New to me 2008 YZ450

[Rocky739]

I just purchased a barely used YZ450 yesterday to use as a track only bike, it's in excellent condition other than needing tires and some TLC. I have a 2003 WR450 that I picked up a few years ago in similar condition and fixed up for dual-sport and trail riding, of course this lead to getting the itch to ride motocross again (can you say mid-life crisis?)

 

I've been lurking on here to see whats needed to make the YZ track ready and to be honest it looks like very little to make an old slow guy plenty happy but I can never leave well enough alone, ever... So here is my to-do list before the spring.

PLEASE chime in with any must do items I don't have

 

1: Oil change and add magnetic drain plug. No real idea when the last oil change was but it looked clean on the dipstick. God know what kind of oil it is, the person I purchased it from bought it from the original owner and only rode it twice, not ideal I know but I rolled the dice that it's OK, fingers crossed.

 

2: Suspension service, shock is leaking and full of air but I'd do this regardless, People seem pretty happy with stock springs and valving so only a service, for now,  woot... Keeps cost down.. FYI, I'm a 175 lbs slow person

 

3: Add o-ring chain, is a 50 tooth sprocket absolutely a necessity? The stock sprockets have zero wear on them but I'd like a 49 on the WR so I'm temped to do a swap if you all think it's money well spent... FYI I've always been a mid pack B motocrosser and have no reason to suspect I'll be any better now

 

4: Clean carburetor and add a HD acc pump spring and an adjustable fuel screw plus replace any bad rubber parts; ala what I did on the WR a couple years ago. Add twin-air filter.

Everyone seems happy with stock jetting so that makes life simpler and cheaper! I'll pull the muffler apart and repack (I have no idea what FMF uses for their packing from the factory?)

 

5: Tear down and pack all the bearings with grease and lock-tite or anti-seize the bolts and check everything with a torque wrench

 

6: Make it blue, its white.

Put the OE stuff in a box and throw on a set of blue plastic and a gripper seat cover, some tasteful graphics and of course some nice pre-printed numbers!! Back in my day we had to put on our own backgrounds and numbers, things have changed for the better since I've been in retirement!

 

7: New tires, I think this poor bike did only asphalt miles (They look worse than my WR's with dual-sport miles, it may have never been off-road). I'll remedy that!! Thinking Pirelli MXMS for Indiana springtime?

[Rocky739]

Oh just ordered a GYTR  braided front brake hose and Motul 600 brake fluid to help the front brake performance, I'm a front brake abuser and like a firm feel on the front. Hope this will help, if not I'll try some different pads and a different rotor as a last resort.

[Treeyz450]

I say keep it white, but that's just me. I have the same year and I put an oversized rotor on the front and raised the forks 5mm, which really helped me in the hard corners with front end control and wash out. Other than that, susp. adjustments(I am 250 on the hoof, mostly muscle I might add), and exhaust, it is the absolute perfect bike for me.

I am 35 by the way.......

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Congrats on the new ride!

I love my 09. R&D float bowl and/ or Dr D. exhaust is a nice but pricey upgrade to help get rid of the bog if your carburetor work doesnt give you what you are looking for.

I find it hard to believe the sprockets are 100% if the chain is ready to be replaced. I try to replace as a set. I would ride it and see what you think about the gearing before you decide what sprockets you want.

I would chase the mods that make it easier to ride over chasing more hp. Suspension is a great idea.

[Rocky739]

The chain is new but its not oring so I recon two options, ride it and trash the whole drive and deal with adjusting chain or dump the stocker and put a o-ring on now and save the stock sprockets from certain death, I'll never notice the HP loss... Ordered a new RK x-ring last night.. Gold plate at that, to add some bling!

 

Ordered a merge acc pump spring and fuel screw for the carb, WR runs like a champ with just that and all the WR crap disabled (air cut valve...) I'll get the carb apart to see how it looks inside and if it needs any orings/seals etc... Need to give the credit card a rest!

 

I love YZ blue and rode white bikes for a long time (for the kids out there KTM's used to be white). I like to keep the OE shrouds and seatcover new then if I ever want to make it stock again I've got it. and if I sell I have two sets of plastic to go with. Got new fenders and gripper cover on the way, pick up some NOS shrouds and decals tomorrow from a friend that has them lying around. Oh and new grips, bar pad and some hand guards (moto style) are all on the way!!!

 

Can't wait to get a garage day to tinker!!!!!!! Feel like a little kid.

