Yamaha or Honda

[Holy Kaw!]

I'm wanting to get rid of my kfx450r and get either a Honda or a Yamaha.

So which one is the more reliable machine?

I'm wanting to get a 08 model or up.

(Sry I cant believe how people say there 04's have only 20 hrs on them lol)

[quadrider2112]

yamaha all the way. You will have to do a lotta mods to a honda just to get it to run with the yami stock

[Holy Kaw!]

But what about the Oil problems yamahas have that's what's sorta making me lean towards a honda cus i don't want my bike to have problems getting oil lolll

I'm moving up to A-Pro class this year in my XC / GP series an want a bike that will get me through it all year.

If the oil problem is easily fixed that i'll prob get a yam possibly

[hondaracer_34]

Go ride them both and see which one you like. What kind of response do you think your gonna get in a Honda section? They are gonna say HONDA, same with Yamaha.

All the stock bikes run close, you dont have to mod up a honda 450r to run with a stock yamaha, your on crack dude (quadrider2112). All the bikes are great, each have their own problems, so do your research and see what bikes have what problems and how easy it is to fix.

Here are a few little things that is wrong with each bike from what I have read.

Honda: Weak frames and cranks
Yamaha: Oil screens
Kawasaki: ECU, some people have FI issues, and the tie rods.
Suzuki: Tranny issues
Can am: Weak power and some frame issues...

There are some more, but you get the point. Goodluck

[Holy Kaw!]

Originally posted by hondaracer_34
Go ride them both and see which one you like. What kind of response do you think your gonna get in a Honda section? They are gonna say HONDA, same with Yamaha.

All the stock bikes run close, you dont have to mod up a honda 450r to run with a stock yamaha, your on crack dude (quadrider2112). All the bikes are great, each have their own problems, so do your research and see what bikes have what problems and how easy it is to fix.

Here are a few little things that is wrong with each bike from what I have read.

Honda: Weak frames and cranks
Yamaha: Oil screens
Kawasaki: ECU, some people have FI issues, and the tie rods.
Suzuki: Tranny issues
Can am: Weak power and some frame issues...

There are some more, but you get the point. Goodluck

Thanks man. I know people will say honda all the way or yam all the way just cus of the section i'm on but i just wanted to hear if mayby one or the other has serious problems or not so bad problems. Thanks.

[yfzrider690]

The oil problem you're talking about with the yfz's was fixed in '07. They added a squirter that better lubricates the crank and piston. You can do it to the older models if you get one. I would get a '07 or newer, they have the most changes done to them.

[quadrider2112]

All the stock bikes run close, you dont have to mod up a honda 450r to run with a stock yamaha, your on crack dude (quadrider2112). All the bikes are great, each have their own problems, so do your research and see what bikes have what problems and how easy it is to fix.

Crack is wack bro and yes im a yamaha guy but i ride with all kinds. From my experience the yfz is the way to go. If not that then a zuki or if your ballin a ktm. The honda is awesome after you put the cash in it.

and if your gonna make a list then dont forget the honda has the hands down worse shocks.

Just one more point. The honda jetted no lid gets beat in a holeshot everytime against a jetted no lid yfz. Just sayin and if that aint true then all the honda riders round here just cant get theirs to do it and all the 450 shootouts are wrong.

[hondaracer_34]

Ok go by the shootouts in whatever magazine you want to kid. Its all rider, some machine.

All the machines are great, reliability will come with how you maintain it.

Yeah, the honda has weak shocks, ill give that to you. But im not gonna sit here and argue about which one is better because we will not get anywhere.

[yfzrider690]

I would say to go and sit on the ones you want and see what one feels better to you. You can make big power with either of these two quads, just depends on how much you want to spend. The thing I didn't like about the honda is the way it sits,(yes i have ridden one, my buddy has a '07) it seems to sit way to high and feels way more tipsy then my yfz does. Again that is my opinion, take it for what you want. And you don't want a suzuki, they have all kinds of problems and there expensive as hell to fix.

[quadrider2112]

x2 on that my friend has 05 with 470 kit and i thought the same thing. In stock form it just awkward.

Far as zuki i no they have tranny problems and imma knock on wood but me friend nick has 08 he bought new and has beat on it for a year. Im talkin 6 hours every weekend and he dont change oil or filter quite as often as he should. Only prob he has had is bent rims.

[Ride1Rob]

Originally posted by hondaracer_34
Go ride them both and see which one you like. What kind of response do you think your gonna get in a Honda section? They are gonna say HONDA, same with Yamaha.

