Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
I think they only did that last time because the screen was attached to the frame instead of the cage.
Finally got the akrapovic installed. Had to wait for a new header gasket. Sounds quieter than the fmf I had. Haven’t ridden with it yet.
I see rocky mountain has a rekluse torque drive listed available. Anyone run one?
Well the weather has finally broke and I have spent a decent amount of time on the new bike. I have four rides on it and so far this is what I can report.
Track Conditions
Tighter track with mixed terrain. Some sections of hard pack, sand also a mix of flat turns, rutted turns and banked turns. Several offcambers as well. Decent size jumps overall the track was pretty dry minus a few mud holes
Set up
Started with the smooth control map that I downloaded and for the most part stuck with that. Went with the keefer set up on the forks and shock as I do not like a twitchy bike and did not want to experience that at all and risk losing trust in the new bike. Lastly did 3 days with the stock 49 tooth rear and one day with a 50 tooth rear. For reference I am a 190 pound local B rider
Suspension/Chassis
Bike felt very very balanced with no indication of twitchiness on decel or instability. Thank god because that was one of my biggest concerns. The bike is extremely easy to get into and through a turn. With my 21 I could corner good on it but I had to put a lot more thought and effort into and one little mistake was usually penalized with the bike pushing out on exit. The bike also feels very light in the air and can be maneuvered very easily with little to no effort. All in all from a chassis/suspension side I am very happy and am pretty confident I wont need to make any further adjustments
Motor
I'll start by saying I am a third gear rider. The feel of the bike along with chassis compliance for me just feels so much better if I can leave it in third. This is the case for corners as well as a nice luggable third gear for me helps me keep smooth constant momentum in corners. With the stock 49 tooth rear I felt that 3rd gear was just ever so slow to recover on corner exit. Even with a quick stab to the clutch it still felt a tiny sleepy to me off bottom. It was rideable and I could live with it but for me and my style I did miss a little of that third gear luggability down low. I did try to utilize second gear just out of curiosity as that has been opened up. For me that 2nd gear hit is just too massive and as that bike got high in the rpm range you could definitely feel the chassis binding up and some rigidity/deflection.
I then tried going up to a 50 tooth in the rear with the hope that it would give it a little more bottom but not become too touchy. With only one day on the 50 tooth I am still on the fence. It felt like it did make it too touchy but right after my second moto when I was about to write it off I started to get used to it so I think I'm going to give it more time. I did right one moto on map 2 which is the pre installed smooth linear map and it felt like maybe that combined with the 50 tooth hit that sweet spot of more off the bottom but not being too touchy. So I'm going to spend more time with the downloaded map on the 50 to see if I can get used to that and if not maybe make a few small adjustments on the power tuner app to tame it a bit.
Conclusion
For me this is an awesome bike that is really enjoyable to ride. Chassis and suspension is great. The motor is also great just trying to dial it in and perfect it to what I like.
Has anyone had any experience on this bike going up to the 50 tooth rear and what were your thoughts/experience compared to the stock 49?
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I tried a 50t as well to try and get 3rd a bit more usable as that was how I’ve run my last few bikes. My ‘21 was rarely in any other gear and the 50t was perfect.
It didn’t do the same thing for the new one. It was maybe a touch better than stock as far as 3rd goes, but nothing like my ‘21. I ended up switching back to the 49t and stay in 2nd around the track a bit more now. I’m still trying to get this bike dialed. It works amazingly on some tracks and conditions, but I then struggle on others, and whether it works well or not hasn’t really been consistent. Definitely not easy to get set up for me but I’m sure I’ll get there
I felt the same way till Enzo did my suspension. I’m playing with maps now to get a smother feel. Since getting my revalve this bike is the holy grail!
I’m sure a revalve would help but I find it hard to believe that I can’t get the stock valving to work for me. I vary between 175 and 180 lbs and ride at what I would consider to be pretty average speeds. Not super fast, but not all that slow. Comfort on the bike plays a massive role in that speed, as I’m sure is the case for most. I have gotten a little lost at times with sag and clicker settings for sure. Maybe I’ll give in and send it out to get done eventually 🤷♂️
Been testing 50 but seems 49 works better for sand tracks im riding now.
Suspension I did test 3 days now shorter rear shock, 2mm shim and that made 8mm difference for axle height. Difference was so big I could not believe. Bike was stable over sand braking bumps so I went into corner like there were no bumps. It killed little cornerspeed and rear end felt really low until I went back to 95mm sag from 100mm and opened shock rebound. If you do this mode i think 1mm shorter is enough if you are not hitting sand offroad tracks full speed. I might go back to 1mm next week.