[Yzflier977]

Congratulations on the new ride and welcome back to MX. I have an '09 which is essentially the same bike and I would recommend an '06 CDI box. It's a direct plug and play unit for that bike and it improves low end throttle response without loosing anything up top. I picked up a good used one on eBay for about $70. Second thing I did that made the most improvement was add the GYRT 9.6 oz flywheel weight. All but eliminated slow speed stalling in corners and helped with slow speed pickup as well. Really made the bike more tractable out of tight corners and for jumps right out of corners. I haven't done it just yet but Gray racer and others will tell you any good aftermarket pipe will help as well. I hear Dr.D is the preferred pipe for that bike, but again that's a pricey upgrade. If low end is your thing you can swap the '08 cams for the '06 cams. The exhaust I think is most helpful, but you could do both for the most bang. I've found those online for about $125 each. I would also add a stainless steel oil filter just to keep costs down over the long run.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

+1 on the heavy flywheel. Love that for the woods too.

[Rocky739]

Congratulations on the new ride and welcome back to MX. I have an '09 which is essentially the same bike and I would recommend an '06 CDI box. It's a direct plug and play unit for that bike and it improves low end throttle response without loosing anything up top. I picked up a good used one on eBay for about $70. Second thing I did that made the most improvement was add the GYRT 9.6 oz flywheel weight. All but eliminated slow speed stalling in corners and helped with slow speed pickup as well. Really made the bike more tractable out of tight corners and for jumps right out of corners. I haven't done it just yet but Gray racer and others will tell you any good aftermarket pipe will help as well. I hear Dr.D is the preferred pipe for that bike, but again that's a pricey upgrade. If low end is your thing you can swap the '08 cams for the '06 cams. The exhaust I think is most helpful, but you could do both for the most bang. I've found those online for about $125 each. I would also add a stainless steel oil filter just to keep costs down over the long run.

 

Thanks!!! Since it already has the FMF slip on I'll give it a shake and see... Still has the stock header so then a big decsion of swiching to Dr.D or adding a power bomb thingy FMF??? Most likely I'll be plenty happy.

I like the CDI swap, cheap and easy to undo!

I'm a huge fan of engine flywheel, I was lucky enough to have the oppuntunity to race a Husaburg in 1996-97 and loved it, I was the only 4T at the track most weekends but felt more comfy doing new jumps etc on it vs my 250 2T I was also racing. I was also less squirrly on the berg, I added a flywheel to my 250 to make it more 4T like and it helped a bunch.

 

Swung into Throttle Jockey Graphics today and cleaned out their old model scrach and dent bin, new shrouds, graphics, and a front number plate! Good guys and I got to see all the team Honda old school kits being made, fun field trip!!!!

[Treeyz450]

If you are going to do the rekluse, you shouldn't need the flywheel weight. Nevermind, I thought you said you were putting a rekluse in

Edited January 21, 2014 by Treeyz450

[Rocky739]

No Rekluse. But I can say I got to meet one of the guys from Rekluse last spring at the Lorretta Lynns trail ride weekend. They are a stand up company (my brother is a dealer and is amazed at how well they do customer service).

 

Did manage to put my shroud graphics on last night, was a bit of a challenge as the shrouds are Cyra and are not exactly like OEM (have little scoopy things built in) but with a little heat and trimming they look awesome! Of course my wife says it looks just like the graphics I put on the WR...

Seat cover might be here today, and yes it looks like the one on the WR (blue with black middle GYTR off Amazon of all places for 36.00 bucks!)

 

Rest of the goodies should start rolling in tomorrow but this polar vortex makes it a pita to heat my garage so work might be on hold a week or two as work is also rearing it's ugly head.. At least work will allow me to escape this frozen wasteland and spend a week in Florida, even if I have to sit in meetings all day I plan to get in some good runs that don't involve snow or wearing multiple layers!

 

I'll get some pictures posted up here soon as I start making some progress..

[Rocky739]

Finally got a day in the garage.

Pulled the suspension off, ready to drop off for a refresh. Pulled the carb and disassembled it and to my suprise everything looked clean inside so added the acc pump spring and maybe richen up the jetting a bit for cool weather.

 

Pulled the FMF exhaust apart and was suprised to find they use nice packing and have the steel wool stuff wraped around the core. Pleasantly suprised as I was expecting cheapo fiberglass insulation!

 

Layed the new chain up and noticed that the chain slide (one up by the C/S sprocket) was very narrow for the o-ring chain, I didn't check to see if it fit through the lower chain guide. My WR has a much wider one so I was wondering if anyone had tried a WR guide on a YZ or if it was OK?

[Rocky739]

Been too cold to work in garage lately and I've been on vacation but I did drop off the suspension for its overhaul Saturday.

Gonna be warmer this weekend so hopefully I can get the linkage and steering bearings greased and the carb back together. Did some research on the chain slide and Yamaha shows the same p# for the WR and YZ so guess I'm just paranoid... Can't wait to see some parts go back on.

Doing some side work to bankroll this project right now so that means new tires coming soon as it's really bothering me sitting there with crappy tires.

 

Only six weeks till riding season kicks off, providing this winter ever ends! Getting itchy to ride.