Bare Necessities for a Honda TRX 450 quad in Baja

[BajaBound27]

I will be racing in my first baja 500 in 2009 and own a 2006 TRX 450 quad. I know the saying goes that you get what you pay for, but if I'm to get by with bare necessities, (with limited funds) where is my money best spent and what would I need to modify on my quad to make it through the race. Is an oversize tank a must with baja pit support. Tires and sizes? What type of stabilizer, lights, and i know that suspension can be a huge investment. Can simply revalving be enough or is it necessary to upgrade? Do I need to widen, lengthen or raise my stance? What about sprocket size? Any recommendations on exhaust? Are buying any of these parts used a good idea and which ones would be versus wouldn't be? Does a guy need to beef up any internals or just leave it stock? What about types of spark plugs?
Any info that anyone has would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Bryan

[Nick Sexton]

i would not race without a proper racing suspension. most stock suspensions will start to loose performance after a long ride because they get to hot and it makes the ride awful to the point were it could be dangerous to ride. i would at least upgrade the front end with a long travel system of some kind, you will be happy you did. i have bought used suspension systems before and never had a problem, saves you a ton of cash too. you can get away with keeping a stock rear end and revalve the shock. keep your engine completely stock, no need for a pipe if you are really on a budget use that money for other important components. i would upgrade to taller tires(23" fronts 22"rears) with a high ply rating. go with a larger gas tank(4 or 5 gallon tank will work well). GPR Stabilizer would be a good investment. as for lights it all depends on the budget, but i would look into Baja Designs dual HIDs, there pricey but they work awesome. an oversized radiator would not be a bad idea either.

there is nothing wrong with buying used, i built my race quad with parts i found on ebay and the classified ads. i saved about 3000 dollars doing that. just make sure you know what your buying is not completely screwed up.

good luck with your project

[Nick Sexton]

Another path you can go is to buy a quad that has already been built up to race specs. just be careful and make sure the quad has not been beaten to hell!

[co pilot mclovin]

wow you are in for a big one. yes you will need an oversized tank. on a honda 450 run 23"s in the front and 22"s in the rear. gearing will be around a 14 36 i think. i cant remember and dont want to go look. yes you should do a good quality suspension. not a cheap one. how much do you have to invest in this and you are just getting started now?

[trophygirl82]

Lights and an oversized fuel tank are a necessity. Suspension is a plus but not necessary. The baja has been won many of times through the years on stock everything. Its just depends on your determination, skills, expectations and abilities....the baja, its endless.

Best wishes and good luck!!

[RacerX1]

You guys are forgetting a couple of very important items... SKID PLATES! Get some good ones and get a couple extras.

Please tell me that this isn't going to be your first race ever. Hopefully you have a little racing experience before attempting baja.

Also, go through the tranny. The tranny's on the '06 don't hold up as well as the 04-05 model. You'll want to start fresh.

Suspension, tank, tires, skid plates, stabilizer, lights.

BEST OF LUCK!

[Elk Hunter]

Skid Plates are a must I would not worry about a over sized radiator for the 06 trx. Stock is fine.

[co pilot mclovin]

i would have to disagree that the 1000 has been won on a stock suspension bike. i cant think of one in the last few years. yeah you will need belly pan, skid plate for swing arm, lights, a ton of spare tires. if you are this curious about it and dont already know i would say maybe go and watch this year and try it next year. it is not one of the races you can just decide to do. most people plan out all year for this one

[StrunkBro]

Make sure you go through the whole motor before the race. Also make sure you have a lot of spares. A good idea is to bring another 07 honda along. You will want spare filters, tires, clutch, cables. Make sure you focus on a good suspension that is dialed in. Just because you pay a lot for suspension doesn't mean it works well. A lot of shocks need some adjusting to get everything out of them. a Few other things that really makes your ride better but is not a neccesity is a desert seat and a wider set of foot pegs.

[trophygirl82]

i would have to disagree that the 1000 has been won on a stock suspension bike. i cant think of one in the last few years. yeah you will need belly pan, skid plate for swing arm, lights, a ton of spare tires. if you are this curious about it and dont already know i would say maybe go and watch this year and try it next year. it is not one of the races you can just decide to do. most people plan out all year for this one

Here is a good article I found....

Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

November 21, 2003



Honda's new TRX450R Conquers Baja in its debut race



Honda made its official return to ATV off-road racing by winning Class 25 (Open ATV) and taking first overall ATV at the 36th-annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 with the brand-new, never-before-raced TRX450R. The come-from-behind win over several larger-displacement machines was backed up by a second TRX450R ridden to fourth place despite an early race crash that left the rider with a broken collarbone-though he managed to nurse the damaged bike and himself 20 miles to the next pit.