Yamaha clutch started to slip and there were no disks available so had to get ktm set for bike. Weight difference used Yamaha 762g, KTM 890g. Thickness of full pack used Yamaha 27,14mm and KTM 27,46mm. KTM friction plates seems to have more continues shape and Yamaha has these squares of material. It will be pretty easy to make KTM style pressure ring that has different spring pressure setting or just different ring that gives more pressure to clutch spring.
Drew that is a nice setup.
Rode ours today after finally doing the suspension! My son loves this bike, said it was faster, easier to turn, and more fun to ride than his 20 was.
Cerakoted uppers and shock body. DLC lowers and shock shaft. Goldvalves front and rear, paired with SDI moto perches!
So I had a similar experience. Went back to the 49 today. With pretty much bring forced to run 2nd gear corners, do you think a 48 might actually work and make both 2nd and 3rd a little longer?
14-53 or 14-52 sprocket combo is the solution. Frees up the chasis and suspension too vs the 13-49,50 combo
I run 14/52, perfect
What length chain do you need for this combo will the stock 114 chain work? Thanks.
honestly I bought a 120 link chain and once I installed the sprockets I just wrapped the new chain on the bike and marked where to cut it, so I didn't count. Pretty sure it is 116 though
the axle ended up a little farther forward than stock fyi
23 YZ450 lurker here… I’ve been able to ride this bike a few times thanks to some Vitard buddies 🙌🏻 and there’s an even chance I’ll get a 24 😏
First instinct was to go up a tooth to ride more in 3rd, but I can see not doing it based on riding style, are you a Barcia or a Kickstart Kenny? Ride in high RPM’s or low? Rev it out in 2nd or ride 3rd more in lower RPM’s? That 14/53 combo looks like a winner if the chain guide can handle it. Thoughts?
13/48=3.692
13/49=3.769
13/50=3.846
14/52=3.714
14/53=3.785
This thread has validated air filter seal concerns I had after the first few services. I abandonded the aftermaket twin air filter I bought because the stock filter has a much more dense and robust foam that wraps around the cage to help seal.
This morning added a bracket to support a zip ty to give a little extra "snug" pull to help the upper rubber latch. Cage feels more solid to the box now.
As far as the seat firmness goes, try adding a seat cover on top of the stock seat cover. An extra mm of thickness with the double cover allowed me to achieve comfort satisfaction with stock foam.
Anyone have any clutch issues? I’m not a clutch abuser and mine started slipping yesterday…
Pit Row
Mine started slipping at about 5 hours and was smoked at 7. I am a habitual clutch abuser, but 5 hours definitely was a new record for me. I’ve put about 11 hours on the new Hinson plates and fibers and they seem to be holding up pretty well, though I have been pretty mindful of my clutch hand.
Simple and effective. Ty for sharing. Your way saves weight too lol
Seat, I did add 5mm foam layer top of original foam, just clued and cut out extra then reinstalled cover. No complains after that.
Clutch plates started slightly slip after 30 hours, replaced with KTM kit as it was only one available.
Yamaha original airfilter sits much better than Twinair filters.
Do you know any websites that are sending them to Europe ?
I just ordered the clutch pack. I’ll let you know how it is.
Finally got my '23 completely set up as my '22 was:
14-52 Sprocket, Stock Map (not the soft linear)
Fork Height +3mm, Sag 105-106, Stock springs F+Shock, Forks + Shock revalved, Fork oil 330 (stock 270cc),
Evo Bars (stock bars too hard), XTrig bar clamps, AME grips, FMF muffler, Bridgestone X31 Battlecross.
Unbelievable how much better my '23 is now vs stock.
The 14-52 sprocket combo is magic! 3rd + 4th gear everywhere, perfect power delivery, and how much calmer the chasis / suspension is in the braking/acceleration chop.
I am a decent 50A rider, 6' 185lb....hopefully this is helpful.
Help me understand the gearing choice, a 14/52 which is taller than the stock 13/49, but saying you’re running 3rd and 4th more implying it’s gruntier to pull those taller gears, when in fact it will pull each gear longer with less grunt making it more of a 2nd gear bike.
I get the chain torque concept with a 14 counter.
I too am confused by this. Maybe he had to use 4th and 5th before 🤷♂️
In my experience with 13/49 and 13/50 so far, nothing I do will allow me to carry 3rd the way I could on my ‘21. I’ve considered 13/48 to make 2nd more usable, but ultimately I’m still not settled on a ratio that I like.
Post a pic!!! I wanna see that beast.
I Will also switch from my 23 ktm to a 23 yz450 can’t wait 😁
Anyone tried the Rekluse Torque drive clutch pack?
Post a reply to: New 2023 YZ450F