CRF's Only Forums

Hey guys I'm going to look at a 04 450r it has a ti-4 exhaust. what should I look for to find out if it is a good bike or not?

- Ask, specifically, about the valves and the type of oil used in both sides of the case
- Ask him to remove the seat (takes two bolts and 20 seconds) so you can look at the air filter. Take a look at not only the air filter, but also the general condition (dirt-wise) of the airbox
- Take a medium size screwdriver and lightly run it across the spokes to see if you get a good "song" out of the rims. If you run into spokes that just "clunk" instead of "ting," that might be a sign the guy is not as up on the maintenance as he may seem. Doesn't mean the bike is crap or anything, just a little something to look at.
- Look at the wear marks on either side of the case and take your best guess if it looks like the right amount of wear for the hours claimed are on the bike
- Test start, Test ride. Feel the engine/exhaust before starting it. If it's warm, the guy probably started it before you got there. Might be a sign he wasn't confident the bike would start cold.
- Check forks/seals for leakage
- Look at tire tread
- Check chain/sprockets

And after all that....
http://www.dirtrider.com/tech/141_0504_ ... index.html

Another way to judge the condition of the motor is to take it to a shop and have a leak-down test performed. You should pay for that and the seller shouldn't mind.
Joe

That's good advise nedirtbkr gave you.
I would only add that,and I can't emphasize this enough, that if you really like the bike to first pay for a compresion or leak down test. That will show you absolutely the condition of the whole top end, and is worth every penny you spend.If you don't do this budget a thousand bucks for a new cylinder,piston,head,valves,cam chain,etc., etc and it'd be your bust for not paying for the test.
Whoever does it must be familiar with CRF's, there's a couple tricks involved doing a leak down on a high compression single so I'd suggest a dealer do it,or someone who comes highly recommended.

Might be a sign he wasn't confident the bike would start cold

That's a great point, so was the one on the air cleaner. Anyone selling a used high performance bike with a dirty air cleaner is an idiot and you don't want that bike. Doug

thanks for the advice. I went and test rode the bike and it started 2nd kick. I just moved so I don't know where any honda dealers are yet but I am going to find out. Thanks again

Hey guys. Well I ended up getting the bike. It starts up first or second kick when its cold and then usually one after that. thanks again for the advice it helped a lot. I'll get pictures as soon as I can.

Dirtbike_Crazy6656 wrote:Hey guys. Well I ended up getting the bike. It starts up first or second kick when its cold and then usually one after that. thanks again for the advice it helped a lot. I'll get pictures as soon as I can.

Congrats! Looking forward to the pics.

I give up on used bikes. Unless you can really really check them out you really don't know what your getting. I didn't do my homework on the last two bikes and they both bit me in the butt. So I bit the bullet and got my son a new bike.
David

I was really nervous about buying it at first. So I had a friends dad go with me. he has the same bike. My friends knew all the people that the guy had do the suspension and maintain the bike so I felt a little more comfortable.

Well Here it is. what do you guys think?

Looks very nice! Hope you enjoy it and it gives you a lot of service without issue. I were you, I would change all the fluids and clean, oil, and grease the air filter rim first thing. Then, check the valves just to record where they are to start. Next I would ride the hell out of it!

Congratulations!
Joe

Nice ride. Congrats!

Thanks its got so much power. I can't wait to ride it. The guy had a pro mechanic from dirt rider magazine do all the maintenance for him. I'm still a little nervous about tearing in to the top of one. I don't want to screw any thing up. But I guess it can't be that hard.

There is good information right here that will guide you through the valve check.

http://crfsonly.com/howto/450r/valve-ch ... -check.php

Joe