Oh John I thought that might bring a smile to your face.
Never raced on that track, in fact havent raced anything for at least a year and a half. Maybe bikes now, cool. Had to be quite carefully on the throttle down low not to break too much traction but once moving you could feed it in and slide nicely. Was thinking if you are racing other bikes and for the marshals safety, nylon bars would definitely be the go.

Nice vid! Great track!... we need tracks around here that are that wide and flowing... the new e-gyro makes it easy peasy to get around a track of that caliber...

Yes, excellent track Chris -- perfect for motocross! Keep it up, man!

Excellent Vid! Where are you located and which track is that? I'd like to get my VMX on a track soon. Although I have stripped the gear and it seems no one is Brisbane stocks spares for the VMX! So I'll put an order in online and get a heap of other stuff too. I'll also be reading your "how to" you provided on the previous page. Thanks!!

Great video, great driving. You're making the off road bikes look legit!

mp-

Hi all,
I'm an Atomik dealer and picked up some of these MM 450's the second they came out. I never had the oppurtunity to use the VMX and honestly stayed away from RC bikes from prior bad experiences with old school nitro bikes. I have been blown away by my MM450, and have not been able to put it down since it arrived! I know you all have a ton of experience with the VMX and was hoping you would all be able to share some of your knowledge.

I am helping out a quadriplegic by getting an MM 450 set up so he can drive it. Because he will not be able to do the maintenence on his own I am trying to have it as close to dialed as possible out of the box and change out any parts that are prone to breaking or require heavy maintenence. This is what is on the build list so far:

1. Chain tensioners
2. Option front axle (I bent mine on the first day and this one seems stronger it is holding up well for me so far)
3. Alloy body posts (my back post kept loosening up on my bike and figured I can locktight it and he shouldn't have to worry about it)
4. Alloy rear shock
5. Front forks 40wt steering dampener 50 wt rear shock 80 wt
6. Alloy trees (Just for looks, he requested these)
7. Remove ESC power switch and hotwire on

Most of my running has been on the street with super moto tires and honestly I have been wearing most parts at a scary rate.

I'm assuming my front sprocket looking like this after two weeks is due to my high traction running

I would love to know if i'm heading in the right direction here and what else I can do to make the bike fun, stable, and low maintenance.

This is where the build is so far, the trees have not shown up yet.

....i can chime in regarding the switch...i also snipped it out and twisted the wires together....and i soldered a few electrical adapters so i could charge and use batteries with different connectors (i'm liking 40C 5000mah lipos for the bike) and i think Chris has his bike running pretty well with a 12t pinion.....i also enjoy driving my bike on a daily basis!

Thanks Phil! I ordered some of each size pinion, and tore my bike down tonight I was going to change to the 12 after reading Chris's success with it

OK Erik, Chris has some good info and tips, and we're lucky he shares them with us!...What part of the world do you live in?

I'm in los Angeles. I'm anxious to polish my fork shafts.

Eric, that sounds so great what your doing. You might try adjusting the slipper to get it a little more loose so throttle isnt so ruff on gears. If he wants wheelies, well that wont work though lol. In that case, look back as gurumods made up a wheelie bar to help save the rear fender and save the fender saver too.

How are your side metal crash guards holding up? You have a couple options for replacing these since running on street will grind those down fast (from my recollection when testing my street tires). Since your in the US...
1) you can go to local hardware store and find steel rods that are about same diameter as installed on the mm450, maybe a little thicker. I think either OSH or Homedepot is where I purchased some and it was a little bit thicker and stronger but not much.

2) you can modify the crashguard mounts and install nylon rod instead of metal. From the vmx thread, a few of us use 1/4" 6/6 nylon sold at mcmaster-carr. You would then need to drill out your crash guard mounts with 1/4" bit. You can buy the rod in 5' lengths for very cheap. See my post in following discussion http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1706414

3) You could get creative and try building crash guards that incorporate wheels instead of bars, so you eliminate replacement parts over long haul. Probably not best idea for off road, but for street instead.

Thanks fellas Rob I'm based in Gladstone up the coast a bit from you. The track is the local one. Although it may look good it has it's good and bad points. One the surface is a mixture of decomposed granite and clay which is a bit like pebbles on concrete. At bigger meetings the track does groove up fairly well but in between times it's slippery as. Hasn't had any maintenance for a long time also. The track markers are coppers logs which hang out and catch the bike. The layout is quite flowing and most of the jumps are good although the big one on the front straight can be hard to get every time. They are putting in a new drivers stand so maybe a track rebuild is on the cards. I used to live in Brisbane and raced at Brisbane Dirt Racing. Have you checked out that track recently. It was in the Pine Hills Sports Club. I would recommend the E Gyro for track work as the bike works much better. Hi Eric great bike. Yes the quality of some things leaves a little to be desired but parts are cheap and venom have always had no problem replacing faulty items. Stock up on front sprockets, spur gears, if you run a brass pinion get a few of them to, Side bars or do what John does and make them. Rear tyres. Yes even super moto ones and rear inserts. It's not vital to polish the shafts, the main thing is to allow the shaft to slide freely by not overtensioning the seal caps. Feel for free movement as you are tightening the caps and when they start to bind stop tightening. The thread tape stops them from loosening. By all mean polish away ( with a polishing wheel ) will only improve the action. I'll post more info in time. Keep an eye out at
http://www.rcdirtbikeaction.com/
For more info and photos. Hey John broke a nylon bar, I think steel are better but maybe more rounded. Will try that.

