450 EXC?

[Danny Dangles]

Hey Guys,

Just curious what your thoughts are on a 450exc as a snow bike. I have a 2007 Husaberg fe450 that I put a radix 2 moto kit on and it was a ton of fun around home. But I felt that the 6 speed wide ratio transmission was not the ticket as it required you to be extremely careful about gearing. I thought maybe a close ratio transmission was better.

I have a 10' 450exc as well, lots of jam but again wide ratio six speed. Are you guys running these or going with closer ratio sx or xc's? My snowbike wouldn't be replacing my sled but it would be great to ride around home and lower snow days/spring riding.

Thx!

 

[M5-]

I ride the same bike, mine is punched out to a 520 but I rode it as a 450 last year. There are times when the tranny isn't perfect for sure but 4th on the exc is exactly the same gear set as the close ratio tranny and 3rd isn't much different either. Where the difference lies is primarily in 1st and to a degree in second gears. Short story, it'll work fine, there are better setups but really we are talking fine tuning kinda differences not deal breaker. Throw a kit on there and go.

M5

 

[Danny Dangles]

Thanks for the reply, I will certainly consider it!

 

[tillbuilt]

I rode a husaberg FE570 with a 13t front sprocket last year and had a great time with it.

I added a FX450 to the fleet and realized how cool that long first gear was in the clost ratio Trans. I find that the close ratio is not as important as the long first gear. In the trees you click up to second and rap it out some times to third and the shift/ decrease in momentum falls off and you can't pull 3rd. The high HP 450 that have a hard top end over rev hit are better with a close ratio Trans. The enduro style Torq of this bike might be better with a wide ratio Trans.

I have now changed the FE570's to 14t front sprockets and love where second gear is for the tight trees. I am going to try a 13/20/20/17 next. I like the wide ratio Trans with big bore, constant power behind it. You can gear to optimize the torq in a gear you can pull for the terrain you ride. I can head for the trees and be lugging in second for the slow tight maneuver into the trees from the meadows, then twist on once they get wider then the bars and climb all the way to the rev limiter and never worry about shifting, and be topping the climb at the same time. Then it is back down to choose another line.

When it comes down to it we are really tuning and seeking out the ultimate snow bike that is not critical to be out having fun. Would I love to split the cases on my FE570 and install FX gears? YES. Is it worth 8 hours of labor? NO. Will I do it this summer? Maybe.

So to sum things up:

2012-current 500 XC-W and EXC good choice
450 SX and such good choice