Im looking at a getting a new 450 or possibly a rappy 700. What my question is, I have heard talk that there are problems with some of them and am wondering what should i be looking out for when buying one because it will probably be used. Ones i am considering is the yfz and the ltz 450. also any year models to stay away from. And seems like the older yfz's 04 and 05 go really cheap for some reason.

 

All the 450s are great machines....... but buying any race ATV used it a risk so treat them ALL is if you are looking for problems..... Don't go looking for any specific thing because you will easily miss something no one warned you about....... check everything and check it well........ look for frame damage, look at the oil, look at the coolant......look for a race tether.......

 

Suzuki never made an LTZ 450.... they make an LTZ 400 and an LTR 450. I think the early 08 LTRs had transmission problems, but only a few were affected, something was wrong with 3rd gear and it would break easily. But other than that both the YFZ and the LTR are great quads.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: morpheus847

.... And seems like the older yfz's 04 and 05 go really cheap for some reason.</end quote></div>

Welcome to the forums morpheus847. I can tell you that the early yfz's had a little different engine. It was a 439cc that was changed in '06 I believe. The early one's (including '06) also had a too small oil lubricator for the under side of the piston. This caused problems for some (not me).
Another thing is the '04 (think only '04) had a plastic plug where the decompression line went in the dirtbike. The crappy plug will pop out spewing oil. It's a cheap and easy fix to replace it.

I can tell you that I have an '04 and love the thing. I wouldn't trade it for much of anything. Hard for me to not recommend getting an older one and using the saved cash for mod's. A set of handle bars and a aftermarket steering stem came on mine and it makes a world of difference in comfort.