How much better will the 2016 WR be ?

[Just_a_trail_rider]

good news from Italy,

Athena-GET, is going to build an ignition system for the WR!

What's wrong with the ignition already on the bike?  What's the difference?

[patrick2wd]

It has a sort of traction system which is adjustable, gets more hp out the engine is adjustable by wifi (if you prefer) etc...

Check their site!

http://www.getdata.it/

Edited October 21, 2015 by patrick2wd

[SatansReverence]

Just tell me when this hits Australian shores already :'(

[patrick2wd]

Just tell me when this hits Australian shores already :'(

Should be january/ february 2016..

Edited October 21, 2015 by patrick2wd

[53Willys]

Don't know about the 450s but the rear fender on the 250FX & WR is different than the yzf. Also the side plastics for the yellow are listed at +$200 each

[SatansReverence]

Should be january/ february 2016..

 

Tear*

[willy_fitz]

One of my club members dad works for Yamaha Canada and brought home the new 2016 WR450F. This bike was so new it had a sticker on it that said, "For Internal Use Only" which means that Yamaha Canada cannot sell the bike to the general public and is intended for display and demo purposes only. It is also the only '16 WR450F in Canada so I was very surprised when I was offered a test ride in the Ganaraska Forest.

 

That grinning idiot is me....

 

 

The big change is that the '16 WR450F now has the "backwards" motor with the exhaust exiting the rear of the motor and the intake is at the front...

 

 

Other new additions for 2016 is a larger front brake rotor from 2015, twin chamber front forks like those that are on the motocrosser and the factory installed rad fan...

 

 

The WR450 has been fuel injected for a bit now but with the "backwards" motor the airbox moves up near the triple clamps. This becomes obvious as soon as you start the bike in that the intake noise is very noticeable.

 

I had to learn how to use a clutch all over again since my last two dirt bikes have a Recluse clutch that has made me very lazy. This bike had all the "free" mods already done (air snorkel, throttle stop and exhaust pea shooter all removed) and the first noticeable difference from my bike was how quick the throttle response was compared to my carbureted bike. The bike responded immediately to the throttle and we were off.

 

When I turned onto the first single track the forks were working very nicely to the whoops and the steering was more precise and quicker to respond to input.

 

We had a lot of rain the day before and some of the laneways had turned into lakes so I was skirting the edges trying not to get the bike too dirty and also trying not to give myself a soaker. I failed on both counts.

 

While trying to get up on the edge of one waterhole I was a little too tentative, forgot about the need to feather the clutch lever since my Recluse does that for me on my own bike, stalled the bike and tipped over falling into the water. My hands were now soaked, my boots full of water and the bike is on its side not running but the motor and airbox did not get submerged thankfully.

 

It took me a while to get the bike uprighted since I was having a problem getting good footing in the waterhole as my boots continued to fill with nice cold water. once I got to dry ground I wanted to be sure no water got into the motor so I pulled the airbox cover (3 quick release fasteners to pop off the cover) and thankfully the filter was nice and dry. Bonus I thought as I hit the starter switch. The motor was spinning over but it was not starting. Pull the cold start lever out and tried again. No go = oh oh. I don't have the tools to pull the plug plus I'm positive I didn't get any water into the motor. 

 

For a second I thought about a tip over switch but dismiss it as why would anybody put a tip over switch on a dirt bike? Wrong............ there is a tip over switch because of the fuel injection that I didn't know about. I found out later that all the fuel injected dirt bikes have them to stop the bike from running when tipped over in case of lubrication failure should the bike be allowed to continue running while tipped over for an extended period.

 

On the Yamaha to reset the tip over switch you are required to hold the kill switch for a few seconds. Again I found this out long, long after the fact. Instead I pushed the bike out of the woods about 1.5 km until some kind soul with a pickup truck came along the dirt road that I was on and gave me and the bike a ride back to my truck which was still another 2 kilometers away.

 

When I got the bike back to the parking lot trail head I called Justin who had dropped the bike off for me. He was just heading home and was close by so he came over and tried starting it and he was not having any luck either. I helped him load the bike up and he took it home and it wasn't until Justin talked to his dad that we both found out about how to reset the tip over switch. By this time the switch had reset itself after sitting for about 20 minutes.

 

The moral to this story is sometimes technology can bite you in the ass.

[FORMA MOTO]

Technology had nothing to do with it....

[patrick2wd]

I don't want it anymore....

It doesn't come with black rims.....

 

on the other hand..
I have these YZ wheels stored in my garage....

 

which look WAYYYYY better... ?

[YamaLink]

Regarding "how much better will the 2016 be" this may sound odd considering there are several '15 and '16 KTM in the garage, but I hope the '16 WR450 is about 50% my 2010 KTM 400XCW and 50% the YZ250FX.

[Motodisiac]

Willy,

Thanks for quick review. Too bad you didn't get a chance to ride it some more.

I'm looking to replace my still awesome 450x that I have been riding for almost 10 years. It never let me down and it rips, I'm just sick of it and want that "new" sensation.

