Yamaha 450 and Motocross

motox731tuner 5/22/2011 10:33pm
5/22/2011 10:33pm
TerryB wrote:
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy...
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy something different?
We love ours, raced 5 rds. in supercross on more or less stock bike.
kiwifan
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kiwifan 5/22/2011 11:56pm
5/22/2011 11:56pm
Davey762 wrote:
I like my 2010 yz450f, I'm coming off an 07 crf450r. I rode my friends 09 rmz450 and 09 kx450 and liked the yz better. Also...
I like my 2010 yz450f, I'm coming off an 07 crf450r.

I rode my friends 09 rmz450 and 09 kx450 and liked the yz better. Also rode my friends 2010 crf450 and liked the YZ better as well.

But the 09+ hondas have come set up horrible out of the box. Reed even said he thought it was the worst production bike but now is ruling on a factory one... I guess it just took time for the teams to figure out the bike.
when did Reed say that about the Hondas???? Never ever seen it myself.....
Jamie_Munro 5/23/2011 3:24am
5/23/2011 3:24am
it isn't Yamaha is it. Take a look at the GP's.
SwapperMX
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SwapperMX 5/23/2011 3:34am
5/23/2011 3:34am
kiwifan wrote:
when did Reed say that about the Hondas???? Never ever seen it myself.....
He came out and said that a couple of times. I am pretty sure it was in 09 when he was on Suzukis. Justified the switch to Suzuki from Yamaha.

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Davey762
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Davey762 5/23/2011 12:12pm
5/23/2011 12:12pm
Davey762 wrote:
I like my 2010 yz450f, I'm coming off an 07 crf450r. I rode my friends 09 rmz450 and 09 kx450 and liked the yz better. Also...
I like my 2010 yz450f, I'm coming off an 07 crf450r.

I rode my friends 09 rmz450 and 09 kx450 and liked the yz better. Also rode my friends 2010 crf450 and liked the YZ better as well.

