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By: Jason Giacchino
Email: offthepegs @ atvsource.com
November 2008 - Off The Pegs
Spying on the 2009
YFZ450R
With 2008 winding down to its final few
months, I’ve been spending abundant time on and
around the 2009 race ATVs--too much time my
fiancé is quick to remind. Even as the weather
in New York has been steadily deteriorating, the
excitement being generated by the upcoming model
releases is enough to keep me warm and fuzzy
well into the cold dark months of winter.
While its initial announcement took place a few
months ago now, Yamaha’s all new YFZ450R is
finally creeping across the country through
dealer networks at the time of this article’s
writing. Now, I don’t know about you, but this
is one of those machines that has not only
captured my interest but has me up early making
phone calls and waiting in line at the local
dealerships for a sneak peak. No, I haven’t had
an opportunity to log any saddle time (you can
count on a full review once I do) but even from
afar it appears the new 450R means business.
Following are some of the observations, rumors,
gossip, and suspicions I’ve managed to assemble
from press releases, industry reps, dealers, and
preliminary photos:
Recycled Soda Cans:
Taking a chapter from the Raptor 700, it
appears the new YFZ will sport a three-piece
cast aluminum frame that like the Can-Am DS450
series will use fasteners (rivets) rather than
welds at the junctions.
Increased Width:
Yamaha wisely made the move to push the width of
this motocross-specific ATV to the regulation
maximum 50 inches. Nearly all of the next
generation 450cc race quads are already (or are
in the process of) running the full
50-inch
width out-of-the-box stock eliminating the need
of the consumer to purchase costly extended
aftermarket A-arms.
Single Lower Frame
Rail:
Taking a look just behind the front
bumper reveals a very tricky single-frame rail
design. Not only does this
setup reduce weight thanks to less material, it
also allows for longer A-arms without sacrificed
stability. It appears as though Yamaha has taken
center of gravity and centralization of mass
heavily into equation when laying out the
YFZ450R’s geometry.
Redesigned Thumb
Throttle:
Ever hear the term “Yama-thumb?”
Apparently the factory has and redesigned
the thumb-throttle to accommodate the hoards of
Yamaha riders out there who complained of
stiffness, blisters, or numbness. With revised
throw and ergonomics, not only has the throttle
itself been tweaked but the lack of carburetion
means an end to the rather heavy spring we used
to find on the FCR carb which brings us to the
next big update…
Fuel Injection:
Make
no mistake, the ATV industry is a trendy place
and not unlike the 2-stroke engine, the
carburetor has all but fallen out of favor. In
tune with this trend, Yamaha has done away with
float bowls, needles, and seats in favor of
microprocessors and fuel pumps.
Yes, the new YFZ450R will be fuel injected
(leaving only Honda and KTM behind to fight the
trend).
Saddle:
Despite the fact that
it was once said that nobody wins sitting on
their butt, Yamaha has developed a new seat that
not only looks cool but appears quite functional
as well. Like the Suzuki LTR450, the new YFZ’s
seat shape fans out in the back but narrows to
motorcycle-inspired proportions where it joins
with the tank. We can’t help but wonder if these
designs had been out earlier, could the
derogatory nickname “couches” have been avoided
when referring to ATVs?
Body Panels:
Not only does the stock seat cover come stock
with a gripper material, the black body panels
mated to the remaining plastic appears to be
covered with the grippy pattern as well.
Bars:
You know the times are changing when
the Japanese OEMs move away from generic
in-house bars in favor of factory-mounted Pro
Tapers. That’s exactly what you’ll find here.
Odds and Ends:
With all of the small
details Yamaha has apparently considered then
revised in effort to make the YFZ450R a more
track-worthy successor to the standard YFZ450
(which will still be available, by the way) it’s
rather surprising that they did not bother to
include several racing requisites: Namely nerf
bars or a tether cable/kill switch. While
Austria’s KTM and Canada’s Can-Am have paved the
way, the Japanese OEMs have proven themselves
slower in adopting the trend. This is rather
unfortunate as until these items are included
from the factory, claims of a machine being
race-ready off the showroom floor are simply
false for a majority of racetracks across the
country.
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