The winning team consisted of veteran racers Poncho Castro, Doug Eichner, Tim Farr (Honda's official factory-supported ATV racer for 2004), John Gregory and Marc Spaeth, who covered the 808-mile course in 18 hours, 27 minutes, 34 seconds, at an average speed of 43.78 miles per hour. That was quick enough to earn them 16th overall vehicle of the 272 original starters, and put a whopping 53 minutes between them and the second-place team. Scott Callen, Shane Hitt, Alberto Marquez and Danny Rudd comprised the riders of the fourth-place ATV, finishing in 20:45:48 on the second TRX450R. After Callen's injury, Rudd rode the last half of the race, and felt the effects afterward of what was considered the toughest, most technical Baja 1000 ever. Besides tight, rocky sections, competitors faced conditions that ranged from hot, dusty and dry to cold, foggy and even rainy. Of the 272 starters, just 153 finished.



This marked the second consecutive victory for a factory-backed Honda ATV in the 1000 after last year's rather surprising 1-3 finish by a pair of virtually stock Rincon sport-utility quads. Unlike last year, however, the pair of TRX450s was widely expected to vie for the win this time.



'The main purpose of racing the 1000 with the new bikes is to confirm the base performance for this product,' Honda R&D Chief Engineer Hajime Shogase said before the race. To that end, both 450s were only very slightly modified-a different carburetor and exhaust, dialed-in stock suspension, taller seat and aftermarket wheels with Baja-oriented tires being the notable changes. 'Basically, every rider on the two teams was happy with the suspension setting change, and they loved the power!' Shogase reported.



Though they drew the 12th starting position, the eventual winners were in third place unofficially by the time they reached Valle de Trinidad about 110 miles into the race. They continued to hunt down the front-runners until Spaeth caught up to the lead ATV about halfway into the race and saw the leader crash in a silt bed. Seeing that, Spaeth veered to the left but also hit something and tumbled into the powder. However, he got the Honda restarted before the other rider and sped by. That essentially ended the race as the TRX450R simply pulled away in the last half.



'The bike worked awesome!' Spaeth exclaimed. 'The only thing I had a little bit of trouble with was the helicopter-I've never had a helicopter over me so it was a little bit intimidating having somebody watching you.'



'Everything went smooth,' Farr said. 'In the past, the teams I've ridden for have just had a lot of problems-organization and bike problems have always plagued the teams that I've been on. This year with Honda and Golden West Cycle it was completely different.'



'This bike is everything you could want in an ATV,' said Eichner who took the start and finish sections. 'The powerband is very useful and very, very easy to ride. The bike handles really well, and it's built like a Honda-it's built good!'



Baja 1000 results, Class 25 (Open ATV)

1. Poncho Castro/Doug Eichner/Tim Farr/John Gregory/Marc Spaeth-Honda TRX450R-18:27:34 2. Ruben Martin/Gilberto Santana-Bombardier DS650X-19:20:33 3. Carmen Cafro/Mike Cafro-Honda TRX400EX-20:29:47 4. Scott Callen/Shane Hitt/Alberto Marquez/Danny Rudd-Honda TRX450R-20:45:28 5. Alex Croswaite/Antonio Espinoza-Yamaha YZ450-21:06:15

[Dirty Neil]

I have a couple of questions. What racing series do you race now ? Have you ever raced that far ? If not, my opinion is the experience in long desert races far outweighs the equipment on your bike. I get the imprssion you have not raced many long races because of the questions you asked. This is not meant to demean you or deter you from the 09 500, everybody starts somewhere. We learned "ALOT" from the 08 Vegas to Reno and that was only 450 miles.

Come race the BITD 150 in Jean Nevada on the 25th and get your feet wet or the BITD Henderson race in December. I dont know how much desert there is in Ohio, since Ive never been there, but the Nevada, California and Mexico desert is pretty brutal on equipment.

As most have said;

Protection (skid plate and belly plate)....an absolute must....
IMS oversized gas tank
bigger tires (6 ply 23" fronts and 22" rears) more than one set
suspension (if on a budget rebuilds will do)
A-arms (wider stance for high speed stability)
stock motor and pipe usually hold up well
Uni air filter (at least 2)
A good steering stabilizer
tool pack (look into WolfPak) or put one on the bike somewhere. We use a modified 6-pack rack
Extra parts (cables, shifter, clutch handle, tie rods, rod ends). Its funny how that stuff seems to break in the long races.
Lights; I race with dual 4" Halogen Fuegos from Baja Designs and they do fine and are much less expensive than HID (if on budget)
and last but not least drown the bike in loc tite.

