Anyone have 2010 YZ450F complaints or dislikes?

[TripleUp]

I'm just wondering if any of you guys who own one have any complaints or dislikes about them and if so what are they? Is the sounds of the intake really that loud?

[brentn]

It is if you remove the air ducts, otherwise I didn't really notice a big difference coming off a 05 yz250...

Likes

-EFI, no more flooding

-Air filter doesn't get dirty as quickly, nice and flat and easy to change

-Tunable with the tuner

-Shifting is very direct, there is no sloppyness in the shifting at all

-Power is excellent, this bike has lots of torque, you are able to shift a bit quicker using only lower revs I find.

-Suspension is softer than my 05, and soaks up trail crap really well. I'm quite a bit faster on this bike because of it, so my friends say

-Header is completely protected by the sub frame, no worrying about bending, dings or cracks due to falling etc.

-uses a voltage regulator for the EFI, you can tap into this for a full lighting stator of 120 watts

-Sight glass for oil, there is no question if you are low on oil. Middle of the trail you can just glance at the sight glass and know your ok. Works REAL well for seeing if you got water sucked into the system, as the color of the oil is very apparent.

-Stock grips are actually really really decent, I've had no desire to change them

-Center of gravity on this bike is really nice, feels just like my old two stroke. Bike does not feel forward, rear, or top heavy at all, making handeling that much better. You wouldn't know it was a four stroke if you could only judge it on handeling alone.

-Seat fabric is great, much more grippier than the older seat covers that would have you sliding around when it gets wet/muddy.

-Timing can be adjusted with the tuner throughout 3 RPM transitions on the bike, which is more than enough! You can adjust your timing for just full RPM use and have it stock for the rest, or just mid, etc.

CONS

-Bike is hard to start, finding TDC on a four stroke is really tough when you are trying to skip past the intake cam.. I can't do it very well. When I hit a hard spot (exhaust or intake cam) I just back the starter up and kick straight down. Bike seems to start after a couple kicks, 3-4 sometimes. In colder weather this gets worse, no doubt due to a shitty map for starting, buying a fuel controller would cure this I'm sure.

After break in I found starting when hot was much better, usually with one kick. Sometimes depending on how I stalled out, I will have to crack the throttle 1/4 or so while kicking to bring it to life.

-Top end is not there on this bike, I mean you can hear it scream but there is very little power that can be used for shifting. I find shifting at around mid rpms yields the best power. Bike needs a pipe badly.

-Too tall for me, I'm 6' and I find it's just a little taller than my older bikes that never had an issue. I can only think that it's the extra bit of travel in the forks or maybe the seat height is taller, I dunno, but something has to be done about it.

-Stock gearing is def too low, I found that after I changed the rear sprocket from 48 to 50 teeth it improved the gears usefullness quite a bit from 1st to 3rd. For the trails I really am glad that I did this.

-Oil drain bolts are idiotic, you cannot drain this bike on a stand as oil will run everywhere. You have to do it with the bike standing up and then to get it all out you need to lean the bike. On my old 250 it was right underneath in the middle, perfect for a center stand and a small oil bucket.

-Mud clings to this bike alot more than my 05 250, as it has quite a bit more crevices and parts/castings sticking out all over the cases for the engine.

-Skid plate on this is very basic, covering only the base of the tranny and nothing else. I find all it does is collect more mud than anything, a skid plate that runs across the bottom and slightly up would be a much better idea.

-GYTR tuner is very limited, you can only adjust fuel for 3 RPM ranges on the bike making fuel transitions on the map throughout the power band poor as they are too sudden... A fuel controller is a must for this bike if you want to have a properly transitioned fuel adjustment throughout the range. Hopefully my PCV comes tomorrow...

-Boot for spark plug allows water/dirt to enter the bike. Don't blame the pressure washer on this one, it's impossible to spray up in there with it. Changing your spark plug with bits of dirt clumped to the walls and around the base of the plug is pretty scary.

