DirtDemons LTR 450 upgrades.

[DirtDemon]

So I got my tax return and dupmped about 2k into my LTR. The list of parts incudes a Precision steering stabilizer, stage 1 Hotcams, Tusk a-arm guards, Armadillo swingarm and chassis skid plates, Lexx MXe pipe and fuel controler, Pro-Tec Moflo airbox lid, ITP Holeshot GNCC rear tires, and Skat-track Edge 8 paddles on matte black G-force XC 10X8 wheels. The paddles will fit all my quads so they aren't just for the LTR, but I plan on buying some Skat-track Haulers for my 500R, so it won't have to share anymore.

I am sure you have all seen a stock LTR 450

This is the machine all stripped down.

Edited February 26, 2010 by DirtDemon

[DirtDemon]

I would like to start by thanking Hinshaw's motorcycle store for taking such good care of my machine. This is the first time I have even touched this thing as far as maintinece goes, I pre-paid 2 years worth of scheduled maintinence and I don't think I got my quad taken care of very well. First thing I noticed is that the air cleaner was not on all the way and there were several tears in my pre-filter, so plenty of dirt made its way into my throttlebody and surely into the engine. I also noticed that the valves were way out of spec, the intake and exhuast are supposed to be set at .006 and .010, they were all between .003 and 004. I also noticed that the cam bearings have been spinning between the head seat and cam cap. Really freakin nice right? I assure you, they will be getting a very unpleasant visit from me in the near future.

[DirtDemon]

So here is the pipe going in, the slip on mid pipe came with no clamp, so I drilled out the spot weld on the stocker and used it to help hold the pipe on since the fit was not that snug. Other than that, the pipe looks to be well made and fit perfectly, all welds looked good, the pipe does not sit quite centered on the bike, but that is ok, it was only $180 and seems to be made well. It seems like it is a little more restrictive than the uncorked stocker, but, that will change when I take the quiet core out this weekend. The recommended fuel maps for after you remove the core are much more aggressive, so I expect a big improvement.

[DirtDemon]

The fuel controller was simple to install, just unplug the stock connector from the injector and plug the controller to the injector and the stock plug to the controller. I ran the ground wire straight to the negative battery terminal and mounted the controller box under the seat. It is simple to adjust and seems to work flawlessly. The only thing to be determined is how reliable will it be. The are a relatively new company but I have only heard good things from those who have bought thier products, so I decided to take the chance because you can't beat the prices if the parts prove to be reliable.

[DirtDemon]

The Pro-tec Moflow airbox lid is a piece of crap, it doesn't even snap into place like the stock one, it comes with zip ties! No gasket or groove to seal around the sides, and the fit is loose. It will be going right back, so not worth the $90 it cost. I was able to make a similar immitation using the stock lid and an Outerwears box cover. You can see it in the last pic, it is a bit crude at the moment, but it works for now. I will be making improvements soon.

[DirtDemon]

The Precision Racing steering stabilizer was easy to install and works great, I had no idea how much it would improve the handling. I intentionally bumped the front tire into some stumps and rocks to see how well it helpled with bumpsteer and much to my pleasure, instead of the bars jerking, the front tire just bounced off and I hardly felt it in the handlebars. One clamp goes on the steering stem and the body clamps to the frame. You can adjust the center stiffness and the side stiffness separately.

[DirtDemon]

The skid plates were easy to install, but I don't really like the Tusk a-arm guards, the fit isn't perfect, and the mounting hardware doesn't fit quite right, but I think they will do thier job and the price was right. The Armadillo chassis and swingarm plates were pretty good, and the chassis plate paid for itself in the first 15 minutes of the test ride. I flat bottomed on a good sized jump and bottomed out on a big rock. It really messed the plate up and tore it right off the bike, but had it not been there, the frame and maybe the motor would have gotten messed up, the frame suffered a couple small dents, but it would have been much worse without the plate. I was able to mount it back to the quad, even though the rear screw was torn right off. I will be able to straighten it out and fix the rear mount.

The first pic is of the tattered home made swingarm plate I made. I also welded a small plate under the engine as well, it was removed prior to installing the new chassis plate. The next is all the new plates installed and the last few are the mangled chassis plate after the jump.

[DirtDemon]

The new paddles I bought just for the Sand Wizzards dune cleanup in April.

[DirtDemon]

No pics for the stage one Hotcams. Unfortunately, I did not have the camera handy when I did the cam swap, but, I will tell you, that it is a pain, the shimming process is a pain, but even with the new exhaust still corked, I could tell that these cams made a big difference. The engine seemed to rev higher and faster and I found myself attaining higher speeds much quicker. I think I will really see the difference these cams make when I pull the plug out of that pipe and re-calibrate the fuel controller.

