2004 Yamaha YFZ450 Kory Ellis Ride Review
- Updated: June 16, 2003
E mails like the one below have been flooding in since Yamaha announced their new YFZ450 or what we call the ATV “that changes everything”…
Dear ATV Scene,
Hey guys where is the info on the test ride that was to take place on the YFZ450 this week? I’m desperate for a ride impression of this industry changing ATV. We can only hope this influences other manufacturers to step up to the plate with an answer to Yamaha. Wouldn’t it be great to have a battle of the brands during the Nationals next year with all the major producers supporting their rider of choice on true race-ready machines.
John, much thanks to you for supporting the pro-production and production classes that has intrigued support from some of the manufacturers, and a hats-off to you Kory – for riding the Suzuki in both the pro production and the pro class. This is a testament of your dedication to the sport, the GNC series and evidence to riders everywhere that you don’t have to have a high dollar dirtbike/aftermarket R based chassis hybrid to be competitive (although I see you are now riding a CRF450 hybrid, part-time, but I have a good feeling if the Yamaha was released earlier you wouldn’t be riding your new CRF).
The Yamaha will hopefully revolutionize ATV racing forever much like the 250R has. I am extremely looking forward to the ride review from you guys. If anyone can test the magnitude of a quad, that would be Kory. Myself along with several others won’t soon forget the image of Kory sailing across the “table for two” at the London GNC on a production chassis and absorbing the pounding he and the bike took as he landed, rebounded and nearly left the ground again.
Keep up the good work guys, and thanks for all you do.
–Eddie Cundiff
Without any further suspense, here is what Kory Ellis had to say about Yamaha’s new YFZ450. Kory will race the YFZ test quad that Yamaha loaned to ATV Scene.com, but in no way is Kory affiliated or sponsored by Yamaha.
Kory loved how he could aggressively carve through turns on the new Yamaha. He said It handles far better than any ATV ever!What was your first impression of the machine?
I was really impressed that they actually built it for racing. I never heard an OEM mention the word “racing” and “track purposes” before, that got me really excited. I was afraid they would build it around their WR motor, so when I saw it included all the YZ bike technology I knew it was going to be something special. So it’s safe to say my first impression was very positive.
Describe its power.
When I first rode it I was disappointed with the power. It was supposed to be based on the YZ but it was really calm and mellow. We put a GYTR pipe on it, removed the air box and re-jetted, then it came alive to what I expected it to be – plus some! All it needs is a pipe, then it runs as good as a race bike. In fact, with the pipe on it, the power is really close to the YZ racer I raced last year. It doesn’t have quite the compression than my YZ did so it lacked a little on the bottom, but it was just as fast as my full-race (stroked and bored) YZ426 that I used to race.
Kory said the YFZ is extremely predictable and maneuverable in the air. He got plenty of it during our evaluation.How was the transmission?
Great. It was really smooth and the gear ratios were perfect in my opinion. I never missed a gear or found neutral by mistake.
What did you thnk of the suspension and handling?
The stock suspension worked excellent! It soaked up bumps that I thought would hurt when I landed like true race suspension should. It handled perfectly. You could steer it where you wanted, point it in any direction, slide it sideways when you needed to. It never twitched or did anything that you didn’t want it to do. It was really precise and predictable.
Jumping the bike is really fun. With other OEM quads you have to deal with a lot of dead weight. The YFZ is way more maneuverable and effortless in mid air. It’s got a really light feel to it and it’s balanced very well. By far, it’s the best handling and has the best suspension from any manufacturer ever! They really did a good job on it.
Pitching the YFZ into a turn is effortless.Was it comfortable?
When I first got on it it felt a little small. I’m a bigger guy, so I thought I should be a little cramped on it, but as soon as I rode it that all changed. It felt extremely comfortable. The harder you push it the better it is. It was really easy to move around on, the seat and fenders never got in the way. All in all, it suited me fine.
Was there anything about it that disappointed you?
