WTH is MXA's problem with Yamaha Chassis?

[AnotherRedHead]

I didnt know Reed ran an aluminum tank

[yzjason55]

I had all kinds of trouble with my 07 YZ450F pushing thru turns. I put a set of offset Pro-Taper clamps on it and was amazed at the difference. IT would now carve a nice line, without my front wheel wanting to wash out on me. It definitely was an improvement. I had however heard that they fixed this push in 08.

[John221ex]

Don't forget to look at the ads: that is what pays for everything, all those accessories. So they will try to help sell them by finding "flaw" which need to be fixed with gizmos and shiny doo-dads. I'll bet those anodized oil caps really cut the lap times!

[Ice67]

I think you guys might be looking at this all wrong. MXA and most people think the bike is great other than the push. For some of us, the push is a deal breaker when it comes to purchasing the bike. I believe MXA was looking to answer the question "Is there a fix for the push?". This has been going on for months. In the latest issue they went overboard. It is my opinion they like the bike and want to make it work without the push. Why else spend so much time working on it?

[FLYIN400F]

I have an 07 450, i just really noticed the push this past weekend at a harescramble with alot of fast geass track,my sag is perfect brand new 756 on the front and i felt like i was chasing the front end all day in the turns, i see ty davis is running a 13mm offset on garrisons and raines bikes,seems a radical offset,but after this past race something has to change or big blue is going away, and i have been on blue thumpers since 99

[Pappy141]

I was under the impression that different off-set clamps just move the push to a different part of the turn....Instead of the entrance of the turn it now pushes in the center of the turn. The radiator lowering kit is said to help along with careful suspension set-up and of course the proper sag. I saw one team using different motor mounts to move the engine slightly forward...I think it was Gibbs.

[bnyfe]

MXA does not get paid to say this or say that or anything else. They have consistently made more enemies than any other publication in motocross because they will not hide from what their genuine opinion is.

That being said, anyone who does not believe that the Big Yamaha Thumper does not have a push doesn't know what they are talking about. It is there. And the faster you are, the more pronounced it becomes.

It is a give and take relationship. If you can learn to live with the fact that any Honda or Suzuki can and will carve circles around you, then you are ok. However, the other attributes of the Yamaha are incredible. The light feel in roll mode, it is way more stable at speed, reliability excels all other brands, and .

The push is there. You can do things to minimize it and help achieve greater turning prowess. That's the good news. But us die hard Yamaha riders won't trade colors just becuase of this problem. Most Honda or Suzuki owners will have a hard time adjusting to the comparatively vague steering of the Yamaha.

[zaxcar1]

my buddy has a 03crf450 i rode it and did not like the way it felt power wize. i get on my tank in the corners and car get at least 30 seconds before he makes it to the stops in the woods. ill take the push for the power thank you.

[rickallen124]

I was under the impression that different off-set clamps just move the push to a different part of the turn....Instead of the entrance of the turn it now pushes in the center of the turn. The radiator lowering kit is said to help along with careful suspension set-up and of course the proper sag. I saw one team using different motor mounts to move the engine slightly forward...I think it was Gibbs.

Gibbs machined/designed their own motor mounts to feed more flex into the chassis to get the front end to bite more. Same idea as kawasaki putting spacers in the motor mounts to generate a little more flex in the chassis.

[mx614]

Yea my 07 yz450 deffinately has a push that refuses to stop, I only ride mx and have the sag at 98mm and forks up 10mm with a 756 front tire,no head shake but still plowing the front. I've been so upset with the handling I've been taking my 06 yz250 2stroke with me and after fighting the 450 riding the 2 stroke the rest of the day. If any one has a magic cure for it I'll try before it gets sold. It could just be my riding style not working but it has been fine with the other thumpers I have rode lately at the track. HELP PLEASE.