But the 09+ hondas have come set up horrible out of the box. Reed even said he thought it was the worst production bike but now is ruling on a factory one... I guess it just took time for the teams to figure out the bike.
kiwifan wrote:
when did Reed say that about the Hondas???? Never ever seen it myself.....
He said it in a matthes podcast I'm pretty sure. Reed is great to listen to in those because he hardly holds back and is very honest. He said he didn't like how the new yamaha felt either recently. He also didn't trust his kawi due to the chain coming off one time and he got the ama to let him use the 09 frame or swing arm to help prevent the problem from happening again.
kw859
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kw859 5/23/2011 12:26pm
5/23/2011 12:26pm Edited Date/Time 5/23/2011 12:27pm
TerryB wrote:
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy...
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy something different?
i like mine...and it did take a little work to get the rear end to my liking...but after some testing and a few changes here and there it is fine to me. i stand behind my post on another subject...its 10 to 20% bike and the rest is up to the nut twisting the throttle. a fast guy will be fast on anything and a slow guy will still be slow on anything...thats just the facts!
MikeYamaha624 5/23/2011 12:40pm
5/23/2011 12:40pm
unless a bike has square wheels, you can ride it
FlickitFlat 5/23/2011 12:57pm
5/23/2011 12:57pm
TerryB wrote:
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy...
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy something different?
kw859 wrote:
i like mine...and it did take a little work to get the rear end to my liking...but after some testing and a few changes here and...
i like mine...and it did take a little work to get the rear end to my liking...but after some testing and a few changes here and there it is fine to me. i stand behind my post on another subject...its 10 to 20% bike and the rest is up to the nut twisting the throttle. a fast guy will be fast on anything and a slow guy will still be slow on anything...thats just the facts!
What do you know? Har! Is there any problem with the shock getting hot being close to the exhaust? I know, from my observation that it seems with JS, that his wrecks and bobbles in SX all seemed to happen at about the same time in the race and other than Daytona seemed that he got a weird bounce from the rear. Is there a possibility that the shock oil is heating up and changing the way the shock reacts as the race goes on. This observation goes back to Unadilla with JS bike looking like he was riding a pogo stick but is not limited to just James. During the Tommy Haun and Christoph Porcell battle both their bikes looked like it gave them some weird kicks. Thought the track no doubt was rough, it takes a lot of something in order for CP to not look smooth.
lostboy819 5/23/2011 1:05pm
5/23/2011 1:05pm
FlickitFlat wrote:
What do you know? Har! Is there any problem with the shock getting hot being close to the exhaust? I know, from my observation that it...
What do you know? Har! Is there any problem with the shock getting hot being close to the exhaust? I know, from my observation that it seems with JS, that his wrecks and bobbles in SX all seemed to happen at about the same time in the race and other than Daytona seemed that he got a weird bounce from the rear. Is there a possibility that the shock oil is heating up and changing the way the shock reacts as the race goes on. This observation goes back to Unadilla with JS bike looking like he was riding a pogo stick but is not limited to just James. During the Tommy Haun and Christoph Porcell battle both their bikes looked like it gave them some weird kicks. Thought the track no doubt was rough, it takes a lot of something in order for CP to not look smooth.
Its called yamahop. You would have to be in your late 40s to understandWink
kw859
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kw859 5/23/2011 1:08pm
5/23/2011 1:08pm Edited Date/Time 5/23/2011 1:09pm
mine only felt like set up rather than the shock getting heated up. as far as james, daytona his front end missed the jump which caused that one and all the others...any one who hits whoops at warp speed like him and misses one with the front end will eat crap! unadilla..i don't know...maybe it was bad set up. and hangtown, cp wasnt the only one having bad hops there...just a rough a** track. my older bikes had the exhaust running just as close and had no prob with those either.
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jeffro503 5/23/2011 1:13pm
5/23/2011 1:13pm Edited Date/Time 5/23/2011 1:13pm
I actually liked my 2010 Yamaha YZ450 a lot.....it was a great bike. For me personally , I could only get about 90% comfortable on it ( but that was my problem...not the bike ). I ended up selling it , and went back to a bike / chassis I "Knew" I was comfortable on....even though it's a little dated. I picked up that last new 08' CRF450 I could find in the NW....and I haven't looked back.

On a side note : I have ridden a modified 2010 CRF450 and a 2011 KXF450.....And I think I liked the Yamaha better than both of those bikes. Couldn't stand the Honda , but I did like the KXF ( especially the power!) , but the Yamaha felt a little more comfortable to me. BUT.....my friend who owns the KXF450....wouldn't fit on any other bike as good as he does that KXF....he's a big dude. And he loves it!
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FIREfish148 5/23/2011 1:13pm
5/23/2011 1:13pm
MikeYamaha624 wrote:
unless a bike has square wheels, you can ride it
Gosh, really? thats amazing dude.
mjskier
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mjskier 5/23/2011 1:14pm
5/23/2011 1:14pm
In a post race interview Pourcel said that the bike is too powerful down low and he was losing traction. But he likes the power up top. He also said his fork was too soft in the first moto. He got punted at the start and basically started last in moto 2. So he just rode smooth and worked on understanding the bike in a racing setup.
He thinks he will have the bike dialed by Colorado.

So nothing wrong with the Yamaha. Just a late start getting it dialed. Same deal with Kawi. RV didn't have a base to start from since he's been out of the outdoor business for so long.
FIREfish148
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FIREfish148 5/23/2011 1:16pm
5/23/2011 1:16pm
different strokes for different folks...
mxb2
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mxb2 5/23/2011 1:29pm
5/23/2011 1:29pm
always a bike problem when you don t win LOL !
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bearded clam 5/23/2011 2:05pm
5/23/2011 2:05pm
jonesaustin wrote:
this will sound crazy to some, but I think it is the bike and it's to do with ergonomics and aesthetics. the bike is wide at...
this will sound crazy to some, but I think it is the bike and it's to do with ergonomics and aesthetics. the bike is wide at the gas tank, it doesn't feel light, and it isn't light. i applaud yamaha for making headway with new technology, but the 450 class is already heavy enough. you need a bike that instills confidence in the rider but part of that is - it needs to look trick. and by trick i mean thin, flat across the top. agile, etc. this bike does not seem that way whatsoever and psychologically i honestly feel it affects the rider, perhaps without them knowing even. it's just not a sexy bike. the side profile is horrid.