(Long thought) No. It definitely is the best sport quad you can buy right now. The overall power, handling, things like easy maintenance and attention to detail — there’s just nothing out there this good. Nothing is even close to this caliber.
Kory and ATV Sport’s test rider, Cody Anderson, charge over a double jump at race speed. What have you changed on it to make it a complete pro caliber racer?
A few bolt on parts is all. A rider might want to put his own style handlebars, nerf bars, a wider axle and A-arms, that’s about it though. The biggest thing is that you don’t have to modify the motor, the pipe alone really brings it to life. Plus it’s reliable this way too. We put a Lone Star axle, swingarm and A-arms on, a GYTR pipe, Tag handlebars, PEP shocks, number-plate backgrounds, cut the fenders, took off the lights and parking brake and bolted on the stock YZ twist throttle on the one I’m racing . Other than those simple things – it’s stock and I’m confident I can win on it!
Will an amateur racer need to do all that to be competitive?
Amateur A, B and C riders won’t need to do anything but bolt on a pipe, A-arms, axle, handlebars and nerf bars and they’ll have a really well handling and ultra competitive race quad. A cross country racer will want to leave the width alone so he’s pretty much got a very competitive race quad right from the show room floor. I think the typical motocross racer will re-valve the rear shock and modify it to his style and weight. It’s still so new, I’m not sure about the front shocks. When you run wider A-arms for motocross, it will probably need longer shocks in order to work right unless someone figures out how to modify the stock ones. For cross country they’ll be fine even in the pro classes, but I would expect they’ll bolt on aftermarket shocks as well since most pro riders have shock sponsors.
Kory hammers through a rocky section while testing the YFZ’s cross country skills, which were just as good as its mx skills. Kory says it will make a lot of cross country racers happy at the starting line. The YFZ fires up really fast.Talk more about how well you think it will work in the cross country scene. Can a pro level GNCC racer win on it in stock form?
Without a doubt, yes! We did a little trail blazing with it and can honestly say it will be just as good of a cross country quad than it will on the motocross scene. The airbox is well built, water tight and looks really durable. The poweband won’t tire you out like a built R will, which is good when your racing hard for two hours. Plus the electric start fires instantly. I was impressed with how fast it started. They’ll really appreciate that. After it’s started, I’m confident that it’s fast enough to pull the holeshot in the pro class and win a pro GNCC with nothing more than a pipe, a bigger gas tank and maybe an aftermarket skid plate or two.
In your opinion is it a better motocross, TT, desert or cross country race quad?
The way it comes it is probably best for cross country racing, but with all the GYTR parts available for it – it’s very easily made into a mxer. It’s not specifically designed for only one kind of racing. As far as desert racing, I think it’s more of a corner to corner type of quad than it is a long distance wide -open desert quad. I haven’t raced desert so it’s really not my department.
Check out the GYTR shifter, nerf bars, kick-starter, brake pedal, graphics and the must-have GYTR pipe. Nice bolt-ons — right from the dealer!
Many of Yamaha’s GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing) accessories are available. All of them were bolted on this sexy-looking blue model. Click to enlarge.How does it compare to the Suzuki Z400 you’ve been racing?
We have a lot of modification on my Suzuki. It’s got the full Alba 440 kit on it and then some. After we put the pipe on the Yamaha, the motors were really close in comparison. As far as the handling characteristics go, the Yamaha’s rear shock and linkage works far better. The Yamaha has better shocks and a lower center of gravity so it turns and handles much better as well. Put a pipe on the stock Suzuki and one on the stock Yamaha and there is no comparison, the Yamaha pulls way harder and is definitely faster.
What kind of impact do you think it will have on the racing scene?
I think it will have a very positive impact on it. This is what we have needed and what we’ve been asking for for many years. Hopefully another manufacturer will step up with something as good or better, that will really allow our sport to take off.