Good luck

[trentk]

I think you'd be better of buying a quad that is already built. They are tons of good deals out there and you will be paying about 1/8th of the actual cost of all the parts in most cases. I think the stock exhaust with the HRC endcap is great (and quiet), I switched from that setup to a $550 Dasa race pipe and gained exactly .4 peak hp, i did gain some bottom end torque though and a whole lotta noise.

For lights I would recommend HID's. I tried halogens I was unhappy with the amount of light per dollar.

[RUFF_RYDER]

Haha or...sell ur quad and go get one of of them Ktm's haha

[J Caster]

Haha or...sell ur quad and go get one of of them Ktm's haha

Exactly!!!

[co pilot mclovin]

Here is a good article I found....

Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

November 21, 2003



Honda's new TRX450R Conquers Baja in its debut race



Honda made its official return to ATV off-road racing by winning Class 25 (Open ATV) and taking first overall ATV at the 36th-annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 with the brand-new, never-before-raced TRX450R. The come-from-behind win over several larger-displacement machines was backed up by a second TRX450R ridden to fourth place despite an early race crash that left the rider with a broken collarbone-though he managed to nurse the damaged bike and himself 20 miles to the next pit.



The winning team consisted of veteran racers Poncho Castro, Doug Eichner, Tim Farr (Honda's official factory-supported ATV racer for 2004), John Gregory and Marc Spaeth, who covered the 808-mile course in 18 hours, 27 minutes, 34 seconds, at an average speed of 43.78 miles per hour. That was quick enough to earn them 16th overall vehicle of the 272 original starters, and put a whopping 53 minutes between them and the second-place team. Scott Callen, Shane Hitt, Alberto Marquez and Danny Rudd comprised the riders of the fourth-place ATV, finishing in 20:45:48 on the second TRX450R. After Callen's injury, Rudd rode the last half of the race, and felt the effects afterward of what was considered the toughest, most technical Baja 1000 ever. Besides tight, rocky sections, competitors faced conditions that ranged from hot, dusty and dry to cold, foggy and even rainy. Of the 272 starters, just 153 finished.



This marked the second consecutive victory for a factory-backed Honda ATV in the 1000 after last year's rather surprising 1-3 finish by a pair of virtually stock Rincon sport-utility quads. Unlike last year, however, the pair of TRX450s was widely expected to vie for the win this time.



'The main purpose of racing the 1000 with the new bikes is to confirm the base performance for this product,' Honda R&D Chief Engineer Hajime Shogase said before the race. To that end, both 450s were only very slightly modified-a different carburetor and exhaust, dialed-in stock suspension, taller seat and aftermarket wheels with Baja-oriented tires being the notable changes. 'Basically, every rider on the two teams was happy with the suspension setting change, and they loved the power!' Shogase reported.



Though they drew the 12th starting position, the eventual winners were in third place unofficially by the time they reached Valle de Trinidad about 110 miles into the race. They continued to hunt down the front-runners until Spaeth caught up to the lead ATV about halfway into the race and saw the leader crash in a silt bed. Seeing that, Spaeth veered to the left but also hit something and tumbled into the powder. However, he got the Honda restarted before the other rider and sped by. That essentially ended the race as the TRX450R simply pulled away in the last half.



'The bike worked awesome!' Spaeth exclaimed. 'The only thing I had a little bit of trouble with was the helicopter-I've never had a helicopter over me so it was a little bit intimidating having somebody watching you.'



'Everything went smooth,' Farr said. 'In the past, the teams I've ridden for have just had a lot of problems-organization and bike problems have always plagued the teams that I've been on. This year with Honda and Golden West Cycle it was completely different.'



'This bike is everything you could want in an ATV,' said Eichner who took the start and finish sections. 'The powerband is very useful and very, very easy to ride. The bike handles really well, and it's built like a Honda-it's built good!'



Baja 1000 results, Class 25 (Open ATV)

1. Poncho Castro/Doug Eichner/Tim Farr/John Gregory/Marc Spaeth-Honda TRX450R-18:27:34 2. Ruben Martin/Gilberto Santana-Bombardier DS650X-19:20:33 3. Carmen Cafro/Mike Cafro-Honda TRX400EX-20:29:47 4. Scott Callen/Shane Hitt/Alberto Marquez/Danny Rudd-Honda TRX450R-20:45:28 5. Alex Croswaite/Antonio Espinoza-Yamaha YZ450-21:06:15

yeah i know all the guys who rode that bike. you really think it was stock? you have to be kidding me. the only stock things about it was that honda did the work. and thr rincon that ruben martie rode a few years ago was stock. and the outlanders and renegades we ran were stock. sorry to burst that bubble but those were no where close to a showroom bike. the closest bike i know to stock that won is the bike that ruben martin raced and won all the races. but that had suspension work done to it.