just my observation but who knows.
im starting to think the same thing...that bike is just no good! It looks like a fat girl compared to the other bikes and no one I know who has ridden one likes it. A couple close friends of mine are test riders for mags and have lots of bikes around to ride...they never choose that bike! When I heard Pourcel was on a non factory Yamaha I knew it wasnt gonna be good.
race
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race 5/23/2011 2:49pm
5/23/2011 2:49pm
Question for all the JS experts -

Is there an actual Team Stewart for the Nats? ( San Manuel was SX only )

If so, then who is managing it? Who is running the show there?
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TeamGreen 5/23/2011 2:52pm
5/23/2011 2:52pm
HighCam wrote:
Maybe Pourcel didn't do as well as I thought he would have done today at the first Outdoor race of 2011, but it seemed his result...
Maybe Pourcel didn't do as well as I thought he would have done today at the first Outdoor race of 2011, but it seemed his result today was more from lack of fitness and time on the bike in race conditions and not the ability of the Yamaha 450. It did seem like Hahn rode well in moto 1 and if you look at today's MX-1 qualifying race in Brazil Philippaerts and Frossard finished 1st and 2nd.

My point is, what does this say for James Stewart's team not being able to get their Yamaha 450 ready or not getting the bike working correctly for the 2011 Motocross series? I think it makes them look pretty bad. It's not the Yamaha that doesn't work well, it's a lack of ability by the team to make the motorcycle work.

Yes, I'm sure it's difficult to make a motorcycle work perfect for a rider as fast as James Stewart, but they couldn't even get the bike to work for Kyle Regal and he isn't as fast as Stewart.
Pourcel choose the Yamaha 450 over other brands he tested, so he has confidence in the motorcycle and he looked smooth and fast until his fitness came into play at the Hangtown National. Pourcel will be faster and in better shape and get much better results as the series goes on.

I feel the results of the other riders that compete on the new Yamaha 450 makes Stewart's team look incompetent.
Regal CAN'T Ride...or so I understand...

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Spartacus
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Spartacus 5/23/2011 3:01pm
5/23/2011 3:01pm
Seems like in that Bubba show on Fuel a couple time when his "team" asked him what was wrong with the bike/what to change JS got that deer in the headlight look and there was silence.

I dunno......just comes to mind.
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35smom 5/23/2011 3:42pm
5/23/2011 3:42pm Edited Date/Time 5/23/2011 3:42pm
TerryB wrote:
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy...
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy something different?
Speaking on behalf of my son...his is awesome! Looking forward to Unadilla on it. Big difference my son has always had a stock bike (even at Lorettas last year in the 450B mod, rode same one in both classes) and hes not been pampered by all the bells and whistles. In my opinion a good national bike will make him that much better!
TerryB
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TerryB 5/23/2011 4:23pm
5/23/2011 4:23pm
TerryB wrote:
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy...
Question for the Vital Masses: So, how do you like your ground-breaking, backwards motor YZ450? If you could do it all over again, would you buy something different?
35smom wrote:
Speaking on behalf of my son...his is awesome! Looking forward to Unadilla on it. Big difference my son has always had a stock bike (even at...
Speaking on behalf of my son...his is awesome! Looking forward to Unadilla on it. Big difference my son has always had a stock bike (even at Lorettas last year in the 450B mod, rode same one in both classes) and hes not been pampered by all the bells and whistles. In my opinion a good national bike will make him that much better!
Thanks for the input Mom, (and other guys too, BTW, what does that KW guy know), always enjoy seeing a post from you. Any pictures of yourself you'd like to share?Smile

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