Posts
22
Joined
11/20/2017
Location
Lake Mary, FL
US
Lost_Child148
11/20/2017 9:52pm
11/20/2017 9:52pm
Edited Date/Time
11/28/2018 1:51pm
I figured as my first post as a new member on here I would put up my 2018 CRF450R I just built and still in progress. It’s been super fun turning this bike out! First picture is the only one I have stock that I took. I did put on the Ti FMF full exhaust 4.1 here.
Some good stuff started showing up in the mail. Here is the talon carbon hubs in red with excel A60 wheels. Black spokes red nipples.
Oversized galfer tsunami ultralite rotor
Here she is with the wheels, tires, front rotor. I also put on a galfer rear wave rotor and talon Black sprocket. I went to 51T on the rear sprocket. Also put on a renthal R1 works 520 gold non o-ring chain. Kept the front sprocket at the stock 13T but used a talon front sprocket. Figured replace all for wear and tear purposes.
Picked up graphics for the bike. Was not impressed. Tried to work out a resolution with the company I bought it from but that didnt go anywhere. So I decided to pick up another set...
Here is the new graphics kit installed. Much better in my opinion. This shows the renthal Fatbar in black. Went with a CR highbend. Way more comfortable than the stock renthal bars. Also have ODI grips in black and white. Replaced the clutch lever perch with ARC as well as Brake lever. Both are black. I also had to remove the clutch switch from the bike since the new perch does not have a slot for it. Luckily the bike had butt style connectors which I simply just plugged the connectors together where the stock clutch switch harness plugged in to. No electrical work required. Acerbis Xgrip frame protectors as well in gray and black. I figured they would match the frame color okay which it looks like it did.
I put in a Rekluse Radius CX clutch as well. This bike won’t stall at all. I fell in a turn at the track the other day by mistake and the bike was still running. Hopped on and went. I love this clutch. It hooks up well too. Minimal slip when throttle pinned and need to hit a jump out of a turn. I recommend if anyone has ever considered this clutch and is on the fence about it.
Picked up a set of Neken SFS clamps. These are awesome. Definitely helps with arm pump. Depending on what i am riding these allow for adjustability for handlebar dampning. Total travel is 10mm. On track I am running about 60-65psi in the clamps. Trails I will soften it a bit. I also put on the honda progressive steering stabilizer. Put on the 24mm dampner. I am running it about half way out on total clicks. I don’t remember exact because I tuned it based on feel out riding. Helps a ton with keeping bars where you want the bike to steer. Zero head shake at pinned speeds. All around great addition for the money spent.
I finally got my seat cover installed also. Big difference over the stock slip N Slide. Seat cover is by Flo if I remember correctly. Had it riding in muddy wet conditions and it keeps my arse planted. I will say I am not an upholstry kind of guy. This thing was a pain in the ass to smooth out any wrinkles. Hands hurt from tugging on the thing. But it turned out pretty good
I had a problem with the water pump oil seal during this build. I was pretty frustrated. Had to disasseble the clutch and take off the cover and replace the seals and bearing after only 5 hours or so on the bike. I had to order the seal kit and wait a week for it to come in. None of the honda dealers carry the parts. Here is a picture of the headache. Had coolant all in the oil. Came out like chocolate milk water. Luckily nothing was screwed up. When this did happen the bike boiled over and spewed coolant out of the overflow. Took me couple days to fix between work and home life but everything went smooth. I ended up flushing the coolant system and replacing with engine ice and a 1.8 tusk radiator cap with a temp guage on it. No issues so far and bike runs nice and cool, even when turning and burning. The temp guage is nice feature
After that was all fixed I added CV4 black silicone hoses.
I bought an Athena GET ecu for the bike but the map that came on it didnt work for my bike. My mistake so I had to send it back. Athena does not have a map for the 2018 yet so I had to take the ecu back out and replace with my stock one again. I will say changing out the ECU bracket in this bike is a pain in the ass. I decided to get a Vortex X10 ECU with map switch from Tokyo Mods. I gotta say this ECU is friggin amazing. The bike is a different animal with this thing. The base power map really brings the stock motor to life. The bottom end response is seriously improved. Throttle response is terrifying. Top end pulls forever. The mid has all the torque and punch you would want from a stock motor. The best part is the bikes powerband has broadened drastically. It is super smooth and is on demand when you want it. This ecu has 10 maps on it. I have only ran 1 other map besides the base power map. The switch is set up to run the torque map on the fly. The punch off the bottom and the power delivery makes it so much fun to ride in sand. Being in Florida and everything is basically sand down here, flipping the power where needed is nice. The ECU also has fuel setting dials so you can add or remove throttle. The 3 dials adjust fuel in the bottom, mid, and top. I am at sea level and I have it set at stock fuel trims on all dials (setting 5). I put in a twin air filter too. No hesitation or popping on accel or decel. The bike revs quicker and higher with the X10 as well. Helps stay in gears avoiding extra shifts and get that extra power when needed in and out of tight turns at the track.
