Anyone ride a 2015 CRF450R?

BackcountryUP · Aug 8, 2018

Found a great deal on a 2015 CRF450R. 60 hours but had a top end rebuild 20 hours ago. Anyone here using this bike for a snowbike setup? Any common issues I should be aware of? Can I run this thing in cold temps on the stock ECU and tune? Any recommendations on a reliable setup would be appreciated. Planning on purchasing the new Timbersled RAW kit. Will also be running a thermobob and engine jacket.

Thanks!

coryf89 · Aug 9, 2018

ahhhh. theres a "but" in there! theres a reason youre getting a great deal on it... someones trying to dump it. its not even holding up solidly on the dirt if it needed a top end at 40 hours (do you mean a head rebuild, or just piston? were the seats cut? SS intakes installed? who cut the seats? new cam chain installed?) I dont think itll do much better in the snow having its neck wrung all winter.

personally, ive had bad luck with crfs and their junk TI intake valves/unicam, rocker arm head setup in general... the older 02-08 generation non EFI bikes, but still left a sour taste in my mouth with crfs in general after 3 motors, 380 engine hours and 8 years on one. wouldnt trust a new one with a track kit, definitely wouldnt trust a rebuilt one. but thats just me.... ive had way too much bad luck and go way too deep and scary places to be bringing a rebuilt honda personally. you may have better luck, others here run them with no problems. just depends how lucky you feel and how hard you ride...staying around the acreage with the son. fine. trying to keep up with turboed 850s all weekend long in revy and the rebuilt ol girl might not last!

just some food for thought, sometimes cheaper/the best deal isnt really the best or cheapest in the long run. especially this sport!

Ben 500RR-S · Aug 9, 2018

My brother in law got a 2008 CRF 450X last winter and I put a 2018 Camso DTS 129 kit on it and he had a blast riding it all last winter.

The bike, while it had more than enough power and was a lot of fun, never ran as good as it could have as the fuel strainer at the bottom of the tank/on the top of the fuel-tap, had degraded and had been sending small plastic crystals all through the fuel system/carburetor and had caused all sorts of odd running issues as a result.

I just sent the FCR carburetor to be cleaned and rebuilt and put it back on last night and now the motor is running great.

All I did was plumb in a Thermobob and put a PST engine jacket around the motor and he ran the bike all winter. The bike will run really well this upcoming winter as the entire fuel system has been cleaned/flushed and the carburetor rebuilt and cleaned. All the fluids have been changed so it is now ready to go.

BackcountryUP · Aug 9, 2018

Crf450r

I contacted the Honda shop today that did the engine rebuild to get more details. Once I told them the guys name that owned the bike before they said "oh ya" we know him and that bike. They said he just had lots of money to spend on the bike all the time and had them rebuild it and put a stage 1 hot cam in it. They then verified that they put in new rings, valves, and the hot cam at that time. It's a pretty reputable shop in the area too so I'm sure the work was done right.

But honestly I was hoping to hear from some of the guys on here running some of the newer CRF450's and how the fuel injected ones ran in the cold and if they start up ok?

Ben 500RR-S · Aug 9, 2018

It is summer and this forum has been really slow. Even in the heart of winter it is slow as there are very few on here compared to other sites.

I have, though, seen LOTS of guys who are riding FI 450 Honda's with no issues.

I had to have FI as I got a new Beta 500 RR-S 02/22/2017 and this past winter it ran flawlessly. I would not have gotten a bike that was not FI as the FI makes the bike start and go. I need to warm it up when it is cold out or my clutch plates stick and every time I go to put the bike in gear it stalls but now with a Rekluse Radius CX, I might not have that problem this upcoming winter.

Jaynelson · Aug 9, 2018

Our shop ran a new Honda this winter (2018 450)...worked well, ran and started well. It’s a somehwat pipe-y motor in the snow, and you need to work a bit to keep it in the meat of the power band, but it was fun to ride. Also was much more prone to over-fueling in the cold (resulting in oil in fuel) than the KTM’s we usually ride. I would say the CRF with engine jacket and thermobob still pumped more fuel into the oil than a box stock KTM, at our temps and elevations at least. So you definitely need to be diligent on oil changes.