-Front tire on this bike is very lousy, I found that I washed out very easily in anything remotely wet, making riding very tedious at times... The rear is ok, but wears fast, I have 24 hours on the bike and my rear is pretty much done.

That's really all I can think of right now.

Every bike has some negative, but this particular bike is still worth the money and your time if you buy it, you really can't go wrong. Fix up the issues throughout the season or right away and you'll have a machine that is the cats ass.

[yathump]

Nice write-up Brentn, any idea what you're getting for fuel mileage, these bikes have really started peaking my interest:thumbsup:

[tech24]

I pretty much agree with brentn. My only real dislikes are the handle bars are too low. Hot starting can be a pain until you find the right teqnique. Stalls easy which I have overcome with mapping, 49 tooth DS and bumbing idle a tad. A heavy flywheel would be great just haven't got it yet.

Other than that the bike has been amazing for me. Very comforatable and easy to ride. I am vary pleased with suspension I turned HScomp down 2 clicks and it perfect for track, trail, woods, rocks and anything I throw at it.

I think you can get 40 miles out of a tank of fuel pending on riding conditions.

[cowboyona426]

brentn, I think I hate you now. You are making me want a 10 after reading that! Ug... ?

One of the things I worry about (having never ridden a 10 or any EFI bike for that matter) is what happens if I'm 30 miles into the woods and the pump dies? How likely a scenario is this? My other concern is the fuel capacity... I can't remember how much bigger the aftermarket large tank for the 10 is but it seemed like it wasn't much bigger.

I just keep waiting for that CL ad from a 10 owner that hates it for whatever reason and is interested in my 06 as a trade... ?

[tech24]

I suppose an electronic failure is possible. Haven't really heard of any common repeat failures yet. If we hear about any pump failures I wouldn't be suprised to find that its been ran empty a few times.

I also noticed last weekend on an 18 mile loop that if I went slow or fast around it, fuel consumption was about the same as opposed to the FCR which would use twice as much when I went fast.

[NorCal]

Can anyone tell me if this bike will consistently start in 2nd gear (warmed up)? That's my

only concern with this bike due to my races being a dead engine start. In fact, I'm leaning

towards a Kawi due to how easy everyone says it starts, but I loved my '06 YZ450F and

wouldn't mind going back to blue.

[grayracer513]

CONS

-Bike is hard to start, finding TDC on a four stroke is really tough when you are trying to skip past the intake cam.. I can't do it very well. When I hit a hard spot (exhaust or intake cam) I just back the starter up and kick straight down.

You should not be trying to find TDC. No one at Yamaha has ever said that was the correct procedure. It's a misnomer created by the many people who can't separate the concept of TDC from the beginning of the compression stroke and keep incorrectly interchanging the terms. Page 1-18 of the manual states:

4. Push the kickstarter down lightly with your foot until resistance is felt. (that would be compression)

5. With the throttle closed,...move (the kickstarter) down lightly with your foot until the gears engage, then push it down smoothly and forcefully.

There is no mention of going looking for TDC, and if you do, you're setting yourself up for a wasted kick. With the auto decompression cam, compression resistance will be felt at about 80 degrees BTDC. Just as with the older 450's you should push it against compression, reset the crank and kick from there. This drives the engine past the point of ignition and past TDC, hopefully to fire and continue on its own.

If you move from the base of compression past to or past TDC, you will have gone past the ignition point, and will then have to kick the engine hard enough for it to rotate two full turns before it gets back to its next compression and spark event. Back it the days of BSA's and Matchlesses with 50 pound crankshafts and 10:1 compression, that used to work. Not any more.

[tech24]

IMO no. However now that I have gotten used to it and learned to crack the throttle slightly it will usually fire on first kick in gear but not every time. If the cold start knob is pulled it will always fire right up. I suppose for a dead engine start you could have the knob pulled and youll just have to reach down and push it in once you're on the move.

With an auto clutch it may be more consistant but I don't have one so I don't know.

