[bionicman]

Lightweight here & the pig is somewhat unmanageable in the real tight techy stuff.
I have a few ideas like going with lighter battery & taking off my heavy rock skid plate. Other than drilling holes in the frame are there any suggestions to get some weight off this bike?

[JimDirt]

The key to riding the 450X in tight tech stuff no matter the rider weight is Momentum , the more you keep moving the lighter the bike will"feel" , the slower you ride the heavier the bike will feel ,PERIOD , a light 450X is not going to happen , its in the design of the bike , the parts are bulkier and it has more parts that add to the weight , if you remove those parts , you now have a R that still weighs 30 lbs more than a R , unless you buy a R , your not going to shed that much weight on the X , even if you remove the battery and starter , you will still be above 250 lbs with a full tank (even using the stock tank) , its kind of a catch 22 , there is only so much you can do , the most weight will be the battery (Shorai) , other than that , you can maybe drop a lbs by going to a 19" rim on the rear , but that creates another issue since now you have less sidewall to take impacts , any weight you shed after replacing the battery is going to be ounces at a time and not enough to make a real difference in the long run

Or if you are open to it , going to a 250X if your under 160 lbs , which is about the minimum weight you want to be to muscle around a 450X anyway , i weigh 205/235 with off-road gear(backpack,drinks,etc,etc) and i have a 3.2 tank , so my 450X is around 285 lbs ready to ride , it gets tiring for me towards the end of 50-80 mile rides (i will be 55 in Aug), but as i stated , carrying your momentum as much as possible will make the bike "feel" lighter and be less of a struggle riding overall , especially if your a light weight (no offense) , i have the Shorai , but my 3.2 tank defeats any gain from the battery

OR , you can go the harder route and get a 250 or 450R and add a flywheel weight , a larger tank and maybe even a Rekluse to make it more "trail friendly" (i personally dont like the auto clutch) , i ride my 02 450R in tight technical stuff all the time , it has a 13 oz flywheel weight (equivalent to a 35 oz flywheel , the heaviest made)and 13/52 gearing (the exact same as i have my X geared)and a 450X kickstand , and it does fine on tight trails , but no E-Start , so that's a big down side , as well as i have a 19" wheel on it , so that detracts from its off-road worthiness , but even with the 3.2 tank it only weighs about 235-240 lbs soaking wet

But any way you do it , your not going to drop any significant weight that will make it work like a R as far as light feeling , some people use Radiator lowering kits to get the weight lower on the bike to make it "feel" lighter , but the bike will still weigh the same

You will never get the X as light as the R , no matter what you remove , the frame , forks and engine bottom end are all larger and/or weigh more on the X , you will not change that ,unless you buy a R....Sorry

[hall_philip]

sad truth, I went with the 250x, am a 190-200 pound rider with gear. I love the 250 better than the 450 because I am able to throw it around comfortably and not getting tired to early. I have a 250r head and cam now to boost me up a little bit, and probably going to a 270cc BB here next year. its a great feeling bike now that I have it jetted right. lol It took me soo long... but its a great bike all in all.

[Aussiecrf230]

The best weight to loose on a bike is the rider.
Not being nasty to anyone and we could all loose a few pounds. This weight is also at the highest point so even 5 or 10 pounds makes a big difference.

[JimDirt]

Yea i hear ya ! , you add my weight and the bike weight and its over 500 lbs when you add my backpack full of drinks and snacks , trying to navigate a tough section of single track

It reminds me when i used to ride the same trails on my XL600R that weighed 320 lbs when i weighed 180 , its about the same weight (500 lbs) and i got the 450X because it was lighter than my XL , then i gained all this weight , so i actually gained nothing by going lighter , it sucks

I lost a few the last few years , i was at 235 , i should be at 185-190 , but after i broke my neck in 09 i put on that weight sitting around for almost a year , now its been 5 years and it still has yet to all come off , though i did quit smoking then , so its been 5 years of good breathing , but i ate more because of quitting

I eat way less now , and way more healthy but i would be extremely happy to get to 190 again , i only have about 15 lbs to go , but the last 10 had taken a year , this current 15 does not seem to want to budge , i even got a Elliptical to go along with my Bowflex , and i still lose 2 , gain back 2 , its a battle when you get over 50 and have Arthritis, Bursitis, and chronic pain all the time to slow you down

[JimDirt]

sad truth, I went with the 250x, am a 190-200 pound rider with gear. I love the 250 better than the 450 because I am able to throw it around comfortably and not getting tired to early. I have a 250r head and cam now to boost me up a little bit, and probably going to a 270cc BB here next year. its a great feeling bike now that I have it jetted right. lol It took me soo long... but its a great bike all in all.

