need to beat a crf450

[delusionised]

i just bought a brand new 2003 KX500, broke it in correctly, i have about 2 1/2 tanks through it and its bone stock. Why in the world would i get beat on a road race with a crf450? you guys had any expierence with crf450's? are they just plane faster or am i just stupid. I've been riding for a long time, I know how to ride the bike well but whats the deal?, I'm supposed to have 55 rear wheel horse where the 450 has 48 and i have a load more torqe... please help me!

[ShanMan]

Why in the world would i get beat on a road race with a crf450? you guys had any expierence with crf450's? are they just plane faster or am i just stupid?

Hmmmm.....I suspect your not stupid...you can't be, you just bought a KX5!    Anyway, I have to say that my experience is that a CRF450 is NOT faster than the big, mean greenie. Hell, mine is old as the hills, but has motor mods, and I have smoked many a 450 (Honda or Yami) at the drags and up Olds Hill out at Glamis. For reference: I fugure that with my bike setup the way it is, it probably makes about 55-60 hp. (which isn't too shabby for an '87)

Maybe you need some more miles for the thing to free up a bit? Maybe you have a faulty power valve? Don't know, just thinking aloud.

[Paul]

I would suspect that the short ratio CRF is running a 44 or 45 tooth rear sprocket. Pick up a 15 tooth front and a 42 tooth rear and watch him disapper as you pull away at over 110MPH. Being box stock though you may only be able to pull a 45 rear but will still be over the century mark and disappering fast.

When I'm running the desert series here in Arizona I use a 15/45 combo and walk most anything on a straight. I have reeled in many a CRF450. Not bad for reeds and a pipe only  

An HRC Stage 2 or up XR650 with enough real estate will catch the big 5 but it takes a while and there is usually not enough real state before a turn. Those 650's can move in a straight line but they don't turn worth a flip.

[mikesmith]

You say its bone stock,does that mean the jetting to?The KX is a little picky but it pays off when its jetted right.If not that check the timeing isnt off.Theres no reason not to beat a 450 if your KX is running right.And glad to hear you didnt jump on the four stroke wagon,your going to love that 500!

[woodsy]

ALL OF THE FOLLOWING WAS DONE ON PAVEMENT!  PUT THEM IN THE DUNES AND EVERYTHING CHANGES!!:
I have a new 2000 K5 (left over) and have run MANY times against my buddies 03 CRF.  With me running my 13/47 trail gearing and him running his stock gearing we run dead even thru the gears - I kill him when he runs out of gears though!  I have never tried the 15 up front. My bike is bone stock  as is his!
Another friend has a 02 CR250, PC pipe, rad valve, trimed head.  The 5 cleans him up - not twice as fast but a good steady pull away. Funny about the 450 - it was made to run against the 250's - its WAY more powerful!!
Now heres the way I look at the whole situation.  Like it or not the 5 is old tech.  The CRF is as up to date as POSSIBLE!  The CRF (great bike) is at its limit and ANY mod work will show up in reliability - it is at the top of its latter for most "normal" folk.  The 5 on the other hand is, well to say the least, at the bottom of its latter and can be improved MAJORly with fairly inexpensive mods - with little to nothing in reliabilty issues!
Here are some other issues comparing the bikes:
The CRF gets AWESOME gas mileage - 2x that of the 5!
The 5 can run for WEEKS without worrying about oil loss, the CRF is limited to miles (my buddy has to carry crankcase oill when we go trailriding and his is BRAND NEW!)
The 5 BY FAR out torques the CRF. Run the race in the sand and you will see!
The CRF is easier to control a wheelie on - I DIDNT SAY TO GET IT TO WHEELIE!  That thing could make a wheelie king out of a child!  The 5 will kill you if you dont respect it!
I like the 5 better in the woods but the 02 CRF's cornered better then anything I have ridden in a LONG time!
Parts costs - well, lets just say the CRF is for the wealthy and the K5 for EVERYONE/ANYONE who wants one of the most AWESOME bikes ever built!
I ride my k5 everywhere (it is street legal) and have NO problem drawing in anything I have run across from corner to corner in the woods!  It ROCKS!!  Sand - it rules!  Hills - HAHAHAHAHA!  HUGE SAND HILLS HAHAHAHA!  Trials type riding - 1st gear just above idle and it is unstopable (trials riding is the CRF's downfall unless they are revloc equipped!). Log jumping/stump pulling done with respect (throttle control) - NOTHING LIKE IT!
WHEELIE ANYTIME ANYWHERE - MAN I LOVE POWER!!
I rode CR500's for years and got BONE tired of their starting issues - changed to green and GLAD I DID!
Just my 2 cents!
Woodsy

