YZ450F: Too much for tight woods?

[Crusty1]

My 17 year old sold his YZ250F last summer and bought a KTM Xc 300. Killer bike in all woods riding. But now he's got the "track" bug and want's to sell his KTM and get a 09 YZ450F. Although he loves the KTM he says it feels wierd in the air, not at all like his YZF did. Linkless supspension maybe? We've got an 85' step down at our house that he used to clear no sweat with his YZ250F but now he only clears it half the time saying his bike just feels strage in the air.

If he's going to get back into track riding, I don't think he'll be agressive on an XC 300. But will a YZ450F be too much for tight trail riding here in Oregon? We've got some nasty, gnarly, tight stuff. I've never ridden a 450f in the woods. Any thoughts?

Oh yeah. He's 5' 10" tall and 160#. Very agressive off roader, rides the pro class when he races GNCC, enduro, etc. Typically top 10 finishes.

Hope that's enough info for some good feedback. Thanks.

[Schock]

I ride my YZ450F in the woods and love it...don´t think it´s too much...and I used to ride a KX250F!

[TIG88]

I dropped a tooth on the front sprocket. Helped alot. Tell him to get an 08, used the saved money to buy a Rekluse Pro, and a better exhaust.

[rjcook450]

love my 08 450f in woods, put one tooth larger rear sprocket on and full drd exhaust, has plenty of grunt with lower gearing for tight stuff, and still moves out on mx tracks, also put on gytr enduro skidplate.

[buzzfin]

I have an 09 YZ450F and I only ride woods - very tight, technical stuff. A few mods are necessary, but once you do, it makes a great woods bike. My mods:

* 9 oz. flywheel weight - helps keep the bike from stalling at slow speeds

* 51 tooth rear sprocket - more low end for tractoring in the technical stuff

* Coolant recovery bottle - they get hot and spit coolant quickly without air over the rads

* Skid Plate

* Radiator guards

* Hand guards

[rjcook450]

what coolant recover bottle did you use?

[Crusty1]

Wow! I guess this insn't such a crazy idea after all. I was thinking of FFW, hand guards, 51 tooth rear, wr puke tank, skid plate...maybe even WR cams, maybe a Rekluse, maybe. I hear Ty Davis used to run WR cams in his YZF to smooth out the power. Of course that was back when the YZF had a brutal hit. Maybe not so bad now. I also thought about swapping out 4th and 5th gear for WR gears but assume splitting cases is a must. I really hate splitin cases on a new bike. I'm just thinking of when he hits the wide open desert stuff and there's KTMs passing him in the open stuff grinning all the way!!

Also, any big changes from 07-09?

[Wiz636]

Very agressive off roader, rides the pro class when he races GNCC, enduro, etc. Typically top 10 finishes.

Hope that's enough info for some good feedback. Thanks.

The YZ450 can be a great woods bike when set up correctly, which doesn't really take too much. I run a Rekluse in mine and actually went down a tooth on the rear sprocket...it smooths out the power in the tight stuff and gives me a little bigger spread between gears. When I go to the east side of the state I throw a 14t front sprocket on also and I have gps recorded speeds of 89mph

John Beal up here in WA rides pro/AA offroad on a YZ450 and he is typically a top 3 finisher. I think he won the Maxxis Endurocross 4 stroke championship on it a couple years ago also.

I wouldn't worry about the WR coolant tank. I have never had mine spit coolant even in the tightest woods, as long as you are moving they are tough to overheat.

[buzzfin]

what coolant recover bottle did you use?

I used the Motion Pro recovery bottle, but it doesn't fit behind the number plate on the '09, so I had to run it to the back under the fender. It's not holding up so well - plastic bottle is too soft and the nipple that the hose attaches to is poorly designed (comes off easily), so I just bought a WR bottle. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with a way to mount it clean.

[cmd]

another:thumbsup: for the 450 in the tigh woods,like every has said,fww,gearing,and if ya can, a rekluse.i love mine, even in the tight stuff.tap it into 3rd...and your set:smirk:.it really does shine when you ride it a gear tall in the more technical and tight stuff.

[SparksXR426]

Very comfortable in woods, and I came off a heavily modified XR for cripes sake. Full guards and a 53 tooth in the rear. GYTR flywheel weight coming. Positively love this bike.

[EdHead]

Yes in the Great NW a 450 is a handful. However I set mine up just great up here in Wa. I gave the bike to my 16 yo. novice son. 11oz. Steahly Flywheel, 13/52 sprockets, Rekluse Pro. The Rekluse made all the diffefence with the big bore beast in tight challanging NW terrain. Without it the bike was useless and just too much. A struggle rather than a pleasure to ride.

