06 YZF450 0wners?

[CSS9961]

Hey, first post here, but I have thousands on other forums...

I have an '02 Honda XR400, which I love. I have the A-Loop seat and tank kit on it, and I removed all the lights. So now it is all black, and looks more like a CRF than an XR. :blah:

Anyway, I may have the opportunity to trade it up for a barely used '06 YZF450.

If I could find a great deal, I'm sure the WR is the better bike for me, as I'm not a racer. But I have a friend who has a bike shop, and he has this YZ for sale at a good price. Then there is the fact that the first bike I ever wanted was a YZ80, back in the mid seventies. I've never owned a YZ, and this would be kind-of like making a dream come true. (Need to get yellow plastic for it...) :nod:

I'll be doing alot of putting around with my kids, and then looking for some friends in Southern Colorado to ride with. I really enjoy woods riding, and although I think my XR is a great bike for that, I am wanting to take advantage of the new fourstroke technology, power and weight savings.

I'm not sure if I can get this deal done, so I may be keeping the XR, but I would love to hear your opinions on your YZs if you care to share.

I'm especially interested in the weight savings, user friendliness, and worthiness as a woods bike/trail bike.

I look forward to learning from your wisdom, and maybe sharing some of mine... Not that there is much to share. :coocoo:

Thanks!

 

[Ol'89r]

Welcome to DRN CSS9961.

I'm not a YZ450 owner but I have ridden a couple of them. I currently own a CRF450.

In answer to your question, if you ride a lot of tight single track trail you probably won't like the YZ. The YZ has a mx gearbox with a very tall first gear. Makes for a lot of clutch feathering on tight stuff. Also, they don't like to sit and idle on trail. They will overheat very quickly and dump coolant if they don't get airflow.

If your riding area is open desert, fast trails or fire roads, then you will love the YZ. It is more suited for that type of riding.

IMO, if you want modern technology, the WR would be a much better choice for technical trails.

I also have a XR350 and it is much more fun to ride in the tight twisty stuff than my CRF450.

Just my $.02

 

[CSS9961]

Thanks. That's good info.

I have a riding area near my house, but I haven't ridden since '04 so I don't really know if it is still open or not. That area is wide open trails with a small MX track on it. The track used to beat the crap out of me on the XR, so I stayed away from it. Maybe a bike like this would make the track more friendly for me.

The woods stuff I ride is faster trails, and an occasional slow, technical jaunt. But what you say about overheating could be worrisome if I am just cruising along with the kids. Maybe an overflow bottle modification would be enough to make the bike work for me.

If I was just going to be riding with the kids, I believe the XR would be the perfect machine. But I have the Hummer mentality. I may never use the full capabilities of my machine, but It's nice to know it's there... And looks SO cool. I know that's the wrong reason to buy something, but the reptilian mind sometimes takes over. :laugh:

I don't know if the gearing would work for me or not, and I bet that is not an easy change... Hmmmm.

Thanks again for your insight.

 

[CSS9961]

Bad news... The YZ450F I was looking at sold..

Good news... WOW! My buddy at the Yammie dealership made me an offer I can't refuse! He is willing to buy the '00 TLS street bike that I bought from him last August back for only $200 less than I paid for it!

And he will sell me a new '06 PW 50 for my kids, as well as a brand new '07 WR450F at cost!

There were some things that I didn't like about the '06 WR. Blue frame, bulky styling and old school lights. Big can. But they fixed all that for '07! I cannot imagine a better bike for me, especially with the deal I'm getting.

The only bugger is that I have to wait for Nov/Dec for the bike. I get the second one in the county. The first is on order for the US Forest Service.

I'm just a little excited.

Thanks for the help!