2009 YFZ450R Quad ?

[MtnDoo]

Does anyone have one of these quads? ...or been on one?

I've always been a dirt biker, but these look like they could be fun for milling around the hills.. 350lbs dry, pretty stripped down....no 4x4, reverse, extra crap...

 

[Dogmeat]

Save your money, buy a new dirt bike.

I have a 2007 YFZ450 ... not the new R, but what I have is the exact same thing as the base model ..

I've been wishing I bought a dirt bike ever since.

If ALL you are going to do is ride dunes or just putz around smooth dirt hills, yeah, ok, they're fun, but quite frankly, they don't climb for **** and they are damn near impossible to come down what you just climbed on.

Anything you can do on a quad you can do on a dirt bike, only a lot faster, and there are quite a few things you will never be able to do on a quad like that you can on a dirt bike.

Considering a brand new YZ450 is the same price, I would for SURE get the dirt bike.

The learning curve to ride a dirt bike is steeper, but once you learn it you're a lot better off ... anyone can just hop on a quad and ride it, but you're limited on it ..

Coming from a dirt bike background, unless all you wanted to do was ride dunes and build a big *** dune quad ... I would save your money.

With that said, I have a full pipe, FCI air intake, FMF jetting recs, and rebuilt factory shocks (set up for my weight), and a +3 steering stem on my YFZ, and I've put in a ****load of seat time on that thing ... So I'm pretty familiar with them.

Hell I've got it torn apart in the garage right now cuz I'm still messing with getting the carb tuned right

 

[MtnDoo]

Thanks Dogmeat,

I've got two dirtbikes (07 CRF450r, 07 CR250r), so we're covered there.
I'm going to build an antennae tower high on a ridge this summer, and need to pack gear up to it (kind of hard to do on a bike) so I started out looking at more reasonable, big motor 4x4 quads, and took my usual route to the light-weight, higher performance types... and found this thing. It's probably not the right vehicle. But it sure looks fun!

We don't have any easy access to dunes here, more trails stuff around Taylor Park, Schofield, etc - where I currently ride dirt bikes a lot. The good stuff is single track, so it kind of eliminates the Quad. There are lots of jeep roads though.

I can always borrow a quad easily for the project, but it was just a good excuse to look into buying something totally unreasonable (again!).

Thx for the info.

MD.

 

[Dogmeat]

Thanks Dogmeat,

I've got two dirtbikes (07 CRF450r, 07 CR250r), so we're covered there.
I'm going to build an antennae tower high on a ridge this summer, and need to pack gear up to it (kind of hard to do on a bike) so I started out looking at more reasonable, big motor 4x4 quads, and took my usual route to the light-weight, higher performance types... and found this thing. It's probably not the right vehicle. But it sure looks fun!

We don't have any easy access to dunes here, more trails stuff around Taylor Park, Schofield, etc - where I currently ride dirt bikes a lot. The good stuff is single track, so it kind of eliminates the Quad. There are lots of jeep roads though.

I can always borrow a quad easily for the project, but it was just a good excuse to look into buying something totally unreasonable (again!).

Thx for the info.

MD.

IMO, if you wanna go fast on dirt get a dirt bike. If you wanna haul stuff on dirt, get a real 4WD 4-wheeler.

Also, I have a 2007 Honda CRF 450X that's had some mods done to it on loan until the end of June (I might be buying it actually), so I'll give ya a heads up comparison on a Honda dirt bike vs. a YFZ on the same trails on the same day once it stops raining here


heheheh

IMO, the quads are the best in the sand. If you have dunes, or sandy trails they really are a rip to tear around the trails on. If you are over about 5'8", they are all but IMPOSSIBLE to stand up and hit jumps on, IMO. I am entirley too big for my quad, but I'm 6'4" and 255-lbs ... I have had the shocks rebuilt + a taller stem, but I still feel like a gorilla riding a tricycle on it ... it is most assuredly not built for hauling gear.

