  I'll be doing a fairly intensive re-spring and re-valve with some RaceTech parts soon.  During this pre-season inspection, I ended up only changing the Yamaha parts kit, and I set the oil level using 5w oil.  However once the parts show up I'll be going with Gold Valves, 0.50kg fork springs, 5.0kg rear, 100mm oil height.

 

About the wagon and bike.. nice job.  I'd totally throw a subaru/motard wave out.

 

Unfortunately I'm rocking the winter and/or offroad look on mine right now.. this was from I believe last "summer" season.

 

 

 

Nice car, vf 43\39 to go with the rest of those sti goodies?

Thats a great combo -for the money you cant beat it.

Sounds like your on the right track for suspension.

Before id spend the money on gold valves for the wr forks id look into some 06 yz sss forks to swap in- they are leaps and bounds better stock than the wr's even with gold valves imo.

The 06-07 yz models run the same caliper mount as the wr's.

Not sure who does your suspension stuff but you may want to give provalve a look.

Those guys are the absolute best with motard bikes. They pretty much pioneered sm suspension set up.

Ask Gary Trachy.

[zibbit u2]

Nice car, vf 43\39 to go with the rest of those sti goodies?

Thats a great combo -for the money you cant beat it.

Sounds like your on the right track for suspension.

Before id spend the money on gold valves for the wr forks id look into some 06 yz sss forks to swap in- they are leaps and bounds better stock than the wr's even with gold valves imo.

The 06-07 yz models run the same caliper mount as the wr's.

Not sure who does your suspension stuff but you may want to give provalve a look.

Those guys are the absolute best with motard bikes. They pretty much pioneered sm suspension set up.

Ask Gary Trachy.

 

 

Blouch Dom2.5XT-R ?

I'll definitely look into them.  Suppose the YZ and WR share the same spring setup, so that sounds like a very likely avenue to investigate.

Edited March 2, 2016 by zibbit u2

[knuckleduster271]

Blouch Dom2.5XT-R ?

I'll definitely look into them.  Suppose the YZ and WR share the same spring setup, so that sounds like a very likely avenue to investigate.

https://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/926978-2006-yz-forks-on-2006-wr450f/

[zibbit u2]

Small update.  I got the Racetech parts installed about a month ago, and finally had the opportunity to try them out on the track.  All I'll say is wow, what a difference simple modifications could make on 06 WR450 suspension.. I'm still trying to dial them in with regards to Compression, Rebound and oil level to suit my riding style, but I'm slowly making progress.  I may not be the fastest on the track, but I'm sure having fun trying to be.

 

 

 

Unfortunately by the end of the 3rd moto I had to call it quits for the day because the rear tire was loosing sections of the tread.. I guess there's a reason you don't run 10 year old race tires on the track.  ?

Edited April 22, 2016 by zibbit u2

[zibbit u2]

I guess the rule with this bike, is there's no rest for the wicked.. so on with more modifications.

First off: the tires I installed in February's post (Michelin Supermoto Race Rains) weren't cutting it on a dry track.  After the second practice day on the track I was melting/ripping the knobby tread pattern off the tires.. So, those tires were removed and I installed some new Pirelli Rosso II tires (front and rear).  About 10 km into riding on them while gingerly taking a corner downtown, the front end washed out which resulted in me low siding at around 50 km/hr in traffic.  Luckily, the only damage to myself was a hyper extended thumb and some scratched up gear.  The bike survived the 30-40 foot slide fairly well and narrowly missed getting ran over by a Dodge Ram 3500.... whew..  

 

Two track days later (about 2 weeks time) the tires were very well scrubbed in edge to edge, but I lost the front end again and went down on the other side of the bike.. So.. needless to say my confidence was severely shaken by the Pirelli tires which were promptly removed and sold with less than 75 km on them.  I ended up replacing them with these super sticky pieces of rubber;

 

What they are is a set of Michelin Supermoto Soft tires.   I tried them on the track since that picture and WOW.. what a refreshing feeling having full confidence in the tires on your bike..  It was like a breath of fresh air.

Next big modifications.  I started to investigate lowering the bike an inch to make it easier to kickstart with my 29" inseam and lowering the CoG for track duty.  Well, I'm not a fan of changing suspension geometry, so swingarm links and excessively lowering forks in the triples was out of the question..  So the only other way was to disassemble and install spacers internally.  Unfortunately from one or both of the crashes I had bent one fork leg.. So a mad search was undertaken to locate some new forks.  I ended up finding a set of 06 YZ450 KYB SSS forks in Calgary AB.. So I gave them a quick call and they were in the mail the next day on route to the island.  I knew the fork seals were going to be D.O.A., but I didn't know I'd find one cartridge without any oil in it.

 

So, I disassembled the forks completely and found that one of the free piston had cracked causing the cartridge to pump out all of its oil.  So, online I went again and found some SDI free piston assemblies, SKF fork seals and all of the Yamaha stanchion bushings to completely overhaul the forks.  While those parts were in the mail I sent the cartridge assemblies to a machine shop to cut a new keyway and build some spacers.  Today everything came in, so I started building up the forks.

 

 

Assembled fork height comparison:

 

Either tomorrow or Saturday I'm going to disassemble the rear shock, install the spacer and replace the seal head... wish me luck ?

Edited May 13, 2016 by zibbit u2

[zibbit u2]

Well I finished the rear shock rebuilt with the lowering.. just for a little bit of documentation if you do decide you want to lower your steel framed YZ/WR, if you use a 15mm travel limiter, it will lower the rear end approximately 44mm (1.75 inch).  That makes the leverage ratio of the rear shock system around 2.9.  So, to achieve lowering the rear end approximately 25.4mm (1 inch) you should be using a 9mm thick spacer between the seal head and the valving.  

 

Hopefully having the rear end so low doesn't affect the suspension geometry or steering feel too much or else I'll be pulling everything apart again and shaving some material off the spacer.  

 

Tomorrow I'll get a chance to try it out on the track.. so wish me luck ?

[zibbit u2]

Well track day yesterday was interesting.. First things I noticed after all the suspension work (having same clicker setup as before).. The bike felt like it was pushing on corner exits, the steering felt numb (as in the complete opposite of twitchy), and as an added "bonus" I could drag hard parts (pegs, shift lever, brake lever) on almost every corner.. as a matter of fact, once the bike managed to shift for me.. no foot input was required..  When I discussed what was happening on the track with a more experienced rider on a similar bike, he came over to take a look.  Almost immediately he noted that the bike had almost no swing angle which could be contributing to the front end push, and he also noted that the back end of the bike appeared to be very low which should explain the numb feeling I was getting during cornering from having too much trail.  Sag appeared to be on the "tight" side, but both within specs for a sumo.

So, today out came the rear shock and the spacer was taken out, and I used my friends lathe to it shave down from 15mm to 9mm thick.   Tomorrow once I get the shock back together I'll take some measurements and see if I can get the bike as close to 25mm lowering both front and rear.   

[MANIAC998]

What's the latest zibbit?