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Juddy's 05 CRF 450 conversion
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:28 am
by juddy
Finally finished my gen 4 conversion.Thanks to the guys that have helped me with sharing info and materials.Still would like to put some more bling on it such as alloy pegs,fuel cap etc,but gotta save a few more fun tickets before I can blow them ! Also got a new helmet to match my bike :-).Took it for a spin today,was a bit of a handfull but I havent ridden since mid sept so will get used to it with a bit more riding.
Tried to use honda parts and keep the pipe standard for ease of replacing parts but couldnt do it.Had to modify the mount on the pipe and make my own bracket.
I used a 20mm piece of neoprene type material to adapt the 01 CR 250 airboot onto the 450 airbox.Drilled and tapped 15mm into each side to suit the different flanges.
I used the original 450 head mount for the 500 head mount.Had to pack it out a bit to have clearance on the frame spar.I did originally mount the coil above the head but then there wasnt enough room for the rad hose cross over so I mounted it in front of the fuel tank.Just enough room there for it.
I spoke to Neil at fluidyne powersports and he custom made some radiators for me for the same price as they sell any other radiator for.They have the CRF 450 side panels and the CR 500 outlets.A quality finish on them too.Much better than the soft Honda radiators.
Only just got away without having to notch into my frame.
I fabricated new frame rails from 6061 T6 alloy and took them back into behind the pegs to eliminate any joins.

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:35 am
by juddy
Here's the exhaust mount,didnt work on last post.

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:53 am
by trgracing
juddy wrote:Here's the exhaust mount,didnt work on last post.

that looks great! well done.
is your frame a x or motocross? how did you find rolling your box section to that shape, and did you use the original y. thanks
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 5:10 am
by juddy
Yeah should have mentioned that its the R model.I used the original Y,but because the frame tapers out as it goes up I had to grind a bit of the thickness of the downtube.To bend the box section I used a pipebender and made my own die.It bent up quite nicely.

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 7:16 am
by AlisoBob

This is my favorite part.....
Great Job Juddy!
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 7:32 am
by Morris500
Beautiful job on your conversion, Juddy. I'm working on a Gen3 CR125/500 conversion, and also made a homemade square tube bending die for my cheapo HF pipe bender. I'll post pictures in a separate thread so I don't hijack yours. Nice Job!
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 8:15 am
by HrcRacing
Looks great man. Awesome work!

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 11:35 am
by Balaclava
i like all the custom parts! that's a pretty wicked looking bike bro...
cdi
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 1:06 pm
by trgracing
Balaclava wrote:i like all the custom parts! that's a pretty wicked looking bike bro...
great job
where did u mount your cdi?
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 1:10 pm
by pstoffers
AlisoBob wrote:
This is my favorite part.....
Great Job Juddy!
X2

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:19 pm
by lewisclan
nice job

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:41 pm
by dannygraves
very cool dude! Now go ride it!
Re: cdi
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:43 pm
by juddy
great job
where did u mount your cdi?
Thanks for the comments guys.I mounted the CDI behind the front numberplate,fits in the 450 mounting position perfectly.Just had to lengthen the stator and coil wires.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:47 pm
by AlisoBob
Not even TTM runs the lower cradle all the way into the pocket.
Very cool.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:52 pm
by juddy
dannygraves wrote:very cool dude! Now go ride it!
Thanks.Yeah I did ride it.Havent owned a CR 5 since 94.....its gonna take some getting used to !
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 2:59 pm
by juddy
AlisoBob wrote:Not even TTM runs the lower cradle all the way into the pocket.
Very cool.
Cheers mate.Bob are you throwing some bait out again lol ? A lot more stuffing around doing it that way to justify not having that join though,so if TTm are going to do that it would have to add to the price of the bike I'd think.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:01 pm
by AlisoBob
I've always said I dont play "favorites"...
I think both S/H and TTM should do what you've done.
Is it more work... yea.
Is it also the correct way.... yea.
Hoon On , Juddy!
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:12 pm
by juddy
AlisoBob wrote:I've always said I dont play "favorites"...
I think both S/H and TTM should do what you've done.
Is it more work... yea.
Is it also the correct way.... yea.
Hoon On , Juddy!
The correct way is to also heat treat them as TTM does....
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:14 pm
by AlisoBob
Given the choice, I think I would take the 1 piece lower cradle over the heat treating.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:20 pm
by JBaze
So the soild cradle doesn't need to be heat treated?, Only really if you cut and weld tube sections? When I built my gen 2 I was going to do it that way, but went with cutting instead and am now thinking of re-working it to something like this. How did you cut the welds out Juddy? That looks factory really good job man.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:24 pm
by juddy
AlisoBob wrote:Given the choice, I think I would take the 1 piece lower cradle over the heat treating.
Yeah,but I think

the 'correct way' would have been to heat treat all the material back to T0 grade,then bend the tube and have all the welding done,then retreat back to T6. But this is not really affordable for us guys just doing one bike.Im sure Mike can fill us in on the 'by the book' way of heat treating.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:33 pm
by juddy
JBaze wrote:So the soild cradle doesn't need to be heat treated?, Only really if you cut and weld tube sections? When I built my gen 2 I was going to do it that way, but went with cutting instead and am now thinking of re-working it to something like this. How did you cut the welds out Juddy? That looks factory really good job man.
The cradle isnt solid.It has 3mm wall thinkness.I used a 5" grinder and a pencil grinder and a lot of patience to cut the existing cradle out.Note with the gen 4 on the RHS I took a bit of the top section to allow clearance for the engine case bolt.I think if all the fab work/fit up is done to a high standard the frame isnt going to crack.I havent heard of S/H frames cracking so Im sure mine will hold up.But if I had the choice I would like to have had mine heat treated just know the properties of the alloy are as they should be.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:35 pm
by JBaze
By solid, I meant a 1 peice tube with no joints

. Did you do your own welding? If so did you TIG it? It looks really good man.
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 3:38 pm
by juddy
JBaze wrote:By solid, I meant a 1 peice tube with no joints

. Did you do your own welding? If so did you TIG it? It looks really good man.
Oh ok Im with ya now.Yeah I tigged it.If I cant use a tig by now I wouldnt be very employable

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:57 pm
by teamdns
pstoffers wrote:AlisoBob wrote:
This is my favorite part.....
Great Job Juddy!
X2

X3