BMW 450 enduro (merged) threadfest...

GPR has an under bar stabilizer available for the G450X now. I'm ording mine now.

http://gprstabilizer.com/app_8_bmw_g_450x_enduro

Those dirt rider boys much be pretty little boys. For my 210lb 6'1" body the suspension is outstanding. No harshness at all. It just soaks up everything I throw at it. I'm comming off a CRF250x so I know what a good off road suspension should be.

I wonder if BMW gave them one of their left over pre-production bikes?

To be honest, I think they were right on with their assesment of the fork. Mine is harsh and soft. I'm a 195 lb A enduro/hare scrambles rider and it bottoms on the big hits and deflects of the little rocks and chop. I already ordered stiffer springs. Hopefully that helps get the fork up in its travel and with the bottoming. I'm hoping that getting the fork higher in it's travel it will help with the little stuff, if not I'll be revalving it.

I do like the shock, though it's hard to really get a feel with the fork sagging so much.

As for their complaint of a gappy tranny, I went down to the 14 tooth on the front and it's better. But I still would like less of a gap from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. Even with the 14t this thing still has plenty of top end for the enduros and hare scrambles I race in. I ordered a couple of Renthal rear sprockets, 48t and 50t. I think that will bring 2nd and 3rd just a little bit lower for the tighter stuff. Should still have plenty of top end with that overdrive 5th.

I'm running the Remus full system and 50 hp setting. But the Remus won't pass a 96 db sound test, so I just ordered the Leo Vince.

I also ordered that clear tank from Speedbrain and their al skid plate.

I'll play with the fork more this weekend.

I got a real nice sumpguard at the weekend from adventure-spec in UK. And I mean it is very very nice. Fits great!
I will post some pictures tomorrow.
Guard-it Technology:-
http://www.adventure-spec.com/

Timpo.

I went to a .48 rate in the front and it definitely made an improvement, but the biggest improvement was getting 500 miles on it and flushing the forks out with some better quality Ohlins 7.5wt fork oil. I haven't spent enough time on it as of late, but plan on spending alot more time on it in the near future.

I am considering the Speedbrain triple clamps and run some WP's off one of my KTM's. I'd rather have some 50mm Shiver Zokes, but WP's will do.

the remus sytum is 94 db at least that what it says.
FIM aproved with all fim noise regulations 94 db....

speedbrain.de\
qoute

This complete System for the G450X stand for best fitting and a perfekt quality. With the REMUS system you save 1,3 kg against the orginal exhaust system and also the spread of the power gain a lot with the REMUS exhaust system. (DB killer is inklusive)
the sound volume is regular for every enduro race serie! (94db) inkl. header

Having been really worried of late hearing large stones erroding the plastic sump shield away from the underside of my 450, I decided to take the plunge and fit an alloy unit.
Adventure-spec make some nice kit for the 800GS via Guard-it Tencnologies, so I gave them a call about such an item to fit my 450.
They said they had a sumpguard in development and would be available mid-March, so I held on a couple of weeks.
Sure enough, Chris from Adventure-spec turned up at the March Moon Rally with the item for me, still warm from the jig (the sumpguard not Chris, he can't dance!).
It had to go on there and then, as it ain't very often I buy bling, and RickA was present.......:comfort
Timpo.

My club hosted a Hare Scrambles this past weekend. We did sound testing and i ran the 450 through with the Remus. The pipe had less than 2 hours on it and it tested at 99.5 db's. Also a problem is that the next race i'll be competing in is on USFS property and that requires a USFS approved spark arrestor which this Remus doesn't have. Hence the Leo Vince.

Timpo, nice skid plate. I ended up going with the Hyde Racing plastic plate with Speedbrains skid plate reinforcement.

Bob, I thought .48's were stock? How much do you weight? I ordered .50. I'll order a set of .48's as well.

I agree with you on breaking in the fork. The first couple hundred miles it deflected off everything. I have 600 miles on it now and it is starting to be a lot more plush. When i do the springs I put in new fluid. Hopefully with just that and playing with the clickers it will be close.

Thanks.

does it reflecs much noise from the engine?

Mine does, but so have all the others I ever fitted....... just as well I like the sound of engines!

Timpo.

I wonder if BMW re valved? Mine has a February build date. Its very resistant to bottoming and it soaks up the trail junk with ease.
It would not be the first time BMW made a mid run change

Maybe. But then again what's your weight? The stock springs are supposed to be for a 165 lb rider, I'm well over that. I'm over 200 lbs with riding gear. Mine was a very early model, but I wasn't able to ride much this past fall as I was healing from an injury. Anyway. I rode it again today, i now have 600 miles on it and it is alot more plush. Still bottoms too easy for me on the big hits. But I've got some springs on order and that should cure it. It does seem plusher on the smaller stuff. I rode today with my 7 year old, going out again tomorrow on a longer ride on mostly single track without the son. So I'll get a nice long ride in tomorrow and fiddle more with the clickers.

