Preparing for a week in Baja

[slowberto]

Hey there, This weekend I just picked up a 2007 WR450 after several happy years riding the little brother, a WR250. My friends who are planning an April trip to Baja strongly suggested getting the bigger bike. Those guys don't necessarily know all the particulars of this bike, and searching didn't provide the answers I'm looking for, so I thought I'd toss this out there.

Couple quick questions;

I'm going to install a Clarke 3.6 gallon tank and radiator cages (as well as all the other guards I can find). I emailed Clarke, Scorpion and Rocky Mt to try to learn what cages will work with that tank, but no one could tell me what beefy radiator cage/frame will fit without dremmeling etc. Anyone mounted something strong with this tank on an aluminum framed WR?

The bike had it's airbox lid removed, and one didn't come with one. The bike seems plenty potent, and I don't know how much power it would loose, but with all the dust, does it make sense to buy a lid and/or snorkel and put it back on?

If anyone has any suggestions for prepping the bike for baja, I'd be interested to hear it.

Thanks

[MANIAC998]

I just made my maiden voyage to Baja this past December on an '06 WR450, so I can give you some hints. You won't need any kind of snorkel attactment, just leave it open so it can breathe. Most of the time, you'll spread out so you won't have to ride in someone else's dust all that much. But having a filter skin on the air filter is always nice. That way, when you check it every morning, when you see the filter getting terribly dirty, you can just pull it off and your good to go again!

Have you rejetted the bike yet? A JD jet kit is one way to really wake the power up!! And it comes with a nicely detailed chart to help dial in the jetting even before you get to Baja!!! Not as critical for you as it was for me coming from Montana!

Check with your buddies to see if the lone 3.6 gal fuel tank is going to be enough. Safari makes a small rear tank that mounts on the back of the bike on the left side number plate and adds some much needed capacity.

Depending on how much pavement burn you guys do, you might want to up the front sprocket size one tooth (15) so your not revving so high while burning down the highway.

There should be some others that will chime in and give you some good tips too. But you should also post this in the Baja section of ThumperTalk, and you'll get all kinds of help there!

Maniac

[OUTERLIMITS]

Unibiker guards are some of the strongest around and will fit with that tank. Depending on the kind of riding you do, you may not want to gear up. I seek out as much singletrack as I can find down there and really like the stock 13/50 gearing and won't change. I got about 115 miles on my 3.6 in a mix of highway, 2-track, and singletrack, but I don't like to push it that far, too many things can come up to change your game plan. If you know you will go over 100 miles, it's best to carry an extra gallon. As maniac said, get rid of the snorkle and jet accordingly if not already done. I always take a couple of those disposable Maxima pro filters and keep them in my backpack. They are only about $10, and precoated with Maxima FFT . If you have to swap one out somewhere great, if you can save the filter do so as they are pretty decent quality and can be cleaned and re-used. Bring some latex gloves for filter changes as the ones that come with the filter are garbage and usually just tear when you try and squeeze your hand in them. If you run any kind of tight trails down there make sure you have some good handguards. I always get cactus spines lodged into the plastic of my handguards, fender, and shrouds so rest assured it will do some damage to your hands. Along the same lines, I always ride with elbow guards, but for down there I like the 2X4 guards from 661 as they go pretty far down your forearm. It just gives me the warm and fuzzy for a bit more cactus protection. Whether you are a fan of slime or not, use it, along with Bridgestone ultra heavy duty tubes and you won't be sorry.

The WR is an absolute awesome bike for baja!

[Baja trail Rider]

This is great advice for you to ride Baja.I use 14-50 gearing 07 450 more mpg,less oil useage,less where and tear on motor.My motor is set up for low end.So still works great on single track.For me the Wr450 best water cooled baja bike.

[slowberto]

Cool, many thanks brothers. Already use filter skins- love those. Having a whole other, disposable filter sounds like good backup, since I've seen filters split.

The bike is jetted and really rips compared to the 250. Glad to hear I needn't pay for a airbox lid- that would be irritating and proabably require a re-jet.

Thanks also for the tips on gearing. We aren't planning on being on road much at all- glad to hear stock gearing works well. I may try a 14 tooth option before heading down there- since it only costs a few bucks to check it out.

About the unabiker rad guards, I'm glad to learn in advance that they will fit with the 3.6 tank, rather than order something, assemble it, and then have to whip out the dremmel to make it work.

Thanks again.