OK, I was talking to my cousin, who is a Chevy nut. Me? Im a Ford fan. My dad has a 2000 Mustang Saleen with an S281 in it, pushes 350HP. He was rantin' and ravin' about the new Vette, which pushes more power (a lot more, its a really built Vette, like the Saleen is a built GT). He said it rides better, ect. Well, the Saleen runs about $45,000 brand new, the Vette he was talking about is like $60,000. Well, for that big of a price tag, it better outhandle and outrun a Saleen. Think about it... if my dad were to dump $15,000 into his Mustang, it would dust every Corvette out there. They would be just as valuable than the other.

OK, well, put 2.2 grand into a Suzuki Z, and you got a quad that would be much nicer than the YFZ. You could get it to run with teh YFZ, or handle way better. Elka suspension is about the best suspension out there, its a little under 2 grand to outfit a Z all the way around, and with the extra $400 or so, you could put an exhaust package on it. Or, you could bump the Z up to 440cc with a kit, and thats about all that you could do to it to make it be about the same value as the Z400. I dont think the YFZ handles much better (havnt riden one, so cant be too sure there), its just, the 400EX was the best handling quad until the Z came around, I dont think quads can handle much better unless you widen it up. Yamaha did just that. If Suzuki made the arms and axel wider on the Z, the cost would not be much higher if any at all, these changes are not costly when made, but brands like LoneStar, Houser, Gibson, ect., makes them separate, so of course its gonna cost you. The price of the arms is obviously in the MSRP, as well as everything else, if Suzuki made it wider, the MSRP wouldnt jump significantly. Not sure how many of you understood that, its kinda hard to put it on paper what I have in my head. Anyways, also keep in mind that the Yamaha is made to be raced... the Z is more of a user friendly quad. IMO, a quad that light, and that fast will beat on itself, aluminum is not near as strong as steel, Yamaha did that to lighten things up (used aluminum in less stress areas). I dont think the Yamaha will hold up. Race quads are thought of to be tough, but theyre not. When they (Dirt Wheels) tested the Duncan KFX440, they said when crashed, it holds up way better than other race quads, when landed awkwardly, its more forgiving than other race quads. Well, if Yamahas quad is race ready, I dont think its gonna hold up to racing duties. For the purpose it was built for, IMO, its not up for the job. It may be fine on the trail, but who knows, it could be the greatest thing thats ever hit the ATV market.

I rolled my quad, 4 weeks into my ownership, not too pretty. I bent the rim, bent a bracket that holds teh plastic on, bent a tie rod, ripped some plastic, and cracked the front lighting area. Well, ok, the tie rods are made of what now? Oh yes, steel. The rim? Thats it, aluminum. Well, I sure hope Yamaha kept the tie rods steel too, or they could be in trouble. Rims are wide, hard to bend (unless youre racing), and I managed to bend one, aluminum is not up for racing duties. Im 15 and managed to make a mess out of my quad, I went down hard, as well have many other people, and people who race will crash too. If its hard enough, they get a big DNF by their name. The faster the quad, the more prone the rider will be to crash it, teh YFZ flat out hauls, no questions asked. The aluminum, as mentioned many times before, will not hold in these kind of roll overs, or whatever it may be.

For a lot of factory riders, cost is no issue, theyre not buying the quad, all they do is race it, so go ahead, pick the fastest quad. Now now, the main reason the YFZ handles better is because its wide, well, Im sure mostly all teams will opt to go even wider, ah ha, more money spent, just as much for the Z to make them both handle exelently. Now, with a 440 kit, its a close match, but the Z will have more money into it.

Bottom line, the Z400 is best for what its made for and the price you will have to pay for that big sh!tty grin you wont be able to wash off for days. The YFZ, will probably leave a bigger, sh!ttier grin, but will cause a dramatic personal weigh loss. What is this weightloss you ask? THE BIG HOLE IN YOUR WALLET!

 

I read half and thats all I could take!

 

2 grand might get you outfitted in the handling department. Then you will need about another grand for the engine. Then it still wont be as light.

 

OK! LOL! I'm awake!

 

I have both a KFX 400 and a YFZ 450. One thing nice about the KFX is reverse but, in talking performance the YFZ wins hands down. My YFZ stock will out run the KFX stock by at least 5 bike lengths. Acceleration on the YFZ is unbelievable and again mine is stock. I paid $7200.00 for my YFZ and $5600.00 for my KFX so there is a price difference but speaking, ergonomically , handling and power the YFZ wins .

 

Bla bla bla. IF this, what if I had that. Ok lets try this one: Take the 400 and the 450, put equal ammounts of money in both of them, and see who is still on top. You are not gonna be competing against people that had to choose between the 2 quads. Anyone serious will take the yamaha and put money into it. No one said this was a cheap sport. If you are counting nickles and dimes, then perhaps you should pick another hobby. Im not a big fan of the new 4-strokes, and I have never been brand loyal, but the new 450 is going to be the bike to have,(considering Honda does not get off thier overly conservative asses and make the 450R) I am seriously thinking about getting one of the 450s and swinging it out a little and seeing what it will do as a drag bike. I could give a $hit how it handles as long as the eigine rips. If these quads are knocking down 40hp stock, they will be a near 60hp quad with pipe, cam, porting and carb mods, and at 350lbs, these things are gonna be pretty hard core.

I dont care if the French make a quad, if its far and above the rest of the field, Im there.

 

I never was doubting the performance of the YFZ. I knew instantly that Yamaha's new quad would dust everything else. Cant wait till Honda unveils their new quad, should be nice too. If only I had waited a few more months... stupid stupid me!

Anyways, like I was saying, I dont think the new Yamaha will hold up, too light, too fast... (is there such thing as that?)

 

...since when did the Z handle better than the ex?

 

60hp? See, when engines are "built" from the factor you can't get much more out of them. I know back in the day you could get a 20% more hp easy with mods. But the YFZ already has hotter cams, one of the best carbs, and can't be bored out, so you're probably looking at max 50hp with intake, pipe and jetting, depeding who's dyno you use of course.

Another example is the 'dale. It's pretty hard to squeeze much more juice out of them.

Any easy way to tell is talk to the YZF owners. I doubt you'll find anyone pushing 60hp.. With high performance from the factory comes less increases for the consumer to do.

 

Trust me, as impressive as the factory carb, cam, ect is, there will always be room for improvement. MFGs will never release a quad that is anywhere near its potential.