I am almost 17 yrs. old and am going to start racing this summer.

I have a stock YFZ 450 and can't decide what pipe to buy. I am on a budget so i need a slip on.

I have a little money to play with but need new tires. Any advice on other aftermarket parts I should get?

 

The basics and safety equipment..
tether and nerfs.
18" rear tires
Steering dampener
I'd hope you get one of the new quiet pipes. Can't beat a yoshi or a sparks.
Did you do the timing chain on the cam thing yet?
After those, you need to save up for shocks. Shocks is where you will get the next step in speed. Your bike is faster than the stock shocks will allow. I have PEP's.

Follow, learn, have fun. That's how to be a winner every race. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i agree with him but depends on how serious you get before buying a dampner, i race a little without a steering dampener buts its on the list and i do fine. Also a good air filter nice. Check out ebay for good deals. extended a-arms and axle are also good but watch out for durblue axles alot of my racing buddies have had they break right flush with the carrier, save the money and get a lonestar probally best racing axle.

 

You never said what kind of racing you would be doing, but from the other replies it soulds like people are planning on motocross. My son is 16 as well, and has desert raced a YFZ 450 for two years now. The first year was on his own YFZ, but he sold that to buy a new truck once he got his drivers license. This year I have let him race my YFZ on two desert races, and I have raced it on two other desert races. We have done mods a few at a time, and for desert racing the Ohlins shocks made the biggest improvement of anything we have done. The steering stabilizer was a close second best improvement though. It really surprised me how much the stabilizer helped, and how you could tag a stump on the side of the trail at high speed and not even have the quad twitch. Amazing. Another mod that made a big difference is Fasst Flexx handlebars in conjuction with a rubber mounted steering stem. We have the soft elastomers installed, and it feels like the quad is staying straight and level when wide open across rough choppy untracked sagebrush. Even though the quad it is actually pitching violently from side to side, you don't feel it. Arm pump is also totally eliminated. So those would be my top three recommended mods. 1 suspension, 2 steering stabilizer, 3 Fasst Flexx bars. I think the stock exhaust would actually work ok once the pea shooter was removed, the air box lid was opened up, and the carb was rejetted. Although we switched to an FMF QII, and it works fine. Be sure to go over your ATV with a fine tooth comb before each race, and have fun at whatever form of racing you do.

 

Desert viper and LT80 offered some good advice. Get the essentials, nerf bars and a tether kill switch. Buy the Pro Armor kill switch and install kit. It makes the installation painless and keeps you from having to splice into your wiring harness.

After those two I'll consider what you want. A pipe. You did not say what kind of racing you want to do, so this makes a huge difference. The Sparks pipe would be an excellent choice for motocross. For desert or flat track racing, you would do better with a pipe that makes power on the top end.

Regardless of the racing, an axle is a must. It widens your track and is stronger than stock. You can race with the stock swingarm, and the rear shock (for now). After the axle (LSR has a life time warranty, but G Force and Team axles are cheaper), I would agree with Desertviper about the anti-vibe steering stem (Houser has cheap and strong stems with a nice powdercoat finish around $165) and the Flexx bars. With those two mods you can hold off on the steering stabilizer because the good ones cost about $500 anyways.

An air filter is a cheap effective mod for more horsepower, plus removing the airbox lid. Then you will have to re-jet the carbs, so a GYT-R jet kit would be a good choice.

After that, suspension is a good idea. Then you'll want to tear into the motor. Everyone makes different mods at different times depending on their ability, how deep their pockets are and their style of racing. Check my page and you'll get an idea for the mods most racers make.

For new tires, the Razr's seem to have a longer tread life than the softer compound ITPs. But there are other options, including Kenda claws and BKT (Motosport).

But the most important thing to remember is ATVs are for fun. So be safe and have fun!

 

Another thing to remember is that some mods make it easier for the rider to go fast, and other mods only make the quad faster. Mods that eliminate arm pump and decrease rider fatigue will make you faster all the way to the finish line, and not just make you faster for the first few laps, or first few miles. It doesn't do any good to have more horsepower if you can't even hold on, or give it more than 2/3rd throttle because your arms are pumped up like popeye the sailor man.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]