Re-restrictin A WR450?

[GreenDRZ]

I know! What? That's nuts!

BUT

That would let me get a bike that I know has been taken care of well, has a street title, weighs less than any Dual Sport that I have ever owned, is reasonably priced and would be soft enough to let me wring the heck out of it while I'm in learning stage. Then I can re-unconnect the gray wire after a year or so and have a rippa! Maybe even put in a switch. How tame ARE those things as they come from the factory? Is this a good idea or am I off on a total tangent here?

Reconnect that wire and what else? Stock exhaust end-cap and replace carb slide with a new one?

__________________

[SJMC_DON]

You are off base.... I am gathering that you are looking at a used WR?

The average WR owner that has done the free mods is likely taking care of better with regular maintenance than the guy that has not done the free mods.

If it is required to have the AIS on to get a plate then that is a valid reason, otherwise there is no sense in "re-restricting" a WR.

My 2 cents, to each his own, good luck with whatever you choose.

[GreenDRZ]

You are off base.... I am gathering that you are looking at a used WR?

.....otherwise there is no sense in "re-restricting" a WR.

My 2 cents, to each his own, good luck with whatever you choose.

I might be and I am.

MY valid reason is that I suck at riding dirt bikes. I am considering a bunch of smaller options, all used from people who I don;t know. My brother-in-law, Mr.Anal ASA Mechanic Man has a perfectly good WR450 that is sitting in his garage. It's too powerful for me. If I can tame it back to factory speck it might be an OK learner bike. While I would like something lighter the WR is STILL 30-40 pounds lighter than my last dual sport so it's the overabundance of power that's really holding me back.

[johnjerk]

I might be and I am.

MY valid reason is that I suck at riding dirt bikes. I am considering a bunch of smaller options, all used from people who I don;t know. My brother-in-law, Mr.Anal ASA Mechanic Man has a perfectly good WR450 that is sitting in his garage. It's too powerful for me. If I can tame it back to factory speck it might be an OK learner bike. While I would like something lighter the WR is STILL 30-40 pounds lighter than my last dual sport so it's the overabundance of power that's really holding me back.

The WR450 has very very manageable power. You can putt it around until you feel comfortable with it. They go as slow as you want. I bet it'll be no more than 2 weeks and you'll want more power than you have - especially on the road. Have you ridden it? It's not the 2-stroke of old that wants to run in the power band. If that isn't going to work for you, you could run a smaller front sprocket to slow her down for a bit. Or remove the YZ throttle stop - that is the most dramatic free mods. Some people claim not to notice a power diff with the grey wire mod. I hope that helps.

[tntmo]

Just restrict your right wrist for a while and you'll be fine. It's really easy to undo that restriction, just twist farther.

[MaxPower]

thats just silly

[resinlips]

The easiest thing would be to put the stock throttle stop back in.

[Bob Connett]

I ride my 07 wr450, with all mods except the air box and ais, around the back yard with my three year old daughter on the tank,with the proper gear. The bike is a kitten untill you crack the throttle.

[CORider63]

If you're really afraid to ride the 450, as it is, then:

1. Put a stock Throttle Stop back in. (Keep the shorter Throttle Stop that you take out, you'll definitely want it , again, in the future.)

2. Wear proper protection and find EASY, OPEN places to ride to get used to the bike.

De-restricting a WR-450 not only gives it more power, but more importantly in your case, makes the throttle response MUCH smoother and more predictable. (No more off-idle bogging.)

[C-P]

Yeah, I never understand the "bike is too fast for me" concept. Did I miss something somewhere that said I have to ride with throttle wide open all the time? I love that the WR has available power that I don't always have to tap into. ANY bike for that matter...3rd or 4th on restrict your wrist.

Unless you weigh less than 100lbs or something? Also, learn to be smooth on the throttle - I would launch myself out of turns and into the woods alot before I learned to roll on and off the throttle well. Good luck?

[GreenDRZ]

Well, I used to have a DRZs and I'm sure that the WR has a bit more power than that thing did, even if it doesn't hit like a MX bike would! I was never eally comfortable trying to ride that DRZ hard and as a consequence, I never learned how to ride it well. What I would really like is a lightweight bike that makes not a lot of power that I can throw around and really wring it out like a 200cc 2t or a 250cc 4t. The only 4t enduros that are around at a reasonable cost are the WR250 and KDX300. If I could find one of them (cheep) I'd snatch it up in a hurry. Quicker if it had a plate. But there aren't any here about that are not made of some alloy of Gold and Unobtanium. There are a lot of 250 4t MX bikes around but that's not really what I am after either. That 450 is available, cost no more than any of the 250s that I have seen (MX or E) in great shape and just a little "more" than I am looking for right now. If it were posable to back down the power level to 250 strength for a while until I learn how to get traction in bad conditions and steer with the rear and all that it would be OK. Yes, the 450 is a little more girthy than the 250 but it's still 40-50 pounds lighter than that ol' DRZ was and I am kind of a "husky" guy.......

[cltrobd]

It took me awhile to get the mods done to my WR450 and I had many occasions to ride on the street (not legally). It was a total dog on the street - I mean, it didn't have enough power to get out of its own way!! It was the street riding that convinced me to do the mods in the first place.

Everyone on here is correct - the bike is smooth and easily controlled until you want it to be otherwise. Until you actually twist the throttle all the way open, you will be very much in control. I wouldn't recommend restricting the bike back to original.

If you can't control the throttle, you should consider something much smaller than a 450, whether restricted or de-restricted it may be too much for you to handle. If you're deadset on riding a 450, be careful and ride easy practicing the skills that you need to control the bike.

[byggd]

The easiest thing would be to put the stock throttle stop back in.

Exactly!

[450-F]

Why don't you just take it easy on the wrist, exercise good throttle control. To be honest my WR450 totally unrestricted (air box, throttle stop screw, baffle removed, jetting, ais removed, grey wire clipped) doesn't have ENOUGH power. It only makes like 47 hp with everything i just listed removed, and 39 ish with it back on. If I were you I'd take it for a spin with the bike unrestricted and see if it really has that much power, just remember the farther you twist, the faster you go... so don't twist very far.

[GreenDRZ]

I'm just worried that I will have a monster on my hands.

After you do the free mods, there is no doubt that the monster will be unleashed. And so you know, its a big, nasty, snarling monster that likes to stand up tall in the first 4 gears.

My story is similar to yours. I am a long time street rider and hadn't ridden on dirt for many, many years. I was never an expert to begin with.

Now, 20 years later, I decide to get a dirtbike. I chose the wr450 over the wr250 only because I got a great deal used with low hours. With the free mods, it is a monster compared to stock.

So I un-did some of the mods to tame it just a bit. Don't get me wrong, it is still a heck of a lot of fun, but I am still getting used to it. I would say that I have more to learn about riding on trails than learning throttle control. As a long time street rider, I am conditioned to thinking something is wrong when I loose traction at the rear. But that is not the case on dirt. I am getting there. Once I get more comfortable, then I will let the beast out again.........

Wow. It looks like I found my answers to a bunch of my queations in this old thread. This one reply in it was "the light" afaic. I can get an '05 450, one-owner bike who I know personally with about 500 miles on it ("Sometimes I had to ride 15 or 16 miles to get to the trail!") for MUCH less than any used 250 of similar vintage that I have seen. I was also looking at kdx200's but I can find one of them aywhere. THIS WR is just too good a deal to pass up. Thanks for the help of the guys who posted to my thread as well as those who ahve come before in this forum. What a valuable resource!