YZ450F transmission problems???

[Woody_YZF]

I was talking to a guy at a race this past weekend and he said the his 450F was in the shop because it was having problems with 4th gear. Has anyone heard of problems with the tranny's, clutch???

[cowboyona426]

Clutch, yes. Tranny, no. Go to TT and do a search, there may be a few posts about tranny problems, but I think they were all trolls. The clutches did have some problems, but are supposed to be fixed for 04, so your YFZ should be fine. TT is a good place to look for info though.

[MotoMan]

Cowboy hit it perfect.

Never heard of any tranny problems, and frankly I really haven't noticed any clutch problems either after I learned how to ride a 4 stroke. At first I did have alot of chatter but after I figured out that you really don't have to use the clutch, the chattering has stopped.

I suppose anything could happen though, is the bike brand new and still within 30days from the purchase date? If so Yamaha will fix it for free.

[Keetoman393]

The KTM had a problem with some heat treat issues on a few gears and Big M knows all about it. His tranny got trashed because of a faulty circlip or gear. I have heard that some of the WR450's have had some problems with a woodruff key as well as the 200o YZF426 bikes. Could be he had a lemon?

[cowboyona426]

Some of the 00 426 had CB straight key problems, not woodruff key issues. The woodruff key in the WR450 that has been failing is due to guys hitting the e-button when the engine is turning FYI.

[Woody_YZF]

Originally posted by MotoMan
Cowboy hit it perfect.

Never heard of any tranny problems, and frankly I really haven't noticed any clutch problems either after I learned how to ride a 4 stroke. At first I did have alot of chatter but after I figured out that you really don't have to use the clutch, the chattering has stopped.

I suppose anything could happen though, is the bike brand new and still within 30days from the purchase date? If so Yamaha will fix it for free.

It's definitely older than 30 days and has been ridden hard, he's already on his 2nd top end. He seized the first one when the oil drain bolt fell out.

[cowboyona426]

Fell out, or never got put back in? Sounds like this guy is hard on his equipment, so he may have tranny problems. NOTHING is unbreakable (unfortunately), but I'll bet it has something to do with him or his riding style rather than being a Yamaha problem.

[Yardpro393]

if the bike was run without oil and siezed the top end, i am sure the trans. would have been dammaged as well.

[MotoMan]

Yep what yardpro said.