Louis Mielke
02-11-2013, 06:41 PM
Well it's been a long time in the making and the pictures I have at the moment arn't all that great but I would like to take a minute and share the finished product of my latest build. I had somewhat planned on waiting until after the imperial invasion to post anything up on the forums but I said what the heck. So here's the finished product. I introduce to you the PBR450R, or Plan B Racing 450R.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/PBR450R_zps81d9b4f8.jpg
I've got a laundry list of people to thank and recognize that have had involvement with this build but I guess I should start off with the basic details. I'm only going to cover a few things and some thank yous in this thread and then when I have some time I'll do a proper build thread.
My 450 three wheeler started life as a 2008 trx450er.
Instead of purchasing a conversion kit, or letting someone else dream up a frame for me I had a very specific desire of what I wanted for my frame and spent a fair amount of time gathering information from the CRF450R dirt bike frame and sketching up my vision. Unfortunately I don't have a full fabrication shop at my finger tips so I could not directly bring my vision to life, BUT luckily, I have some of the best friends on the planet who were more than willing to lend me a hand to bring my 450 frame to life. (more on that shortly)
A few years ago I designed and had machined a set of triple trees for my ATCR500R and have since updated that design and had another set machined for this 450 build. Specifically I updated them to utilize forks from a 04 Honda CRF450R dirt bike. The length of these forks have been shortened internally by travel limiting spacers 2" long and the design of the triple trees provide 1.5" of height adjust-ability.
The steering head and front/upper frame portion were designed around a combination of the Honda CRF450R and CR500R dirt bike frames. The tank and shrouds are from an 06 and up crf450r. Also of note, I wanted this build to mimic my ATCR500R dirt bike conversion. I've spent several years tweaking the geometry of my 500 with the help of others and one of my goals was to build this machine to match my 500 as closely as possibly so I could seamlessly switch between the two, basically so I have a two stroke and a four stroke version of the same bike. I still have a few minor tweaks to completely accomplish that goal but the basic geometry is the same.
The engine is mostly stock. When I purchased the quad the previous owner had installed a stage 1 hot cam, and a exhaust system which from what I understand is pretty close to the HRC power up setup. I added the kick starter components so I would have a backup to the problematic electric starter. The engine hasn't been changed otherwise, I chose to design the frame around the stock trx head so that I could avoid making any major changes to the engine.
That in a nut shell covers the basics of my build. I'm sure comparisons and parallels are going to be made to other quad and bike conversions; all I can say to that is when a bunch of different people start with the same pile of parts and each of them puts them together in their own way it can't be helped that there are going to be similarities, the difference is always going to be in the details. I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions about the design and possibly speculation about the strength and durability of my build; to that I say: everyone has their opinion and they are entitled to it. I built this bike for me, not for production or anyone else and if I come across problems I'll address them one by one and make it better day by day.
Now as previously stated I have some thank yous and acknowledgements to make.
First and foremost I need to thank Jake Keister of Tionesta Trikes for lending me his fabrication skills. I had a very specific design in mind for my frame, in part because of my desires to match my 500, and more so because of my desire for my frame to mimic the lines and shapes of the CRF dirtbike. While currently TPC Trikes, HRE and Tionesta Trikes all have very well thought out frame designs, I wanted something specific, and something done differently from what has been done by others thus far. I've been good friends with the Keisters for some time now and I knew Jake had the skills and tools I lacked to tackle what I wanted to build. I warned Jake before we started this venture that I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to build and this wasn't going to be like any of the other bikes he's worked on before. I suppose a better way to put it would be that I wanted to do it MY WAY and not his or anyone else's way. Lets just say the friendship may have been stretched a little bit in the couple months it took to finish the frame. Actually that would be putting it mildly. Nevertheless Jake is an excellent friend, a top shelf guy and swallowed his pride and put up with my belligerent demands more than several times when I objected to things/methods he suggested/wanted to do. In general I'm a big picture kind of guy, I had a vision, the vision had some fuzzy parts, and more specifically things I wanted done and things I didn't want done, I told Jake what I wanted, he cut and welded all while putting up with my complaints and criticism. Jake was instrumental in helping make the vision of my 450 come to life and I thank him greatly for his excellent work and patience.
I also need to mention and thank Jason Hall of Hall's Performance. Jason is an amazing fabricator and is full of atv knowledge. Without him my ATCR500R would not be the bike it is today. He was instrumental in taking my original dirt bike conversion and making the necessary geometry changes to make it the awesome handling machine it is today. Without his work on my 500, I would not have been able to build the 450 I dreamed of. I very purposely fashioned my 450 frame around the steering angles frame dimensions of my 500. The wheel base, steering rake and trail, control, peg, and seat locations where all taken into account and copied as closely as possible so that I could have a 450 four stroke version of my very favorite three wheeler, my ATCR500R. Beyond the previous work on my 500, Jason was graciously available by phone constantly over the past year and spent hours discussing what I wanted to do with my 450 build. Back and forth we would argue and scrutinize various details. I thank Jason so very much for his patience and availability to me during this build.
