yzf 450 4 speed transmission??????? NEED HELP

[deuy]

I am looking at purchasing a 2005 yzf450. I have a concern about the 4 speed as I will be riding alot of trails and pits as well as some open logging roads. Is the bike geared low enough for tight trails or will I have to change the front ring for that. Same for the open type riding with higher speeds, any changes needed. Any help is appreciated. Is the price 5000 CDN for the bike good. thanks

[ThompsonV311]

I had the 04 and personally loved the 4 speed. Maybe even a little more than the 5 speed in my 06. I ride mostly desert terrain, some trees, and occaisionally track. I liked not shifting as much, and the wider gears suited my riding well. But the bike handling difference between the two. Well thats another story.

[grayracer513]

The four speed is spread out wider than the 5 speed, so that if both the older 426 and the 4 speed were geared to have the same first gear. 4th on the four speed would fall midway between 4th and 5th on the 5 speed. In the end, there is only about 3-4 mph difference in the top speed of the two. It isn't as big a disadvantage as you'd expect in the situations you described.

$5000 Cdn is currently $4348.20 USD, and yes that's a little more than I would pay for it, but it's in the ballpark as an asking price for a good '05.

[SilverBurr]

That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding, you'll be clutching the living hell out of her to keep from stalling. Get a two stroke for woods riding and it will keep you hanging on the track as well.

[felix 222]

That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding, you'll be clutching the living hell out of her to keep from stalling. Get a two stroke for woods riding and it will keep you hanging on the track as well.

a heavier flywheel will solve that problem

the motor deffinately has enough torque to pull through 4 gears with no problem. Riding at a slow pace is the issue. At a slow pace in tight areas, a heavier flywheel will allow the bike to ride at a slower speed before stalling. You will use the clutch less and will make the bike much easier to ride at low speeds without sacrificing much power.

[SilverBurr]

a heavier flywheel will solve that problem

the motor deffinately has enough torque to pull through 4 gears with no problem. Riding at a slow pace is the issue. At a slow pace in tight areas, a heavier flywheel will allow the bike to ride at a slower speed before stalling. You will use the clutch less and will make the bike much easier to ride at low speeds without sacrificing much power.

Yeah, I'm sure you can mod the engine, sprockets and a host of other options and get the bike to perform a certain way. But wouldn't it be much easier and cheaper to buy the right bike for the right job.

[TD-3]

That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding, you'll be clutching the living hell out of her to keep from stalling. Get a two stroke for woods riding and it will keep you hanging on the track as well.

My 03 YZ450 is an awesome woods/trails bike. I had the suspension revalved for my the riding conditions and added a Rekluse. Any MX bike will need work for woods riding, including a YZ250. The fact that it's a 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke really has nothing to do with it. I like the smooth power of a 4, not carrying premix oil and getting better gas mileage.

To each his own I guess, I just don't buy the blanket statement "That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding", it is simply not true.

[SilverBurr]

My 03 YZ450 is an awesome woods/trails bike. I had the suspension revalved for my the riding conditions and added a Rekluse. Any MX bike will need work for woods riding, including a YZ250. The fact that it's a 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke really has nothing to do with it. I like the smooth power of a 4, not carrying premix oil and getting better gas mileage.

To each his own I guess, I just don't buy the blanket statement "That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding", it is simply not true.

Adding a $500 Rekluse is for what reason, to keeping it from stalling? I'm betting it boils over quickly when doing slow technical stuff.

Remember guys, we are giving advice to a new member on what to buy, lets not set him up for a failure.

A nice enduro KTM two stroke is the best starter bike, gearing and forgivness are already built in. Also can find a good Jap two stroke motocrosser to solve the same problem.

[TD-3]

Adding a $500 Rekluse is for what reason, to keeping it from stalling? I'm betting it boils over quickly when doing slow technical stuff.

The Rekluse does make ANY bike easier to ride, but you make it sound like a 450 is impossible to ride without stalling:excuseme: ,this just isn't the case. Plenty of people offroad the 450 and don't use the Rekluse. I guess I'm not sure why you think a 450 will stall constantly?? And no, my bike does not, and has not, boiled over. The guy is asking advice on purchasing a 450, I figure he would want to hear from people that actually own and ride a 450.

[Climber]

I got both (yz250 & yz450f). I personally like the smoker for the trails better. They both have FWWs and similar gearing. I do find that I can go slower on the smoker without clutching. Off the pipe, if set up right, they have very good lowend and very smooth power.

In fact, those who don't have a bike of their own and ride one of mine, generally prefer the 2t. I think that the easier starting, when hot, is a big deal for them. But the mileage of the 2t is poor compared to the 450 (about half as good).

My biggest concern about the 450 is that it is more prone to overheating in the tight, rocky and slow conditions that I generaly ride in.

Otherwise, I think that if your better on a 2 stroke then it is the bike for you. And conversly, if your good on a 4 stroke, it is the bike for you.

I got a clean 05 450 that I can't seem to get any money for. So, I think that I will put a wr transmission in it, a light kit, bigger tank. tag it and use it a lighter alternative to the wr for dual sport dual sport.