So far I like what I'm seeing in new WR. Unfortunately none of the magazines got them yet so there aren't any reviews out just yet.

[MidlifeCrisisGuy]

Alot of us CA guys will go with the WR over the FX simply because of the green sticker and red sticker bullshit

 

Luckily it is easy to turn a WR into a YZFX. 

 

Yamaha has a good plan here.   There are the only manufacturer to offer a bike platform (WR-YZFX-YZ) whereby one of the bikes is Green Sticker and yet has a programmable ECU.

[MidlifeCrisisGuy]

 

The moral to this story is sometimes technology can bite you in the ass.

 

First of all, that tip over switch saved the engine because with FI, bikes will literally run upside down as long as the fuel pump can keep the fuel line pressured.  Try that on your carbureted bike.

 

Secondly new technology sometimes requires that users read the owners manual.  (RTFM !)

[willy_fitz]

First of all, that tip over switch saved the engine because with FI, bikes will literally run upside down as long as the fuel pump can keep the fuel line pressured. Try that on your carbureted bike.

Secondly new technology sometimes requires that users read the owners manual. (RTFM !)

Your point on a reason for the tip over switch is correct but since this was a test ride I was not given the owners manual ahead of time to read and was not informed about the reset method before the ride.

At the moment I'm just trying to find out if there is going to be a Recluse clutch available for the '16. Yamaha have not released the part listings yet in Canada so I can't compare clutch part numbers to see if the '15 Recluse clutch is compatible.

[MidlifeCrisisGuy]

Your point on a reason for the tip over switch is correct but since this was a test ride I was not given the owners manual ahead of time to read and was not informed about the reset method before the ride.

At the moment I'm just trying to find out if there is going to be a Recluse clutch available for the '16. Yamaha have not released the part listings yet in Canada so I can't compare clutch part numbers to see if the '15 Recluse clutch is compatible.

 

Gear it right and you won't need a Rekluse, not if the engine is like a 2012.  Especially since it has electric start.  If the clutch pull is too hard for you, put a Magura on it with the 9.5mm master.  

[Bass Mechanic]

Krannie, in the YZ thread you stated the FX is more based on the new WR than the YZ you stated that the WR and the YZ share the same part number of cam's but the YZ is different.

i caught this info on the wr from yamaha-motor.com

 

• Enduro-Tuned YZ450F Power
  YZ450F-style 449cc liquid-cooled DOHC four-stroke with four titanium valves and forward intake and rearward exhaust shares the YZ450F’s piston and cam profiles, with WR450F-specific silencer and ECU tuning built for enduro racing.

[FORMA MOTO]

Yup

 

Now go look at the parts fiche for the WR, YZ, and FX cams.

 

The WR and FX share the same cam, with a different part number for the YZ. 

 

Don't know what it means exactly, but it's there in print.

[Bass Mechanic]

Yup

Now go look at the parts fiche for the WR, YZ, and FX cams.

The WR and FX share the same cam, with a different part number for the YZ.

Don't know what it means exactly, but it's there in print.

Well the only thing I can surmise from that is hopefully the profile and timing are the same but perhaps the lift is slightly different or perhaps the decompression mechanism is slightly different.

If either is true it might mean that the only real difference is really in the tune. Wouldn't that be a treat?

Easy to fix!

[patrick2wd]

Well the only thing I can surmise from that is hopefully the profile and timing are the same but perhaps the lift is slightly different or perhaps the decompression mechanism is slightly different.

If either is true it might mean that the only real difference is really in the tune. Wouldn't that be a treat?

Easy to fix!

that's one of the first things I'd like to do...

together with some other mods I've mentioned in another thread..

 

 

Posted October 30, 2015 - 11:13 PM

#68

Items on my whishlist;

13 liter tank

YZ intake cam

Lighter clutch (or slipper)

Athena get unit

None wrap around (racing) exhaust

A bag of money.....

Edited November 9, 2015 by patrick2wd

[Spiritwalker2222]

For a second I thought about a tip over switch but dismiss it as why would anybody put a tip over switch on a dirt bike? Wrong............ there is a tip over switch because of the fuel injection that I didn't know about. I found out later that all the fuel injected dirt bikes have them to stop the bike from running when tipped over in case of lubrication failure should the bike be allowed to continue running while tipped over for an extended period.

 

On the Yamaha to reset the tip over switch you are required to hold the kill switch for a few seconds. Again I found this out long, long after the fact. Instead I pushed the bike out of the woods about 1.5 km until some kind soul with a pickup truck came along the dirt road that I was on and gave me and the bike a ride back to my truck which was still another 2 kilometers away.

 

 

That's odd. I have a 2012 and it has a tipover switch as well. I've had it kill the motor a couple times (after ~ 5 seconds). But it's always started right up again. Not sure if I did anything special(with out knowing it), but definitely didn't use the kill switch to start the bike back up. Although I might have turned the bike off and back on again.