I can't help but feel like I need to mention someone I consider instrumental in the pioneering of the four wheeler to three wheeler conversion scene. I haven't always seen eye to eye with him but I have to give credit where credit is due. Bill Casey of TPC Trikes has done the three wheeler community a service when he introduced his TPC 450 conversions. Yes, we've all seen cobbled quad conversions of the past but Bill was the first I feel to take a four wheeler and make a REAL three wheeler; A trike that someone could own and be proud of. While yes there are many folks like HRE, and Tionesta Trikes, and Hall's Performance that do custom built machines Bill has produced a nearly ready made kit that has done what no one else has done at the scale he's accomplished it at. He's made 450 three wheelers accessible to anyone who wants one, regardless of their ability to build custom machines. Bill's pioneering of the quad conversions has inspired many machines and given the community knowledge that we previously didn't have and I thank him for that. Beyond that I must also thank him for being accessible to everyone. Typically when you own a business you keep trade secrets close to the chest. While in the past I have teased some about Bill's safe guarding of his ideas I must acknowledge Bill's willingness to talk shop with anyone who desires to do so. On more than one occasion I've had conversation with Bill and gleaned bits of information that have come in handy. He's told me himself, while he does protect his interests he's more than willing to talk to and help anyone who would like it and I must commend and thank him for that.
In conclusion, I personally wanted to build my 450 differently. I didn't want to have a kit trike, nor did I want to drop a quad off in a buddies garage and come back later to see what I would end up with. I wanted to have a 450 trike that was my own, one that I can look at people and say, I envisioned it and made it a reality. I feel like I've been successful and have a unique beautiful machine. I thank everyone who was directly and in-directly involved. I can also say that I would willingly point other people to anyone of the three mentioned companies/individuals if they want a 450 three wheeler. No matter who or how, any of these people have the talent, skill and love to build modern 450 three wheelers.
A few more pics, more once I do the build thread.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0498.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/380831_2228092268283_1427104570_31812416_786677005 _n.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0157_zps5bca3d77-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0155_zpsa02a1841-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0142_zps4cec64af-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0167_zps10364992-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/PBR450R_zps81d9b4f8.jpg
I've got a laundry list of people to thank and recognize that have had involvement with this build but I guess I should start off with the basic details. I'm only going to cover a few things and some thank yous in this thread and then when I have some time I'll do a proper build thread.
My 450 three wheeler started life as a 2008 trx450er.
Instead of purchasing a conversion kit, or letting someone else dream up a frame for me I had a very specific desire of what I wanted for my frame and spent a fair amount of time gathering information from the CRF450R dirt bike frame and sketching up my vision. Unfortunately I don't have a full fabrication shop at my finger tips so I could not directly bring my vision to life, BUT luckily, I have some of the best friends on the planet who were more than willing to lend me a hand to bring my 450 frame to life. (more on that shortly)
A few years ago I designed and had machined a set of triple trees for my ATCR500R and have since updated that design and had another set machined for this 450 build. Specifically I updated them to utilize forks from a 04 Honda CRF450R dirt bike. The length of these forks have been shortened internally by travel limiting spacers 2" long and the design of the triple trees provide 1.5" of height adjust-ability.
The steering head and front/upper frame portion were designed around a combination of the Honda CRF450R and CR500R dirt bike frames. The tank and shrouds are from an 06 and up crf450r. Also of note, I wanted this build to mimic my ATCR500R dirt bike conversion. I've spent several years tweaking the geometry of my 500 with the help of others and one of my goals was to build this machine to match my 500 as closely as possibly so I could seamlessly switch between the two, basically so I have a two stroke and a four stroke version of the same bike. I still have a few minor tweaks to completely accomplish that goal but the basic geometry is the same.
The engine is mostly stock. When I purchased the quad the previous owner had installed a stage 1 hot cam, and a exhaust system which from what I understand is pretty close to the HRC power up setup. I added the kick starter components so I would have a backup to the problematic electric starter. The engine hasn't been changed otherwise, I chose to design the frame around the stock trx head so that I could avoid making any major changes to the engine.
