2011 YZ/ 2018 Camso Review

[M5-]

So I was holding off on this until I got a bunch of days under my belt on the new setup.

The bike. Virtually brand new 2011 YZ450

So far I'm really pleased and impressed by this bike. I have ridden lots of other bikes brand new and older and I'd put this up against any 450. The combination of the GYTR head and the GYTR race cams is very impressive. I thought the cams would make the bike have a more 2 stroke feel and be peaky but what they do is bring torque in abundance to the table particularly in the mid range and bottom end. I'm sure this bike makes more torque than my POS 520 Thumper racing ever did (read here total waste of money). I can lug the $hit out of this bike. I think I may switch to a 14 front sprocket to lengthen 2nd gear a bit. I've been messing with tunes but without data its hard to know how aggressive to go. We were talking and I think we will build a data logger and add a wideband so we can develop some proper tunes. The bike starts easily all the time hot or cold. I've got the temps dialed in now so after I go 3 rides there's no gas in the oil at all. Zero. The bike can hold its own against the CR500 but if the 500 had a better track on the kit the YZ wouldn't keep up.

The Camso Kit:

The more I ride this kit the more I like it. A friend of mine describes it as a "an easy ride" which is accurate IMO. It doesn't wear you out at all, you are never fighting it. I use my legs so much more now and my hands are just kind of along for the ride. The monorail design is where its at, all kits will be narrow soon.

The good:

Monorail design A+
Ski took some getting used to Rating B+ room for improvement
Spindle A- Needs wheel kit adaptability ie larger hole
Track A+ It just flat out works
Handling in POW A+
Handling on Hard pack B-
Construction and quality B+ Some things feel cheap to me
Climbing A-
Sidehilling A
Track tensioner B+ works pretty good
Value vs cost Hard to beat A-
All around A-

The bad:

Rear suspension C- Its nothing special shock blows Torsion spring is lame
Weight C Its porky and it packs a lot of snow
Chain adjustment with stock tunnel cover D maybe F PITA
Limiter strap adjustment and range F NFG kind of a joke
Ski stability There's a nervous zone but I'm used to it
Chains adjuster. Mine may be slipping a bit still using the new Camso procedure but I think it moves I'm monitoring.
The brake lever/reservoir. Knock $100 off the kit and don't even bother shipping it. It ridiculously huge. Pre bleed the brake caliper and line then just cap it. You have to remove the reservoir to feed the line properly so don't even bother.
Storage and options D, there are none from Camso, you are missing the boat here guys

All and all a pretty functional setup for what I have sunk into it. I'm not ready to part ways with the 500 though I still think it has way more potential I just don't want to ride it everyday.


Pics of old vs. new. 500 could use some love cosmetically.
M5

 

[Ben 500RR-S]

Another awesome review. Thanks.

I love what looks like your custom tunnel cover, very trick. Is there any chance you can bang out some more of that setup and sell them to us willing DTS 129 owners?

 

[M5-]

Another awesome review. Thanks.

I love what looks like your custom tunnel cover, very trick. Is there any chance you can bang out some more of that setup and sell them to us willing DTS 129 owners?

Maybe. Its labour intensive doing the front piece, the rear half is pretty straight forward and that's the important part for storage options. I don't always fill the jerry but I can pack up to 20 extra litres and have it off the tunnel in about ten seconds.

M5

 

[wwillf01]

So I was holding off on this until I got a bunch of days under my belt on the new setup.

The bike. Virtually brand new 2011 YZ450

So far I'm really pleased and impressed by this bike. I have ridden lots of other bikes brand new and older and I'd put this up against any 450. The combination of the GYTR head and the GYTR race cams is very impressive. I thought the cams would make the bike have a more 2 stroke feel and be peaky but what they do is bring torque in abundance to the table particularly in the mid range and bottom end. I'm sure this bike makes more torque than my POS 520 Thumper racing ever did (read here total waste of money). I can lug the $hit out of this bike. I think I may switch to a 14 front sprocket to lengthen 2nd gear a bit. I've been messing with tunes but without data its hard to know how aggressive to go. We were talking and I think we will build a data logger and add a wideband so we can develop some proper tunes. The bike starts easily all the time hot or cold. I've got the temps dialed in now so after I go 3 rides there's no gas in the oil at all. Zero. The bike can hold its own against the CR500 but if the 500 had a better track on the kit the YZ wouldn't keep up.

The Camso Kit:

The more I ride this kit the more I like it. A friend of mine describes it as a "an easy ride" which is accurate IMO. It doesn't wear you out at all, you are never fighting it. I use my legs so much more now and my hands are just kind of along for the ride. The monorail design is where its at, all kits will be narrow soon.

The good:

Monorail design A+
Ski took some getting used to Rating B+ room for improvement
Spindle A- Needs wheel kit adaptability ie larger hole
Track A+ It just flat out works
Handling in POW A+
Handling on Hard pack B-
Construction and quality B+ Some things feel cheap to me
Climbing A-
Sidehilling A
Track tensioner B+ works pretty good
Value vs cost Hard to beat A-
All around A-

The bad:

Rear suspension C- Its nothing special shock blows Torsion spring is lame
Weight C Its porky and it packs a lot of snow
Chain adjustment with stock tunnel cover D maybe F PITA
Limiter strap adjustment and range F NFG kind of a joke
Ski stability There's a nervous zone but I'm used to it
Chains adjuster. Mine may be slipping a bit still using the new Camso procedure but I think it moves I'm monitoring.
The brake lever/reservoir. Knock $100 off the kit and don't even bother shipping it. It ridiculously huge. Pre bleed the brake caliper and line then just cap it. You have to remove the reservoir to feed the line properly so don't even bother.
Storage and options D, there are none from Camso, you are missing the boat here guys

All and all a pretty functional setup for what I have sunk into it. I'm not ready to part ways with the 500 though I still think it has way more potential I just don't want to ride it everyday.


