fe450 counter balancer removal final results
I rode the 450 this weekend. It does have more vibration at idle and mid but no more rattle and top end rpm feels way smoother than before. The motor seems quiet,tight and has a new bike feeling. It feels more powerful and revs much quicker even tho I lowered the compression by removing .040" off the top of the piston. It will wheelie easier at any rpm. Stalling is not a problem, still way better than any mx450. The cam makes theese motors never say die. I swear the bike feels 30 lbs lighter. I would not do this if you dual sport a lot. I did about 20 miles of dirt road and my butt could feel the vibs but not too bad in the bars. On trail you don't notice unless you purposefully think about it....
My 2 buddies swapped with me for a few miles.
#1 had a kx450-I told him BEFORE he rode it to see if he thought it had too much vibration. When he got off it, he said he forgot to check the vibration but loved the smooth power and the suspension. I guess that means he didn't notice the vibration at all.....I rode the kx and it had zero vibs but it has a balancer.The kx powerband makes it a mean animal that would stall in a millisecond...Power was a bit more over all than the berg but who cares when trail riding....It was also way too loud, hard to start, crappy clutch. Very fast and stable until it wears you out.
#2 had a 150xc-He told me he could feel the vibs but only when he was purposely thinking about it. But he called it a cheater bike. I rode his 150 and it vibed too just at a higher frequency.
Looking back, I think the sound of the counter balancer rattle was a big issue for me. I didn't think it was that bad at the time, but I remember times even at low rpm road riding in 6th gear, I would down shift and ride in 5th just to get rid of the rattle it had at a certain rpm. And In my memory it just seemed sluggish even though it was plenty fast it had a lazy feel too it before.
I just can Not help myself.
