would the YZ426 make a good tight woods bike?

[Guest Guest]

I was just wondering if the 426 would work in the tight woods. Also how much do they weigh.

[MikeOK]

Yo dumbass- this is a much asked question, one I had before I bought mine. Now that I've had mine I can answer very easily- no, it would be a terrible tight woods bike, get an XR... You can look back through the older posts and find these questions before and find ways people have modified 426's to be trail bikes but why bother, if that's what you want to do you should get a bike designed for that purpose and leave the race bikes on the tracks. It would, and I plan to do this to mine, make a good scramble bike but if you're asking if it's good for playing in tight technical singletrack type trails the answer is definately no. I hope this helps...

Mike

[oldxmxer]

Mike is dead right on this one.I rode my 426 in the woods and the woods here are not concidered that tight.(Sierra Nevada)Next time I go I will be riding the XR.One hell of a Desert bike though.

You are better off in the woods with a little more flex in the forks.

[Sully]

I just got done on my second woods ride at chadwick MO. It is alright 14/51 sprkt but it gets to hot and you ahave to feather the clutch this bike is made for wide open terrian the bike runs better with the powerband as much as you can....

[Guest Guest]

I have to agree with the guys. I love my 426 but I think it sucks in the tight woods and that's pretty much all I ride. It's so freaking stiff it literally hurts to ride for 20 miles. Anymore and I don't think I could walk afterward. I think an XR is the way to go.

I'm going to have my forks done by A-loop to try and tone it down. I'll let everyone know how it goes when I do it.

[techman]

I ride my YZ426 in the woods regularly and rather enjoy it. I dropped the front sprocket by 1 tooth and my power was made smoother by the E-Line stator kit flywheel. I admit I skip off the small roots etc but I can lug in corners and roll on right up to warp without shifting often - that's kind of nice. You can always soften your suspension settings for trail use. However, in Extremely snotty woods, you end up using the clutch a lot because 1st gear isn't low enough. For most woods riding I have found that I don't need much clutch as long as I stay away from the squared-off, skid-then-roost mode of turning. I'm talking about trails where you never even get out of 1st gear. However, the majority would recommend a different bike such as the WR400 or another enduro mount. MX based mounts always suffer from the too-tall 1st gear problem.

They're about 250 lbs, so they'll definitely feel heavier than 125's, 250's and even mid-bore trail 2 strokes - but, the power easily makes up for it if you're an acceleration or wheelie junky.

[Taffy]

roostn

i read one of the american comics a few months back & they test rode some guy's YZ. he has won about three world veterans titles so i hope somebody has remembered the write-up.

the journalist said that the head angle had been steepened-visibly! i put my friends KLX300R next to my WR one day & you could visibly see the difference in the angle of the forks. i reckon it's a full one degree.

last year putting a set of scott's special triple clamps on was the business. they brought the forks back 5mm towards the rider & this helped tight steering a lot.

Yamaha for this year shortened the frame 5mm & nobody has said anything about the clamps anymore. but they were made to help with the STEERING, the yamaha frame mod could & did only help shorten the wheelbase. 5mm wasn't even worth bothering about.

as yet we await a rider to ride a 00 bike WITH the scott's short clamps.

i don't know about you but i have to push the bars with both fists & can't clutch or brake the bike properly.

"we're" getting quite handy at the enduro game, we've had some good results but neither my friends (on WR's) or myself can remember catching anyone in the woods. all we associate woods with are two-strokes, blipping throttles & get out the f******* way!!!!!

Taffy

[YZ426_Kicks]

Hey There!

I've seen your post for a couple of days now, and I was a little reluctant to answer. The YZ426 is my first bike, and I've been a little, lets say, uptight about it. But I think this will help, and I believe my fellow Thumpers who have expressed their desires to see me relax a little will appreciate this...

This past Sunday, I went out for a day long trail thrashing. The weather was a perfect: 70 degrees, and the conditions were trick! I had a great combination of loose soil, mud, and anything else you could find, to roost.

I received some instruction from a fellow thumper. He taught me everything. How to take turns, how to jump, and so on. I was looking forward to putting them into practice.

WHAT A BLAST I HAD!

The trails were tight, ranging from 2 to 4 feet wide, sometimes just a little over a foot. I usually ride in 1st, or 2nd depending upon the territory, but this time I was up in 3rd and 4th. I was cutting the turns, roostn' mud all over the place, and gettin' some good speed. For the first time, I felt really close to my bike. No matter where I was: Woods, Hill Climbs, Mud Holes, Creek Crossings, Railroad Cuts, Open Fields, etc., I was rockin! MY YAMMIE NEVER SKIPPED A BEAT!

From my experience, the bike runs well in the tight stuff. Sure she's an MX bike, and really wants to be out running up in the power band, but the YZ426 can successfully be used as a trail bike, in my humble opinion.

Is it the perfect choice for a trail rider? I don't know? I'd leave that up to the individual rider. Only he can make that determination.

I realize that my inexperience towards this sport, its mechanics, and other issues may have gotten me too, lets say, uptight. I will always stand behind someone who's being unduly wronged, but I must say, my YZ is a blast to ride out there, and I wouldn't trade it.

I've learned that there are adjustments you can make for the trail and woods, based upon the experience coming out of Thumper, and Dirtnet:

1. Hinson Basket upgrade.

2. "Gear Down" the sprocket set/better chain.

3. Add a heavier flywheel

I definitely will do #1 and #2. Im seriously considering #3.

By the way, this Yammie throws mud like nothing I've seen out there so far. I never come home clean, but then, who wants to anyway?

Thanks Guys!

Best wishes, God Bless!

Randy

YZ426 Kicks

[Taffy]

Randy do #3 first.

if the bike lugs better you don't NEED to gear it down!

Taffy

[Guest Guest]

I actually like the tall first gear when doing cut /thrust turns through the trees, but then again i like crotch crickets ?

[Moto]

Being fresh to the 426 an having spend the majority of my time on a XR, the only thing that gave me fits in the beginning was the stalling factor. However, after a couple of days of having to relight the YZ after stalling it in a tight corner, I quickly learned to over come this problem. The power comes in quite handy though when tooling through the woods of NY & PA. I can't count the number of times I had wished for just a little more oomph when riding an XR after having come up on an unforseen obsticle, but I suppose that added oomph could also get one into even bigger trouble. My 426 seems to work fine for me in the woods and on the track, but everybody is different. Just my 2 cents.

[endo]

Those people who think the yz is a lousy woods bike are either slow, or motorcrossers that want to keep the bike for themselves. If you dont like it in the woods then try going faster. I think the bike is possibly the best do it all off-road bike made. ie. MX, Scramble, Trail. ?