Yamaha YFZ450R Trail Enhancement

As I said in the beginning, the list of positive characteristics of the new YFZR is a long one, but we can only hit on a handful without this article running on for days. But for an added bonus, here is a handful more. When it comes to braking, this machine has some of the best in the business. Here is a warning though, be sure to pull in the clutch when using those rear brakes as they will stall the engine, that's how good they work. It only takes a tap and those rear tires will instantly lock up. As for overall comfort and ergonomics, I honestly believe Yamaha created this one for me personally. I feel perfectly at home when I mount up in the saddle. Have you noticed the new seat, as it's thin up front and widens drastically towards the rear. Transitioning your body from one side of the machine to the other is done with the greatest of ease, and the new cushioning inside of the seat is so comfortable and soft when hitting those rough patches in the trail. Overall, I was pretty darn happy with how the YFZ-450R performs and delivers right off the showroom floor.

Areas Of Improvement
Just like any new product, they all can use some small improvements and personal tweaks and of course, I've found a few things that I thought would help improve upon this already great ATV that Yamaha has carefully crafted together. First off, even though I found this motor to be unbelievably user friendly and blistering fast, I really felt that it was a bit lacking on low end grunt. Another issue that I would like to address is the suspension. For me, and I'm sure most would agree, the suspension is sprung a bit stiff for my liking. I will say this though; the suspension does work very well (better than most stock suspension) at keeping the quad close to the ground and stable with only a little kick in the rear. When jumping, it most definitely soaks up the landings allowing you to go big without worry of bottoming. But when you start to hit the rough terrains such as rocks, ruts, tree roots, whoops and braking bumps, the YFZR all of the sudden becomes a bit much to hold on to in stock form. Tweaking on the compression and rebound will help to smooth things out, but being that suspension is the number one section of a quad that I personally want to be perfect, I'll probably be digging a little bigger with the fix.

Just a couple of more items to point out here and we'll get to a few fixes I've come across. The 10 inch front and 9 inch rear radial Dunlop tires that come stock on this machine are very well thought out and actually portray an incredible and smooth ride. Honestly, I found them to be quite impressive as they offered a smooth ride, the perfect balance between bite and slide, and they were very lightweight! The only reason I did not mention them in the "Positives" section above is because I've got two issues with them. The first thing I noticed is at the slower more technical paces, the quad had a tendency to push and I could not make it around some of the turns without stopping and backing it up. I think some of that was due to the type of tread patter on the front tires while I'm sure the suspension being a bit stiff did not help as well. Secondly, being that they possess a thin sidewall, which is typical for a stock tire, I punctured the sidewall on my second ride. If I were you, I'd ride them till I punctured them or wore them out, as they were great performers.

The last issue I have is not really a problem with anything Yamaha has done per say, yet it is an issue that I'll need to work on a bit to best suit my needs. Being an east coast rider, much of the terrain my riding buddies and I ride is technical tight wooded trails. I honestly spend more than half of my time riding on these trails and at near 50 inches wide; it gets a little tighter than I would personally care for. I honestly do enjoy the performance of the wider quad and it for the most part fits through the trails that I take it on, but if I could lose a couple of inches without losing the excellent stance and stability it portrays, I'd be a happy camper for sure. The cool thing is that I think I've got a solution that will cost me nothing at the end of the day, so stay with me here.