Supermoto Build

The newer 450's definitely put out big numbers stock..... realistic 55-57 Dynojet HP. I have seen some stock numbers pushing 60HP, but I don't look at those as reliable, however, it wouldn't take much to push one into the 60's with relative ease. As for the weight, most of them come in at around 240-243 dry. With lighter wheels, exhaust, hardware....it wouldn't be unrealistic to see, low 220's.....Just for comparison, Ryan Dungey's 2015 Factory 450 SX-F was right at 220 pounds. The stock 2016 KTM 450SX-F is listed at 225.5 # dry......with a set of tubeless Alpina Carbon matrix wheels, rotor lightening, Ti hardware, carbon exhaust, it would be reasonable to see sub 220#.

The typical issue with SM bike's with higher clamp offsets is that they start to experience front end chatter when pushed hard on very tight corners, but they are more stable at higher speeds. The 12-14mm offsets are better for SM track duty, while the 22mm would be better on the street or on a longer road course type track. The stock offset is 24mm for the 2006 CRF450X.

I have ridden some very well prepared 450 SM's and they are razor sharp and very quick machines. I would like to think that mine will have the engine and suspension attributes of most factory level machines, but with a penalty for the street trim and the stainless valves.

The biggest part of the engine puzzle was the cam, which I haven't talked about, but it is an HRC replica profile with HRC timing....There will be a small penalty for the valve material, due to the slightly heavier stainless valves, but the reliability aspect will be improved. The ECU settings are also baselined for this setup. there is one setting for low traction conditions and one for max power. The final ignition timing will have to be determined under load, on a dyno....as there is NO other way to do it correctly. Contrary to the thoughts of some here who talk about such things, the trick with timing advance is to use as little advance as possible to achieve the highest HP.......With a single camshaft you don't have the same ability to advance or retard intake and exhaust timing independently...which typically give the best power and will allow the use of less advance. So it takes a little more effort to achieve similar results.

 

Darn, there he goes with all that old tech carb shit when just the other day he was in a snit about me fixing me old Bings at the side of the road with some duct tape.

Maybe it was the diaphragms that got to him..

 

Thanks for keeping the thread towards the top!

 

I sence alittle tift between you two, or possibly jealousy

 

Are you going to run various sprocket set up for different gearing situations? I imagine on a bigger track and taller gearing you should be able to get up near 120 on straights.

 

Thank you for posting this. I love the concept and the attention to detail. Truly stunning.











.

 

I know I'm eager to see this bike once it's complete! A Super Moto has been on my radar for sometime, just don't have the room for one at the moment.

 

Give enough dicks enough typewriters and six or seven K pesos....

 

Due to the condition of the bearing pins, seals and spacers I donated the original swingarm to the aluminum collecting guy that frequented the dumpster areas around my condo complex....at least it was worth something to him.

Went to Service Honda and bought a new suspension linkage and swingarm. the linkage mounting washers, nuts, and bolts are a mix of Mettec special pieces and off the shelf from ProBolt







For the brakes I went back to my buddy Davide at 1 Moto Shop and sourced a new rear caliper with a billet mount and integrated disc guard



For the brake line I went back to HEL USA and had a custom one fabbed up by Jim to fit the new caliper and rear master. The chain guide block came from the fine folks at BRP and it was mounted up with Pro Bolt Ti washers, bolts, and bi-hex metal lock nuts. It got a new Ti axle and axle nut from Mettec. The chain adjuster blocks are from Pro Circuit and the adjustments bolts are gold anodized Ti also from Pro Bolt



The wheel is a black 4.25" Excel with the same red nipples, black spokes and mag colored Talon Hub to match the front. The tire is a 160X17 Contiforce Attack SM tire and the sprocket is a 42 tooth SuperSprox with stainless sprocket bolts and Ti nuts, while the rotor is a lightened GoldFren rotor with Ti mounting bolts and nuts from ProBolt. the spacers are Talon, and anodized by ACE Anodizing in Tucson, AZ.





Immediately I could tell there was going to be an issue with the chain guide....the stock rim is much narrower and is also 1" bigger in diameter. This caused a big problem because the chain guide mounting nuts would contact the rim if the rear wheel was adjusted anywhere but close to fully forward. This wasn't gonna work having only a small amount of chain adjustment and it also took away the ability to tune the handling by lengthening or decreasing the wheelbase.

The wheel and the swingarm were sent to CPR Fabrication and Chris carefully removed the stock chain guide mounts and moved the whole thing back almost an inch and the mounts were tig welded back on. This allows for the full range of adjustment....as it should be. Although it isn't pictured the chain is a DID Gold narrow X-ring to provide as much chain to tire clearance as possible.

I didn't like the chain slider with the integrated side slider, wasn't very robust, so a custom chain slider was attached to keep the chain off the tire, and potentially the rim. The swingarm was drilled and tapped for M6 bolts and the slider is attached with stainless super low profile socket cap bolts from Baller Bolts. OEM brake line guides are used with Ti mounting hardware from ProBolt.

