2006 YZF450 How Would You Grade It?

Just curious what the general feeling amongst people here is. For me I find its a bit of a pig in the corners... otherwise its not too bad. I am basing my opinion on a stock bike. I have a few more things to say as well but lets see what you guys think. Please only comment on the 2006 model so we can keep this accurate.

Motor A+

Front Brakes C

Rear Brakes B

Forks A-

Rear Shock B-

Holeshots A+

Corners C

High Speed Stability A

Overall Handling C

Motor B+ (after MRD pipe, and jetting: A+)

Front Brakes B (needs stainless line to receive an A, plus wave roter = A++)

Rear Brakes A- (wave rotor or stainless line would probably give it an A++, but I don't know)

Forks A (A+ after lowering in the clamps 5mm)

Rear Shock A+

Holeshots A+

Corners A

High Speed Stability A

Overall Handling A

Conclusion: This is the best bike i've ever been on...ever:thumbsup: ?

Just curious what the general feeling amongst people here is. For me I find its a bit of a pig in the corners... otherwise its not too bad. I am basing my opinion on a stock bike. I have a few more things to say as well but lets see what you guys think. Please only comment on the 2006 model so we can keep this accurate.

Motor A+

Front Brakes C

Rear Brakes B

Forks A-

Rear Shock B-

Holeshots A+

Corners C

High Speed Stability A

Overall Handling C

This tells me your bike is not set up correctly at all. I hope you at least set the sag. You need to raise the forks if you have not done this and get a better biteing front tire - like a michelin Starcross MS3, as well as another handlebar bend - I use the Windham twinwall Renthal with great results.

Have you adjusted or set compression/rebound and High speed compression for your riding abilities?

What is going on with the front brake - my front brake is the best Yamy stock front brake I have seen....so far.

I think the stock bike has it limitation but once you do at least the above, you will rate handling, cornering much higher, as well as rear shock - ?

A suspension revalve for your ability will enhance this even more

Overall - I rate the 06 stock B-.....as I have mine set up....A++

This tells me your bike is not set up correctly at all. I hope you at least set the sag. You need to raise the forks if you have not done this and get a better biteing front tire - like a michelin Starcross MS3, as well as another handlebar bend - I use the Windham twinwall Renthal with great results.

Have you adjusted or set compression/rebound and High speed compression for your riding abilities?

What is going on with the front brake - my front brake is the best Yamy stock front brake I have seen....so far.

I think the stock bike has it limitation but once you do at least the above, you will rate handling, cornering much higher, as well as rear shock - ?

A suspension revalve for your ability will enhance this even more

Overall - I rate the 06 stock B-.....as I have mine set up....A++

My suspension is set up, and forks are raised... in fact I just raised them even more this weekend at the races. I ride at the A level so maybe stock isn't enough for me, I'm not sure. I will post more about my settings and opinions later.. lets just see how others rate it first.

Motor A- AFTER WHITE BROTHERS CARBON PRO, B Stock

Front Brakes A+ after oversize wave rotor, B+-A- Stock

Rear Brakes A With wave rotor, B+-A- Stock

Forks A Love them

Rear Shock A Love it

Holeshots A

Corners A-

High Speed Stability B+

Overall Handling A- I love how it handles, Michelin M12 front and rear, RG3 22.5 clamps, slam the forks and stiffen the race sag and no more push at all.

In My (you know how humble I am) Opinion...

...the new YZ450 is an extraordinary achievement. It is better overall in stock form than any other 250 class MX bike you can go out an buy, and takes less work than any of them to put it at the the highest possible level of performance. The suspension and handling are its strongest points, and that more than anything is what makes you fast.

There is one motorcycle that I know of that can do one thing better, and that's the RMZ450. It does turn more quickly. However, it's overall handling, even its overall cornering performance, does not rise to the level of a correctly set up '06-'07 YZ450F.

Here is some reasoning as to why I rated what I did.

I gave the motor an A+ because you can't beat its reliability and perfect range of power right out of the crate.

