I am very frustrated with my 2010 crf450r and here is why? This weekend I went to the track with my girlfriend she had been taking my lap times over the course of 2 hrs and after 30 laps I was still consistantly turning lap times around 1:36. My ohlins rxf left fork blew out an oil seal and all the fluid poured out. Not a big deal Dave at FBI said he would fix it under warranty. After the fork blew out I still wanted to ride. My girlfriend had just bought a 2004 wr250 and she let me take it out. After 4 laps I was comfortable with the bike and started riding hard. Guess what?! My lap times were the same, average of 1:36. Here is the real kicker though, Her bike has an Ice Block BBK that brings it up to, I believe 278cc with stock compression and has a slip on Pro Circuit with spark arestor and a carb with a heavy bog off the bottom. It has stock suspension valving buy much stiffer springs meant for someone that weighs 225 and the tires were about 60 percent. Besides that it is bone stock
Now for my bike:
Ohlins RXF front forks set up for my weight and skill level
Ohlins TTX shock set up for my weight and skill level
Ohlins 2.1 Steering Stabilizer
Ride Engineering 21mm Tripple Clamps I also tried the Action 24mm but didnt like them
Full Yosh Ti exhaust
Yosh Cam
Yosh REM Finished transmission (supposed to help the bike shift smoother and gain a small amount of HP)
Yosh PIM2 Programmer and Data Box
CP 13.5:1 Piston
Hindson Single Spring Clutch
Dirt Tricks Rear Sprocket
DID VT2 Chain
I tested 3 different hanldle bar bends and decided I liked the Carmichel PT EVO
Crf Stuff 280mm clutch
Hammerhead brake and shifter extended for size 12 boot
ARC RC8 clutch and brake lever
New Mitchelin 403 and 404 tires
DR D radiator lowering kit
SS front Brake line
Boyesen Radiator impeller and pump cover
Hindson Clutch basket
FC lowering link
Sunline Arch Ti Footpegs
Injectioneering TB mods
Faction MX SS valves Ti retainers and high rev springs
A60 rims

There are a lot of other mods but these are the major ones. I have a bike that most pros would be jealous about. I have tested out different heights on the sag and settled on 110. This is my first dirtbike and up until this weekend I have never ridden someone elses bike at a track. How is it that her wr250 handles soo much better? I could rail turns with her bike but mine feels very unstable in the turns and when braking. The only reason I wasnt several seconds faster on her bike was the damn motor was so slow and wasnt jetted properly.

digarcia1987 said:

The simple answer to your question would be more money than skill ;)

Sounds like you did a ton of mods to it for no reason, just because you could. Did you feel any of that stuff made your bike turn better? Is it adjusted proper? Is it that the power of the 250f allows you to ride it faster than your fully modded 450 that you are probably lugging around a bit?

st0k3d said:

My thoughts exactly~~~:thumbsup:

Quote

I dont think so.

You could throw a leg over Chad Reed's Factory Honda and you wouldnt go any faster than you do now.

You've spent a shit load of money just to find out that the bike counts for about 10% of the equation.

Or better put, your bike is way way faster than you are. If youre turning laps the same speed on a WR250, trust me...its you, not the bike.

st0k3d said:

Im no pro but I recently entered two defferent race circuits and won one and took second in the other in the Novice class and both races had over a dozen racers. Honestly I think I could be a competitive Intermediate racer if I could get this bike to turn properly. I have only been riding dirtbikes about 80hrs but I come from a pro quad backround where I am comfortable riding around a track with 62hp.
The ohlins suspension gave the bike a plusher feel and nearly eliminated the bucking I got with the FC revalved stock suspension from braking bumps or square edges. The FC lowering link and the stiffer fork springs did help with the turning.

It's easy to ruin a bike with a bad combination of mods and aftermarket parts.

I know a quite a few pros. For the most part, they run mostly stock bikes with the exception of a pipe and valving/spring tuning of the stock suspension components.

i guess you cant handle the power of a 450. your saying if james stewart got on your bike he would be throwing out 1:36...ummm i think not.

CamP said:

No doubt the bike much better than it was stock

That's embarassing.

digarcia1987 said:

Maybe, maybe not.

Here's an example of maybe not. I was talking to Darren Durham's dad a while back. He told me that when Darren was testing bikes for the A class at Loretta Lynn's, he was actually faster on his stock class bike than his $20k mod bike. That's a story that I've heard a lot.