Kory jumped the white one just as well as the blue.Were you disappointed in the lack of a contingency program or rider support from Yamaha?
I would love to be sponsored by Yamaha, and it would be really nice to have some kind of amateur contingency program, but it’s a huge step that one of the big four even released a full on race quad like this. It’s been a long time coming that a full-on race quad from one of the big four was made especially for track use. For now, we need to take what we can get. Now we can race competitively for less money, and that’s great if you ask me. Maybe next someone will come out with something just as good and one-up them somehow. This might start some kind of marketing war for market share, so we just might see a full-on contingency program come alive in the future.
Do you think it will hold up to the punishment you put a quad through?
Yamaha says they have done a lot of testing with it and they say they are confident that it will hold up just fine. From my experience, when you race hard on a track at the level we race at – stuff always breaks whether it’s from one of the top aftermarket manufacturers or straight from the OEM. Something is always going to break on a motocross track. I can’t look at it and tell if things will break on it. It looks fine to me. If things do wear and break it’s not like you have to constantly rebuild a whole new aftermarket quad like we have been over the years at the pro level. I love the idea of buying a fresh new race quad every year, we’ll probably still do that but now we can get it right away from the dealer down the street and now we don’t have to pay a ton for a one-off aftermarket frame that takes eight months to get shipped out and now we don’t have to hunt down a good deal on dirt bike to dissect for its motor. And lastly, now we don’t have to spend weeks on end putting that crazy contraption together in our garages.
Do you think Honda will release something this good?
Everyone’s been saying they are coming out with something but they never have and we’ve been waiting for many many years. If they want to make it this good with a CRF engine, I’m sure everyone would agree that they are certainly capable. If they want to make it as competitive on the race track, they definitely have their work cut out for them. It will be interesting to see if they release something this race ready. It would really be the great for the sport if they did, but I’m not waiting around on them I can tell you that.
Any last words about Yamaha’s greatest 4-wheeled accomplishment?
It’s the best thing out there in my opinion, simple as that. I think they will take over the sport performance market by leaps and bounds with this machine alone. Plus Yamaha caters to just about every type of rider with the rest of their sport lineup (the Blaster, Banshee, Raptor and Warrior). I hope they do well with sales, they rightfully deserve to. I think, because of their efforts, ATV racing as a whole just got a huge boost!
| Engine | |
| Type: | 439cc 4-Stroke Single, Liquid-Cooled w/Fan, Titanium 5-Valve DOHC |
| Bore x Stroke: | 95mm x 62mm |
| Compression Ratio: | 11.9:1 |
| Carburetion: | Keihin 39mm FCR w/Throttle Position Sensor |
| Ignition: | DC-CDI w/3D Mapping |
| Starting System: | Electric |
| Transmission: | 5-Speed Manual Clutch |
| Drive Train: | 2WD; Sealed O-Ring Chain |
| Chassis | |
| Suspension/Front:
|
Independent Double Wishbone, 9.1” of Travel w/Rebound, Compression and Threaded Preload Adjustment |
Suspension/Rear: |
Cast Aluminum Swingarm, 10.1” of Travel w/Rebound, Compression and Threaded Preload Adjustment |
| Brakes/Front: | Dual, Twin Piston Hydraulic Discs |
| Brakes/Rear: | Hydraulic Disc |
| Tires/Front: | AT21x7-10 Radial |
| Tires/Rear: | AT20x10-9 Radial |
| Dimensions: | L x W x H 72.4” x 46.1” x 42.9” |
Seat Height: |
31.5” |
| Wheelbase: | 50.4” |
| Ground Clearance: | 4.4” |
| Fuel Capacity: | 2.6 Gallons |
| Dry Weight: | 350 Lbs. |
| Other | |
| Lighting: | Dual 30W Krypton Multi-Reflector Headlights & 21/5W Brake Light |
| Colors: | Team Yamaha Blue, White/Red |
| Warranty: | 6 Month (Limited Factory Warranty) |