You might look into a Raptor 700 .... It's basically the YFZ450's big brother. If I was gonna get any kind of a sport quad for non-competitive MX racing, then that is the one I would buy ... they're the kings of the dunes these days it seems.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

Dirt Bike guys don't like quads... Thats all there is to it. I've ridden both, yeah dirt bikes are more versatile, but quads are still a blast! I had a 2006 yfz450 and it was a freakin hoot man! It climbed just about anything I wanted to climb on it.. the dunes were fun but its lightweight and horsepower make it a good tree tumbler! I rode the heck out of it for about a year and then wanted to try a raptor700. Basically the same thing with twice the ho and torque! Still have my raptor and I live by it, not many dirtbike guys around here will climb the same chutes I do on my raptor, I can corner twice as fast and with the extreme 4 stroke powerband i'm all over these yz riders here in E-town. No baggin dirt bikes i love the heck out of them!! Has a yz250 for years til it ended up wrapped around a tree in my backyard! Now I stick to my raptor, bought the track kit for it this winter and MAN WHAT A BLAST!!! I really can't knock bikes or quads, but i love my quad

 

[Dogmeat]

Dirt Bike guys don't like quads... Thats all there is to it. I've ridden both, yeah dirt bikes are more versatile, but quads are still a blast! I had a 2006 yfz450 and it was a freakin hoot man! It climbed just about anything I wanted to climb on it.. the dunes were fun but its lightweight and horsepower make it a good tree tumbler! I rode the heck out of it for about a year and then wanted to try a raptor700. Basically the same thing with twice the ho and torque! Still have my raptor and I live by it, not many dirtbike guys around here will climb the same chutes I do on my raptor, I can corner twice as fast and with the extreme 4 stroke powerband i'm all over these yz riders here in E-town. No baggin dirt bikes i love the heck out of them!! Has a yz250 for years til it ended up wrapped around a tree in my backyard! Now I stick to my raptor, bought the track kit for it this winter and MAN WHAT A BLAST!!! I really can't knock bikes or quads, but i love my quad

I'd be interested to see what chutes you are climbing on your rappy that guys on 450 dirt bikes can't .... seriously.

I can't even BEGIN to climb the stuff the guys on dirt bikes do on my YFZ ... let alone come down on it. That thing wants to endo on the slightest inclines it seems like.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

I'd be interested to see what chutes you are climbing on your rappy that guys on 450 dirt bikes can't .... seriously.

I can't even BEGIN to climb the stuff the guys on dirt bikes do on my YFZ ... let alone come down on it. That thing wants to endo on the slightest inclines it seems like.

the coming down part is pretty rough, and the "chutes" around here in the summer are not what you'd think.. mostly rolling hills and what not but their still a blast to shoot up.. the endo factor is a huge problem as you say but if you get a good line and pin it, you come down pretty good.. always have a helmet on though

 

[MtnDoo]

Ok, twas reading more about these sport quads.

Looks like ya shift em just like a dirt bike.
I always remembered the ATC's being an auto-clutch setup.

Do you guys use thumb flippers or twist throttles?

How do the Honda TRX450R's compare to the YFZr?

Thx!

MD.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

Ok, twas reading more about these sport quads.

Looks like ya shift em just like a dirt bike.
I always remembered the ATC's being an auto-clutch setup.

Do you guys use thumb flippers or twist throttles?

How do the Honda TRX450R's compare to the YFZr?

Thx!

MD.

They come stock with the Thumb throttle but that was the first thing I changed when I got my Raptor.
The twist throttle kits are like 120 bucks if I remember right.

The yfz450f will SMOKE any trx450.
I took my 06 yfz450(no f) to the dunes the day after I bought it,
and completely stock, it smoked a couple of trx's that had pipes, headers, and k&n air intakes on em.. Your best buck would be to go Yamaha when buying quads.. I'm sure someone will disagree but I seen it first hand that a stock yfz will kill a part way souped up trx

 

[Dogmeat]

Ok, twas reading more about these sport quads.

Looks like ya shift em just like a dirt bike.
I always remembered the ATC's being an auto-clutch setup.

Do you guys use thumb flippers or twist throttles?

How do the Honda TRX450R's compare to the YFZr?

Thx!

MD.

Sport quads are, quite literally, 4-wheeled dirt bikes. The motor out of a YFZ450 is virtually identical to that of the WR450 ... Change the exhaust cam timing by one mark, and it's identical to the YZ450 motor.

