06 YZF450 0wners?

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!

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.

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!