One thing that I have thought of doing is marking a spot on the grip and one on the thottle cover piece so that they line up in the "sweet spot." It seems that if you have the throttle slightly cracked as to add a small amount of air but not to the point where you TPS angle is commanding much increased fuel it will always start.

[TripleUp]

Does the new EFI mean you never have to jet the bike anymore? for weather changes or modifications? or would you need to adjust it with a fuel controller? (forgive me if I'm wrong) I'm still looking to hear from everyone and anyone who owns one or has ridden one because everyone has a different opinion.

[tech24]

Does the new EFI mean you never have to jet the bike anymore? for weather changes or modifications? or would you need to adjust it with a fuel controller? (forgive me if I'm wrong) I'm still looking to hear from everyone and anyone who owns one or has ridden one because everyone has a different opinion.

It will self correct for temperature and altitude. To get the most out of modifications you will need to adjust fuel mapping with some sort of device. However they don't seem to run poorly with stock fuel map if you add and exhaust like a carb bike would. The cool thing is you can get a power commander and wide band a/f ratio sensor and have live fuel correction like an automobile but its spensive and unnecessary for most.

[brentn]

Nice write-up Brentn, any idea what you're getting for fuel mileage, these bikes have really started peaking my interest:thumbsup:

I can go on an hour and a half trail ride, come back to the truck and the tank is just above half way, at least I think it is. I read a review in which they stated that the new tank is semi transparent and it's real easy to see your level. Complete and utter bullshit. Even with the sun you cannot see the fuel level, it is very very hard to see how much fuel you have left...

I can guess that I'm getting about 3-3.5 hours of riding for a tank, but then again I'm not even 100% sure I reach the half way point. I always just keep on filling it back up when I get back to the truck.

I pretty much agree with brentn. My only real dislikes are the handle bars are too low. Hot starting can be a pain until you find the right teqnique. Stalls easy which I have overcome with mapping, 49 tooth DS and bumbing idle a tad. A heavy flywheel would be great just haven't got it yet.

Other than that the bike has been amazing for me. Very comforatable and easy to ride. I am vary pleased with suspension I turned HScomp down 2 clicks and it perfect for track, trail, woods, rocks and anything I throw at it.

I think you can get 40 miles out of a tank of fuel pending on riding conditions.

I agree, forgot to mention that, but the handle bars could be raised. I'm saving this mod for when I get a steering stabalizer ?

brentn, I think I hate you now. You are making me want a 10 after reading that! Ug... ?

One of the things I worry about (having never ridden a 10 or any EFI bike for that matter) is what happens if I'm 30 miles into the woods and the pump dies? How likely a scenario is this? My other concern is the fuel capacity... I can't remember how much bigger the aftermarket large tank for the 10 is but it seemed like it wasn't much bigger.

I just keep waiting for that CL ad from a 10 owner that hates it for whatever reason and is interested in my 06 as a trade...

Take a look at past EFI bikes like suzuki that's been fuel injected for a while now and you don't hear of any fuel pump failures. Look at it logically.

Yamaha built this bike for motocross and super cross, in which there is ALOT of money to be made by riders. On top of that Yamaha's name is ALL OVER their bike and whenever a current position is listed on TV for placement, you always see the riders name and then the manufacturer of bike they're on.

If they had bikes that failed all the time, they would not be in business. They know that they have to keep quality control up on essential items like a fuel pump, or an injector or cams, valves etc. The chances of a major system of the bike failing due to the fact that it's electronic and not mechanical anymore, are just as likely as a carb breaking in the middle of a trail. I doubt it's going to happen.

Put your fears of reliability aside, the bike is very very reliable.

Can anyone tell me if this bike will consistently start in 2nd gear (warmed up)? That's my

only concern with this bike due to my races being a dead engine start. In fact, I'm leaning

towards a Kawi due to how easy everyone says it starts, but I loved my '06 YZ450F and

wouldn't mind going back to blue.