IMO, the thumb throttles suck on the quads, I am planning on converting mine to a twist throttle. Much easier to hang on in the rough stuff. Motion Pro makes conversion kits for I think every quad out there.

I have never personally ridden a TRX450, but for all practical purposes they are every bit as good of quad as a YFZ would be as best I can tell. I have read that the Honda TRX450's are a bit more forgiving to taller riders and don't feel quite as cramped as the YFZ450's do. I have yet to ride a well-set up TRX450, but I can't immagine how it'd be that different from my YFZ450 with a +3+1 steering stem as far as being "egronomic" for a tall person goes ..

IMO, there just isn't any such thing as a sport quad that's egronomic for anyone over about 5'8", period ....

 

[MtnDoo]

Cool - what are you opinions on the GYTR mods? Head, pipe, box, cam?
I've always had ProCircuit do my Honda motors (XR650r, CRF450r, CR250r) and they really wake them up.

Also - are the stock tires/rims keepers or ebay fodder?

Thx!

MD.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

Cool - what are you opinions on the GYTR mods? Head, pipe, box, cam?
I've always had ProCircuit do my Honda motors (XR650r, CRF450r, CR250r) and they really wake them up.

Also - are the stock tires/rims keepers or ebay fodder?

Thx!

MD.

ebay fodders for sure
the trx is actually better stance wise for taller riders
I used to feel like a monkey humpin a football on my yfz
so i switched to the raptorr 700 and it has a much taller stance and better clearance between fenderwells as well for longer legs. seems more comfortable to me after i got the twist throttle.. but yeah dogmeat is right, their basically dirtbikes with an extra set of wheels! still fun stuff tho

 

[Chubbydog]

How do the Honda TRX450R's compare to the YFZr?

Thx!

MD.

The Honda, & Yamaha are going to be real close in performance. Both are nice bikes, built for the smaller rider. The Raptor 700 is just as fast, but it's built for the taller people. At least I got that impression after riding it. If you want a quad that's going to smoke them all, get the KTM 505sx. It's the best stock quad by a landslide. Every review this year says it's in a whole other league. I know it's about $3000 more, but it's worth it if you can afford it. The shocks alone on that are worth that much. If I were buying one new, and $ being an issure, I'd get the Raptor.

On a side note, there's no quad that's going to outclimb a dirtbike with equal riders on them. Bikes are just faster with less weight, and can go places quads can't.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

The Honda, & Yamaha are going to be real close in performance. Both are nice bikes, built for the smaller rider. The Raptor 700 is just as fast, but it's built for the taller people. At least I got that impression after riding it. If you want a quad that's going to smoke them all, get the KTM 505sx. It's the best stock quad by a landslide. Every review this year says it's in a whole other league. I know it's about $3000 more, but it's worth it if you can afford it. The shocks alone on that are worth that much. If I were buying one new, and $ being an issure, I'd get the Raptor.

On a side note, there's no quad that's going to outclimb a dirtbike with equal riders on them. Bikes are just faster with less weight, and can go places quads can't.

Yeah the 505sx is supposed to be a screamer, I haven't ridden one yet but I have rode a 660 Baja built by Bombardier! Very powerful sport quad and definately built for the bigger rider. Forgot to mention this sooner. But yeah the Raptor, Baja, and KTM 505 are more of the bigger style Sport Quads built for the bigger rider. Like chubby said, the bigger quads are about the same as the smaller YFZ and TRX in speed, torque, and overall persofmance.. the 450's are built for smaller guys is all..

 

[MtnDoo]

Wow - the KTM's look nice. But I kind of like the reliability factor and parts & service availability of Honda & Yami. I'm 5'11, 185 so not exactly towering over either machine. I can see where the big guys would be uncomfortable on these machines.

Do you have any idea of real world HP numbers for the 450 sport class?
I'm guessing it's similar to the 450 dirt bikes....

MD.

 

[UintaVentureBoys]

Wow - the KTM's look nice. But I kind of like the reliability factor and parts & service availability of Honda & Yami. I'm 5'11, 185 so not exactly towering over either machine. I can see where the big guys would be uncomfortable on these machines.

