How does the MXR stand up with the others

[JayJohnson]

I know it will be hard to get a non biased response being this is the polaris forum. That being said I havent been in the quad market since 2003 when I sold my Banshee's when we moved away from the northwest and I wasnt going to hitting any dunes anymore.

We just recently moved back to the northwest so we are looking to get quads for the family again. Boy has the market changed since then it used to be buy a banshee or get an older TRX 250r and build it. I used to race motocross on a dirt bike when I was younger and kept my quads for the sand. I cant wait to start hitting the dunes this spring and also wouldnt mind hitting the track on a quad also.

So my question is this. I have read all the reveiws on all the 450's for well pretty much all of them. I have narrowed my choices down to the Yamaha,Outlaw and LTR. How does the Outlaw truely stack up? I know a rider can make any decent machine better but I am refering to each machine themselves.

Has anybody ridden at least 2 of the 3 I mentioned and can give some feedback. Out of all the reviews I read one of them used the word "nimble" handling in reguards to the outlaw. No other review for any machine did so it made me wonder.

Now I am by no means a pro racer but I do like a quality machine. With so many choices I am sure I really cant go wrong I was just curious from first hand experiences and what makes the outlaw stand out from the rest pros or cons. There are alot of good deals going on with older 09 models sitting with dealers wanting to move them.

Anyway thanks in advance for the feedback I cant wait to get back out there.

[TheLane]

personally i have ridden all of the bikes recently and own a 2010 outlaw 450.

ill try and give you as unbiased pros and cons ive seen being in the EXACT same situation as you coming from riding a banshee a few years ago and racing dirbikes to riding 450s.

first off let me say i love my outlaw. for someone looking to get into 450 and mx racing on a budget you cant beat it, period.
(here the 2010's are on sale for 3999, which the price of the FOX shocks your getting and the motor alone is almost worth that.)

Ktm 450 engine is freaking amazing and super fast, fox shocks which are easily upgraded with the resevoir upgrade kit to have high and low speed compression, and a very comfy seat and frame is awesome! Comes with Maxxis razr tires right from the factory that are perfect for MX, comes stock from the factory with a self adjusting hydraulic cluch system and hydraulic break system that is super easy to use and effortless.

Cons, bike is discontinued, and finding new aftermarket parts is already slightly difficult, and used parts are near impossible to find (dont even bother with craigs list). the rear end width is a little shallow.
It also comes from the factory super dumbed down for what its potential is. The airbox is rediculously shallow due to the fact that the pipe is in a rediculous location. however a slip on and an air box mod will fix all your problems in that area. The carb is fantastic and is the same one that comes on the pre 2008 yamaha yfz450s.

Its also non proven as far as reliability, I have not heard of any real problems, but people know the yfz's are reliable.


Now the ltr im not a big fan of, it just felt weird and i was not a fan of the throttle control.

The yamaha YFZ450 was my first pick for sure. if i was going to spend an additional 4000.00 on a bike and didnt care about whether it was worth it, that would be the bike for me.

The yfz comes stock from the factory any year after 2008 with EFI, so no jetting to deal with and you can buy a power commander chip for about 150.00 and adjust your settings on the fly by just hooking up a laptop via usb and loading up the settings for where your at and what your doing. That also makes reprograming for new mods a breeze.

I beleive the YFZ450 comes stock with generic ohlin shocks which are fantastic and the bike is very solid. parts are easy to find new and used and support for the bike on forums such as this great.

cons. the tires that come on it are not the greatest for MX, you would need to change them, and well........its 4400 dollars more for the stock version and 4800 dollars more for the le. Then you still have to pipe and header it plus the 150 dollars for the power commander, plus new tires.

Gain vs amount spent.......non existant, unless your a die hard yamaha fan and having EFI is a huge deal to you.

stock vs stock its a near even match

[JayJohnson]

Thanks for your response hopefully I can try and ride a couple of them before I actually buy it.

[justin1022]

Originally posted by TheLane
personally i have ridden all of the bikes recently and own a 2010 outlaw 450.

ill try and give you as unbiased pros and cons ive seen being in the EXACT same situation as you coming from riding a banshee a few years ago and racing dirbikes to riding 450s.

first off let me say i love my outlaw. for someone looking to get into 450 and mx racing on a budget you cant beat it, period.
(here the 2010's are on sale for 3999, which the price of the FOX shocks your getting and the motor alone is almost worth that.)

Ktm 450 engine is freaking amazing and super fast, fox shocks which are easily upgraded with the resevoir upgrade kit to have high and low speed compression, and a very comfy seat and frame is awesome! Comes with Maxxis razr tires right from the factory that are perfect for MX, comes stock from the factory with a self adjusting hydraulic cluch system and hydraulic break system that is super easy to use and effortless.