The only issue i have with 250's with my weight is the lack of power , its like riding my bike in 3rd gear trying to shift to 4th or 5th and thats all there is , when you weigh more than 180 , you need a 450 to pull your weight around properly , but the extra weight of the bike ends up being a downside after 50+ miles

I rode a friends 09 KXF250 at the track , it was like riding a mountain bike it was so light , but when i tried to pull a big hill , i had to shift down to 3rd from 5th , then when i was in 5th going downhill and was trying to shift cause i thought i was still in 3rd , i found out i had already shifted to 5th going down and thats all there was , it just would not go fast with me on it

[Aussiecrf230]

Jim,
If you wanted big torque you would be still riding the XR.
Yep this getting older stuff sucks,but as long as you get a ride every now and then you are still living the dream.

[JimDirt]

Actually with the HotCams Stage 1 and gearing , my X works pretty well for me for torque

My XL(not XR) was a heavy bike to pick up on a side hill (320 lbs with no E-Start ) , it was in decent shape for being a 1984 (only picture i have left of it)

[riverworm]

JimDirt, you are spot on about the way to ride the 450X is with momentum. I had never heard it put that way. When it gets slow is when I feel the weight.

[hall_philip]

that is a sharp looking bike for being about as old as me. lol I always liked those bikes though, my favorite was the xr 400. I have always owned two strokes though for the track, now im a bit older with kids and don't feel like racing anymore. I too am gaining wait these day's but I have been running pretty steady at 190 lately.

[JimDirt]

Yea , thanks , i wish i still had it to fart around on , i sold it in 05 for $3200 at a local Classic Bike Show , so i was happy with that

I bought my 450X about a week later , then got my 450R in 2008 ,then in 2011 when i was at the MX track every weekend for a year i got down to 200 lbs , but went back up after not track riding for 2 years now (not riding track consistently every weekend at least)

I have been having balance and blackout issues for the last few months (since Sept of 2013), so i have only ridden once this year because of it ,last month i blacked out over 50 times in 1 day and ended up in the E.R. , i am still seeing specialists trying to find the issue , in fact i have a ear Dr appointment on the 10th and a EEG brain scan on the 14th of this month , i just had a MRI while i was in the hospital for 2 days and they could not find what was causing it , they checked my heart , and said its like a 20 year old's so that was good to hear , its either the wiring in my head , or a inner ear issue , so more time not riding...it sucks getting old !

[hall_philip]

man.. good luck to you bud. I had a spell once where I fell into the wall at my girlfriends parents and broke the drywall and came back to with her mom and her smacking me in the face. lol I can laugh about it now anyhow, wasn't when it happened. scary stuff.

[JimDirt]

LOL , did her mom smack ya cause you put a hole in her drywall ?? , or did she figure this was her chance to get even with you for anything you might do in the future !!

Yea i am sick of this medical crap , its taking away from riding , since i have not been able to ride because of this crap , but i think i am going to go this weekend maybe , i have not blacked out since i got out of the hospital last month , if i can get someone to go with me , that is , AND, IF it does not rain all weekend , i need to get out and ride , i wont have test results till next week anyway , so i might as well see if i can keep from falling over while on the bike , but i still need to lose about 20 lbs and i will be happier

[hall_philip]

who knows they may have just thought "this is our chance, lets get him." lol I never went to the doc about it though. hasn't happened since either. I am afraid of going to doctors and them telling me something is going to take me out, I would rather leave it a surprise.

[JimDirt]

Yea , but you got to watch that , one of my brothers (had 2 both older) died in 2010 (he was 8 years older than me) , his back was hurting , he kept putting off going to the Dr , after a few months he finally went after one of my sisters (2 , both older)kept telling him he needs to go , so he went and was told he had stage 4 cancer and had 6 months to live , he lived 6 months , and went from 230 lbs to 120 in that time , it was hard for all of us , i can't imagine what it was like for him , ever since then , if i have any issue other than a cold , i go to at least try to find out what the issue is , i have a lot of riding i plan on doing , and i cant do it if i am withering away dying

We are trying to get my other brother (10 years older than me) to go to the Dr , but he keeps saying , i dont want them to find anything (sound familiar ?) , we keep telling him , it does not matter if they find anything or not , if something is wrong , then , something is wrong weather you find out what it is or not , so if anything it might stop whatever it is if you find it early enough (which would have been the case for my other brother)

The only brother i have left is still fighting going , its frustrating for all of us , he has lost 30 lbs in the last few months because when he eats he pukes usually while he is eating , some days he can eat a little , most he can't , it could just be acid reflux , or it could be something worse , but he wont go because he is afraid they might find something , my mom is 90 , she does not need to loose 3 kids before her time (she lost 1 before i was born from Leukemia) , so long story i know....but...if you dont want to do it for yourself , do it for your families sake !!


Not trying to be a bummer on the topic , just stating reality that hit close to home , i have experience with this... and its harder on everyone involved if you dont find out when something is wrong then if they found something early (IF) and everyone knows , plus your chances of fixing the issue will improve dramatically !!


OK i'm done with my story , back to talking about bikes !!!!