Do you have any idea of real world HP numbers for the 450 sport class?
I'm guessing it's similar to the 450 dirt bikes....

MD.

pretty much the same..
the only thing that differs the YFZ450 from the WR450F is the weight to power ratio. Basically the same motor just in a 4 wheel chassis. Same goes for the TRX450 compared to the CRF450. THe bikes pick up more and have alot more pull due to the fact that the power is only being transfered into one rear wheel instead of two. I can't think the exact numbers for HP but their on the website under specifications at http://www.yamaha.com in the powersports section, same with the honda's.. If I remember right the YFZ stock has the TRX stock by like 5 HP or something...

 

[Chubbydog]

In stock condition, the Yamaha has the lowest HP. It's around 51. The Honda, and Suzuki are about 52, the Kawi is 54, and the KTM is around 56-57 range. That's on the dirt bikes. I beleive the quads are a little less than that. The Honda was the lightest by a few lbs. They were all within 5lbs of each other, with Kawi being the heaviest.

 

[graveler]

so the 505 is better then the older 525?

 

[Dogmeat]

Q

Cool - what are you opinions on the GYTR mods? Head, pipe, box, cam?
I've always had ProCircuit do my Honda motors (XR650r, CRF450r, CR250r) and they really wake them up.

Also - are the stock tires/rims keepers or ebay fodder?

Thx!

MD.

First, don't waste your money putting in an aftermarket cam on a YFZ450 ... With the new R being fuel injected, _MAYBE_ those will respond better to aftermarket cams, but every single test I've ever seen on a dyno with the regular carbuerated 450 motor, about all putting in a "Stage II" cam or whatever did was shift the powerband much more into the upper RPM ranges and really didn't do jack **** for total power. Most were 1 hp or less, and made the power band pretty ****ty.

The only time you wanna put an aftermarket cam in a current YFZ450 is if you're doing a big bore kit .... short of that you will gain virtually nothing.

HOWEVER..

The YFZ450 motor has the same cam timing as the WR450 .... You can do the "cam mod", which will actually wake the thing up a little bit in the mid-to-upper RPM ranges .... best thing is, it's free .... To do this, you just adjust the exhaust cam one one degree less ... IE, retard it 1 degree ... same cam timing as the YZ450 motor ... All things being equal, you will lose a little bottom end with this, but gain a little mid to upper ...

However ...

If you put the right pipe on it, and I mean full pipe, just a slip-on won't do much for bottom end .... You can easily regain what you lost on the bottom end, and then have a whole lot more top end ...

As far as pipes go, it's kind of hit or miss I think .... there are so many people out there making pipes for these quads it's rediculous. Personally, I went with an FMF full pipe ... primarily because they advertised the pipe as being good for low-mid range power gains, which is what I wanted ...

I've got my YFZ450 tuned up about as well as you can do it without using a dyno, I've messed around with the jetting and all kinds of stuff, but the FMF jetting specs hence far have worked the best for me.

I think I might have a motor mount loose on the quad, I gotta check into it ... it's getting some sort of "zing" and vibration from somewhere it never had before..

Anyway, here's all I've done to my 2007 YFZ450

2007 YFZ450
FMF Q4 Silencer
FMF MegaBomb headpipe
FMF jetting recomendations
FCI "wide open" air intake
Quickshot II Accelerator Pump Cover
35# Leak jet, zip tie accelerator pump lever taut
Externally adjustable Tusk fuel screw
Lone Star Racing +3+1 steering stem
Race Tech Shock Conversion (rebuilt stock shocks set up for me)
GYRT swing arm (I'm on my 3rd one), chassis, and l-arm skid plates.

And FYI ... Took the bike out for the first time ever on the same trails and areas I've been riding that quad for 2 years now ...

That bike owns that quad. I dont even know if I'm gonna ride that quad over there anymore, and this was only the 3rd time I've ever even been on this bike in my life.

Heh

 

[Clarke673]

get a ktm.

Why buy a jap bike and end up dumping cash and time into it to get it to work right when you could buy white man made and never **** with it?