TE vs. KLX vs. CRF-Who's going to win the gold?

Hey the launch control is that the thing they give you when you purchase a new Husky that goes on the front fork somehow? If so I have two of them I may need to learn how to bolt one on.

Don't know how I missed this post. We're considering a 4T husky MX bike (probably a TC 250) as a second race bike for my son to allow him to enter several classes. It was good to hear the TE 450 cranked well and is competitive. MXRACER's comments have been echoed by Dirt Bike mag this month. They gave the TE 450 almost the same review as MXRACERNUMBER1.

Prior to buying our '09 CR 125 as Cody's racer for the season, I bought an '09 Honda CRF 250R intending to make it his primary racer and transition him from 2T's to 4t's... What a TRAGIC mistake!

That POS Honda took monumental, superhuman effort to crank in nearly all conditions. If you fall... FORGET IT... you may as well quit the moto and start pushing. The valves were out of spec out of the box. The stock jetting was dismal and required the pilot, leak, and main to be replaced just to keep it running. Shortly after break-in, the thing developed an intermittent misfire that was solved by a new coil pack. The valve cover vent is not only a vent, but also a plugged drain that requires periodic emptying... if it overfills you'll suck nasty condensed crap into your intake. If it clogs, you'll start pumping engine oil over to the tranny reservoir! Doing anything to the carb or motor requires almost complete disassembly of the bike! UGH! what a freakin' disaster!

It became almost entertaining to watch other Honda riders at the practice track try to crank their machines. At least I knew we weren't alone in our misery.





I was so traumatized by that POS Honda, I sold it immediately after solving all the problems and finally getting it to run reliably. I ran as fast as I could to Upstate Cycle when Gerald told me he had the first '09 CR 125 on the East Coast. I've never looked back. Honda= overrated, over-priced, and over-sensationalized by the media.

There, now I feel better. Thank you.

Hey tell your son to stop kicking it 's not going to start and I am getting tired of watching him try LOL. I like my little Cr125 too and starting it is a breeze.

I found that pic posted on a Honda forum by another Honda owner who couldn't start his bike.

was going to do some pics...

Actually, I was going to do some pics on this subject while I was doing it. However, a tragic chain of events conspired to ruin my mood and my schedule. Beginning with my 08' WR-250R ride-to-work bike falling over onto the brick fire pit in our backyard the week before.

I was giving my Suburban it's spring cleaning about 2 weeks prior. We had a huge downpour and thunderstorm the night before. The bike was on the side stand in the yard. The ground seemed solid, but that afternoon, after I had washed the insides out with a hose and was starting on the outside, I noticed I could not see the bike on the other sideof the truck when I stood on the runnng boards to wash the top. I went around to the other side and it had fallen against the brick firepit (which I had run over 3 weeks before backing up to the boat) and had destroyed stuff all along the left side.

Jumping forward to the launch control install, that evening I was in the garage with a box full of parts for the WR and the launch control for the Husky. As I ride the WR to work nearly everyday (32 miles one-way) to save gas, those repairs took priority. So, I started out replacing the clutch perch clamp. The stock Yami mirrors do not fold so when it fell, it ripped the clutch perch clamp in-two. Next, I had to put on the new mirrors. I saw a thread on another sight once where some guy had replaced his with Aprilia SXV mirrors, so I bought those to put on it. After fighting with the smaller mirrors for an hour to get them into a position where I could see behind me, I installed new grips since the left one was punched-through in the fall. Then it was on to the rear plate light assembly (also damaged in the fall). This assembly had a chord 3' long with the plug at the end. After considering cutting the chord and just splicing the wires, I decided that the bike is still new enough that I wanted it done right, so I had to remove the seat, both side panels and the rear fender to get to the end of the wire where it was plugged in and then pull it all the way off. They had some funky wire ties on it & I could not get it through the last one, nor could I unhook it without removing the rear fender. I don't know why they had such a long lead on it. It would have been far quicker to replace the assembly had the lead been 6" long and plugged-in near the back. I guess that would have just made too much sense. Anyway, I got it all back together and was running out of time before bed time to get the launch control on the bike, but below is the break down of the procedure. I wish I had step-by-step photos for you, but it was late, stormy and I was too tired from all the cussing I had been doing.