[Suicycle]

An HRC Stage 2 or up XR650 with enough real estate will catch the big 5 but it takes a while and there is usually not enough real state before a turn. Those 650's can move in a straight line but they don't turn worth a flip.

that is correct.  had both and the red pig is the striaght line missle.  the kx easily handles it in any other area.....much lighter and i miss it dearly.

[delusionised]

i just wanted to update this situation, I broke in the bike correctly and then was pretty much dead even with this crf450, he would win then i would win, he has a 35 pound weight advantage cause he is small, so ill give him that. But i just put on v-force reeds and a fmf fatty and owned him by a good two bike lengths. Now he wants to put 2004' crf450 piston and cam on his 2002 and smoke me. IHATE4STROKES

[K5RACER]

Ok can someone give me the bottom line on the 450s yz or cr? Is their someone here that cannot flat out out accelerate a 450?
Ive got to admit ive never ran against one in a straight line wide open drag race before but only because i never seen them as a problem to beat.

[doordie]

K5RACER!!
Good point there,  "never seen a as problem to beat" .
Send them to me plz and I will smoke them.  
I will meet some of them in this winter season,tell you later guy`s if they cry or not.
Tips,buy a fueltank from a 250kx -89 (lower than kx500) and a "high seat", you will be amazeed about the new handling of the bike.
(more weights at frontwheel).
Will take a good pic later of my bike with this mods.

[SLEEZ]

I was also disappointed when I raced my buddys CRF450 up Olds. Here's the deal though, I weigh 180lbs and ran a 10 paddle. If anyone is familiar with Olds, you know that there's a section of whoops before the straight to the top. We would go into the whoops even in third gear, his bike would hook up and my would just smoke the 10 paddle all the way through. Once out of the whoops my bike would catch up to him but not before it was too late and ran out of hill. We're only talking a bike length or two.

On flat ground with traction there's no way it should beat you. I'm trying to get him out to Johnson Valley or El Mirage this weekend to put and end to it. Even funnier, I have a buddy with a stock KX 250 that thinks he can keep up with both of us. BTW my bikes an 04'.

[KX500FLA]

my buddy just got one and i wipe his ass, cant touch the mighty 500

[Paul]

SLEEZ, you get that suspension set up and you'll own him everywhere

[teamgreen500]

Excuuuuuuse ME?

Who the heck is loooosing against ANY EPA-Mobil?

XR650 Water-Trucks catch K5s? Oh really?

Only of you strip the XR down of all it's front palstic and REMOVE THE FRONT BRAKES and have it built in Bldg 500 at Honda Motor Corp. in Torrance!

Then, and only then, does that fat pig of a water truck run with THE BIG DOG!

Oh, and, you better have Johnnie Campbell around, too!

Manny

[mikesmith]

And it's still weighs as much as a water truck,like you said no matter what they do to it!

[jmart233]

I think the 450 are wonderfull machines, they make most of their torque and power over a broader power band this may be better off the line.  They don't need to wind up the motor so much, which will lead to wheel spin or wheelies.  My friend has a 03' CRF450 and that bike can't seem to loose a race, and my buddy can't ride for $hit. One of these days I will race the 450, but for right now I am going to stick with my 85' CR250.  Dry lakebed sounds interesting...................  By the way I love the site.