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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
None of that matters for us. That’s literally what this experiment was for:
We all fall for the hype that each years changes bring and each new gen and all the marketing spice every year.
The bike was great.
My buddy with the 24 crf rode it and was amazed how good it turned and how smooth the engine was.
I could be wrong but I didn't think there were any changes until 09. They changed the linkage swingarm and rear hub. 07 and on were more mellow. A lot to do with the different silencer.
Updating this. Still have the old girl. Just picked the suspension up from Evo industries, got it rebuilt, valved and sprung for my vet bod build.
Got luxon 22mm clamps with the vet guy rubber bar mounts.
Other than that leaving it stock. 22mm clamps were the move for these back when I had them years back.
I’ll get pics once it’s all buttoned up this week.
Went plus 2 on the pilot and main jets as it had a little popping with the plus one pilot from stock still.
Runs good though.
Looking forward to trying it with suspension set for me, it wasn’t really a fair test how it was stock with 20 year old everything lol and set for 60lbs off.
Also kind of funny, I “remapped” my bike with a $3 pilot jet, a $4 main jet, and 30 mins of fiddling with a couple tools as opposed to the $1200 twisted vortex we all throw on the new bikes to “clean up the stock mapping”
We’ve made such big strides 👌
The Shop
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Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
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Do the "o-ring mod" on the accelerator pump arm to clean up the bog these things had at throttle tip in.
It works.
If you had a newer YZF you could have saved $7 and some time by adjusting air/fuel mixture and timing with the included power tuning app.
Right up until you need the vortex because the stock tuning parameters don’t do what you need…. Plenty of yz vortex’s out there listed for sale so someone’s still buying them !
You know this one runs clean, no tip in issues. I’ll keep it in mind though. I’ve always had good luck with bigger pilots on the 4 strokes they generally run smooth for me.
It's totally free! *Requires a $100/month cell phone
You don't have to buy anything special you can just use the phone you already own
Nice find and congratulations. How did you come across that unridden YZ?
Note - I haven't read the rest of the thread yet, so forgive me for asking.
Just cruising for sale ads on Facebook. I’m a habitual surfer of for sale pages and moto pages and came across it and I had good memories of that gen 250f so decided to grab it. It has been fun to ride, and a great time dicing up with buddies on their brand new bikes on my old dinosaur lol.
had an 06' 250f and did not like it. Then bought a lightly used 09' 450. I must of put 250 hours on it. Would check the timing and it never needed to be adjusted.
Best mod I did to that bike was the Tokyo Mods carb.
not exactly a photoshooot, but shows the clamps and fresh suspension.
Man I love this era. These were the bikes when I was first really getting into motocross and was about 15, so this generation of bikes is “my generation.”
I actually changed my mind. I say ride the shit out of it like it was intended to be used and enjoy the opportunity. Probably won't get another shot at a "new" '06.
Bikes are meant to be ridden and enjoyed! Never understood having a bike just to look at.
Granted I wouldn’t do a mud race or anything.
My kids built me a special bike that sits on the shelf in the house, but it comes down to be ridden every few months, then cleaned and put back up.
I had a 98 400, 03 250f, and a 07 250f and never did the oring mod. I changed the leak jets and that fixed any bog, I actually had issues with both 250f's being to on/off.
Shop I worked at, we’d always go up two to a 48 pilot on any of the 4 strokes because it helped them start and they ran more consistent
Pit Row
This was a surprise from my wife for my birthday this year. My dad's last bike. He's now 79 and hasn't been on it in 12 years. This was the first 450 I ever raced and the last bike my dad raced, lots of memories! Loved this generation of Yamahas.
Dang dude that’s so awesome.
I have friends with some carbed bikes that never run well, try to tell them this, and I’m not sure but they just never seem to listen and the bikes always run poorly.
It’s always been just that simple for me. Plus 1-2 sizes from stock, and if you let them sit too long in the winter annd it’s popping annd carrying on order a new pilot and pop it in.
I think they all assume it’s something else and are chasing their tail when it’s just as easy as that 9.9 times out of 10.
Thats awesome.
I wanna find a bike like this and do a comparison test against a 2026. if anyones got a fresh bike lying around, let me know!
Got to ride it today.
Wow.
The clamps made a huge difference. The front end grip is so much improved.
The suspension work I had done was a bit softer than I would have liked. Went in on every clicker and it got much better.
Engine is really freaking good. It lacks a little bit of low end bark that the newer bikes have - think the type of yaaahht to pop off an acceleration bump or a jump right out of a turn. But it is very smooth, and very linear. The mid to top is actually pretty dang strong and pulls far.
After a few small changes to wake up the off-idle response, my '08 was my favorite 450 engine I've ridden.
I had that same bike. Was real fun starting it hot. On my bike I had to turn the fuel petcock off to lean it out real quick and then when it fired had to turn it back on. Honestly though, it was a great bike and after many years of watching yz125’s and a couple more of 250f’s go right by me on the start straight I was loving that thing.
Dang the hot start works fine for me. That’s cool man lot of people have good memories of them!
You guys ever hear of this thing called an adjustable fuel screw on the FCR carb?
Yes, I had one. Mine worked fine, but a buddies wouldn't stay in the damn carb. It would vibrate loose and screw his jetting all up.
I’ve heard far too much about them lolol
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