1.) Measure down approx. 75-80mm from the top edge of the fork guard. (This is not a precise measurement, but the instructions say 80mm and a tape measure will measure this plenty close enough for it to come out right.) I went 75 because I felt 80 was just too much. As it turns out 75 is plenty. DO NOT mark this hole on center! The profile of the guard is not round, but parabolic. If you put your hole on dead-center, the clip will be in the wrong spot. I set the clip up on the guard once I marked the 75mm line and centered it with the fork. I then marked the 7 mounting holes by inserting a finishing nail into them and marking the guard. This puts the clip on center with the fork and at the 75mm line and allows you to drill knowing all the holes are in the right place.

2.) Remove lower fork guard.

3.) Drill a 12mm hole (1/2-inch) on the 75mm line in the middle of the mounting hole marks. You can jsut put a flexible tape or cloth measuring tape across them and draw an "X" to find the exact middle. By the way, if your drill won't hold a 1/2" drill bit because it does not have a reduced shank, you can use a 7/16" drill. This is 11.11mm. That's what I used, but the 1/2" hole would have made it a little easier to get the mountig screws in.

4.) Drill the mounting holes through at the spots you marked with the finishing nail. I forget what size, I used, but it's in the instructions (you will have to convert). I think it was 11/64".

5.) Mount the clip to the fork guard. Those screws will be a little tough to get tight. They are tightening on a parabolic contour (or sort-of arc) and want to go straight. THe tapped hole in the clip are on and angle, but don't quite match the shape of the guard. DO NOT use a ball-end allen wrench. You are going to have to put more torque on these screws than you think to get them to tighten up all the way. Use an allen wrench with a square edge or you WILL strip out the sockets.

6.) You will have to remove the axle and front wheel. There is a large allen-socket type cap on the left side that had to come off first. Loosen the axle bolts and slide it out. Make sure once the wheel is off, not to accidentally squeeze the front brake lever and close the caliper. It is hard to notice when reinstalling the wheel and can make it a real pain to get back on. Make sure the bike is balanced on the stand. Once the wieght of the wheel is off, it will rock towards the back. If not, slide it forward to balance it, but be prepared to grab it before it rocks back too far and falls off of the stand. I like to set mine on the stand leaning forward enough that the front wheel usually touches the ground slightly. Depending on stand height, this is not always possible. Besides, you need it off the ground to get it off.

7.) Once the wheel is off, loosen the tripple clamp bolts on the right fork leg. I had to take mine out all the way. The clamp was really tight so I had to completely remove the bolts and use a flat screwdriver to pry open the lower one while I slid the fork leg out. This won't hurt it, just pry it open enough to get the fork leg out.

8.) Slide the clamping component of the launch device over the top of the fork tube. Make sure the cupped side of it is up, or you'll be stabbing that flat screwdriver in your eye about 15 minutes from now...

9.) let it go all the way to the bottom until it stops. It fits around the bottom step of the tube perfectly. DO NOT TIGHTEN.

10.) Reinstall the fork leg. Torque the bolts to the proper spec. I didn't do this, but I know about how tight they are supposed to be because I've done it a few times and I'm lazy. I use a box-end wrench to do this. DO NOT use a standard socket wrench as you can over tighten and strip them. Too tight is just as bad as not tight enough in the long run.

11.) Resinstall the wheel. Again, torque bolts properly. Don't forget the cap on the end of the axle. It needs to go on before you tighten the bolts to make sure the axle in in the proper location.

12.) Reinstall the lower fork guard.

13.) Align the clamp by eye, rotating until it is on center with the button on the clip. That's plenty close enough. Tighten the socket-head allen bolt. DO NOT overtighten.

