I am going to look at one in the next few days. What should I be looking for other than the normal bearings and such. I am looking for itmes pecific to the YFZ 450. The guy sad he had a chain break and crack the case, however the case was replaced and while it was separated he had the rings and bearings replaced.

Any thoughts>?

 

Bump.

I rode it Sat. Just up through second gear on my street. It has GYTR eshaust, bumper and nerfs on it, and is jetted. When it started cold there was no smoke. Idle seemed high but I have not experience with these machines. Front plastic was cracked and taped, however I did not see any wrinkles and or breaks in frame.

Anybody have any other advice.?

 

ask if he had the oil mod done, that is a big thing with the yfz '04-'06. there is a decompersion plug in the front of the motor right about the header, that can pop out so if you get oil leaking from there that would be what it is. its only a $20 fix for the new plug that is bolted in and won't come out. Oil Mod is the biggest thing.

 

Is the plug the "oil mod" ? Didn't they also change the piston oiling on the later models?

 

Actually, ask about the decompression plug mod. Since it is an '04, there will either be a rubber piece or there will be a metal one(usually anodized aluminum.) The rubber plug was oem, and would blow out causing oil loss. It is a cheap and easy fix. '05 and up had this part casted in at manufacture and is not an issue. If you ask about the oil mod, he may think you are referring to the oil squirter for the underside of the piston. This is becomming a common mod for anyone getting internal mods done, and is oem on the '07 and up finally.

Overall, these quads are very sturdy, this is a rare model where the frame is up to most levels of racing without aftermarket gussets. Maintenance is really the big thing, oil changes, valve adjustments, lubrication. The onnly other 2 weaknesses I know of offhand are the weak charging system(have to run the lights to keep batt charged or install a resistor kit from Yamaha) and the front a-arm bushings tend to wear prematurely. That isn't a hard fix, if there is play where the a-arms attrach to the frame, just replace with aftermarket parts as they don't cost much more but last a lot longer.

 

Thanks for the good info. I made an offer to the guy so we will see what he says.

 

hey i hope ya get it man, i love my '04, i destroy all other 450's and even my buddies raptor 700. you will love it!!

 

Oil mod isn't a big deal unless you plan on riding it for mx... Even then you have to be running that engine really hard...

 

If I get it, I will get the inproved plug since it is realtively cheap insurance against oil loss.

 

i don't really see why you would say the oil mod is not a big deal? i mean yeah its more likely for something to go wrong when you start boring and stroking your motor or racing a lot, i don't know about ya'll but i kinda like to have the added assurance that my quad isn't going to blow up, once you start getting high hours on it its going to happen without the oil mod