If you crack the throttle when kicking in 2nd with the clutch held in, then yes it will start for sure. I've done it many times, it won't matter what gear your in, the clutch is not grabby at all when the bike is warmed up. Had to do this a couple of times on a hill when in first and I fell over, couldn't find nuetral...

Does the new EFI mean you never have to jet the bike anymore? for weather changes or modifications? or would you need to adjust it with a fuel controller? (forgive me if I'm wrong) I'm still looking to hear from everyone and anyone who owns one or has ridden one because everyone has a different opinion.

No more jetting, this task has been replaced by "mapping".

Fuel injection can compensate for altitude and temperature changes, but the stock ECU cannot compensate properly for major engine changes.

Every fuel injection system needs a base point, which is called a map, to tell the computer how much fuel the bike generally needs for a particular RPM range. The sensors for air pressure and temperature tell the computer to make the minor adjustments to the map so that the bike can achieve its air fuel ratio set from the factory for the performance the factory wanted you to have.

When you throw on a pipe, or do major cam work, or port out the engine, you are changing how much air is flowing through the bike, which now may be too much for the base map leaning it out. The stock map is designed for the bike as it is, it flows a particular amount of air and the stock map is giving the bike fuel for this amount of air. If you change that, then the map may go lean.

Say you had a perfectly jetted a stock bike, like right on the money. Now you add a pipe and a silencer that flows much better, your going to run a tad lean. To compensate for this, you install a larger main jet and maybe change your needle position.

On an EFI bike you alter the fuel map to compensate for the same kind of change. The tuner can do this and a power commander can do this much better.

This is how I pretty much understand how things work on this bike

[sean3239]

I'm just wondering if any of you guys who own one have any complaints or dislikes about them and if so what are they? Is the sounds of the intake really that loud?

Overall, I like the bike but it took me a little while to get used to the handling, which IMO, is a little different (compared to the 08YZ450) which is not a shock cause the bike is totally different. There is a uneasy feeling I get when entering turns, the front end doesn't feel very planted but I have gotten use to that (I think its from tweaking the settings AND time as my body learned how to move to compensate for that). The size of the shrouds is somewhat bothersome although you do get used to it.

The bike still has some headshake on fast rough straights, 08 rarely did.

I like the sound it makes, I think its unique and sounds good.

The radiators will bend if you hit them with your knee too hard! You need braces right off.

Having the airfilter not in the usual or recent historical spot (under seat) is kind of nice. Not having oil smudges around the plastic near the seat bolts is nice. On the other hand, pulling up the tank and supporting it with the support wire is getting kind of annoying (sort of).

The frame design is such that the chain does not come near it (or the bottom rear fender plastic guard) as it did on my 08 (regardless of how aligned it was).

The bike starts for me within two or three kicks (many times one kick) regardless of my "procedure". Even if it takes three, not bad, I see people kicking 20-30 times on some "other" bikes (yeah, when cold but still!)

The oil site glass and oil cover are terrific (comparatively speaking).

The pipe being under the seat, has never been an issue even in the summer, and I live in Arizona (but I do MX so I don't sit or go slow for very long).

The EFI is great as is the power, solid, no bog and clean. The tuner is fun but I don't really know if its done that much (for me anyway).

Overall, the bike is realy good and like some of the unique aspects to it.

[TripleUp]

Very detailed and informative feedback about the bike! You'd never get this good feedback from any magazine lol Thanks again. I guess that means everyone is pretty happy with the bike and I'm guessing that means no one is having any buyer's remorse? Other than empty wallets. I have seen a few used 2010s up for sale already around here.

[thestuz]

did anyone mention "fuel in oil" problems?

this has been an issue on crfs and yams.

the other prob with f.i. is that when it gets low on fuel,or there is a problem. it just dies. no warning.

[brentn]

did anyone mention "fuel in oil" problems?

this has been an issue on crfs and yams.

the other prob with f.i. is that when it gets low on fuel,or there is a problem. it just dies. no warning.

