I currently own an 06 450 and just picked up an 05 450 this past weekend. The ER has some starter issues from time to time and is a mess to start when i stall it during the race.

Would most of you guys rather race a kicker vs and ER? The 05 starts on the 1st kick everytime, so I was leaning towards this. Any advice from you more experienced XC racers would be helpful.

Thanks.

Kicker is always better for racing. The E start is a luxury when it works. I personaly have never had a problem with my E start. Kicker for racing deff!

the kicker deff but you have 2 different bikes in the 05 and 06. you say the e start has its problems from time to time. so there is an underlying problem there, whether its a jetting issue, battery issue, starter, spark plug, wrong gas, something is not right.

The 06 starts good off the line. The issue is when I stall it during a race. When i try to crank it back up, it takes 15-20 seconds for it to start. Not sure why.

I checked my valve clearances and have the decompressor set at 60psi. I have the HRC kit in it and a 55 pilot.

Also the starter clutch and/or reduction gear make a little racket as well. I know those have issues on the ER's.

Thanks.

the kicker is about 15lbs lighter right?

I heard 6lbs lighter but I am not sure.

The battery alone is about 6 pounds lol.

this is coming right out of my OEM TRX manual.
the 04-05 is 388lbs.
the 06-07ER is 392.
seems like not enough to me, but what do i know?

Thanks for the info.

my 06 had the exact same problem. cost me a few races to. im buyin an 05 as we speak! kickers the way to go!

Ryan Lane just switched his E-start over to a kicker, and saved almost 21 pounds. He was running 24 volts, so most of that is the batteries.

The battery weighs about 8 pounds. The starter, and starter clutch would add another couple pounds. I'd say around 13-14 pounds total for stock bike. The difference in the 04/05 and the 06+, may be in the difference of the motors.

kicker would be the best but it depends on how your races are, if its one day or if you have 2 days of racing take the ER with you for a back up. lot less of problems to go wrong with the kicker.

handling and fast starting alone you want the 05. Better front end, and faster starting from a dead engine start.

Kicker

I have always been a Honda guy but in 04 we bought a yfz because my boy raced XC and I was scared of the kicker. After three years of racing the yammi (three good years I might add) our sponsor made me a deal I couldn't pass up on an 05 450r that he still had in a crate.

Long story short, my son has got more than his share of holeshots with the kicker. Heck in his first real XC pro class race in our Texas series on the Honda, he was on the line with like 14 other bikes and his was the only kicker. He got the holeshot. It's crazy how fast the thing starts, it seems to be going before he even kicks all the way thru. And I don't have to worry about batteries going dead, starter buttons getting broke or filled with mud, just less crap to go wrong.

Kicker but it doesnt have to be an 05, i have an 06 kicker and the conversion is easy to do.

I have an ER and if i didnt have money invested in parts I would rather run the Kicker. Especailly in the woulds my ER turns terribly compared to the Kicker.

tryin to start 07 450r with 15:1 compression with an electric start was a pain.. then we did the kicker conversion and still left the electric starter. now we use both and she fires right up