This thread is a going to be giving a behind the scenes look at how I will be setting my race and practice bikes up for the ATVA MX Nationals for 2009. I hope the information provided in this overview might help other racers set their own quads up for motocross or help casual riders make their quads more fun and reliable for motocross. There will be step by step pictures as I go along as well as pictures of the parts being used and an in depth description of the entire build from the frame to the finished product.

Let’s start this build off with a list of all the part that will be used:

Walsh Racecraft
A25 Flow A-Arms +3 with Tie Rod Kit, Savior Swingarm and Linkage,
+1 Stem, Parking Brake Blockoff, Oversized Stem Clamp







All the Walsh hardware


PEP Shocks- PB1 Rebound and compression adjustable fronts and dual rate rear, chain roller

Rage ATV -Tranny Mod, Custom Porting, Cam, Piston, valves, springs, and Carb Work, stock clutch Basket, clutch fiber & plates.





DWT Wheels- 10x5 4+1 Ultimate conventional center & 8x8 Rear Beadlocks







Rath Racing- MX Bumper, MX Grab Bar, Competition heelguard Nerfs with monster pegs, All Powdercoated Gloss black

Quad-Tech ATV- Carbon Fiber II hood



Fasst Company- Handlebars, Brake clevis, antivibe handlebar inserts





Sparks Racing- Classic Exhaust with bigcore upgrade



Streamline Performance Braking- 3-Line Front Brakelines (Red), Rear Brakeline (Red), blade front and rear brake rotors



Cycra- Handguards (red)



Precision Racing Products- Steering Stabilizer

Tokyo mods- remapped ignition



CV4- red Radiator Hoses



Baldwin Motorsports- billet front hubs, wire harness mod, bearing carrier, brake pedal extension, Anti-Fade Locknut









Maxxis- razr mx tires yellow label front / rear



Holz- case saver



Oury- grips

Chain / sprockets- Renthal and D.I.D X-ring



Rich 17- radiator overflow kit, billet engine plugs, graphics





RPM - Dominator 2 MX Axle





Pro design - Air Filters and kill switch



Spastic Designs – number plates

Powdercoated parts:
Gloss black:

1. frames
2. subframes
3. nerfbars and heelguards
4. tierods
5. grab-bars
6. rear hubs
7. bumpers
8. brake stays
9. fender braces

textured black:

1. wiring brackets
2. oversized handlebar clamps
3. front sprocket washer
4. parking brake blockoff



chrome parts:

1. top & bottom a-arms
2. swingarms
3. steering stems
4. upper and front motor mounts

good god man, thats alot of money!!!

Very nice! Looking forward to the rest of this one!!

This is a photo of 2 new TRX450R frames that were bought directly from Honda.










The frames were first gussetted and welded by one of my friends companys called 65 Designs. There are a few areas to pay attention to when gussetting the frames for MX. One such area is cast upper rear section of the frame that is connected to the top frame rails behind the upper engine mounts. This area of the frame was reinforced with outer tubing welded over the week spot to distribute the forces more evenly and prevent cracking. Also, round tubing gussets were added above the upper front shock mounts and along tubing connections in the front of the frame. Finally, the frame was professionally powder coated gloss black by Capital Powdercoating to set it off.

First thing I do first is I usually put the motor in the frame to start the project off. This will anchor the frame sturdy while putting on various aftermarket parts. Now If you notice I run a vortex ignition. Traditionally, you run the adjustable switch on the handlebars, but finding myself accidentally hitting it during a race, I mount it right above the right upper shock mount. I take a piece of electrical tape and tape down where the switches location needs to be and now it is out of all the way from flying debris also. In addition to relocating the vortex switch, I also move the RECTIFIER, REGULATOR from the rear position on the sub frame to the front of the frame. I take a 7/32” dill bit and drill two holes to mount with nylon locknuts on the backside to make sure it is secure. By moving the rectifier underneath the plastic and hood, it is hidden from plain view and makes the subframe cleaner. Lastly, taking a DA sander or dremel, I sand the inner part of the front motor mounts and the coil mount on the frame. Now, we have a ground on the frame to where the current of electricity wont be flowing through the powdercoated frame.










I'm going to work on getting the front end together. I've started by installing the new Walsh MX Flow a25 front end. It uses 20.5" shocks and is +3”. I start off by taking an inventory of the parts and make sure I have everything I need to install the front end without any holdups. Then I grease all the bearings and bushings and then start mounting the arms.

Now, Here is the front end installed with the PEP PB1 shocks. The shocks are triple-rate and have compression and rebound adjustments. At this point spindle-to-spherical joint adapter nuts and lower spherical nuts are tightned. I use loc-tite on all these nuts and use nylon locknuts for added insurance everything willl be secure. The front end is in place with the aarms, spindles, hubs, and front calipers.

this is going to be sick!

that my friend, looks to be about 20k at least, without sponsors! gotta love sponsors!

you da man slosh!

that for picking that all up for me when u mailing it my way ha ha thats alot of crap good luck man hope u have alot of sponcers

The quad is actually starting to take shape and next I'll be installing the rear swingarm/axle/shock.