 

The exhaust system is a Ti FMF Powerbomb CRF450R header with an FMF Factory Aluminum Q4 muffler to keep the sound somewhat acceptable for the street. All mounting bolts are Ti from ProBolt. The radiator hoses are CV4 silicone and the radiator mounting kit is Ti.





The aux LED taillight is from S2 Performance in Australia and a DRC LED secondary brake/taillight is mounted in the stock position, in series, with the S2 light. All the mounting hardware is aluminum from ProBolt.



The rear master cylinder is a blueprinted CRF450R piece with HRC resevoir cap with blue anodized Ti bolts from ProBolt and and HRC bake pedal clevis. A stock brake pedal was sourced from Service Honda and anodized by Milners Anodizing in Santa Rosa, CA. The stock pedal got a Hammerhead Designs folding brake tip. I also used a Hammerhead Designs Folding tip shift lever with Ti clamping bolt. I ended up switching the STS clevis for the HRC model.





The footpegs are Raptor Ti pegs with integrated sliders mounted with Mettec Ti pivot pins and stainless springs



The graphics package was done by DeCal Works in Dekalb, IL to my design specs. Wanted something clean with an old school mashup with Mugen Honda from the early 80's factory Honda RC motocross days and the RCV's of today's MotoGP



More to come as I am home for Thanksgiving and will have a chance to get some stuff done

 

I didn't get much time to fiddle with the SM today....had to install a new water service for my sis at her new pad.

I did get to work on making up part of the Vapor computer connections. The Vapor allows you to monitor a few sensors... speed, coolant temp, and tach.

The tach is a capacitive coupling that is connected directly to the coil lead to the spark plug. It also has to have a ground connection to complete the circuit.

The kit comes with this



The wire is very small gauge at 22. It also doesn't have any type of protection or covering. Not so good. So, I measured up the required lengths and trimmed them down to the correct length. The positive side has to be wrapped around the coil lead 5 times and secured in place to be able to acquire the signal for the tach. The negative side has to be grounded to a chassis ground.



Next I used some flame proof mesh wiring harness sheathing to ad some protection and sealed up both ends with stepped heat shrink with internal adhesive to clean it up and make it respectable.



to make up the ground circuit, I cut the 22ga wire and spliced on a piece of 18ga wire so that a proper ring terminal could be added. The 2 wires were spliced together, soldered and covered with the adhesive shrink wrap. I hand crimped a ring connector with needle nose pliers that would be capable of accepting an M6 bolt, soldered the terminal. My fancy ratcheting crimpers aren't capable of doing the wire crimp and the strain relief crimp, as they are too close together.....all of a sudden, not so fancy :witless: The new ones I have coming, Hozan P-706, will be able to handle this type of crimp.



After it cooled, I covered the connection with heat shrink tubing with adhesive to complete the connection.

I wired up the positive to the coil lead



Next, the grounding wire was connected to a chassis ground to complete the harness



I then moved on to the temp sensor. The Trail Tech kit comes with a tee that you have to splice into your radiator hose to install the sensor...I didn't want to cut my nice CV4 hoses. When I got the bullet proofed radiators from CPR Fab, I asked Chris to install a bung on the left side radiator to accept the sensor. This eliminated the need to cut the radiator hose and install the tee...a much cleaner approach.



The sensor was installed and I added a special aluminum crush washer to seal it up.

Thre are now 2 more circuits to install to complete the Vapor installation...the speed sensor and the main power. I'm waiting on some connectors and a special crimper to get here from Japan. When that stuff arrives, I will build another harness that will power the Vapor and the aux fan. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the headlight harness installed, cut and install the chain and the shift lever and finish the harness for the taillights. I'm not going to mess with the brake lights, turn signals and horn just yet. Just want to get it finished and after that is done, I will wire up the last three parts of the street legal stuff.

I have some billet micro LED turn signals from Canada that will eventually get mounted. I had them powdercoated white during their assembly and here are 2 of the 4

 

Mad skills.....can't wait ta see the finished product

 

Thanks for the kind words, Duccmann, sincerely appreciated. Hoping to have some more up tomorrow....starting to get there......

 

Keep on keepin on man.
You do know we are going to demand some video, hope ya got a gopro bro

 

I haz GoPro...I also forgot about some stuff...can't wait to get it all installed tomorrow....thanks again for following the thread.

 

Every day.....the thing about my job is ALOT of down time.....I check both sites on a regular basis.

 

Building this because you can?

In any event, I love this thread. It's interesting to see enthusiasts carry out their visions.




.

 

No reason, just a hobby and I have an empty spot in my living room.

 

Damn, seeing this kind of thing makes me want to do same to my XR650R ... trouble is I use her on the track, street, & sometime soon, trail (mild). The potential for tossing her down is too high for me to put lotsa $$$ & sweat equity into 'tarting' her up ... not to mention the lack of the necessary skill. So I'll just enjoy watching your build come together ... nice work.

ACE