Here she is this past weekend at the track. She is running like a champ. I finally swapped out the swing arm and front fork guard decals as well. Also put on the carbon fiber heat shield from FMF over the megabomb. No more burning boots on the head pipe.
I ordered up the new WP spring cone valve forks and trax shock from Factory connection a few weeks ago. Here are pics of the forks and shock. Also found a picture of the forks mounted on a 450R to show how they will somewhat look like on the bike. Patiently waiting for them to show up. Decided against the air fork version. After reading up on the forks the spring version of the cone valve forks seem to be pretty good from all the reviews I have found. Factory Connections revalve should make this suspension pretty nice I am hoping. The all black forks should turn out pretty slick with the rest of the bike. Also waiting on brake and shift levers from hammerhead designs. Going with a +10mm shift lever. Hoping it helps with ease of shifting. The stock length gets a little tough as my boots are big making it tough to shift with ease. Levers will be black with red. Raptor titanium foot pegs should arrive end of this week also. I will post pics when I get these on. Thanksgiving might hold up install a cpl days but I will get pics up soon as I can. I also need to install the radiator braces by works connection that have been sitting in my garage.
Some good stuff started showing up in the mail. Here is the talon carbon hubs in red with excel A60 wheels. Black spokes red nipples.
Oversized galfer tsunami ultralite rotor
Here she is with the wheels, tires, front rotor. I also put on a galfer rear wave rotor and talon Black sprocket. I went to 51T on the rear sprocket. Also put on a renthal R1 works 520 gold non o-ring chain. Kept the front sprocket at the stock 13T but used a talon front sprocket. Figured replace all for wear and tear purposes.
Picked up graphics for the bike. Was not impressed. Tried to work out a resolution with the company I bought it from but that didnt go anywhere. So I decided to pick up another set...
Here is the new graphics kit installed. Much better in my opinion. This shows the renthal Fatbar in black. Went with a CR highbend. Way more comfortable than the stock renthal bars. Also have ODI grips in black and white. Replaced the clutch lever perch with ARC as well as Brake lever. Both are black. I also had to remove the clutch switch from the bike since the new perch does not have a slot for it. Luckily the bike had butt style connectors which I simply just plugged the connectors together where the stock clutch switch harness plugged in to. No electrical work required. Acerbis Xgrip frame protectors as well in gray and black. I figured they would match the frame color okay which it looks like it did.
I put in a Rekluse Radius CX clutch as well. This bike won’t stall at all. I fell in a turn at the track the other day by mistake and the bike was still running. Hopped on and went. I love this clutch. It hooks up well too. Minimal slip when throttle pinned and need to hit a jump out of a turn. I recommend if anyone has ever considered this clutch and is on the fence about it.
Picked up a set of Neken SFS clamps. These are awesome. Definitely helps with arm pump. Depending on what i am riding these allow for adjustability for handlebar dampning. Total travel is 10mm. On track I am running about 60-65psi in the clamps. Trails I will soften it a bit. I also put on the honda progressive steering stabilizer. Put on the 24mm dampner. I am running it about half way out on total clicks. I don’t remember exact because I tuned it based on feel out riding. Helps a ton with keeping bars where you want the bike to steer. Zero head shake at pinned speeds. All around great addition for the money spent.