All the stock bikes run close, you dont have to mod up a honda 450r to run with a stock yamaha, your on crack dude (quadrider2112). All the bikes are great, each have their own problems, so do your research and see what bikes have what problems and how easy it is to fix.

Here are a few little things that is wrong with each bike from what I have read.

Honda: Weak frames and cranks
Yamaha: Oil screens
Kawasaki: ECU, some people have FI issues, and the tie rods.
Suzuki: Tranny issues
Can am: Weak power and some frame issues...

There are some more, but you get the point. Goodluck

+2

[RATPACK Z400]

I would bypass both honda and yamaha to get 08LTR450 instead . its MX ready and will with few mods smoke the both on and off track!they did over 100+ improvements since 07 it has ECM traction control 3+hp ,improvements on just about everything they could. I want a quad that does,t need a-arms/shocks and that with little mods can be at 50hp easy !Yeah some that are raced have trans problem buts thats cheaper than motor issues the honda/yamaha have with there cranks/bearings /frames/sub frames !

[quadrider2112]

Yamaha doesnt have oil probs after 07. As far as ltr smokin it on and off the track. In stock form the zuki is better on the track cause of the width.

but in stock form its not smokin the yfz anywhere else.

[yfzrider690]

You are smoking crack if you think the ltr is outperforming the yfz on and off the track. I have yet to lose to a ltr and I have raced plenty of built ones in the dunes. I don't know if you know this or not but the ltr is about 3 times as expensive to fix compared to a yfz, the parts are outrageously priced.

[RATPACK Z400]

Ive never heard that they cost that much to fix ! compared to a yamaha they all are expensive if going though dealer. If I were to pick between honda/yamaha it would be yamaha cause of width praying the frame is as good as they say(08-up) !But would rather pick Suzuki ,s 450 over all. Im not a fan of mixing alumiun/steel on frame . wish they the brands would make chromemoly frames on all quads.

[hondaracer_34]

From my understanding, the question was "honda or yamaha?" Suzuki has nothing to do with this...

Yeah, suzuki ltr's are more to fix because they are also EFI. Think of the cost if you had a wiring problem on your suzuki vs. a standard yfz? The suzuki also weights more..its a freakin tank. I'd rather have a quad thats flickable on and off the track. If it all came down to money tho, sure suzuki would win bc stock its wider...but id still choose the yfz...even though I own a Kawasaki.

[quadrider2112]

Originally posted by hondaracer_34
From my understanding, the question was "honda or yamaha?" Suzuki has nothing to do with this...

Yeah, suzuki ltr's are more to fix because they are also EFI. Think of the cost if you had a wiring problem on your suzuki vs. a standard yfz? The suzuki also weights more..its a freakin tank. I'd rather have a quad thats flickable on and off the track. If it all came down to money tho, sure suzuki would win bc stock its wider...but id still choose the yfz...even though I own a Kawasaki.


x2 but i dont own a kawi

[RATPACK Z400]

the new YFZ 450 has EFI ! do you have wiring problems with other quads ? same thing just little more wiring dont see problem there and weight wow a few pounds more !and I did say I would rather if racing take the YFZ450 between the two just would have him look at LTR too!

[yfzrider690]

I'm not talking about the wiring for the efi, I'm talking about motor repairs. The mechanic that works on my quad also works on others and for example he had to replace a whole transmission on a ltr and it was almost 4 times what it would of cost to do the same work on a yfz. And he's no backyard mechanic, his son races pro class and he's his mechanic.

[RATPACK Z400]

i cant see it costing that much but then i could be wrong but if you put aftermarket 3rd gear shouldn,t have a problem after that, and if thats the only major problem I,ll take that to sub-frame breaking and oil issues ! Not that Yfz 450 not a great quad it is but only picking between the two when you got LTR450/KTM 450/kawi/can-am there other choices and it good to look and ride them all to see what fits you best.Ive rode YFZ450 and seat was hard as rock and felt stiff and then rode TRX 450 it sat like i was on raptor top heavy, then rode LTR450 just felt right for me. and with cherry was as fast if not faster than the stock YFZ/TRX 450,s .IMO Haven,t rode the kawi/can-am otr KTM so i cant say much on them.

[funyun]

Stop saying that yamahas have all these problems. The only ones that ever had oiling issues were the older ones. Anything 07+ is pretty much bulletproof and have 0 problems.