[DirtDemon]

I will have more pics of the quad all together when I get the new tires put on, and a few more in April when I put the paddles to use.

[Ajmboy]

DD, this is an awesome writeup with great pics. I enjoyed reading these posts on what you have done. Can't wait to see the finished product!

[Stoopidbot1]

Sweet goodie bag of upgrades

[DirtDemon]

DD, this is an awesome writeup with great pics. I enjoyed reading these posts on what you have done. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks man, I will have more pics soon.

[DirtDemon]

Sweet goodie bag of upgrades

Thanks, I am pretty happy with everything.

[DirtDemon]

So, I was killing some time at a dealership near my work while I was waiting to meet a friend. I wandered into the clearance room and found these sitting in a box labeled missing mounting hardware. They had the footpeg mounts, just missing the front frame mounts, I picked them up for $80.

[DirtDemon]

3/4" pipe was too small, and 1" was too big to fit in the end of the bars, so I wrapped some 1/16" flat bar around the 3/4" pipe and ground it down to fit inside the nerf tubes.

First, I welded one end to the pipe.

Then I wrap the bar around the pipe as tightly as I can.

Cinch it down with a pipe wrench and score a slot in the end whith a dremel.

Then break it off and weld up the other end.

[DirtDemon]

After a bit of grinding, I had a tube that would fit in the ends of the nerfs.

[DirtDemon]

I then fabbed up some other parts, using a 1/2" bolt with a nylon lock nut, and some 1/4" steel plate. I drilled a 1/2" hole through the skid plate and frame.

After fitting and tacking everything in place on the machine, I took everything off and finnished welding everything together and put a few coats of paint on.

[DirtDemon]

Then everything went on the bike.

Edited August 3, 2010 by DirtDemon

[Stoopidbot1]

Nice work!!!

[DirtDemon]

Thanks Bot.

[DirtDemon]

Well, the low dollar Lexx slip on exhuast delivered a great performance increase over the stock uncorked muffler, but it started coming apart on me, the rivets started coming loose and the back of the pipe started coming off, and I lost a spring. Sent it back with the P.O.S. Moflow airbox lid and used that paypal credit towards a Team Alba full race exhuast. Made my own airbox lid by cutting out the stock lid and attatched a piece of Outerwears material to the hole with high temp RTV silicone, works much better and is much less expensive. Will post pics when I get the new exhuast, probably tomorrow or Thursday.

[Stoopidbot1]

Good to know that Lexx doesn't hold up. I know they copied the technology of the early Yoshi pipes but obviously not the craftsmanship.

Can't wait to here about the Alba

[DirtDemon]

Honestly, the rest of the pipe looks to be pretty well constructed, I called RM and they said it was a common issue with the pipe, and they are actually changing the way they rivet that side of the muffler on. It fit well and performed well, they just made a small design flaw. My friend has the same pipe on his TRX 450 and has not had any problems with it yet. If they are able to get the rivet thing fixed, I would still recommend it for anyone who wants cheap performance.

Any way, the more important thing is that my Alba pipe came today and I put it on fired it up and made a few preliminary adjustments to the fuel controller. This thing is loud, I would not recommend for anyone who wants a quiet or "legal" pipe. Alba warns of this and claims 105 db, I guess they have a quiet core and spark arrestor for it though. I will have a ride report after the weekend, here are some pics of the new pipe on my dirty as* quad.

New and stock header.

New and stock silencer.

New exhuast on quad.

[DirtDemon]

So, I finally got to test the new pipe today, it kicks as*. When I actually got it outside, it seemed like it wasn't going to be as loud as I thought, but after 30 minutes of hard riding, it was noticably louder than when I started. Just as the people at Team Alba advertised, the thing is loud, and power gains are noticeable throughout the power band. There is a notable power increase from bottom to top compared to the stock, unplugged exhuast. As well as a drastic weight reduction. The stock silencer is probably 2-3 times the weight of the Alba. This exhuast seems to make the most of the other mods bringing out the full potential of every thing else I have done. Compared to the slip on, power is much smoother and spread across the powerband, where as with the Lexx slip on, there was a noticeable hit in the mid-range that carried through the top end with no real gain on the bottom end. Bottom end power is now so much better, I am now having a bit more trouble finding traction, even with the GNCC tires, which hook up 10x harder than the stockers or the Razrs that I ran before. Where the machine used to pull the front tires up at will in 1st and 2nd gears, I am now finding a lot of wheel spin, if I want traction, I actually have to make sure not to give it too much throttle. In the upper gears, where traction is easier to find, I find the front tires coming off the ground alot easier, especially when dropping down a little hill, or as I punch the throttle when exiting corners. Overall, I am very pleased with this product so far, especially for the price, only $350 shipped to my door for a full stainless steel exaust system.

Edited August 3, 2010 by DirtDemon