The front brakes got a C. I just don't feel it has enough stopping power.

The rear brakes got a B. I think they are a little on the touchy side. Its hard to finesse the brake, it seems either on or off.

Forks A- They work great on either small or large jumps (165lb rider). Bottoming resistance is awsome! The clickers seem to require 4 clicks at least +/- to notice any decent performance changes.

Rear shock B- I like how it handles the jumps, again good bottoming resistance! I seem to have a little trouble with getting the shock set up for whoops, braking and accel bumps. Seems like it may need a re valve?

Holeshots A+ I have to rate this high. With the perfect motor and nice spread of power its a monster off the start. I grab more holeshots on this machine than anything else I have ever brought to the line.

This is what eats me. C on cornering. It just feels wrong in the corners.. Mostly tight corners. It actually behaves ok on the wider turns. I have read so many posts about how well this thing turns but it doesn't for me. I have played with so many settings, so many tires.. raised and lowered the forks... nothing helps. It just feels like the front end has the wrong "pitch" to it. Maybe offset clamps would fix it? I think the wheel needs to be a few degrees tighter to the frame. It also feels like its slow steering and a little top heavy.

High speed stability A. Because it tracks straight almost all the time. Maybe because of the offset? I'm thinking Yamaha gave a little on the rake for the stability and it lost some in the cornering.

Overall handling C. I think it needs to stop faster, turn quicker for me to give a better grade here. I cannot get comfortable pushing limits in stock form. I think I'm going to start a mod list and try to fix some of these things. I do think of the big 4 manufactures this is the best out of the box and I'm not trying to run the bike down. I do however feel if I said the bike is an A in every department I would be trying to fool a lot of people. I would say its a good bike stock for novice to mid intermediate level riders, then it needs some improvements beyond that. Remember this is just my opinion about the bike... don't let it affect yours!

Please keep adding to this post. I am very interested in all your thoughts and opinions. Also list mods you may have done that have been an improvement to the handling.

The front brakes got a C. I just don't feel it has enough stopping power.

This is what eats me. C on cornering. It just feels wrong in the corners.. Mostly tight corners. It actually behaves ok on the wider turns. I have read so many posts about how well this thing turns but it doesn't for me. I have played with so many settings, so many tires.. raised and lowered the forks... nothing helps. It just feels like the front end has the wrong "pitch" to it. Maybe offset clamps would fix it? I think the wheel needs to be a few degrees tighter to the frame. It also feels like its slow steering and a little top heavy.

High speed stability A. Because it tracks straight almost all the time. Maybe because of the offset? I'm thinking Yamaha gave a little on the rake for the stability and it lost some in the cornering.

Overall handling C. I think it needs to stop faster, turn quicker for me to give a better grade here. I cannot get comfortable pushing limits in stock form. ...

BTW, some of the stability is directly due to the front suspension's ability to comply with the harsh stuff and the square edge bumps that lay at an angle to your path. The better the fork eats that, the less steering deflection you get.

I don't know what to say gray ? Its certainly 10 times the bike my 426 was, but not all I had hoped for in the handling department. From day one I didn't like the tight cornering on this bike and I really want to figure it out. As for the front brakes, I'm going with a steel braided brake line and new pads and see what happens. I recently bought the KX to see if it would suit my riding style better.. but I don't want to give up on the YZ just yet. I recently got bumped up a class and those guys haul the mail! I need to get comfy on this thing so I can push it harder!

Motor A+

Front Brakes B+

Rear Brakes B+

Forks A+

Rear Shock A

Holeshots A+

Corners A

High Speed Stability A

Overall Handling A

I love it, best bike i have ever ridden or owned!

Coming from a 2002 WR250F converted to YZF -

(40+ C+ rider)

Motor: A+ (With Zip-Ty carb mod and heavier GYTR flywheel )

Front Brake: A (As good as my 02 with Galfer oversize rotor and steel-braided line)

Rear Brake: B+ (Brake(s)? I only have one brake in the front and back ? )

Forks: A+ (Ridiculously better bottoming resistance and action than revalved 02 forks)

Rear Shock: A (See comment on forks)

Holeshots: N/A - Don't race.