[adamdf]

Yea my 07 yz450 deffinately has a push that refuses to stop, I only ride mx and have the sag at 98mm and forks up 10mm with a 756 front tire,no head shake but still plowing the front. I've been so upset with the handling I've been taking my 06 yz250 2stroke with me and after fighting the 450 riding the 2 stroke the rest of the day. If any one has a magic cure for it I'll try before it gets sold. It could just be my riding style not working but it has been fine with the other thumpers I have rode lately at the track. HELP PLEASE.

You can probably crank your sag down to 95mm. I honestly love the way the 06 YZ250F turned, and at first i didnt like it, but now that that bike is gone, i miss it. The new generation of yamahas DO have a very neatral feel to them. Meaning that they are not willing to turn on their own just by you merely thinking about it, which makes them very stable, and once again, neutral feeling. I like to think of them as good tennis players, always ready to jump left or right depending on where the ball will be next, they are never too far in one direction, which makes them excellent machines once you can get accustomed to that. Try sitting further forward in the turns, and experimenting with your suspension setup will also help.

Let me just add that i currently own a 2008 KTM 450 SXF, which i LOVE, but the suspension is not as good as the yamahas (atleast in stock trim), and i have actually been debating on whether or not im going to put money into the suspension via an ohlins shock (about $1200), or just sell it and get an 08 YZ450. I truly believe in yamaha after owning my 06 YZ250F, sometimes i regret that i left. I will tell you the KTM motor is PERFECT, but i think i am a yamaha guy (simply because i love the chassis - GO FIGURE) and i wouldd own another one in a heart beat.

[Ga426owner]

Let me just add that i currently own a 2008 KTM 450 SXF, which i LOVE, but the suspension is not as good as the yamahas (atleast in stock trim), and i have actually been debating on whether or not im going to put money into the suspension via an ohlins shock (about $1200), or just sell it and get an 08 YZ450. I truly believe in yamaha after owning my 06 YZ250F, sometimes i regret that i left. I will tell you the KTM motor is PERFECT, but i think i am a yamaha guy (simply because i love the chassis - GO FIGURE) and i wouldd own another one in a heart beat.

dang Adam that did not take long....

What do you like about the KTM other than the motor?

[kain522]

It seems that MXA is sometimes a bit more nit-picky than they need to be. Yes, my YZ has a push in the corners, but it's nothing that I haven't been able to overcome by a slight shift in body position. This to me, is a small trade off for the stability the bike has through the whoops and on the straights. Last summer I had a chance to ride a friends RMZ and while it cornered like a bandit, it had a busy, twitchy feel that I just never got comfortable with. I guess it comes down to your riding style and/or whatever you're used to. For me, the YZ handles great and makes me feel more confident on the track or trail.

[MAD_POTTER]

I just picked up their latest rag also. I get so tired of the misleading cover copy..... "is this the 09 YZ 450". I'm thinking maybe they have some super secret photos of the 09 prototypes. WRONG, just some analysis paralysis project about the YZ push. The last one of their mags I bought said "Super secret Keihin trick" on the cover. Nowhere in the entire issue was there anything about Keihin carbs, NOWHERE!!! ? Well, they won't fool me again, I'll make sure I look at the articles in the store before I blindly buy another copy. Man they really piss me off ??

[FreshDonutsCAN]

Haha i tottaly agree with what MXA says about yamaha. All i know is anything that turns better than KTM is gold.

My girlfriend calls them Krappy Time Motorcycles is that funny?

[NE14MX]

Potter, that issue was the first to show the Ready Racing gizmo for $99 that mimicks doing the AP mod. It was in with a bunch of other things you can buy.

[MotoGoalie]

[rant]Therein is the problem. The magazine business and MXA in particular.

You have more ads than articles for total content and the articles you have are advertisements with price lists at the end of them. The magazine is just not very informative and its certainly not very interesting. Information is new ideas on how to do things that you need to know. Information is interesting news stories. Information is telling a person what and why and how. Hopefully in more than 3 sentences.

The articles are nothing but, "here's this bike and here's crap we put on it" " and now this bike is a billion times better because we put all this blingy crap on it". Just throwing $1,000 at every little question. Ask the MXperts isn't much better really.