My reaction to this is laughter followed by more laughter. Not laughing at the poster but at all the people that buy the pipe, and the JD ripoff kit, and the $800 FC suspension, and the ... Many years ago I wanted to get faster so I took lessons from a local Pro who was easily the fastest guy on the track. He told me his bike was bone stock and worked just fine. After that, the most I will do to a bike is jetting, springs, and fork oil. You want more Power? Twist the dam throttle! The production bikes are way better than people realize.

you want to sell any of those parts? seriously?

digarcia1987 said:

2 races and you think you could be a competive intermediate racer? You better check yourself. There is a big gap between intermediate and novice. In short, I dont think you know anything about tuning and that is your problem. I know a guy just like you, he has 3 fully built race engines for his KTM 450, 3 different sets of suspension for his bike and he can barely make it around a track without pulling over and blaming it on the bike. It isnt the bike, its YOU. Go back to quad and save everyone the headache of telling you what the real problem is, you!

From a guy who has spent TONS on mods ..... focus EXCLUSIVELY on the bike setup.

Make sure your suspension is sprung properly for your weight, set up your fork and shock compression and rebound correctly, proper oil height, fork height, etc.

You can have the best suspension in the world, but if your bike is not set up properly and balanced, it will ALWAYS feel like crap regardless if it looks like a million bucks. :thumbsup:

My guess is your girlfriend is messing with you adding ten seconds to your 450 times because you wasted a crapload of money on stuff you're not capable of using on the bike! Maybe she's trying to slow you down because your lap times are quicker when riding her!

LOL

You said it was your first dirtbike. That may be a reason why. When you are new still a bunch of extras are not going to help that much if at all. When you get faster though and you need that extra power to clear a jump right out of a corner or something then you may need to modify the bike. But when you are still a beginner a modifed bike wont do that much. Give it a couple years of riding your bike so you can pick up more speed. Then go ride the other bike. I bet you that you would be faster on your crf450.

Good to see everyone kicking the poor bloke to boost their own ego's :D

Don't stress too much... I've been in the same boat before. Often, without realising it, we spend copious amounts of money on our bikes to make them WORSE. eg One of the worst things I ever put on a bike was one of those Ohlins v2's...

Also, what the majority of people responding won't tell you is that just about everyone below A grade is faster on a 250F than a 450F.

For most people, the less power they have the faster they go.

Yours sounds very angry and overmodded. Just get a stock 250F and ride it's titts off and I gaurentee you will be a far better rider within 1 year.

digarcia1987 said:

Here is the sad reality!

With only 80 hours of riding you have no real idea what your bike needs to work in all conditions best for you! The clutch mod I can understand and springs for your weight on stock suspension I can understand. Other then that you should have spent your money on fuel, tires, lessons and gate fees for the better part of a year! The stock suspension is light years better then the Factory stuff of 20 years ago! I can guarantee you that if you went to a vintage race and entered a pro level class with bikes that are from the eighties you'd get your butt handed to you! At any level of riding its about corner speed if you can clear the jumps and you need to spend more time practicing that!

The bike is not the issue. There really is only a few items that can help lap times other then PURE SKILL (suspension is the biggest one).

Simple answer your MAX'd out. Your riding at your max comfort/speed level on the track regardless of bike or CC displacement. The bike is only doing what you want and how fast you want it to go... your turning the throttle! Plain and simple

Maybe many on here never raced 125cc then 250cc and /cough tried 500cc :crazy: but saddly I am old enough to have done it. I was faster or equal on the 125cc bike as the 250cc. The bike was lighter and easier to move around, and you were always on the gas as the power was just a bit less to control (less scary honestly...500 was stupid!!! LOL).

*Dont believe me look up the old(80's) MXDN videos were they raced 125 Vs 500 at the same time. Jonny O / JMB / Ronny L smoked them all on a 125cc bikes...!!!

Bike displacement is not always a factor for going faster, typically it has the backwards effect. Small CC creates less FEAR is the honest answer.

4 Strokes have made MX racing easier for riders since the power is so much easier to work with then a 2 Stroke.

I love being poor!!! I come from a road racing back ground, and could never afford a new bike or expensive mods. I worked for free at a motorcycle shop in San Diego to get parts at cost. Learned that its the rider not the parts. Got suspension dialed in and a pipe put on my bike. Seeing guys come over and ask what I had done to my SV650 and why it was sooo much faster than their CBR or GSXR put the biggest smile on my face.

Point is you have to learn what the suspension is doing for you and against you and learn from the fastest person you can find. I'm am sorry that you wasted all that money on mods, and honestly feel you should have put it towards schools/classes/tips for pros at your local track. Above all stay with it and at the very least you have a direction to go from here.

The more training you get and seat time you have the faster you will go. Spending two hours cutting 1:36's is wasting time. You should be breaking it up into sections and spending 30 min on each section breaking them down to find out where you are slow at. You will see an improvement in time, but you need to find direction first. JMHO.