I finally got my seat cover installed also. Big difference over the stock slip N Slide. Seat cover is by Flo if I remember correctly. Had it riding in muddy wet conditions and it keeps my arse planted. I will say I am not an upholstry kind of guy. This thing was a pain in the ass to smooth out any wrinkles. Hands hurt from tugging on the thing. But it turned out pretty good
I had a problem with the water pump oil seal during this build. I was pretty frustrated. Had to disasseble the clutch and take off the cover and replace the seals and bearing after only 5 hours or so on the bike. I had to order the seal kit and wait a week for it to come in. None of the honda dealers carry the parts. Here is a picture of the headache. Had coolant all in the oil. Came out like chocolate milk water. Luckily nothing was screwed up. When this did happen the bike boiled over and spewed coolant out of the overflow. Took me couple days to fix between work and home life but everything went smooth. I ended up flushing the coolant system and replacing with engine ice and a 1.8 tusk radiator cap with a temp guage on it. No issues so far and bike runs nice and cool, even when turning and burning. The temp guage is nice feature
After that was all fixed I added CV4 black silicone hoses.
I bought an Athena GET ecu for the bike but the map that came on it didnt work for my bike. My mistake so I had to send it back. Athena does not have a map for the 2018 yet so I had to take the ecu back out and replace with my stock one again. I will say changing out the ECU bracket in this bike is a pain in the ass. I decided to get a Vortex X10 ECU with map switch from Tokyo Mods. I gotta say this ECU is friggin amazing. The bike is a different animal with this thing. The base power map really brings the stock motor to life. The bottom end response is seriously improved. Throttle response is terrifying. Top end pulls forever. The mid has all the torque and punch you would want from a stock motor. The best part is the bikes powerband has broadened drastically. It is super smooth and is on demand when you want it. This ecu has 10 maps on it. I have only ran 1 other map besides the base power map. The switch is set up to run the torque map on the fly. The punch off the bottom and the power delivery makes it so much fun to ride in sand. Being in Florida and everything is basically sand down here, flipping the power where needed is nice. The ECU also has fuel setting dials so you can add or remove throttle. The 3 dials adjust fuel in the bottom, mid, and top. I am at sea level and I have it set at stock fuel trims on all dials (setting 5). I put in a twin air filter too. No hesitation or popping on accel or decel. The bike revs quicker and higher with the X10 as well. Helps stay in gears avoiding extra shifts and get that extra power when needed in and out of tight turns at the track.
Here she is this past weekend at the track. She is running like a champ. I finally swapped out the swing arm and front fork guard decals as well. Also put on the carbon fiber heat shield from FMF over the megabomb. No more burning boots on the head pipe.
I ordered up the new WP spring cone valve forks and trax shock from Factory connection a few weeks ago. Here are pics of the forks and shock. Also found a picture of the forks mounted on a 450R to show how they will somewhat look like on the bike. Patiently waiting for them to show up. Decided against the air fork version. After reading up on the forks the spring version of the cone valve forks seem to be pretty good from all the reviews I have found. Factory Connections revalve should make this suspension pretty nice I am hoping. The all black forks should turn out pretty slick with the rest of the bike. Also waiting on brake and shift levers from hammerhead designs. Going with a +10mm shift lever. Hoping it helps with ease of shifting. The stock length gets a little tough as my boots are big making it tough to shift with ease. Levers will be black with red. Raptor titanium foot pegs should arrive end of this week also. I will post pics when I get these on. Thanksgiving might hold up install a cpl days but I will get pics up soon as I can. I also need to install the radiator braces by works connection that have been sitting in my garage.
Last I checked Florida is about as far away as you can get from that area code in the US.
The Shop
Excellent build thread
I chose the FMF system after what I read based on reviews I have found online. From what I gathered the FMF system has better bottom end power than the Yosh system. The Yosh system has better mid to top power. I personally like my bikes to pack torque on the bottom vs top end pull. Most of the tracks/trails I ride are tight turns or small straights so having the power in the top end range wouldn’t really deliver power where needed based on tracks/trails here in FL. I went up from stock 49T in the rear to 51T. The front sprocket I kept at the factory 13T. The bike can literally wheelie in every gear with no clutching with this set up. Simply put, its a damn rocket from idle. When the stock exhaust and ecu were on the bike, getting the front end up or launching out of tight turns required extra shifting or dumping the clutch which I wasn’t too fond of. Now I can rev a little higher in a lower gear in a tight turn and not use the clutch at all and launch out with a quick rap of the throttle.
Sound wise, the combo of the FMF system, vortex ECU and the twin air filter...it sounds mean. Loud, deep and sounds amazing.
I talked to Factory Connection today to check status of my WP kit suspension and after 2 weeks, nothing has come in yet . Really wish WP would get this stuff shipped to FC!
Pit Row
Manny
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