Now that the Honda 450 is out and the magazines have placed it below the yamaha 450 i bet the engineers and higher ups at Yamaha about fell out of there chair laughing at what honda released. I would think they were slighty worried for a few months before it was released. I wonder how much of that they really think about while they design a quad. I think they did more on the yamaha 450 for the price than they really wanted to. I guess they had to make sure and go alittle over on the yamaha 450 so not to be shot down.

That said it is amazing at how close these manufactures can get to one anothers products. Almost like they have spies working for the compition. One example of being extremely close to each others quads are the Suzuki Z-400 and the Kawiaski KLF400 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] LOL

Blue is riding high right now. Will honda catch up or just improve the Graphics??? I sent a letter to mr. yamahaguci and asked that he add a little more foam to the Yamaha 450 for next year. That is the only complaint that the Honda boys seem to come up with.

 

I give Yamaha a lot of credit for releasing theirs first yet still maintaining the upper hand in the end.
I think both the YFZ and the TRX are amazing quads,but I still gotta hand it to Yamaha.
Falling over in their chairs laughing? It might sound like "Yamahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha".......nevermind .......

 

lol... ya the seat sucks and my knees hit the bars when i lean and turn.

 

So sick of hearing that..... Gettin old.... Good new is if that's all non owners can bitch about then were doing pretty good....

Anyway, I'd be willing to bet that Yamaha was building there bike to compete against a 450R with the CRF power levels, not the detuned thing Honda sent out as the 250R replacement that was to DOMINATE everywhere.... Having said that did anyone pick up on a couple months before the YFZ450 was released, dirt wheels actually did a article about a Yamaha 450? Think they have "Informants"? Bet they do....
Jarsong

 

Honda would have been better off adding the electric start and reverse. At least it would have made the 450R more attractive to the masses. I just didn't get the same tingly feeling with the release of the 450R as I did with the release of the Yamaha 450. Oh well, maybe Honda will release something tingly after the next 10 years.

 

Im happy with my "slow" 450r. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

People that want a yfz but dont want the hard seat could always find a different atv seat and duct tape it on somehow.. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

jk! There are companys that can add an inch of foam to the yfz seat for ppl who want it.

 

I'm sure Yamaha is very happy at the moment.

 

Yamaha did a very good job with the YFZ!! It's hard to beat Honda at their own game especially coming out with the quad first!! If the seat is the only thing people b*tch about then they did a damn good job designing that bike! Is next years YFZ announced yet? If so, did they make any changes?

I think the best thing Yamaha did with the YFZ was keeping it light while still havin electric start! Honda kinda boned it up there, deffinatly makes the 450R look a little less at first glance. I also love the fact that Yamaha left alot of potential still in the bike while still making it run over the compitition as a stock bike! They deserve alot of props for this!

 

I agree that both quads are very cool, Yamaha has a home run(again), but if I were to buy one tomarrow, It would definatley be the Honda, just cause it is more comfortable, and I wouldnt get tired or wore out riding it in the dunes. Both powerplants are very close, I will give up a bike lenght to be comfortable,and have fun longer. JMO

To tell you the truth, for the money these sport-quads are going for now days, they should ALL have EFI, comfort,and 50 hp!! Heck look at all the extra engineering that goes into the 4x4 quads, for the same price!!!!. I dont like the fact that Us sport riders, have been paying more and more every year,and the quads really havent changed that much![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] We should stop bitching about Seats,and Tires,and start bitching about REAL issues with todays quads....... Even sport quads should have a high performing independent rear suspension, with anti roll system. EFI and 50+ HP should be standard equipment. The 4x4 quad market is grown LEAPS and BOUNDS past the Sport/high perf. quads as far as Engineering goes. 7 grand is alot of money for a toy that really has'nt changed much over the years.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]



Bigger.

 

Then people will complain about the seat hieght being to high. LOL