Johnny,
Thanks man, I have loosened up my slipper slightly, I can still lift the front end but its a bit more controllable. but running on the street is going to be a lot different from the dirt. I think I need to spend some time starting from stock in the dirt to find a good setup. I don't run the crash guards because I was running on rough asphalt and they were catching too much. The bike was so much easier to run without the guards and the foot pegs. My stock wheely bar is practically a knife now! Do the crash gaurds help in the dirt? I haven't even thought about running them after I took them off. I wanted to try nylon and ordered some from Venom, but honestly after the first week of driving the bike it has gotten so easy. The tricky part was figuring out how to simulate a rider shifting his weight around the bike. I've found it responds to inputs much like my real dirtbikes. I want to try taking it to a track, Hot Rods is relatively close and I think there is another indoor track in Valencia.

I guess I will install the stock bars and give them a go in the dirt after I put the bike back together in the morning.
Thanks!

Originally Posted by JohnnyMc

Eric, that sounds so great what your doing. You might try adjusting the slipper to get it a little more loose so throttle isnt so ruff on gears. If he wants wheelies, well that wont work though lol. In that case, look back as gurumods made up a wheelie bar to help save the rear fender and save the fender saver too.

How are your side metal crash guards holding up? You have a couple options for replacing these since running on street will grind those down fast (from my recollection when testing my street tires). Since your in the US...
1) you can go to local hardware store and find steel rods that are about same diameter as installed on the mm450, maybe a little thicker. I think either OSH or Homedepot is where I purchased some and it was a little bit thicker and stronger but not much.

2) you can modify the crashguard mounts and install nylon rod instead of metal. From the vmx thread, a few of us use 1/4" 6/6 nylon sold at mcmaster-carr. You would then need to drill out your crash guard mounts with 1/4" bit. You can buy the rod in 5' lengths for very cheap. See my post in following discussion http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1706414

3) You could get creative and try building crash guards that incorporate wheels instead of bars, so you eliminate replacement parts over long haul. Probably not best idea for off road, but for street instead.

Thanks, I'm ditching the brass pinions, I have replacements already. The front sprocket seems very soft. How long do yours hold up when running in the dirt? My front looks like that after 20-25 packs. It's funny with my super moto tires the front let go long before the rear! I did not do very much straight running, I was fully leaned the majority of the time. I will take a picture tommorow. I have only done a couple runs in the dirt. Are you guys ripping lugs off? I have a couple of nasty tears in my rear.

Also, how are your rear axles holding up? I bent one the first day, and its replacement is not completely straight now. Has this been an issue in the dirt?

I really have no complaints about the quality of the parts, they are very cheap and for the most part seem to be pretty good. I'm really trying to increase the interval between services and improve the stability. I also want to ship the bike with a care package of consumables. Thanks again everyone for all your help!

Originally Posted by chktm

Thanks fellas Rob I'm based in Gladstone up the coast a bit from you. The track is the local one. Although it may look good it has it's good and bad points. One the surface is a mixture of decomposed granite and clay which is a bit like pebbles on concrete. At bigger meetings the track does groove up fairly well but in between times it's slippery as. Hasn't had any maintenance for a long time also. The track markers are coppers logs which hang out and catch the bike. The layout is quite flowing and most of the jumps are good although the big one on the front straight can be hard to get every time. They are putting in a new drivers stand so maybe a track rebuild is on the cards. I used to live in Brisbane and raced at Brisbane Dirt Racing. Have you checked out that track recently. It was in the Pine Hills Sports Club. I would recommend the E Gyro for track work as the bike works much better. Hi Eric great bike. Yes the quality of some things leaves a little to be desired but parts are cheap and venom have always had no problem replacing faulty items. Stock up on front sprockets, spur gears, if you run a brass pinion get a few of them to, Side bars or do what John does and make them. Rear tyres. Yes even super moto ones and rear inserts. It's not vital to polish the shafts, the main thing is to allow the shaft to slide freely by not overtensioning the seal caps. Feel for free movement as you are tightening the caps and when they start to bind stop tightening. The thread tape stops them from loosening. By all mean polish away ( with a polishing wheel ) will only improve the action. I'll post more info in time. Keep an eye out at
http://www.rcdirtbikeaction.com/
For more info and photos. Hey John broke a nylon bar, I think steel are better but maybe more rounded. Will try that.

Originally Posted by EricSchlaifer

Thanks, I'm ditching the brass pinions, I have replacements already. The front sprocket seems very soft. How long do yours hold up when running in the dirt? My front looks like that after 20-25 packs. It's funny with my super moto tires the front let go long before the rear! I did not do very much straight running, I was fully leaned the majority of the time. I will take a picture tommorow. I have only done a couple runs in the dirt. Are you guys ripping lugs off? I have a couple of nasty tears in my rear.

Also, how are your rear axles holding up? I bent one the first day, and its replacement is not completely straight now. Has this been an issue in the dirt?

I really have no complaints about the quality of the parts, they are very cheap and for the most part seem to be pretty good. I'm really trying to increase the interval between services and improve the stability. I also want to ship the bike with a care package of consumables. Thanks again everyone for all your help!

Just watch with the steel ones sometimes they come loose even with locktite. Some do some don't. Tighten as tight as you are game with a quality driver. The front sprockets are quite soft and you will wear them out most often in the drive train. I get maybe 1 to 2 months use using the bike daily for maybe an hour or so which is pretty good when you add that time up. I use Belray SuperClean chain lube designed for dirt bikes and get good life out of chains and in a year or so of running have only been through two rear sprockets. Running in mud or sand or on road may shorten the lifespan. I haven't bent a rear axle yet and have given it some big jumps and crashes. Make sure it is tight and maybe add some washers to the axle before the nuts. I haven't even bent a std front axle, and I thought I was hard on gear.lol. Tyre wear has always been pretty good, have never had issues with any knobs ripping off. Can wear them right down and work well.