First I installed the savior linkage to the lower part of the frame. I had it anodized black to match the color theme. I assemble the swingarm with the hardware provided from walsh which included new bearings, seals, spacers, and outer collars.





You can see be this picture that the linkage is slightly offset to the right. Walsh updated this design to be like the original CR500 linkage. You get a spacer that must be pressed in the left side of the swingarm. Everything went together flawlessly.



Finally, I have the rear shock mounted. I also had the springs powdercoated black.

Now lets start getting the rear end together. First, I take some emery cloth the clean out the inside of the swingarm. This step insures that the swingarm will be clean for carrier. Next step is I make sure that the carrier is filled with a grease upon installation. Then I put a light coating of grease on the inside of the swingarm and slide the axle/carrier into the swingarm, then the axle follows. Install the disc on the antifade nut and loctite the disc mounting bolts.

Slide the antifade nut onto the axle, put the OEM circlip on and hand tighten the locknut. I am using the stock Honda hubs. The axle is a +1 - +4 and with Douglas wheels run the large spacers on the inside and the small spacers on the outside. If you buy an RPM axle, get the extra-thick sprocket hub- it's only a few dollars more.

When buying an antifade nut, make sure it has a steel sleeve where the seal rides. This keeps the fade nut from wearing out as quick. I also installed the rear hubs, sprocket, caliper, brake stay, subframe, grab-bar, and rear brakeline.








Fasst Company’s Brake clevis was installed eliminating any play in the brake pedal.




Now we have a rolling chassis, the nerfbars were installed next. Rath’s fit and finish is second to none and they bolted up with no issues.

Next, I want to get the motor and electrical all buttoned up. I install the carb to the motor and then install the airbox. I take the rear shock canister and mount it using to hose clamps. Traditionally, the canister mounts the rear grabber with a provided mount from PEP. I didn’t like the look of my can hanging that far out incase of a crash, that is the first thing to get ripped off. So I had my shock line shortened and added a larger can and mounted it right up next to the airbox. Now, it is tucked up out of the way. If you would like to have this done, SF Racing is the place to call.






Now I install my air filter in the airbox. This is my choice for a filter system. I have run K&N filters in the past, but I like the extra protection of a dual-layer foam filter. The 450 motors make such good power that it's not like your trying to squeeze every bit of power out of the quad anyway.



Motor rebuild on the four-strokes are costly; I think it's worth giving up some hp for better filtration. The Pro Design filter kit is real easy to install and with the 06 airbox instead of the 05’, the air filer is huge and pulls twice as much air. Here is an example of the 05’ ring compared to the 06’.



I oil both inner and outer foam elements with Shell rotella 15w40 diesel oil (any traditional motor oil will work) and work the oil into the foam real good.

I get the wiring harness, radiator, CV4 hoses, fuel tank, radiator hose kit, oil cooler installed next followed by the exhaust. I've mounted the tank using all the stock hardware and straps. I Loctite the front mount bolts. I put some MR11 octane fuel in the race bike and cam2 in the practice bike to run the quad a little to make sure everything is working properly. I'll run the quad now and then through the build-up to help break in the motor.






The radiator kit supplied from Rich 17 racing has a billet custom brakeline clamp holding a colored overflow hose. Definitely adds a custom touch and flows with the color scheme.



The Rath bumper was installed next followed by the front brake assembly, steering stem, and tierods.

Time to get the controls situated. Here, I've started bolting on the handlebars. They are Flexx quad 14 degree bend. The clutch perch is a Works Connection with thumb-operated hotstart. The clutch lever has two small bearings on the pivot bolt. The CRF450 Works lever assembly needs a different adjusting barrel to fit the large-diameter TRX cable housing, or you can carefully drill out the one that comes with it. I retain the stock thumb throttle and front master cylinder. The grips used are Oury Soft compounds. I have used these for several years with great results. If you use these grips on your quad with a thumb throttle, MAKE SURE you trim the grip flange where the thumb lever is and the hotstart. With the combination of scott grip glue and safety wire, the grips are secure with no worries of having the grips twist while you ride. The handguards are Cycra stealth. I coat all the handguard hardware with loctite.



It's hard to see in this photo, but here I have all the controls in place and only minor adjustments will be needed before riding.



Once I have the front end and the controls finished up, the precision stabilizer is the last piece of the puzzle.

I've got the quad pretty much together mechanically. After all the dirty work is finished and no more grinding, drilling, etc is necessary, it's time to install the plastic. I use the stock plastic because it is good quality, fits perfect, and is very inexpensive. My front hood is a Quad-tech carbon fiber with the vent. I use loctite on all the bracket mount bolts and plastic mount bolts, with the exception of the ones threading directly into the tank.