Corners: A - Most problems due to my form and not bike.

High Speed Stability: A (No problems, even with raised forks)

Overall Handling: A (Feels much lighter and lower COG than WR250F)

******

Looks: Black & yellow SE edition gives me a funny feeling in my shorts every time I see it.

Ease of maintenance: tougher to change oil and carb jets, but the frame doesn't rust.

Has anybody here tired offset triple clamps??

Has anybody here tired offset triple clamps??

Yeah I have them and in my opinion when you run the 22.5s ialong with raising the forks up 10mm you get a good turning bike. I was not happy with the cornering of this bike either untill I made these changes. Last weekend I traded bikes with my buddy for 30 min {06 crf450] wich I consider to be a good turning bike and a bike that I like. His bike had heavier fork springs and a Dr D exhaust. My bike has stock suspension and a dr d pipe also. I have to tell you that the honda had no advantages in the corners over my YZ. The CRF had more torque at the very bottom but did not have the mid and uper pull like my YZ. the honda felt heavy and the suspension could not come close to the feel of the YZ.At the 15min point I wanted my bike back. For sure nothing feels as good as YZ450 with a few basic mods.

Yeah I have them and in my opinion when you run the 22.5s ialong with raising the forks up 10mm you get a good turning bike. I was not happy with the cornering of this bike either untill I made these changes. Last weekend I traded bikes with my buddy for 30 min {06 crf450] wich I consider to be a good turning bike and a bike that I like. His bike had heavier fork springs and a Dr D exhaust. My bike has stock suspension and a dr d pipe also. I have to tell you that the honda had no advantages in the corners over my YZ. The CRF had more torque at the very bottom but did not have the mid and uper pull like my YZ. the honda felt heavy and the suspension could not come close to the feel of the YZ.At the 15min point I wanted my bike back. For sure nothing feels as good as YZ450 with a few basic mods.

What brand clamps did you go with?

I would like to add my opinion on the 07 450. The motor is perfect EVERYWHERE,needs nothing and yes not even on the bottom. The only complaint I have is with the rear. I have my sag at 102mm,I am going to 106-108,tried the forks flush and at the etch. I like the forks at the etch,there is a little stinkbug going on with the 07 even with the forks flush,I do think 106-108mm of sag will cure it. High speed out 2.5 LSC 13 REBOUND 8. Forks rebound 9 compression 10.I can't say enough about the motor.:thumbsup:I cannot see setting up the sag anywhere near 95mm with stock suspension,even supercross

For the 06 and 07 taller seat foam gets rid of the "stinkbug" feel. To me the lowest part of the stock seat seems to keep your butt there all the time regardless of where you shift your butt to...and the stock seat is indeed too low. Taller foam helps me corner much better also . ?

For the 06 and 07 taller seat foam gets rid of the "stinkbug" feel. To me the lowest part of the stock seat seems to keep your butt there all the time regardless of where you shift your butt to...and the stock seat is indeed too low. Taller foam helps me corner much better also . ?

My fault,I thought the topic was for the 07.Anyway,I am glad you bought up the height,I feel totally opposite of you. I think the bike is a little on the tall side.

What you will run into by dropping the rear to a sag of anywhere near 105-110, or really, much of anything past 100, is a front end push on turn in due to the increased fork angle. This is the reason most of of recommend raising the forks and running the sag at 95-97. The bike is extremely sensitive to small changes in this geometry, too, in my observation.

To get rid of the feeling that the front is too low, what you will likely be the happiest with is a taller set of bars. The '06 bars were very low, and the '07's are only about 7-8mm taller.

I have Windhams on mine,first thing I did was got rid of the low bars.I understand your logic with the 95mm,but I do not like the sag set there on the 07.