Nothing will beat the late 70s early 80s days of Dirt Bike and the early 80s version of Dirt Rider as far as content, interest and fun. FUN. Imagine that.

Now everything is driven by advertising and these damned energy drinks. Who drinks that garbage? Energy drinks have absolutely nothing to do with high impact exercise like motorcycle racing. None at all. They'd do just as well to advertise douchebag manufactures.

Nothing refreshes me like a cool shower of Summers Eve after a long hard moto - Chad Reed could pull that.?

And BTW, if you want to make the Yamaha turn, ride it like a Yamaha. GET UP ON THE TANK. Thats why they make it so easy to do that.?

[adamdf]

dang Adam that did not take long....

What do you like about the KTM other than the motor?

It corners well, the craftmanship is second to none, polished hubs, two stage ignition (i also have the handlebar switch for it:worthy: , and e-start is also worthy of much praise ?. And BY FAR the best brakes on earth, the magazines are not exagerating when they say these brakes are like a works bike's. . As i said, the motor is just so amazing, i cant describe it with any other word than "perfect", it comes on nice off the bottom and just builds power more and more as you twist the throttle, its just sweet. The guys in the KTM forum are raving big time about the new ohlins TTX shock, apparently it is the answer for the suspension dilemma (and to be honest i have the stock stuff working pretty good right now, just not quite like the yamaha yet). The shock goes for about $1000 and the guys with the shock are saying it has helped out the forks big time as well. I am sure that if i did put money into the shock, which is a decent price in my opinion, i will have one of the best bikes there is. But when i mentioned the yamaha in my previous post, i guess i was wishing the KTM would come with yamaha-like suspension stock, if it did, it would be the best bike imho. I am just deciding now though, what i am going to do, but it looks like i will keep this ktm untill next year at least, and depending on what my results are over the next few months (if i buy and like or dislike the results with ohlins), i'll decide if i will go back to a yamaha, or stick with the orange bikes. As i said, the ohlins seems to be the real answer and may even put the bike ahead of the others, not just on par, so we'll see. I guess to sum it up, i think i just wish i could own both!!?

After reading my last post, it may have sounded like i wasnt quite so happy with the KTM, but i really am. There is just that part of me that says i'm a yamaha guy because i know i feel right at home on them right away. I think anyone can be happy with either of them to be honest. Hope my post wasnt too confusing, if you have any other questions about the ktm that i may not have answered here, just let me know.

One last thing. I was just browsing around on racerx's website. And found a new and interesting article concerning the racing success of the YZ450 this year. It does seem like a yamaha advertisement in parts but its a decent read. The link is below, note that they say the frame is slimmer down by the foot pegs, i didnt realise that was an update for 08, they also said they took a lot of metal out from where the shock bolts to the frame, didnt ever hear about that before either!

http://racerxill.com/articles/detail/3306/bench-racing-ammo-yz450f.aspx

[MAD_POTTER]

Potter, that issue was the first to show the Ready Racing gizmo for $99 that mimicks doing the AP mod. It was in with a bunch of other things you can buy.

I just dug out that issue and all I can find is a full page ad for Ready Racings cam thingy on page 151 and on page 285 (in the CRF150 gear section) an almost identical picture as the cover pic of a float bowl with the copy "R&D Racing power bowl & and accelerator pump, Why waste time with an accelerator pump cover when R&D has redesigned the complete float bowl. Price:$225.00. First of all I could give a rats ass about CRF 150's and second why put on the cover (with a photo of a float bowl) "Super secret Keihin trick" and not tell us anything about it. I was expecting more. Like someone else said, the cover blurbs are just more advertising. That's why I think their cover copy is misleading. The only good thing about that rag is the historic racing and vintage bike articles.

[YZF 13]

raised my fork tubes 5mm on my 04yzf 250 in 05 and haven't changed a thing sense. i installed a fmf power header to get on the pipe quicker and its awsome offroad and on tracks