Meat Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 (edited) If anyone finds any Baja related info on setups... post your info here in this thread. We need to learn everthing we can about this race..... We need to know all the knowledge, all the little bits of info, all the quirks, story's and tip&tricks about Baja as well as we know our Banshees. I found this info in the April 2004 ATV Sport magazine. Last year's Baja 1000 winner was racing a near stock Honda 450r. "03's winner rode a Honda Rincon 650. I re-write some\most of the printed story for yas. The story is titled: "FACTORY HONDA BAJA 450R" A win in the Baja 1000 is more a testament to excellent planning and organization---last year Honda won Baja on a highly modified Rincon 650---but it still proves that a machine can take a beating for hours on end while piling up the miles at an impressive rate. What is probably most amazing about the factory Baja 450r is how close it is to stock. Most Baja racers are longer and wider than stock, as well as having suspension travel in the one foot range. Honda went the conservative route and went with stock swingarm, axle and A-arms. Amazing, given the stock chassis is better suited to close quarters woods racing. Baja is NOT the place for a hot rod motor, unless you want to finish the race with the quad in the back of a chase truck. Knowing this, Honda kept the motor close to stock. The cam from the publicly available HRC kit was used, along with a standard header and HGA muffler. We rode a 450r with this setup at the introduction of the 450R and the change is not dramatic. The Baja 450R is about the easiest to ride Baja-competitive quad we've ever ridden. Honda never changed the oil during the race and simply topped off the oil supplies with a quick ounce or two, as needed. Putting the power to the ground were ITP rims and tires (22" Holeshot XC). The ITP rims have slightly more offset than the stockers, making the Baja 450R nominally wider than stock. The rear tires were changed at 300 and 600 miles and the front pair once. The bottom of the quad was protected by HGA skids, with billet aluminum being used to guard the swingarm as well as the rear disc and sprocket. Rather than going with buck-up suspension, Honda simply revalved the three stock Showas. The plushness was still there at low speeds, but the Baja 450R felt more secure at high speeds than it does with the stock suspension. The damping is spot-on, as the suspension is soft enough to prevent fatigue, yet there's enough travel and resistance to bottoming to allow you to hit the rough dirt roads at speeds approaching 90 mph. An important bolt-on that kept the Baja 450R stable at speed was the Ohlins\Scotts steering damper. Easily adjustable, the damper kept the front end of the Baja 450R honest and reduces the effort needed to keep it going straight. The damper, designed for a motorcycle, did suffer from head build-up during the race and the cooked oil resulted in it being replaced 450 miles into the race. The ergonomics were changed slightly for Baja. A taller seat and Renthal handlebars made the 450R a roomier machine, which is welcome on a long ride. A twist throttle and Acerbis hand guards were added. Foot security was increased with a pair of IMS foot pegs. IMS also supplied a 3.9 gallon dry break fuel tank. You can't race at night with the stock lighting, so a 200 watt stator was tapped to drive twin 100-watt Cibie driving light pattern headlights using a HGA mounting system. A few stock items were removed for the race. The radiator cooling fan was removed due to the thigh speeds during the race and the addition of an HGQ front air duct. As you'd expect, the parking brakes and brake light switches were removed. Since there was no water on the course, the airbox lid and front fenders were pulled. Without the airbox lid, Honda changed the stock air filter at 175, 300 and 450. At 600 miles the filter looked good and was never changed again. Even though we rode a non-fresh Baja 450R with about 1000 miles on it, the machine was still impressive. It shows that a highly modifed frame and suspension aren't what it necessarily takes to run the peninsula. Instead, conservative modifications, great riders (Tim Farr, Doug Eichner and Poncho Castro), a world class support crew and a reliable basic machine can get you to the finish line first. Edited November 21, 2004 by Meat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tats4life Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 as much as i don't want to....i might just have to call DR and talk to Loren and see if he has any insite....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sredish Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Good article Meat. I was actually looking at some stuff. I'll try to gather some stuff and get it in here, and I'm sure that others will do the same. Later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 whud i miss ? whos going to baja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebloker Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 It sounds like you guys are headed in the right direction. Hel, I personally belive that you should spend at least the next year, researching, training, and searching out sponsors for this event for the 2006 race. It requires a massive ammount of time and resources to even make this thing possible. I know that the Banshee is king at being able to tweak out the most HP out of the smallest motor, but even something as simple as fuel economy can screw you in the end. You can try to counteract that by carrying more gas, but it is still not going to change the fact that if I had to put my money on the most reliable, fuel efficient quad to finish the race, it would not be the banshee. I love my Banshee, and I love being able to smoke pretty much everything out there except other Banshees', but I have come to grips with the fact that if you screw with something that is already tempermental enough as is, it is just going to give you more problems in the end. Once again I would like to re-iterate that I am not against this idea of entering this race, I just believe that if you are going to do it, do it right,; and I do not believe that one years worth of time is encough to prepair a team that to this date has never formally met. I wish the best of luck to everybody and if you need anything, except money because I am a cheap bastard, feel free to contact me. I have am still in shcool so I have access to a rather expansive machine shop, plus I know quite a few mechanical and electrical engineering professors who I might be able to con into soing some extra work for the good of the cause. Take it easy, thebloker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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