[D Bergstrom]

yeah i know all the guys who rode that bike. you really think it was stock? you have to be kidding me. the only stock things about it was that honda did the work. and thr rincon that ruben martie rode a few years ago was stock. and the outlanders and renegades we ran were stock. sorry to burst that bubble but those were no where close to a showroom bike. the closest bike i know to stock that won is the bike that ruben martin raced and won all the races. but that had suspension work done to it.

What was not stock on it? I just looked up the pictures of the two that raced the 2003 Baja 1000 on Trackside, and they look pretty close to stock. (Quad 7a and 12a.) Stock a-arms, stock shocks. Heck, the front shocks looked like thay had the stock springs and dust covers on them. I did notice that they had new tires, a pipe, and it looked like a taller seat and it even mentioned that those were changed in the article that was posted. I guess the motor internals and shock internals could have been changed, but come on, they were ALOT closer to stock then any quad racing in Baja these days.



As far as what to do to your quad for Baja, I think Dirt Neil pretty much covered it. Your best bet would still be to find a good used one. Trust me, setting a quad up to race in the desert is NOT cheap. I would really try to hit a couple of smaller races first to get your feet wet.

Doug

[RacerX1]

yeah i know all the guys who rode that bike. you really think it was stock? you have to be kidding me. the only stock things about it was that honda did the work. and thr rincon that ruben martie rode a few years ago was stock. and the outlanders and renegades we ran were stock. sorry to burst that bubble but those were no where close to a showroom bike. the closest bike i know to stock that won is the bike that ruben martin raced and won all the races. but that had suspension work done to it.And not only that, those PROS have been racing for many many years! They always want you to think it's stock so you'll buy one and go really really fast!! ;)

Seeing Poncho's name made me a little sad...
RIP

[matlockracing]

If you are interested in purchasing a race ready TRX450r, I have 6 of them for sale.

2006 & 2007 Honda TRX450R electric start models & kick start models. Race Ready! Roll Design A-arms, 2005 spindles, Precision Racing Products steering damper, Tag bars, Roll Design +1 steering stem, long travel Elka elite shocks with Elka linkage (all shocks reworked by Precision Concepts), IMS tank, IMS-Roll foot pegs, heel guards and bumper, Lone Star axle, fresh motor with ported head and HRC cam, Alba pipe, AC Racing belly pan and custom skid plate, Douglas wheels and Maxxis tires. $9,500 each obo. Please pm me for more info.

[shooei]

Haha or...sell ur quad and go get one of of them Ktm's haha

Why would you give this kid such bad advice? :confused:

[Vtr_Racing]

I will be racing in my first baja 500 in 2009 and own a 2006 TRX 450 quad. I know the saying goes that you get what you pay for, but if I'm to get by with bare necessities, (with limited funds) where is my money best spent and what would I need to modify on my quad to make it through the race. Is an oversize tank a must with baja pit support. Tires and sizes? What type of stabilizer, lights, and i know that suspension can be a huge investment. Can simply revalving be enough or is it necessary to upgrade? Do I need to widen, lengthen or raise my stance? What about sprocket size? Any recommendations on exhaust? Are buying any of these parts used a good idea and which ones would be versus wouldn't be? Does a guy need to beef up any internals or just leave it stock? What about types of spark plugs?
Any info that anyone has would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Bryan
If your interested in building a bike, tgis is about as close as your gonna get to the perfect Honda for the desert. Matlock racing`s bikes.

2006 & 2007 Honda TRX450R electric start models & kick start models. Race Ready! Roll Design A-arms, 2005 spindles, Precision Racing Products steering damper, Tag bars, Roll Design +1 steering stem, long travel Elka elite shocks with Elka linkage (all shocks reworked by Precision Concepts), IMS tank, IMS-Roll foot pegs, heel guards and bumper, Lone Star axle, fresh motor with ported head and HRC cam, Alba pipe, AC Racing belly pan and custom skid plate, Douglas wheels and Maxxis tires. $9,500 each obo. Please pm me for more info.

[Donnie]

Anyone know what size bore the TRX has?

[D Bergstrom]

Anyone know what size bore the TRX has?

Depends on the year, 04 and 05 94mm bore, while 06 and newer 96 mm bore.

Doug

[Donnie]

Depends on the year, 04 and 05 94mm bore, while 06 and newer 96 mm bore.

Doug

Thanks Doug.

How about the 2008?

[D Bergstrom]

Thanks Doug.

How about the 2008?

2006 and later years are all 96 mm bore.

Doug