WR450

[callyjim]

I just bought a '04 CRF450 for trail riding. It is alot of bike for the trails. I have a buyer for it and was wondering if the WR450 was more suited for the trails. Does it overheat on tight trails, is it geared low for the trails, any problems with them????? Do all these new 4-strokes require the top end to be rebuilt ever 100 hours or so? I wanted a 4-stroke to just get on and ride, not work on. I have 4 kids and just keeping up with them is a task. When I want to ride, I just want to go out and ride with the kids. Is the WR450 the bike for me or should I just look at the Honda XR400... Please help with you opinions. ?

[yamahasocal450]

i would recommend it.. it has a yzish edge with a trailriding blade, so its a perfect do it all bike, you can even jump it, the xr400 is a tank, it can haul but its heavy, personally i wouldnt recommend it but im sure there are some good reasons for it, btw the gearing on the wr is great 1st gear is slow enough to do a lot of tight trails... i can also lug my bike in 2nd where my friend and his yz450 has to feather the clutch in 1st gear ?

[beezer]

The WR is really nice for the trails. It has good bottom end and is lots of fun on the trails. A CRF is more motorcycle than I would want trail riding. I had my WR in 95 degree heat in tight woods with no overheating.

I really like the bike,

[weekendtoy98DR]

the xr400 is a tank, it can haul but its heavy, personally i wouldnt recommend it

How much lighter is a WR450? Dirt Rider in two seperate years of shootouts had the XR at 265lbs no gas.

[Indy_WR450]

The WR450 is much better suited for trail riding. It has a heavy flywheel, great low first gear, huge bottom end torque, and a larger radiator cooling system with overflow bottle. I have seen the EXC's, CRF's and YZ's overheat while riding. I have not had any issues. Fantastic bike, with a few issues around the e-start on the 03 model.?

[callyjim]

I used to ride alot but kind of got busy in life and had kids and such and just couldn't afford it. Now I can and I ran out and bought this CRF450. The shop I bought it from pushed that on me. They sell Yamaha's and Honda's but they had the Honda in stock. I told them I was torn between the two and they took advantage of the fact that I didn't know the differences between the two.

While I bought the CRF for 6k out the door, could have done better with a longer drive, but now I have a buyer for the CRF for 5.3k. A $700 loss with only 1 tank of gas ran through the bike. Welll I can run to Romney, WV and pick up the WR450 for 5.6k. So it will cost me an extra 300.

It would cost more than that just to do mods on the crf, such as Kick Stand / Larger Tank / Larger Sprocket / puke bottle.... I like the electric start in the Yamaha too.

How about the top end rebuilds on the WRs, are they needed?

Thanks for your help on this. ?

[mtrablue]

you know that by coming to this forum, your probably going to be told that the wr is the bike for you. if you have a crf and are thinking about a wr you have already decided that a "new generation" four stroke is right for you. the xr is an old bike. period. that doesn't mean it's a bad bike. it's just an old design that will probably be replaced before to long. if you can find one that is a few years old that you can get cheap, it might be worth trying.

the wr is a fantastic bike. every time you ride it you'll come home with a grin on your face. it will run slow and easy if you want. grab a hand full and you'll be waiting for the kids to catch up. some of us have issues with the e-start system. most of those have been addressed on several threads in this forum. we are hoping the '04 has that taken care of. as far as pistons and engine parts, the manual just says "as needed". the crf and yz are race bikes and meant to maintained as such. change the oil regularly and the wr will run a long time.

having to decide what new bike to get is a nice problem to have. if you have four kids on bikes there has to be a dealer near you that would love to be your friend. those kids are going to go through a lot of bikes and gear over the next few years. see what kind of deal you can get. if you can get a good deal, make sure it's on an '04.

[callyjim]

Well I really think the WR is the bike I should have been sold the first time, but that's water under the bridge. I am going to sell this CRF and get the '04 WR..

Thanks for all your posts and information

[yamahasocal450]

the xr400 is a tank, it can haul but its heavy, personally i wouldnt recommend it

How much lighter is a WR450? Dirt Rider in two seperate years of shootouts had the XR at 265lbs no gas.

a lot of the mass is located up high which makes it feel heavy, the 450 has the batter up high which you can feel sometimes, ive takent he lights and kickstand off my bike and i can feel the weight coming off, the battery is an extra 5-6 pounds, but by heavy i meant handling wise.. i should have used better words ?

