YFZ first ride report

[Woody_YZF]

Well I was finally able to get a YFZ in my hands after going through hell, but I got it, thanks to a good salesman at a local dealer.

I took her straight to the track and at first I was not that impressed with the power. It lacks low end power, but the RPM's climb to the moon. It feels awesome in the mid to high range. It took me a little getting used to, but now that I am used to it, it really feels pretty good. They say a pipe is supposed to fix that problem, which I think it would because the stock pipe is way restricting and you can feel it, however I thought it was good enough.

The suspension is awesome. It was so nice to jump and not slam when I land. If I got a little sideways or something it would just soak it up and the whoops seemed much nicer for sure. I'll probably play around with the settings and see what feels good to me, but I am only 150 lbs and the stock settings felt pretty good.

Handling is awesome. I've never ridden an ATV that levels itself out like this one does. The KFX has a lighter front end causing me to wheelie more often, but the YFZ just levels itself out. The handling is superior, I thought it was very excellent in all aspects.

Power is pretty good. I drag raced my buddy on his LTZ 400 that has been jetted, has a K&N and a Tri oval yosh pipe. He beat me all three times, but they were all within a foot or two. Stock to stock, the YFZ is definitely faster.

I probably skipped some things, but all in all, I am very happy with the purchase. Finally I have something that suits all my needs right out of the box, which to this point, I've always had at least a couple complaints. This is wider and has better suspension the two things I wanted out of it and I wasn't disappointed.

[Blitz393]

WOW sounds good! sounds real good. that utah trip is sounding better and better!

from the Yammy website i gather you can open the airbox, pipe, and rejet and it is supposed to add a 20% gain on power. i have seen rearview pics of the pipe and they look REALLY restrictive, worse even than our Z.

great write up, but make sure to get video of that close Z400 race, as i remember someone posting a link to a site where a Yosh-piped Z was stomped by a stock YFZ like it was in 1st gear. it sounds like you have an awesome ride, now can i have the other ones?? j/k

Rob

[Woody_YZF]

I'm not sure what the dude on the LTZ was doing on that video, but the YFZ is definitely not that much faster. My buddy who raced me is a pretty comparable rider to me, so I think it was fair. As far as the air box, it is very restrictive and so is the pipe. The hole in the end of the pipe is about half the size of the hole in a Raptor pipe, which surprised me. Probably pretty close the size of a stock Z400 pipe.

Blitz, you make your way up here and I'll see to it that we'll have a good time, I may even let you ride the YFZ. LOL

[Woody_393]

I got to ride her too, and I was not impressed with the low end at all. However, as my bro stated, it does rev to the moon, and seems to really like being riden in the revs. As my bro stated, a Pipe would more than likely cure this, but it is still smoking fast, you just have to remember to not ride it like I ride my CRF.

The Suspension was really good, and I must say that I was really impressed with the stock rubber. They cornered really well, and really seemed to bite quite well. The Z400 I rode did not corner nearly as well, and wanted to really slide, where as the YFZ would slide, but very controlled.

The way this bike feels is like nothing I've ever riden (not that I have loads of experience because I don't), but it was different, not bad, just different. I would probably go with some taller bars, because the stockers are really low, and standing was interesting, but do able (again, I'm not a quad guy so this may be normal, and I was paying extra attention to everything).

I took a bunch of pictures of the days events, so as I get them cleaned up I'll get them posted. All in all, that bike ROCKS!! I would love to ride one with the GYT-R pipe on it since as my bro stated the stocker it really restrictive (which surprised me since I thought it would be a little more geared toward the racer).

All in all sweet machine.

[Woody_393]

Here are some of the pics....

This is the race pic (a little grainy, because it was getting pretty dark).


The rest pretty much speak for themselves, Oh and they are all of Woody_YFZ, and yes, he is wearing shorts... In all the excitement, he left his pants in the garage

[Woody_393]

And some more....







A pic of the lucky bunch of guys that got to ride the YFZ too.
roggen_400ex, Bob (not registered yet... Not sure if he even has a computer???) and Woody_YFZ.
I'm taking the picture, I guess someone has to do the dirty work,
and I was just glad to be there, and capture it all digitally.

[Woody_393]

The last set.

This on is the YFZ in the back of the truck at the dealership.


YFZ boys daugher on the YFZ
(this is at the dealer that we didn't actually buy from, because they were idiots...
Same with the other 2 after this one.)




YFZ next to the new limited Raptor (I kind of like the all black).

[bates393]

Great write ups and excellent pics!

[ThuMPerCR125]

Looks fun!

And, that is the sweetest looking quad IMO.

The red frame is awesome!

[quadrider32]

awsome pics!!!

[MotoMan]

Very cool guys, great pics too. You need to get the pics on the server, we are lacking quad pics big time.

I am surprized at the lack of low end, it has to be the pipe restricting it, because my yzf has LOADS of low end torque. Post a picture of the exit on the exhaust so we can compare.

[Rockey]

Woody, if you want a cheap pipe, try finding a stock YZF 450 pipe on ebay for like $20, and modify the mounts to fit it.

[KTM250rm393]

The only thing that was missing in the above pictures was Jeff wearing a baseball cap backwards instead of a helmet and WHERE's THE BEER COOLER on the back???:

[roggen_400ex]

Just chiming in now cause I don't work the Night Shift.

Man what a blast. I have to say that my over-all opinion of the new yfz is "Outstatning!" The things that I noticed the most on first ride is. The top end kicks the crap out of my 400ex. And I loved the suspension. I guess my wife may be getting a used 400ex.

[MotoMan]

Originally posted by KTM250rm
The only thing that was missing in the above pictures was Jeff wearing a baseball cap backwards instead of a helmet and WHERE's THE BEER COOLER on the back???:

ROTFLMAO.

[Ranger_450F]

Woody,

If your looking for an after market pipe I highly recommend Thunder alley. Bob makes the pipes by hand and I believe he does make them for quads too.

The low end "lag" you discribed is taken care of with the TA on my 426. I know FFR said the dyno didn't come back all that great for the TA but it has worked well for me.

[Woody_393]

Here's the Pipe.

[Woody_YZF]

I was looking at my Raptor and the end cap with the "guts" hooked to it look like it would fit right on the YFZ can and it has a lot bigger hole. I was thinking of just taking the guts out of the Raptor and putting it on the YFZ to see if that helps. A friend of mine told me that another guy who has one told him that by removing the baffle it made a huge difference. I personally don't mind it how it is, it just wasn't quite what I expected. Now that I'm more used to it, it feels pretty good.

[MotoMan]

WOW, that pipe looks like the end of my 400ex man!!

This is the stock pipe on my 450, the outlet measures 1 5/8". Some of the aftermarket pipes are even bigger.

[Woody_YZF]

Yeah, I'd have to say that's a little different than the one on the YFZ. That looks more like it. It doesn't make much sense to me as to why they have a big stainless steel header pipe and this little tiny opening on the can. I guess you've got to keep the government happy and make a little extra cash in the after market world in the process.