When I bought my YFZ back in early 2005 I did a ton of research and among stock ATV's it seemed untouchable with a few arguments for the Honda...

I am now in the market again and my research is telling me that all the other manufacturers have caught up and passed the YFZ in the 450 class. Is this true or is the YFZ still king?

 

I wouldn't say it's the bottom of the barrel but it now has competition. I think the DS450 is the new king of the 450 heap but Polaris and KTM are putting out some great quads too.

 

i think suzuki is the 450 king with its wider stance,efi, and 10'travel suspention and center mounted exhuast and CBRM and one bolt removable headlight
but before long ktm will put out a wider XC and yamaha will give there quad efi

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: race4life254

i think suzuki is the 450 king with its wider stance,efi, and 10'travel suspention and center mounted exhuast and CBRM and one bolt removable headlight

but before long ktm will put out a wider XC and yamaha will give there quad efi</end quote></div>

EFI does not do a thing for performance in the 450 motocross bike engines which the 450 ATVs also use.

There must be something not great about efi in performance , the motocross 250/450 pro circuit still uses carbs, and they have the know how and money to mod to efi if they thought the gain was a advantage over the nexts guy,even though all motorcross bikes except Suzuki's 450 RM use carbs. In a recent 450 motocross shootout the Suzuki came in last efi and all .

The Manufacturers offer efi on there 450 ATVs but when it comes to the super competitive hold nothing back sport of motocross racing they are sticking to a carb for now.

Kawasaki's KX 450 was the fastest in the recent motocross comparison and uses a carb but on there sport 450 ATV with the same engine they use the throttle body efi,whys that?

Here is the link with the efi RM vs the rests with carbs. 450 shootout.
450 MX shootout.

 

YFZ still makes the most power and weighs the least.

 

pretty sure that the ds450 is the lightest and has the best power to weight ratio.......... now i know that everyone on here will say otherwise but thats just the way it is. now saying its a better quad than the yfz ( even though it is) but definately better power to weight ratio

 

its still right there...as far as in stock package i like the ltr450 and the ktm450 (i like the 525 better). fuel injection is nice. it give really smooth power. as far as what tlc said in dirtbikes they might still use carbs but suzuki is tearing the pro fuild up with there fuel injected quad. and in the next years fuel injection in quads is going to get much more perfected. wait untill they make a closed loop system for the fuel injected bikes.

i whould eather buy the ltr450 or the 525 ktm. both are great bike the ktm is alot faster in stock trim.

 

If you buy a YFZ, you are guranteed access to the best aftermarket parts available for at least 10 years. Remember who pioneered 4-stroke technology? With Yamaha and Honda, because of their histories, sales will be higher and used parts way more available than any of the other very worthy brands: regardless of whose is the best. Think dealer support and value- anything can be made to go fast-EFI or otherwise.

 

why not just trick out the yfz?

 

why not just trick out the yfz?