Cons, bike is discontinued, and finding new aftermarket parts is already slightly difficult, and used parts are near impossible to find (dont even bother with craigs list). the rear end width is a little shallow.
It also comes from the factory super dumbed down for what its potential is. The airbox is rediculously shallow due to the fact that the pipe is in a rediculous location. however a slip on and an air box mod will fix all your problems in that area. The carb is fantastic and is the same one that comes on the pre 2008 yamaha yfz450s.

Its also non proven as far as reliability, I have not heard of any real problems, but people know the yfz's are reliable.


Now the ltr im not a big fan of, it just felt weird and i was not a fan of the throttle control.

The yamaha YFZ450 was my first pick for sure. if i was going to spend an additional 4000.00 on a bike and didnt care about whether it was worth it, that would be the bike for me.

The yfz comes stock from the factory any year after 2008 with EFI, so no jetting to deal with and you can buy a power commander chip for about 150.00 and adjust your settings on the fly by just hooking up a laptop via usb and loading up the settings for where your at and what your doing. That also makes reprograming for new mods a breeze.

I beleive the YFZ450 comes stock with generic ohlin shocks which are fantastic and the bike is very solid. parts are easy to find new and used and support for the bike on forums such as this great.

cons. the tires that come on it are not the greatest for MX, you would need to change them, and well........its 4400 dollars more for the stock version and 4800 dollars more for the le. Then you still have to pipe and header it plus the 150 dollars for the power commander, plus new tires.

Gain vs amount spent.......non existant, unless your a die hard yamaha fan and having EFI is a huge deal to you.

stock vs stock its a near even match

stock vs stock not even match the mxr kills i mean kills the yfz right until its topped out 5th tapped then the yfz passes it because they have more top end the mxr would defenetly beat the yfz on track with equal riders.

[TheLane]

Lol i feel the same way but i didnt wanna talk bad about the yfz : ) Its a good bike! only perk i guess is the YFZ comes with better stock shocks. But any serious rider would upgrade them either way.

[ridehonda400ex]

idk if you plan to race any but if you do and got the extra money you could get a KTM sx, theyre pretty much race ready from the factory

[LT80]

My daughter raced the MXR. It held up just fine and it handled well.
The KTM and Suzuki motors run like 2 strokes ie: high rpm's are where they are comfortable.
For what it's worth, she said she'd never race again unless she was on a Honda.
I personally would'nt even consider a Yamaha.
I feel your missing the boat on not having Honda on the list.
Reliability and parts availability is why.
Your call, good luck on your decision. :)

[ridehonda400ex]

i agree about honda as for reliabilty. i ride honda, and ill honestly say that if i was gunna race a 450 all stock. i wouldnt choose the honda unless i had a few extra grand to work with. but then again, if im correct, honda is the cheapest 450

[TRKR]

Originally posted by ridehonda400ex
i agree about honda as for reliabilty. i ride honda, and ill honestly say that if i was gunna race a 450 all stock. i wouldnt choose the honda unless i had a few extra grand to work with. but then again, if im correct, honda is the cheapest 450

Actually, locally, the Polaris is. But it is discontinued.

TORKER.

[JayJohnson]

I have always been a Honda/Yamaha guy. I had a 250R three wheeler back in the day that just screamed. 250R fourtrax and then a Yamaha Banshee. I currently own a 04 CRF 450 dirt bike.

The only reason I hadnt considered the Honda was like others said you would have to spend a couple $k to bring them up to speed as the other machines are being released stock. I will do some more research on the hondas as well. I wonder if they have considered EFI for 2011.

Thanks for the info.

[Brown450R]

For what you want to use it for, any of the three would be a winner. Just find the best deal and go ride!

[TheLane]

Originally posted by Brown450R
For what you want to use it for, any of the three would be a winner. Just find the best deal and go ride!


lol a litttlllleeee late on the post there man :P

[Brown450R]

Originally posted by TheLane
lol a litttlllleeee late on the post there man :P

I don't know what you mean. I'm guessing you are being a smartass, but I don't see how?

[TheLane]

Originally posted by Brown450R
I don't know what you mean. I'm guessing you are being a smartass, but I don't see how?

lol i was just kidding man! no need to get upset! :)

[Conant19]

if your lookin to buy brand new then i would look at the ktms if in the price range you have but other then that i wouldnt buy any thing other then honda both our 04s and even our 06 is bullet proof and if buyin used there are some great deals on mx ready hondas but thats imo

[RATPACK Z400]

If you want to see how they stack up agains,t 450,s check out 450 shootout online google it . heres a graph of the dyno,s All are piped exept KTM,Suzuki