ChopRacing

Does your 450R have the dreaded "creep" when in gear with the clutch pulled in? You know, give it a little throttle, and it will creep forward. For some reason, these quads are rougher than anything I've encountered on clutch baskets, which I think may be from excessive tolerance between the plates and the basket when new, which causes lashing and grooving of the basket. Once the grooves are there, the plates do not separate fully, which causes the creep. My '04 is on it's third basket now, and I've done three others for customers. I just installed a Wiseco and new plates on the '04. The plates fit much tighter in the Wiseco basket compared to a stock unit, hopefully this will make for longer basket life. For those who race 450R's, especially kicker models, a grooved basket will make your dead-engine starts harder, since the plates are not separating fully, causing a drag on the motor.

thanks rich, now i need to check my clutch, lol.

Great write up Rich!

I've noticed when I start the Raptor in gear it will lurch forward for a second but no creep yet. Now I know what to watch for.

i would like to add, you can take the basket out and file them grooves out a bit, temporary fix but it will buy you some time. does mine creep? of course, have i done anything about it? no, just start it in neutral, then pull some business

It will buy you some time, but it might cost you too. Filing will create even more room for the plates to lash, which could break a finger off the basket or shatter a plate. All this debris will run through the motor and possibly cause more damage. Plus the design of the 450R basket makes it a little harder to file since the deepest plates are shrouded in the basket, and filing that part of the basket could be tough. My view on this is, if you're going to do it, do it right the first time. It saves you time and money, that's why I don't get comebacks on my work.

of course new is better. richie. i knew a bunch of guys that filed the 250r baskets, i didnt realize the 450r was more critical, when it comes to clearances, thats my bad. like i said, never touched mine.............yet.

Ya know Mark, the weird thing is my 250R's have never chewed up baskets like the 450's do. You would think a two-stroke clutch would be worse because of the abuse they take. I did a clutch and basket in a stroker Banshee about a month ago, and it was the original basket from 2002, but the basket wasn't really grooved at all. Just the cushions were worn out, which aren't replaceable in a stock basket, so it got an aftermarket with replaceable cushions. Something to keep in mind, on the 450R basket, visual inspection won't show much wear untill you pull the plates out. Stock plates don't protrude out of the slots on the basket, the tabs are slightly below the surface of the basket fingers, and they will actually "tunnel" under the surface of the basket fingers. Like I said before, I'm going to watch this Wiseco I put in the '04, the plates went in VERY tight. Hopefully I'll get more time out of it.