[Oregonduneguy]

I live in the valley here in Oregon and do a lot of trail riding and I just picked up an 09 yz450 that i've been out with a few times...no mods at all, just messing around with the suspension a little and it has performed awesome! It has a pretty tame throttle but the power is there when you need it and I have'nt had any headshake at all in the thick mud. Love the bike all around.

[XRYoda]

I ride a 450 in the Oregon woods. I am a bit bigger than your son, 6'2, 190, and do like it a lot, though I would be faster on a 250f. Putting on a IMS desert tank makes it feel even heavier. I also ride in the desert so I keep the 450.

[polarisrmk]

YZ450f's are great bikes...but go with a 2006 they will walk all over the 07 and up YZ450F's the 2006 450's are RANK bikes!!!!!!!!But yeah go with the 450!!!!Get rid of that KTM , not that there bad bikes but Yammys are way better!!!!

[Oregonduneguy]

YZ450f's are great bikes...but go with a 2006 they will walk all over the 07 and up YZ450F's the 2006 450's are RANK bikes!!!!!!!!But yeah go with the 450!!!!Get rid of that KTM , not that there bad bikes but Yammys are way better!!!![/quote

Two of the guys i ride with have the 06 yz450 and they sure don't walk all over my 09 no matter where we ride(trails or sand). One of these guys has been riding a lot longer than i have and i keep up with him just fine. Only thing is maybe the 06 has more low end grunt because of the cam in that year bike...pretty easy to put an 06 cam in an 09

[grayracer513]

The '08-'09 has nearly 3 more HP than an '06 at peak. An '09 with any good exhaust has no reason to fear any other MX 4-stroke.

[polarisrmk]

Oregonduneguy -I don't know what 2006's your riding with but my 2006 YZ450F walks all over a 2009 YZ450F, a 2007 YZ450F, a 2008 KX450F,a 2008 YZ450F, and another 2008 YZ450F taht I ride with so either your budies 2006's are worn out or are defective from the dealer because my 2006 YZ450F has some Amazing Power....I have even talked to sever Yamaha mechanics and they all say that the 2006 was and still is a better bike than the new ones. And yeah I can go put a bunch of preformance parts on my bike as well but why would you buy an 2009 and put 2006 parts in it when you can buy a 2006 taht is already at that great power level? yeah doesn't make much sence to me either.

grayracer513 - I don't care what the HP numbers say as I mentiond above my 2006 YZ450F walks all over the new bikes HANDS DOWN!! Again I can go and put an exhaust and keep that performace barrier between the new bikes, so agian why would you buy an 2009 and put 2006 parts in it when you can buy a 2006 taht is already at that great power level? yeah doesn't make much sence to me either.....waht I'm saying is the best stock for stock 450 bike out there is the 2006 YZ450F no questions asked!!!!!!!!!!!

[rjcook450]

That might be true if you look at how hard the 06 hits compared to a stock 08,09, but the 08,09's have better suspension and are a little lighter, they are better bikes. the only thing that yamaha messed up was choking up the power by putting on a crapping muffler, like grey said replacing it with an aftermarket system and you are back in the game, plus now you have the benefits of 2-3 years of refinments to the rest of the bike. i'm not saying the 06 is a bad bike by any means, its just i can invest $500-600 for full exhaust, where with an 06 it would be more to get the same suspension.

[Oregonduneguy]

Oregonduneguy -I don't know what 2006's your riding with but my 2006 YZ450F walks all over a 2009 YZ450F, a 2007 YZ450F, a 2008 KX450F,a 2008 YZ450F, and another 2008 YZ450F taht I ride with so either your budies 2006's are worn out or are defective from the dealer because my 2006 YZ450F has some Amazing Power....I have even talked to sever Yamaha mechanics and they all say that the 2006 was and still is a better bike than the new ones. And yeah I can go put a bunch of preformance parts on my bike as well but why would you buy an 2009 and put 2006 parts in it when you can buy a 2006 taht is already at that great power level? yeah doesn't make much sence to me either.

grayracer513 - I don't care what the HP numbers say as I mentiond above my 2006 YZ450F walks all over the new bikes HANDS DOWN!! Again I can go and put an exhaust and keep that performace barrier between the new bikes, so agian why would you buy an 2009 and put 2006 parts in it when you can buy a 2006 taht is already at that great power level? yeah doesn't make much sence to me either.....waht I'm saying is the best stock for stock 450 bike out there is the 2006 YZ450F no questions asked!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever dude. . .