YZ 426 for trail riding advice

[timvv51]

Do a lot of you yz426 and yz450 owners use your bikes much for just plain old trail riding. Does it adapt well. This bike is a 4 speed is it not?

[sharpmarble]

The 426 is a 5-speed (along with the '06 450). I just went a tooth smaller on the CS, and then backed out the compression some.... It is a decent trail bike, although it is a bit heavy and feels even more top-heavy... Some people add a flywheel weight to help stalling, although I didn't have much of an issue with that after going down a tooth on the CS... ?

[642MX]

A Rekluse auto clutch makes trail riding alot more fun.

[yogist]

Thats all I use mine for..Love it..May go up a couple of teeth in the rear though...

[Doug.]

The 426 (5-speed) makes an awesome trail machine as long as you take the time to set it up properly for trail riding. The YZ450 (03-05 4-speed) is good too, but the earlier models can be a real pain to handle in tight stuff without a good heavy flywheel in place of the stocker. They have a real abrupt hit...which was smoothed out on the '05 model to the tune of a three horsepower decrease.

I would do mods in this order: flywheel weight, suspension revalve, dampner, big tank.

Oh, and don't forget trail protection. Skid plates, handguards, rad. braces, etc.

[cowboyona426]

I ran my 00 426 almost exclusively on the trails and loved it, I ran 13/52 gearing and it would go anywhere I wanted it to. Make sure to invest in stuff like good handguards and radiator braces or you will kick yourself later! Also, if you have a 426, do yourself a favor and do the 450 cam mod ?