New Yamaha YFZ450R First Ride: Part 2

Doogie

• November 24 2008
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• 2 comments

As we mentioned to you last week, we’d pass along more detailed information from our “first impression” ride aboard the new Yamaha YFZ450R.

The bulk of the riding during the intro was handled by our newest test rider, Dustin Terry. Dustin is a buddy of Quad Magazine’s Associate Editor Nick Nelson (Nick got the kid his tryout with us by telling us how he flat out rips). For the past two years Dustin has been racing as a privateer in the Pro class in both the WORCS and ITP Quadcross series out West. Nagging injuries have held him back a bit this past year, but after watching him pound out lap after lap aboard the YFZR at the LACR track, there’s no doubt he’s seriously fast.

I myself would be joining Dustin out on the ride. Unfortunately for me, I busted my right foot about a week before the intro. But even with a bum foot, there was no way I was going to skip out on the intro—I rode the machine during the trail portion of the intro for a brief time out in Gorman, CA. Even with a bum foot, there was no way I was going to miss riding the machine—I would have chopped off my foot before I bailed on the chance to at least try out the new machine.

We get our own test unit from Yamaha in roughly two weeks. We’re going to test the machine at a few different tracks (and other trail rides) before we put together the test in the magazine. But since this is such a highly anticipated release, here’s the info we got from Dustin after spending two days abusing the machine.

The YFZ is known for having a very tractable powerband—it pulls hard from bottom to top and isn’t known for having any particular “explosiveness” in any part of the powerband. As Dustin summed it up, “overall the stock power was very smooth and had a long pulling powerband”. Even though it’s a new engine design, the original YFZ power delivery feels similar—it’s simply stronger overall.

Off the showroom floor, the standard YFZ was known for having excellent stock suspension—the YFZR takes it to a whole new level. “The stock suspension was very smooth,” adds Dustin. “ Nothing was too rough and it soaked up any breaking bumps or whoops on the track as if I was running an aftermarket front end with high-end shocks. And as far as the chassis package goes, overall the quad feels super stable on the ground. I never got it up on two wheels in a corner and it felt like it hugged the ground really well.”

Both Dustin and I agreed that the machine is very comfortable overall. I particularly liked the seat area around the tank—the thinness almost makes it feel like you’re riding a dirt bike. It really lets you move around very easily when transitioning through quick corners. As Dustin said after riding at LACR, “I loved the seat—it’s very comfortable. The thinness really makes it easy to shift not only from left to right on the machine, but front to back as well.

And we both really like the adjustability of the handlebars as well. Since I was banged up and didn’t ride a ton, we set the YFZR up for Dustin who is a couple inches taller than me (and about 10 – 15 pounds lighter…dammit). I can’t wait to see what it’s like to try out repositioning the bars for my size/style here back East in the woods. Dustin chimed in that “being able to move the bars around in four different positions really makes it a way more adjustable ride for taller and shorter riders” (hope he wasn’t talking about me).

Another area where Dustin and I immediately agreed upon was the stock footpegs. Both of us felt that the stock footpeg position was too high. It made you feel like you were standing too tall on the machine whenever you got off the seat while riding it. “The footpegs felt a little high for me but I’m also six foot tall,” added Dustin. Interesting side note—Yamaha is offering a set of nerfs through its GYTR division that feature adjustable height pegs. Both height settings are also lower than the stock peg position.

THE GYTR ADVANTAGE
During the 2nd day of testing at the track, Yamaha surprised us all by busting out a fully-prepped GYTR edition YFZ450R. As I mentioned in my post last week, with the GYTR mods, this machine could easily be competitive at any expert or A-class level at any track in the world. It really was pretty amazing. From the ported cylinder head, to the clutch mods, to the exhaust and performance ECU, Yamaha has the engine covered in a big way. The cylinder deal is pretty amazing (come back again tomorrow for a detailed look at what you get in this package).

As far as how the machine performed on the track, I could tell right away that Dustin felt immediately comfortable with the quad. As I was shooting photos, he pulled over and told me what a huge difference the mods made. “The built GYTR bike was awesome,” added Dustin. “I loved the different height settings on the pegs. Being able to adjust the height is a very big advantage for GYTR—it allows riders with different riding styles the ability to tweak the settings so they can be more comfortable. And the GYTR head was amazing! It felt as if I was riding with one of my built race engines, which is crazy because it’s an off the shelf product. The power was always there—I was never lacking power anywhere on the track, and LACR has plenty of areas with all the step up jumps and big hills where you could use all that power.”

The pipe sounded great (it meets 99db levels) and it also helps to obviously wake up the engine like you’d expect. And the smaller rims and tires made a huge difference in handling—the fact that GYTR offers this special ITP wheel/tire combo premounted is a pretty cool deal. On the track, the difference was totally noticeable. If you’re going to hit the track, the tires are a great addition to this machine. Finally, in the air I felt like I was on a quad that was 100 lbs lighter than the standard YFZ—the entire package just works. The aluminum frame is awesome—Yamaha really did their homework.”

Obviously we can’t wait to get our long-term unit for testing. Once we hit a few more tracks (and some trails for all you guys back East), we’ll follow up with another round. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for more info on the GYTR head—you’ll be amazed at how serious Yamaha is about performance after seeing what they put into this deal!

To see the YFZ450R First Ride: Part 1, click here