Pics of old vs. new. 500 could use some love cosmetically.
M5

Have you had any concern with the gas jug heating up to much and melting that close to your exhaust..

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[M5-]

Its a non issue so far, doesn't get hot at all. There is a fair bit more clearance than these pics show. The snow doesn't even melt off the can.

M5

 

[Ben 500RR-S]

Maybe. Its labour intensive doing the front piece, the rear half is pretty straight forward and that's the important part for storage options. I don't always fill the jerry but I can pack up to 20 extra litres and have it off the tunnel in about ten seconds.

M5

Please let us know if you can ever make them. I'd pay what you'd ask as having to take off the entire cover, with its 6 bolts, is not the best for just having to check the secondary chain. I can feel the primary, but have to go up under to feel the secondary, then to adjust them, well, you know.

 

[M5-]

Update. The bike

We have ridden the last 2 days in pretty much engine deep powder with lots and lots of fender deep plunges into the snow. I got some snow in my airbox somehow a couple of times so I went back and sealed up the few tiny voids I missed on the first go round. See what happens today. The bike rips probably and honest 10% more everywhere than my buddies 17 FX also with a Camso. We swapped yesterday a few times. I burned my first tank and all of my spare 20L jerry can. Ran out of gas both days on the trail out. LOL

The kit.

I'm still having movement on my chains, I haven't checked today yet hopefully it settles out. The snow was challenging on the trail for the ski yesterday. It felt like it was loading up between the keels and the ski would just wash sideways. I piled it face plant into a ditch when the ski washed out fortunately lots of snow and I was only in third gear heading for 4th. On the trail out I rode it rail to rail on the ski edges and banged off the banks pinned in 5th which actually felt much more stable than trying to ride slower. Our group has snapped a bunch of limiter straps in the skid so keep an eye on fraying at the clamps. When they snap you will need to tighten your track on the hill to stop the ratcheting but you can still ride, just pack the right tools or your day will be done.

Its bluebird today time to burn some fossil fuels.


M5

 

[Grr]

The ol snowball under the ski, easy way to end up on your face!

 

[M5-]

So we were riding a burn yesterday and I hit one of those sawed off trees sitting just below the snow. I never saw any hint it was there not even a ripple in the snow. I got ejected pretty hard but not a mark on the ski. My Yeti ski would have cracked for sure just like last year. We were in there for a couple of hours and it was the only thing I tagged, just bad luck I guess. The Camso is tough.

One nice feature of the Camso is that with that track you can come to a stop going down hill, up hill, across the hill or on the flats and just start up again, it just doesn't care. It makes poking along super easy. I'm not in love with the brakes or lack of brakes. TS brakes are not great but they are better than the Camso ones which I don't trust at all. If you aren't preplanning a stop by holding the brakes on a bit before stopping they usually aren't there when you need them.

Zero snow ingestion today, sealing up the two holes I missed seems to have cured that issue.


M5

 

[torkd]

This is an old thread but I’m wondering what the best option for a temp gauge is on the 2011. It’d be cool if you could plug into the computer port and read the temps like you can with the GYTR computer. Not sure anyone has made that yet and I can’t find much information. I do have a thermobob 2 t-stat installed.

 

[L.Hughes]

This is an old thread but I’m wondering what the best option for a temp gauge is on the 2011. It’d be cool if you could plug into the computer port and read the temps like you can with the GYTR computer. Not sure anyone has made that yet and I can’t find much information. I do have a thermobob 2 t-stat installed.

TrailTech TTO temp gauge, with 1/8 threaded sensor. Sensor will thread into your thermobob.
https://www.trailtech.net/tto-1

 

[M5-]

I forgot about this thread. I still have the 2011 but it has been moved to back up status, sent the CR500 down the road. I did a top end and timing chain at 90 hours on the 11and its sitting at about 140-150 now, I need to check. I may sell the bike and start fresh again. It gets ridden maybe 10 days a year now but has been an awesome, reliable set up. I sold the 18 kit and bought a 19 kit for the bike. The 19 is better than the 18 in every way and kind of has brakes. I mostly ride my 2018 YZ with a 2020 Camso kit. The 2020 has all the problems resolved except weight. It has the same brakes as the 2020 Yeti which actually work all the time. I run a complete Yeti front end on the 2018 YZ which really smartens up the handling.

On the 2018 I'm running the C3 bars and thermostat. The C3 setup works WAAYYY better than the Thermobob at holding temps. My 18 doesn't even need engine blankets to hold temps where the 2011 struggles to maintain heat with the Thermobob. I think the Tbob allows too much coolant to pass through the tstat even when it is closed. The C3 setup is super clean and works great. The bars get insanely hot compared to my 2011 bike. I haven't tried it but it looks to me like the C3 tstat would bolt into the 2011 head. Its a far superior system and makes plumbing and wiring super clean.