14.) Spend the next hour trying to hit the button and compress the forks at the same time without falling over OR without loading it in the trailer and using the tie-downs like I did. Then, give up and just get the wife to push the button for you. Have her bring you a cold beer on the way out because you deserve it.

Review of this launch control will follow, but I wanted to respond to your post first. Print this out and have it with you while you're doing the install. I might have hit on something that the instructions didn't include that might help you (like using the 7/16") or maybe not, but I do hope it helps some.

as for the racing...

As for the racing...

Well, let's just say that the racing didn't turn out as I had hoped. As it turns out a Polaris 800efi 4X4 with NOS and 1" aluminum studs in the knobbies is pretty tough to beat out of the hole. In fact 50 of them are even harder to beat and especially in sandy loam.

The launch control works smoothly, but I felt that there just wasn't enough traction to use it in this situation. On the hard-packed clay of our home track, it should work very well. I used it once and was spinning the wheel harder than Pat Sajak on steroids.

As for the race between the TE and the CRF-X, it was actaully closer than it looked as my buddy was trying to beat me so hard that he actually red-lighted twice. This track was 300' in length, sandy, loamy and just not ideal for a skinny dirt bike tire. After he and I had our qualifiers of 5.8 (TE) & 5.3 (CRF-X) the racing was pretty much over for us and went like this...spiiiiiin, spiiiiiiiiiiin, spiiiiiiiiiiiiiin, spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin, spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin, and that was it. First round and we were both out. The best I ever did on him was the 5.8/5.3 run he and I had. I closed on him every time, but the track was just too soft for me to get it done in that distance. As he is about 60 lbs. heaver than me, I think this actually helped him on this track. He was just getting way more bite than I was able too until 3/4-way down the track where I could finally get the TE hooking up, but just ran out of track before I could make up the distance.

There is a video attached to this story, but I'm still trying to figure out how to edit it so we don't look so bad. Attached are some non-action pics in the meantime until I can get the video up. (By the way, the quad I beat for the win at the other track 3 weeks ago is in the background of the pics. If this will tell you how bad the traction was for the bikes, he made it to the semifinals.)

This is not the conclusion to this story. Though he was faster on this track (and we both got our butts kicked), I have a feeling it's going to go completely the other way when we go back to our home track next weekend where there's 100 more feet of track and 5 times the traction. The extra distance will also give us a definite advantage over the NOS equipped quads as we get a little closer to top end speeds out there. Here are the pics. More to come plus video. We'll see how it goes on the hard pack. Now that he's beat me once, we have resorted to who has the best looking bike trash-talking (until next weekend). I don't know. What do you guys think?

Wow great reading and thanks for the detailed install instructions. I now have two of the devices and had no idea how to install them. I really appreciate you taking the time to post it. I will install one on my 09 TXC 510. I have a track on my back property where we drag race. 300' IMO is all about the launch/traction and a 4 wheeler has a huge advantage. I drag race my Polaris 525 IRS and I can take bikes for the first stage of the race then the 450's come by me; if they can ride that is. My strip at my house is about 500-550' and it gives us some time to run someone down if they get the hole-shot or cheat like one of my friends do lol. I just replaced the stock tires on my TXC with Motoz Terrapactor S/T's and these tires HOOK. I now have to use my throttle and clutch when blasting off on a second gear start. Thanks again a good luck next week.

I was just going to ask Kelly about those. I think I'm going to be in the market for them next week.

The "H-rocket" was out of commission this weekend for the big drag-off with the CRF-X (now equipped with after-market exhuast just to make it fair-just like in a DR test). There will be a new tutorial-type thread on how to address the problem I had coming soon . It is a subject that has been covered before, but never with pictures and step-by step instructions so that those who dread removing engine cases (and/or have never done it) will feel a little more at ease about doing this repair when it happens. I'll try to get it up this week. By the way, the CRF-X did race and was not able to best the H-rocket's time of 6.4 in 400'. I know I would have beaten him at this track, but it's hard to do with no oil in the bike. Even the H-rocket needs a little oil now and again.