[jetdude]

I just bought my first dirt bike ever, an 04 YZ450F. I ride with a lot of experienced riders who weren't interested in waiting up for the new guy. So I had no choice but to learn or be left behind. Of course I stalled, pushed and kicked the hell out of it on some of the tougher trail but after 2 or 3 weekends I got things pretty well figured out. I hardly ever stall it anymore and have never felt like it needed another gear. I think it is a great woods bike. Just my $.02

[felix 222]

Yeah, I'm sure you can mod the engine, sprockets and a host of other options and get the bike to perform a certain way. But wouldn't it be much easier and cheaper to buy the right bike for the right job.

a heavier flywheel is not too expensive and maybe worth putting on if he finds a 4 geared, well maintained 450.

my 02 has no problem on single track but i have a 51 tooth rear sprocket and always one finger on teh clutch just in case

[ncmountainman]

i run a 05 yz 450 in some of the tightest HS you could imagine,i used to run bigbore pingers back in the day but the 450 is the only thing close to the power of a 400-500cc 2t. i tried the WR 450 and found the 4 spd yz much better spaced for what i was doing. granted i run a rekluse with a +6 FWW and 13/52 gearing.top spd of maybe 65-70 mph,but thats plenty fast for the woods!

i really couldn't see being as competative on the 4 spd without the rekluse. and it does a heck of alot more than keep it from stalling!

[Monster04]

That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding, you'll be clutching the living hell out of her to keep from stalling. Get a two stroke for woods riding and it will keep you hanging on the track as well.

Yeah, I'm sure you can mod the engine, sprockets and a host of other options and get the bike to perform a certain way. But wouldn't it be much easier and cheaper to buy the right bike for the right job.

Adding a $500 Rekluse is for what reason, to keeping it from stalling? ? I'm betting it boils over quickly when doing slow technical stuff.

Remember guys, we are giving advice to a new member on what to buy, lets not set him up for a failure.

A nice enduro KTM two stroke is the best starter bike, gearing and forgivness are already built in. Also can find a good Jap two stroke motocrosser to solve the same problem.

Have you ever riden a 450!!!!! I dosent matter if its a 2 stroke or 4 stroke mx you still have to mod them for the woods.

[TX-SANDMAN]

ok a Texas boy will take it from here.

I just picked up my new (lightly used) YZ450 2004. I love it. I ride only tight East Texas trails, fire roads and the track. I would be happy the take our friend, Silverburr, out in some of our tightest toughest stuff in East Texas to show how much fun the bike is and how good it handles / performs. I just sold my WR400 and I do not think it was as good in the tight stuff thus far from my first 3 rides.

Also by comparison my DRZ400 is great, but feels much more like a street bike compared to the YZ450. It is ok in the tight stuff.

I will be adding a Yamaha Offroad flywheel and keeping the gearing stock for now until the stock sprockets wear out.

[SilverBurr]

ok a Texas boy will take it from here.

I just picked up my new (lightly used) YZ450 2004. I love it. I ride only tight East Texas trails, fire roads and the track. I would be happy the take our friend, Silverburr, out in some of our tightest toughest stuff in East Texas to show how much fun the bike is and how good it handles / performs. I just sold my WR400 and I do not think it was as good in the tight stuff thus far from my first 3 rides.

Also by comparison my DRZ400 is great, but feels much more like a street bike compared to the YZ450. It is ok in the tight stuff.

I will be adding a Yamaha Offroad flywheel and keeping the gearing stock for now until the stock sprockets wear out.

You have a deal, I'm in Dallas, when we going riding? ?

[XR250_RIDER_14]

Re: yzf 450 4 speed transmission??????? NEED HELP

Quote:

That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding, you'll be clutching the living hell out of her to keep from stalling. Get a two stroke for woods riding and it will keep you hanging on the track as well.

My 03 YZ450 is an awesome woods/trails bike. I had the suspension revalved for my the riding conditions and added a Rekluse. Any MX bike will need work for woods riding, including a YZ250. The fact that it's a 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke really has nothing to do with it. I like the smooth power of a 4, not carrying premix oil and getting better gas mileage.

To each his own I guess, I just don't buy the blanket statement "That bike is NO GOOD for trails and woods riding", it is simply not true.

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Buy the 04 put a lower end pipe like the Thunder Alley and get it rejetted. Your bike will not stall. And to fix the stalling?

GO FASTER. Before the pipe my 03 would stall all the time. I got an a/m pipe and now it will pull 4th gear going 10 mph pin the throttle and hold on

[flintlock28]

I have an 04' that I use for both track/trails.....the gearing (stock), is a little on the tall side for tight/twisty stuff, but it can be done. For the first weekend or two, I would stall it maybe 4 or 5 times a day. After I got acclimated, it became an extreme rarity. I also learned to increase the idle speed somewhat when in the tight stuff.

I do agree that a flywheel would be beneficial, but so far I've been too much of a tightwad to spend the money. With the stock gearing (and some time to get used to it), you will be able to do the tight stuff, and also bomb down fire roads at high speed. If you will be running primarily tight stuff, than I'd probably add three teeth to the rear sprocket. If you gotta do both high speed and tight stuff, than I'd stick with stock sprockets.