[Indy_WR450]

You will not be dissapointed! If you dont ride thousands of miles each year you may never need a top end job on you WR450. Make sure you get an 04 with the redesigned e-start drive mechanism. Change the oil often, do the mods recommended on this forum and change the oil every few rides. ?

[jonl]

I updated my 02 XR-400 for a 03 WR-450. Have been very pleased with the bike and the dealer so far. My bike has ran great from the start. Adjusted the valves after 50 miles, and they were very close at that time. If you guys are having carb problems, I would suggest checking you clearence before you start jetting changes.

I had my deaer check my flywheel. It was fine. My bike was just over the serial that Yamaha made the fix for.

As far as comparing the XR-400 to the WR-450- I liked my Honda and had a great dealer. It was relieable, easy to maintain, but uncomfortable after 50 miles of trails. The engine, seat, and suspension for the WR are a major upgrade. My engine has been flawless, and I have been surprized at how well it runs in the low RPMs. The bike is definitely more technical to maintain but doable.

As far as the kick starter issue goes, I think Yamaha owes it to all 03 owners to come up with a relieabe fix (at thir cost) when you look at what we invested. Up to now, mine has run well with no kick-back problems. I think that is due to good jetting as delivered and proper valve clearences. My grey wire has not beern cut yet. It would be interesting to see if the grey wire mods (advanced timing) has contributed to the flywheel/starter problems. I have been very careful to avoid any throttle during starts. I will say that I am nervious about shutting my bike off and restarting with the E-starter 20 miles from the truck while alone. I think I will kick start until this problem is resolved. I do plan on writting a letter to Yamaha this week. (Are you listening Yamaha? This is my second bike I bought this year from you this year.) Every bike has it's quirks, but I expect the manufacturer to stand by its product if they want my future support and investments.

[Indy_WR450]

Grey wire has no effect on the starter system drive train. I have had no issues or preventative service done to my flywheel. I cut the grey wire before my bike was ever started. I also rejetted and fully modded the bike out of the crate. I used this forum to get a good stating point for my jetting. All I can say is I have spent over $100. on needles until finally James Dean came out with his kit for our bikes. I can tell you that the red and blue needles are perfect! Thank you James Dean! I was not going to let the dealer screw it up. Jetting is very important to minimize the woodruf key issue from what I have seen on this forum. ?

[PBDBLUE]

Unfortunately kickstarting the bike does not prevent shearing the the woodruff key. The electric start drive is engaged all the time so if the bike kicks back even while kickstarting it can shear the key. The only sure fix is to disable the e-start drive by removing the idler gear or upgrade to the '04 components. Having said that I agree with Indy that jetting is probably the most effective prevention short of doing the above.

[dubious]

Hey guys. Unless your starter clutch is faulty the starter ring and associated gears should not be engaged. It clearly states that the starter clutch is a one way clutch and to inspect it you need to try to turn it counter clockwise. The flywheel will turn but the starter ring gear should not as the clutch is between the flywheel and the ring gear. The clutch is designed like a sprag clutch which locks in one direction and turns freely in the other.

Thats the theory of it anyways. ?

[PBWR450]

I was wondering about that. After reading all the threads on this I checked my flywheel nut. I noticed that when the flywheel was turned one way (can't remember which way) it would spin free, when turned the opposite way I felt resistance and could hear the starter motor turning. I thought maybe it was normal with the current clutch design. Apparently it's not?

[Alabama_Rider]

In my riding group there are 2, XR400's, a WR400 and my WR450. The XR400 is a good and reliable trail bike... It does very well in the tight stuff and can be out the door for under $5,000. Expect to pay $6,000 for the WR450. It will have more power than the XR400, but is only an advantage when the trail opens up. It depends entirely on what type of terrain you ride. Extremely tight favors the XR400. Honda XR's are the lowest maintenance bikes made. If you have space to hit the throttle it favors the WR450. The bike weight is about the same and you get a e-start with the WR. The XR has a lower center of gravity making it very stable. If it were me I would wait and take a look at the CRF250 trail version due out in February.