This YZF450 has been a race bike for fast local A class racers. Its been a OK bike but always plagued with just Ok running and sometimes very hard starting. Lets just say fuel delivery wise it has been a bit of a nightmare, temperamental and hard to start. So much so it was kinda left for dead and not the first to get the call when it is time to go riding because or its running and stubbornness to start reliably. Its been to JD and on their Dyno and adjusted. Had hundreds of dollars of FCR carb add ons etc. Bike also has a Rekluse in it which demands good idle and low end running which has been slightly elusive on this bike. As we are getting the 4 stroke side of the Lectrons sorted I wanted to give it a try on this bike. The other issue is the carb is buried on these bikes. Its a 2 hours job involving the exhaust, subframe, and shock so making little changes to sort the FCR have proven very frustrating. The hope is we can get the Lectron in all it super simple glory to rectify these issues, make it a more reliable starter, run more consistent, run better, and make this bike all it should be. The bike itself is well setup, revalved from TBT (which is excellent). Will be doing a baseline ride with it shortly so I can get a feel for starting and how it runs with the FCR before I swap carbs. Obviously more reports coming. That does not look fun... Let the removal / install frustrations begin...
No. Air cooled one not the aluminum framed water cooled one right? What carb does that come with? Looks like a CV carb with smog stuff. Should really add some power and snap to that.
I was about to ask you about a Honda xr650 also. A friend of mine passed away 3 years ago and left me a pristine 2002 xr650r. In honor of his memory I tricked and blinged it out and I race it once a year at the Virginia City Grand Prix. I thought about putting an fcr on it but am very curious how a Lectron would work on it, any thoughts? I built this bike to look like a Johnny Cambel replica because my buddy always had a dream of racing in Baja.
Awesome what you are doing for your passed freind there. You are asking a person who sells them and 100% believes in them so take it with a grain of salt but i think it would make a huge difference on that bike. Those are crappy CV carbs and these Lectrons are working better then FCR's and are silly simple design which I love over the uber complex FCR. IMHO I would personally get a Lectron before the FCR and the nightmare it can be to get running right. PM me if interested and we can work it out. Thanks.
So I rode my project Lectron YZF450 yesterday. Yes the FCR sucks on this bike!!! This bike has been at a place to have the carb set that does carb work and on dynos and had a lot of time spent trying to get it to run right. Piston has been replaced, valves / head all checked etc. Starts hard, takes like 10 plus kicks to get lit. Once running and warm it run OK but is inconsistent, stalls some, hunts around some at lower steady throttle and generally does not run good and this is after years of tuning it rich to lean searching for an answer. Sometimes starts in 1-2 kick but usually more like 10-15. sucks. Very much looking forward to trying the Lectron. Hope to have it here and installed next week. Other than the carb I was pretty surprised how much I liked the YZF450.
Well that was EZ. ha ha ha Pretty sure they just weld the frame together around the carb / motor :>) Actually was not to bad. Hope the Lectron works perfect from the get go. old 2 stroke Lectron I had here for comparison...
OK, got the carb and got it installed. Fit was perfect. Cable choke is perfect, throttle and cable perfect. (cable slightly long but fine). Initial impressions are very good. Took about 5 kicks cold but I think next time I will not use the choke as it seemed to start the second I took it off. Took 10 or more kicks with the stock carb. Hot will start 1-2 times which it NEVER did before. Well OK, every once in a while it lit off in 2 kicks. usually more like 15. Was horrible. Owner had tried everything then pushed it int he corner and rode his other bikes. Was a horribly unreliable starter. Now it seems very consistent and what you would expect from a modern bike. 1-2 EZ kicks and running. Idles nice, takes throttle well. Just rode it around my hood some (no plate so not a lot of distance) and it seems to run great. snappy, clean and seems to gained a bunch of mid range and top end. Need a real ride on it to see. So far so good. Really happy with it. Going for a real ride tomorrow to evaluate it. Fun.
So I did a bunch of work on it this afternoon getting it ready to ride tomorrow. New air filter, big tank, regeared, rekluse adjusted (stiffer internal spring so stall was higher). While adjusting the clutch I had to start it a bunch of times. This bike starts far EZer than before. I think I'll learn what it likes and it will be super EZ. Bike was (stock carb) very inconsistent starting and ran semi rough but made good power and was fun to ride just temperamental and would stall some. Some of the stalling was the rekluse set to tight but most was the carb. Was a bitch to start cold. about 10 kicks and then was iffy for a bit. Hot every once in a while it would fire in two kicks but usually 6 and sometimes 15, way to much kicking. Made a super fun bike irritating. Now, 2 kicks hot every time. Even after laying the bike on the side to take the clutch cover off and adjust the rekluse. Even after inducing pop and stalls because I wanted to see if I could. I can but it is hard. not typical riding situations. So now I have it starting great hot and cold. Idles nice, works well with the rekluse, runs great. Was doing on off on off stab the brake, pop a wheelie, jab the brake over and over (no clutch pulling at all / Rekluse) in my driveway and trying to get it to caugh. was very pleased with the results. Look forward to getting some seat time on it, dialing it in further and getting a full picture of the Lectron on the 4 strokes.
Had a 07 YZ250F and a 09 YZ450F. Could NOT come to terms hot starting them on the trail after a stall or a just a trail break. Lots and lots of kicking. Very temperamental. Happy to see them leave due to this. Told myself next four stroke to have e-start and fuel injection. Hadn't thought about a different carburetor....
Funny the difference hey. My 07 WR450 with button started with no throttle always. Choke when cold, nothing when warm, hot-start pulled in hot or dropped, all with no throttle. YZ must be a nasty thing.....
Is it the milder state of tune with the WR or just the e-start giving it alot more revolutions? I had a WR450 as well that always started no problem........