Can't comment on low fuel, but I believe that should be right. No pressure, then no fuel, so if it's low enough to slosh and miss the pump then the bike will probably die out. I've never gotten low enough on gas to find out.

Gas in oil?

No....

It would probably thin out bigtime. I've never had that issue... so far.

[kx1984]

Overall, I like the bike but it took me a little while to get used to the handling, which IMO, is a little different (compared to the 08YZ450) which is not a shock cause the bike is totally different. There is a uneasy feeling I get when entering turns, the front end doesn't feel very planted but I have gotten use to that (I think its from tweaking the settings AND time as my body learned how to move to compensate for that). The size of the shrouds is somewhat bothersome although you do get used to it.

The bike still has some headshake on fast rough straights, 08 rarely did.

I like the sound it makes, I think its unique and sounds good.

The radiators will bend if you hit them with your knee too hard! You need braces right off.

Having the airfilter not in the usual or recent historical spot (under seat) is kind of nice. Not having oil smudges around the plastic near the seat bolts is nice. On the other hand, pulling up the tank and supporting it with the support wire is getting kind of annoying (sort of).

The frame design is such that the chain does not come near it (or the bottom rear fender plastic guard) as it did on my 08 (regardless of how aligned it was).

The bike starts for me within two or three kicks (many times one kick) regardless of my "procedure". Even if it takes three, not bad, I see people kicking 20-30 times on some "other" bikes (yeah, when cold but still!)

The oil site glass and oil cover are terrific (comparatively speaking).

The pipe being under the seat, has never been an issue even in the summer, and I live in Arizona (but I do MX so I don't sit or go slow for very long).

The EFI is great as is the power, solid, no bog and clean. The tuner is fun but I don't really know if its done that much (for me anyway).

Overall, the bike is realy good and like some of the unique aspects to it.

I'm going to make your day. I came off the 08 and to a 10. Run your race sag at 108-110 mm. That shake will be gone and the bike will be like magic. I was trying to run 100 mm of sag and the bike was soo sketchy comming into turns and felt unplanted in the turns at the same time. Both MX1 and factory Connection told me to run more sag. To me it felt like the bike needed less sag and this is where I was going wrong.

Again , I could not believe the difference. Do it today before you start to dislike the bike. Set the sag at 108mm with your gear on. no cheating or you will be cheating yourself out of a killer bike. Close enough does not work. This bikes chassis is mega finicky.

[YamaLink]

Maybe fuel mileage and that it does not have the same mass as the new CRF450R (but I'll take the valve sanity instead!).

[tech24]

did anyone mention "fuel in oil" problems?

this has been an issue on crfs and yams.

the other prob with f.i. is that when it gets low on fuel,or there is a problem. it just dies. no warning.

The only problem I've seen with fuel in the oil on here was a guy ice racing whos coolant temp remained extremely low causeing ecu to add more fuel than was really needed. Problem was solved by partially covering radiators I believe.

[sean3239]

I'm going to make your day. I came off the 08 and to a 10. Run your race sag at 108-110 mm. That shake will be gone and the bike will be like magic. I was trying to run 100 mm of sag and the bike was soo sketchy comming into turns and felt unplanted in the turns at the same time. Both MX1 and factory Connection told me to run more sag. To me it felt like the bike needed less sag and this is where I was going wrong.

Again , I could not believe the difference. Do it today before you start to dislike the bike. Set the sag at 108mm with your gear on. no cheating or you will be cheating yourself out of a killer bike. Close enough does not work. This bikes chassis is mega finicky.

Yeah, I have been told that so I have set my sag at 110 but I still get a little headshake. I'm still tweaking so maybe I will get it right, but even as it is now, I am finally happy. At first, I was concerned, but not too much anymore. In my case anyway, it seems the bike will turn really well if you can overcome that sketchy feeling and just be aggressive, the bike seems to stick well.