[nkillian9]

alright calm down guys its obvious the zuki is the best quad im saying this cause i have one lol man i ride with yamahas and hondas and we all ride the piss out of them id say we are all pretty much even in power but we are all running on stock bikes pretty much i have the 08 ltr yes i would prefer it over anything els but its my bike kinda deal like dude says from day 1 i felt comfortable on it just fits me suspension wise hands down to the zuk cant express that enuff lol power wisei like the power of the zuk cause its petty even from the bottom to the top power wise on the yamaha and honda its pretty much bottom end power and alot of it compared to the zuk this guy races xc so it might turn him off of the zuk but i ride woods too and with the right tire combo the zuk does quite well im not saying go buy a zuk its wut ever u feel the most comfortable on now u guys downing all the other bikes ur starting to sound like a bunch of drtbike guys downing the quads either way just get out and ride

[Holy Kaw!]

So yam has better handling and has a better overall bike in the 07 an up years so you guys are saying. ok. if you guy's are wondering about the kaw 450 i've raced mine all last year an couldn't finish six of my races because of electronic failures. the wiring harness flat out stinks they have wires that are ziptied to the frame which over time get rubbed clear down to the bare wires which causes a short.

mechanically the kfx is really nice though i've owned my kfx for almost two years and raced it for almost a year and half totally running the crap out of it and the only thing i've had to replace in the engine is the piston rings and that was only once. my cylinder walls still look brand new.

my friend races his suzuki 450 and if he over tightens the chain just a snidge he has the 3rd gear problem. he also has blown his engine up twice now. an i mean totally blown up, crank, piston, cylinder everything.

i think suzuki is the last brand of quad i would want considering their horrible transmission problems. let alone their weak engines. stock width is pretty nice though.

[nkillian9]

you are saying zuki has a weak engine it only feels weak cause it has user freindly power from the bottom to the top if u drag race all the 450s are equal in my book as for the third gear i really doubt that cause any third gear problems i figure the problems in 3rd comes from shifting on the gas or not fully engaging the clutch when shifting under a load and as far as him blowing it up sounds like he aint doing his maintenance the only zuk ive heard of blowing up so far from the guys i ride with was running on a yr and a half on same oil change i have had mine a yr and a half but at least 6 hrs a week on it as a low estimate i abuse to change my oil when scheduled but ido run amsoil thats prob the only thing saving me or the fact that i clean my filter after every couple of rides just curious how old are u

[nkillian9]

but to answer ur question if i was gonna narrow it down to only a yfz or a honda it would be a yamaha only cause it feels closer to the zuk seat wise its all about comfort the the honda feels more like im up to high but if the honda feels good in the seat to u then u might want a hond there are plenty of used aftermarket parts floating around for a honda at good prices more so than any other bike out

[RATPACK Z400]

If your having wire problem thats an EASY fix man! just secure them better ,good thing to do is check over quad after each race and you might have seen it and corrected it before it wore though wire then you would have finished races! if that your only problem and you like your Kawi keep it! it not a big problem.

[nkillian9]

yeah if u not getting a zuk then id keep the kawi lol jk

[RATPACK Z400]

Go to ATV ACTION motocross shoot-out 1 and 2 they dyno the 450,s track times/test them all except the honda/kawi cause they aren,t considered racequads cause of width only thing is they give all quads pipe,s except ktm/suzuki and they still have highest hp #s wish they would have did test with pipe/programer on suzuki to see real hp/torque !

[nkillian9]

note that the ltr 450s are prob about 30 pds heavier than the yfz but so is the yfzrs but u wont feel no weight diff from riding it but in a harescramble race like u say u race u will feel the weight when u get hung up on something lol

[kono993]

i have both a 2006 trx450r and a 2004 yfz450
the yfz imo is slow compaired to the trx like it dosent have the explosive power the trx has. and it has the same mods as the trx but the trx just responded to the mods much much better. its your choice tho but if i were you i would just go with the trx

[JoePA]

I say Yamaha. I have an 04 and run the pis out of it with no problems. I DON't have the oil mod done but change my oil quite often with Amsoil and have had no issues as of yet..

The YFZ with the Cam mod, GYTR jet kit, 35 leak jet, pipe and ESR air box eliminator intake and the bike rips.

I Own a 250R and would love to have a Hybrid with the CRF450 Engine but I just don't like the Honda TRX450...just me. The Uni cam eninge is super easy to work on...easier than the hammer..much easier. The Hondas had alot of problems with the crank or so I've read.

To throw another bone in the mix, even though I still would pick the yamaha, you can pick up an 09 TRX brand new for dirt cheap. Choice is yours...Good luck!

is this a serious question? anyone with common sense knows that a honda would be a way better choice.