If I had that bike I would throw a snow kit on it no question. If I had to go out and buy a bike FOR a snow kit, I’d probably look for an e start bike

Sheetmetalfab · Aug 9, 2018

Keep looking for a 14+ Yamaha. (If you are buying high hour bikes)

Honda’s have the least power and most weight of all the 450’s
(At least until 17)

BackcountryUP · Aug 10, 2018

Kawi

What about the 2017 KX450. Any opinions on that bike in the snow?

needpowder · Aug 10, 2018

BackcountryUP said:
Found a great deal on a 2015 CRF450R. 60 hours but had a top end rebuild 20 hours ago. Anyone here using this bike for a snowbike setup? Any common issues I should be aware of? Can I run this thing in cold temps on the stock ECU and tune? Any recommendations on a reliable setup would be appreciated. Planning on purchasing the new Timbersled RAW kit. Will also be running a thermobob and engine jacket.

Thanks!

What’s a good deal? Personally where I ride, we don’t see a lot of red bikes. Or green for that matter. There are a few however. Mostly blue and orange. I imagine there’s a pretty good reason for that.
Sounds like a solid bike you’re looking at. I would want the PR2 ECU for winter on it since they are known to over fuel.

mtnthumper · Aug 10, 2018

I did a lot of research on bikes last year looking for the perfect setup. There are a lot of good options but you just have to decide what you can and can't live without. Once I had that in my head the options narrowed down a lot.

The last two years I've been on a 13 Kawi 470. It doesn't have any comforts and is kick start only. For my new bike I had to have e-start with a kick starter, FI, and hand warmers. Those constraints lead me to a 17 CRF450RX.

Ben 500RR-S · Aug 10, 2018

Before I had ever even considered a snowbike-kit, my (triple) dual-sport had to have both E-start and FI or it was a no-go. I'm so glad I did.

My BIL had spent a few trips having to use the kickstarter and was struggling at times getting the bike started as in slow going, getting stuck, stalling, maneuvering around in tight trails, falling over, it was quite tricking trying to kickstart a bike that is in snow, on a hill, in deep snow-etc, blah-blah-blah. E-start is a blessing.

wonderdummy · Aug 10, 2018

I ran a 14 crf450 only small differences from the 15. Really bad for over fueling in stock trim. So will need something to fix that. I Added Afr+ tuner and thermostat worked a lot better. I prefer the PR2 ecu on my current CRF450RX. Started fine in anything warmer than -15c any colder it was a struggle. Air forks worked ok at 50psi to stiffen them up, I did lose air pressure in one side a couple times but could always pump it back up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

needpowder · Aug 11, 2018

mtnthumper said:
I did a lot of research on bikes last year looking for the perfect setup. There are a lot of good options but you just have to decide what you can and can't live without. Once I had that in my head the options narrowed down a lot.

The last two years I've been on a 13 Kawi 470. It doesn't have any comforts and is kick start only. For my new bike I had to have e-start with a kick starter, FI, and hand warmers. Those constraints lead me to a 17 CRF450RX.

Did you ride it the whole season?I haven’t heard that many reviews of the new Hondas on snow. From what I did hear though it was pretty good

mtnthumper · Aug 12, 2018

This will be my first winter on it, so I'm hoping it starts and runs good. You're right, there isn't much info out there on it but talking with PR2, PST and CMX they all say it's a really good bike. Of course they were all selling me parts for it so maybe they just didn't want to discourage me.

etecheaven · Aug 17, 2018

mtnthumper said:
This will be my first winter on it, so I'm hoping it starts and runs good. You're right, there isn't much info out there on it but talking with PR2, PST and CMX they all say it's a really good bike. Of course they were all selling me parts for it so maybe they just didn't want to discourage me.

My brother and myself both found a couple 2017 CRF450RX models as well due to the kickstart and e start being stock in this year.

Looking to do a decent build, good thing i got a deal on the bike cause these parts are expensive. Snowchecked a YETI 129.

Cant wait for snow!

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Anyone ride a 2015 CRF450R?

BackcountryUP

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coryf89

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Ben 500RR-S

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BackcountryUP

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Ben 500RR-S

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Jaynelson

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Sheetmetalfab

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BackcountryUP

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