Well put in 50 some miles of high desert single track today. Fork has broken in nicely and is noce and plush, still bottoms pretty quickly on the big hits. I'm okay with that, though as it is finally plush. 668 miles to break in that Marzocchi, I've never experienced that with the Kayaba's on my yamaha's. I'll put in the stiffer springs this week and new fluid and it should be all good.

I'm really starting to appreciate some things about this bike. Power is decievingly fast. Smooth power but this thing hauls the mail. Traction is real good too, in fact I don't even really hae to feather the clutch much in the rocks, just use the throttle to control wheel spin.

I'm glad i ordered a better skid plate as this stock one made me nervous a few times today in the hike-a-bike boulder gardens. Other than a little more fuel range and gearing that is still too tall, I'm really starting to like this bike. Both those issues will be solved this week when I get my Speedbrain tank and 50t rear sprocket.

Good stuff BMW, no matter what Dirt Rider says.

Hi fella's.
What is the understanding of the 70 hr service?
My bike is nearly due and I dont want to fork out $ for new crank shaft bearings etc but if the exh. valves must be replaced, so be it.
I only use it for trail and single track with a little road trip to some off road areas (normally it goes on the trailer).
The Rep ROM says to remove the engine and pull it down take out the gear shafts etc. It all seems to excessive.
The bike is going great but I want to keep it this way.

The way I understand it, the engine would probably go 300+ hours before needed a complete rebuild if used in a non racing, somewhat sedate manor. The problem is that in order to keep the warranty intact you need to do the full engine service at 70 hours meaning that you will probably throw away perfectly good parts in the process. They definitely want the crank replaced, exhaust valves, piston + rings, along with a couple of bearings, seals, and gaskets. Pretty much every thing else needs to be inspected and measured before reusing. If you can do the 70 hour service yourself then it would be worth it to keep the warranty intact. If you have to pay the dealer to do it then I would rather let the warranty go bye bye and take my chances and wait until 200 hours or so.

My .02,

WOW! Seeing this item compared to the one that BMW offers that I unfortunately now own after having "an incident", I can tell you, you should not even consider the BMW version unless you like spending your money twice like I'm about to do!

I will give props to the original plastic version doing a nice job of saving my case after a huge hit I recently took. During a race where the trail pointed me straight off an eroded vertical river wash wall, I was unable to make a last minute steering adjustment on the drop to avoid two beach ball sized rocks directly below on the landing. Hit the left side engine case pretty hard, enough to think I just splattered my motor and was looking for the oil puddle to follow. NOTHING!

However, when I got back to my truck I looked down and had a slight oil spray on the toe of my left boot. Looking a little closer, one of the lower bolts that holds the left alternator cover on was bent back at about 45 degrees. I also noticed a hole about the diameter of a pencil in the cover as well. Nothing that Quick Aluminum wouldn't fix. When I removed the bent bolt from the case, the hole in the cover for the bolt broke away so putting in a new straight bolt meant it had nothing to purchase on.

The Guard It solves this particular protection area that I had a problem with, with that really nice welded-on forward facing round cover on the left side that the BMW version lacks. If I were to replay the same hit over again with the BMW aluminum cover, it would have deflected the hit the bolt took but not the one that caused a hole in the cover.

Another note is that the BMW version does not use the original rear bolts from the plastic protector and just loops around the lower engine mount in the back. The Guard It reuses those existing bolts which in my mind makes a good 4 point contact as opposed to using just the two forward bolt points on the BMW version.

Timpo, thanks for posting the nice close ups to show the high detail work these guys do.

I'm In!

I noticed my trip meter 1 and trip meter 2 was always resetting to zero after the bike was shut off for a few minutes on the trail, so I could never see how far I had gone. The hours and the odometer were still keeping track though. With my first Enduro event coming up this weekend I was getting concerned as I first thought I had a wiring problem or a bad trip meter.

After hitting the starter button, the display comes back up and you will see a small "rb" in the screen. I was told by the dealer I bought the bike from that they couldn't find the information about it anywhere but deducted that this meant "replace battery". Made sense!

The battery needed for this is a 3v Lithium Renata CR2403 (about the size of a quarter). I called a local drug store as they usually have a pretty good selection of small disc shaped batteries. Guy on the phone referred me to Radio Shack who had the battery in stock. $3.99

Easy install. Remove the front headlight/fender. Remove the two torx screws that hold the trip meter down into the mount. Use a quarter (or the new battery) to open up the battery cover and replace battery. Took me about 5 minutes to do the entire replace and get the headlight/fender back on. One note, make sure the battery cover seats back in flat. First 3 tries it ended up not all the way engaged. 4th time was the charm. User error of course but it does have an o-ring seal for water tightness!

Not sure but I think that hitting the "mode" button with the bike not running uses up the juice in this little battery instead of being powered from the bikes battery. I might have had a weak internal battery to begin with but I have only owned the bike since October 08 and have not been playing around too much with the "mode" button. I bought an extra one in case it goes out again when I am at an event and don't have time to run down to Radio Shack before the gun goes off.

Rear wheel bearings now failed..... wtf have I bought here!
Glad I've got a trusty DRZ-E to keep me entertained whilst my GX is VOR (BMW parts man's talk- vehicle of road)....... .

Timpo.