That in a nut shell covers the basics of my build. I'm sure comparisons and parallels are going to be made to other quad and bike conversions; all I can say to that is when a bunch of different people start with the same pile of parts and each of them puts them together in their own way it can't be helped that there are going to be similarities, the difference is always going to be in the details. I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions about the design and possibly speculation about the strength and durability of my build; to that I say: everyone has their opinion and they are entitled to it. I built this bike for me, not for production or anyone else and if I come across problems I'll address them one by one and make it better day by day.
Now as previously stated I have some thank yous and acknowledgements to make.
First and foremost I need to thank Jake Keister of Tionesta Trikes for lending me his fabrication skills. I had a very specific design in mind for my frame, in part because of my desires to match my 500, and more so because of my desire for my frame to mimic the lines and shapes of the CRF dirtbike. While currently TPC Trikes, HRE and Tionesta Trikes all have very well thought out frame designs, I wanted something specific, and something done differently from what has been done by others thus far. I've been good friends with the Keisters for some time now and I knew Jake had the skills and tools I lacked to tackle what I wanted to build. I warned Jake before we started this venture that I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to build and this wasn't going to be like any of the other bikes he's worked on before. I suppose a better way to put it would be that I wanted to do it MY WAY and not his or anyone else's way. Lets just say the friendship may have been stretched a little bit in the couple months it took to finish the frame. Actually that would be putting it mildly. Nevertheless Jake is an excellent friend, a top shelf guy and swallowed his pride and put up with my belligerent demands more than several times when I objected to things/methods he suggested/wanted to do. In general I'm a big picture kind of guy, I had a vision, the vision had some fuzzy parts, and more specifically things I wanted done and things I didn't want done, I told Jake what I wanted, he cut and welded all while putting up with my complaints and criticism. Jake was instrumental in helping make the vision of my 450 come to life and I thank him greatly for his excellent work and patience.
I also need to mention and thank Jason Hall of Hall's Performance. Jason is an amazing fabricator and is full of atv knowledge. Without him my ATCR500R would not be the bike it is today. He was instrumental in taking my original dirt bike conversion and making the necessary geometry changes to make it the awesome handling machine it is today. Without his work on my 500, I would not have been able to build the 450 I dreamed of. I very purposely fashioned my 450 frame around the steering angles frame dimensions of my 500. The wheel base, steering rake and trail, control, peg, and seat locations where all taken into account and copied as closely as possible so that I could have a 450 four stroke version of my very favorite three wheeler, my ATCR500R. Beyond the previous work on my 500, Jason was graciously available by phone constantly over the past year and spent hours discussing what I wanted to do with my 450 build. Back and forth we would argue and scrutinize various details. I thank Jason so very much for his patience and availability to me during this build.
I can't help but feel like I need to mention someone I consider instrumental in the pioneering of the four wheeler to three wheeler conversion scene. I haven't always seen eye to eye with him but I have to give credit where credit is due. Bill Casey of TPC Trikes has done the three wheeler community a service when he introduced his TPC 450 conversions. Yes, we've all seen cobbled quad conversions of the past but Bill was the first I feel to take a four wheeler and make a REAL three wheeler; A trike that someone could own and be proud of. While yes there are many folks like HRE, and Tionesta Trikes, and Hall's Performance that do custom built machines Bill has produced a nearly ready made kit that has done what no one else has done at the scale he's accomplished it at. He's made 450 three wheelers accessible to anyone who wants one, regardless of their ability to build custom machines. Bill's pioneering of the quad conversions has inspired many machines and given the community knowledge that we previously didn't have and I thank him for that. Beyond that I must also thank him for being accessible to everyone. Typically when you own a business you keep trade secrets close to the chest. While in the past I have teased some about Bill's safe guarding of his ideas I must acknowledge Bill's willingness to talk shop with anyone who desires to do so. On more than one occasion I've had conversation with Bill and gleaned bits of information that have come in handy. He's told me himself, while he does protect his interests he's more than willing to talk to and help anyone who would like it and I must commend and thank him for that.
In conclusion, I personally wanted to build my 450 differently. I didn't want to have a kit trike, nor did I want to drop a quad off in a buddies garage and come back later to see what I would end up with. I wanted to have a 450 trike that was my own, one that I can look at people and say, I envisioned it and made it a reality. I feel like I've been successful and have a unique beautiful machine. I thank everyone who was directly and in-directly involved. I can also say that I would willingly point other people to anyone of the three mentioned companies/individuals if they want a 450 three wheeler. No matter who or how, any of these people have the talent, skill and love to build modern 450 three wheelers.
A few more pics, more once I do the build thread.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0498.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/380831_2228092268283_1427104570_31812416_786677005 _n.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0157_zps5bca3d77-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0155_zpsa02a1841-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0142_zps4cec64af-1.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/louis_mielke/pbr450r/IMG_0167_zps10364992-1.jpg