Z-start Update

[ekemner]

Just wanted to let you all in on what I found today. I took my YZ450F trail ridding today for the first time. I have done a large amount of work to this bike to make it a good trail bike. As of today I had only had my bike at the local indoor mx track due to the snow here in Michigan. This thing is so much fun on the trails and the 4 speed works great. The z-start was the real sweet thing about the ride today. I was able to ride so much smoother and more relaxed as I did not have to worry/think about the clutch. Technical areas were a total breeze as the z-start action was perfect. Sliding in a berm and hammering the rear brake and blasting out was sooooo much fun. Using the panorama odometer I was able to see what my top speed was and it was 72.5 mph. I got 42.5 miles on a tank of gas. For those who are considering a z-start I cannot express enough how great this thing is especially in the trails. Al and Dan have out done themselves!!

Eric

?

[yamaharichey]

O.K. I got some questions for you. I'am trying to picture how the bike performs, I understand the basic principal, but when you upshift do you have to let off the gas? or can you shift under full power. Also say you're coming down a steep hill and you're downshifting, you have let off the gas but the motor is still reving because you're coming down the steep hill, does it still down shift easily? Now another question, when you brake slide into a corner can you stomp on the rear brake while still on the gas without stalling it or do you have to let off the gas frist?

I also saw where some of you guys were talking about putting the rear where the clutch lever was, that brings up some interesting thoughts, you could brake slide into right hand corners and already have you're foot down because you would'nt have to use it to brake. Going through whoops you could ride the rear brake lightly without moving you're foot around. The possibilities are endless, I can also see me forgetting the the clutch lever is now the rear brake and just when I go to shift into fifth gear at 80mph slamming on the rear brake instead.

[ddialogue]

I would like to second the comments made about the Z-Start for trail riding.

I just returned from three days of slickrock riding in Moab, Utah. If you haven't ridden slick rock you are definitely missing out. Moab provides a lot of very technical and very tight terrain. It's a trials' bike paradise. I definitely had an advantage over the other guys in my group because of the auto-clutch. I was able to navigate and climb stuff much easier with the auto-clutch since I was able to concentrate solely on throttle control and body positioning. If you're not very good with clutch control, you'll learn in a hurry at Moab.

If anyone's interested, here's some slickrock footage from this past weekend: Slick Rock Trail -- Moab, Utah

[ddialogue]

Here's my take on your questions:

1. I have tried upshifting while on the gas and my WR450 WILL upshift but not downshift. I don't know how hard on the tranny this may be but I had to try it. ? I'm not going to ride it that way.

2. The bike will downshift the same as a bike without a auto-clutch. You will have to back out of the throttle (or blip the throttle) to downshift it if you're on the gas. If you're coasting down the hill (even under engine breaking at higher rpm's) it will downshift like normal. I have found the easiest way (for me) to downshift on steep hills is the "blip the throttle" technique.

3. I would think brake sliding under acceleration would not be an issue. In fact, I would tend to think it would be less prone to stalling than if you were to simply chop the throttle. I power-braked my WR a lot this weekend at Moab with the front and rear brakes on (to keep the rpm's up for climbing and jumping off ledges) and had no-stalling problems. I think Eric may be able to give you a better answer to this question though.

[TWSimpson]

Looks like you had a great weekend. Thanks for the video! ?

[yamaharichey]

Question foe Ddialogue, what was area you were riding in your video?

[yamaharichey]

Oh and by the way Ddialogue thanks a lot, I watched that vidio on my computer at work and the rest of the afternoon was a total waste, I just sat there dreaming of having my 450 down there. I havn't had a chance to try my bike there yet but were planning a four day trip to Moab the first of May

[ddialogue]

I envy you! I wish I could go back there some time soon. I had so much fun. Three days just wasn't enough. What little video we did take was shot on the famous slick rock trail. There's a lot more riding we didn't even get to that I plan to ride in the fall.

We did get A LOT of nasty looks from the mtn. biking crowd and several made comments like "The motorcycle trail continues on over there" while pointing over a cliff. I took several flyers with me and posted them on the information board while I was there. The flyers contained information from the BLM website regarding motorcycle use on that trail. I highlighted the sections regarding motorcycles so they wouldn't overlook the information. Here's the link for your viewing pleasure. Skip to the Slick Rock Bike Trail section. Enjoy!!

Slick Rock Bike Trail Information

[yamaharichey]

What those igornant mountains bikers don't seem to understand is that the slick rock trail was laid out by a dirt biker about thirty years ago for the use of other dirtbikers, this was before there was such a thing as a mountain bike. I pointed this out to a mountain biker that made a comment when I was riding Slick Rock, I told him it was out of the goodness of our hearts the we dirt bikers were allowing them to use our trail. He actually apoligized and said he didn't know that, he thought the trail was made for mountain bikers.

[FTD]

DD... you definetly have your balance worked out on your bike just watching the video. Where were the rest of the riders? That place looks like a kick!

[ddialogue]

Moab is a kick...especially on a kick butt bike like the WR450 with an auto-clutch!! ?