One step that I have waited until the end is to put the chain on. I set my front end up with the proper camber, caster, and toe-in / toe-out specs from Walsh and the ride height specs from SF Racing and PEP. Once this important step is done, I cut the chain the length and install.



Now that both bikes are 99% done, we now have to complete the most important step of the build-up. The graphics and sponsor stickers. This is where you think about who has helped you and who hasn't, and give each company their due share of space on your quad. Pre-printed number plate backgrounds are very easy to install and Spastic Designs makes a phenomenal product. They also make your quad look real clean.

I wipe the plastic down with Goo-Gone or Brake Cleaner on a shop towel before applying the graphics and stickers. This cleans any glue or dirt off the fenders. My graphics are from Rich 17 Racing. They are preprinted with all the sponsors that have helped me along the way of my racing career. I have a large group of individuals that help me out so I make sure they all get there share of space for their contributions to my program.

Once the graphics are on the bikes are 100% complete. Here are a few pictures to show all the various touches and details that went into these projects.

wow that thing is amazing ...nice work

This has been a very tedious, time-consuming, and meticulous build of these two bikes. I have used the best parts I feel are out there and am very happy with the way they turned out. The attention to detail, the way everything flows together, the color schemes makes these bikes really stand out. I hope this thread inspires some people to create something special to their bikes on their own builds. I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who have helped on this build. Without them, neither one of these builds of these 2 bikes would have been possible. Thanks you again for all your support!!!

Mom & Dad
Kyle Sands (Sandsjbyz22)
Larry Miner (yz426ex36)
65 Designs- Jake B
Walsh Racecraft- Mike & Nate
SF Racing- Seth & Pete
PEP- Wayne
Rath- Daryl & Jennifer
RPM- Brad
Spastic Designs- Kurt
Precision- George
Rage ATV- Dee & Michele
DWT- Glenn
Moto-X Nutrition- Christian & Jordan
Streamline- Curtis
Quad-Tech- Billy & Hollie
Sidewinder- Scott
Fly- Chris
Pro Quad Peformance- Greg
Weekend Warrior Motorsports- Larry & Brian
Capital Powdercoating- “RH”
Flexx- Chris, Chris, and Cole
Cernic’s- Kyle
Salem Oil- Matt

so you have an 06 airbox in a 04-05 subframe??
how did it mount up??? 100%???
also where can i get some info on that overflow kit?? does it allow you to remove the overflow jug??
thanks

yup, mounted right up. all the overflow kit is is a colored line a custom machined brakeline clamp to hold the line. I have all those white overflow containers taken off. A waste. I took off the containers attached to the aibox and have the big hole cut in the very front of the box to suck a s*** ton of air. There was a lot of things I can take off that I dont use if you want some more ideas. Lemme know. BTW, your drag bike is sick. Love the look of it, but looks like its a handful.

them are some sick a$$ bikes! i would've left the arms and swinger raw that looks sick!

Awesome man, thanks for taking the time to document all this stuff. Those are some top notch race bikes and a ton of quality parts.

Congrats on building a sick pair of R's!

look killer

Nor*cal, after i saw your build I just was in awww and i wanted to do my own. Thanks for all your inspiration!!

thanks for the help... and also thanks for the compliment, i'm doing a frame up right now so i'll have some more pics soon...
it will be an even bigger handful this year!!! lol

nice bikes

ARE YOU INSANE? what was wrong with your last ones? lol i have the a-arms from one of them. I wil be running the same suspension set up as you, but without the beautiful-ness. YOU ARE MAD. THOSE BIKES ARE SICK

oh my lanta.....nices R's i have ever seen....congrats on a knarly build, ill be calling you to make my dream bike ...unbelivable....soooo knarly!

So you spend all this money, talk about how great filteration is and then think you can outsmart every oil manufacture by using motor oil on our foam filter?

Call rage ATV and ask him what type of filter oil to run. I was told by dee himself to do this. I used to run fab1 by maxima. With the fuel I run and the maxima mixxing together turns the whole inside of the carb to gum.

And I should clarify, I put the air filter in a ziplock bag. I pour in the oil and I work it through. I take it it of the bag and ring the crap out of it getting as much left over oil out of it. So what you want to have is a thin layer of oil on the outside of the filter

WOW! amazing bikes!

Sweet! Wish I had saw the part on relocating the regulator before I painted my subframe.

Also, back in the day all I ever oiled filters with was the cheapest 10w40 I could find. Never had a problem.

wow great job

I like your #13 quad better than mine I think...lol

VERY nice!

Those bikes look amazing dude. Great work on them.

WOW, my build is going to get finished put together this weekend, but nothing of that caliber, but ill be beating mine through the woods for 2 hours every race.

how wide are you in the rear end, are you at 50" or is there a key to having a certain length for the best handling?

Dam! Start with the highest quality parts and get a sick a$$ bike. Awesome dude...

Nice builds, they look great.

I love the ROOR pic haunted, i think i may go use mine LOL

That's what up! Where you from?