[YFZwannabe]

Im considering selling my Z400 for the new 450... Couple things are troubling me.. First off the reverse thing.......... Before I start let me explain my riding habits.. Im not an mx'er or hard core racer.. Ive heard all the complaints of "it aint a true racer if it has reverse..bla bla bla.."I'd be willing to trade off the weight gains for the convenience of reverse.. But it doesnt have it so thats a mute point.. Anyway..Im having a hard time convincing myself to sell the Z and buy the 450... But this seems like what Im gonna have to do.. Try it myself and see if I like it. Has anyone on here went from a reverse quad to no reverse, and seriously never missed it. I dont wanna be kickin myself for goin with the 450..especially after goin through all the pain of sellin the 400 and paying 6800 for a new quad... Owchhhh...
And second.. I go on alot of poker runs and ride trails... Im in Ohio so we have plenty of rain here... I start riding in late april here so the trails are very wet and muddy.. Which i like but Im not to keen on having mud kicked up in my face the first minute im out... Im wonderin if in stock form the Yfz's plastic goes out far enough to give the rider some coverage from what might fly up from the front tires.. I had a similar problem because i was unfortunate enough to have an 01 raptor and sunk about 7000 dollars into moding it. I put lsr +2 a arms on it and that thing kicked mud like a pig...Anyway.. these are my main concerns and I'd appreciate some feedback from some peeps that may own or rode the 450 already.. Please dont turn this thread into a flaming session.. Im lookin for some real info here...I know some other sites that started out with good intensions but seem to have turned into a gossip forum as of late.. This persons mad about people posting womans pic's or this guy is callng this guy gay.. If I wanted that.. i'd watch some soaps and eat some chocolate bon bons.. hehehehe.. Anyway... This is great idea for a new forum.. And I appreciate all the info I might get here.. Thanks in advance...

 

[YFZCentral]

welcome to the site! First off, how much do you use reverse? chances are you use it what, 1% while riding right? You buy a quad to go forward, not backwards. The yfz is a race machine, like the cannondales and predator. Those dont have reverse and well, people who buy them arnt complaining. I think for the trade off in performance and handling that you will get with the 450, it will make up for that trade off. Besides, all ya gotta do is get off and push it, and its a very light bike so thats not to hard to do. I honestly dont think you will be unhappy with the 450 at all, its a great bike with great features that will do well at the race track and trails. To me, the fenders lok like they should help with mud and dirt, but time will tell. But hey, the z400 is a great bike as well! they both are! cant go wrong with either!

 

[YFZwannabe]

Youve got a point.. I dont use reverse all that much... For instance.. I went to rumble on the ridge this weekend... It was a blast... But 2 minutes into the ride there was a huge mud hole.. didnt look near as deep as it was... I used reverse a couple times on the run, but for the most part I did go forward as apposed to backward.... Im getting really anxious the try this new quad, and im hoping some people can help me in making the right decision... Over all the Z is a great quad..havent had any reliablility issues yet.. I just want a new quad and the 450 seems like a great choice so far...Oh well if I dont like the 450 guess i could sell it and get another Z.. Im keepin all my aftermarket parts so that wouldnt be that big of a deal.....

 

[YFZN]

Reading your concerns, It dosn't sound like the bike for you. The suspension is hard, works great on the track, but just cruising around it is a bone crusher. You could soften it up but that cost money.

It does through mud. You need tear off to ride on the track by yourself, especially after a good water.

Reverse, I don't think is a really big deal. The only time I used it was unloading the trailer and backing around camp.

I have only riden the Z once and I thought it was a decent quad, the type of riding it sounds like you do, you may want take money you would save and bump the perfomance a little (if you haven't done that already) and call it the day.

These are just my Opinions and probably mean absoultly nothing. :|

PS I have mine so I am not trying to keep someone from buying one!

 

[JeffP]

I'm having the same debate with myself as you. I really want another quad so the old lady can have her own. I'm just not sure what to get. I could always get another Z/KFX (kind of boring having two of the same) but I'm realy thinking about the YFZ. I'm just not sure how well it will suit me for trail riding and weekend rides through the local wooded areas.

I know reverse has saved me from being stuck out in the middle of no where more then once or twice. As in I've gotten myself in a mudhole that required me to get off the quad and use reverse as I push. There's no way I could of pushed the quad without its additional power moving it.

The upgraded suspension I think would be a plus, a little stiff I can live with, lots of sand and mud around here to cushin the landings. The easy power upgrades would be great too.

So as you can see I'm going back and forth on pro's and con's.

 

[DirtDiggler]

I found reverse to be more of a convenience (sp?) than a necessity. When I ride a new area I'm careful about how I pull up to things and I keep an eye on what everyone else comes across or says they found out there. Even when I had reverse I only really needed twice and the rest of the time I used it I wouldn' really call it a necessity. About 90% of the time I know the area I'm riding and it's not an issue. I don't miss reverse at all but I can understand why a lot of guys like it.

 

[Merriman®]

These are my opinions:

If you ride 50% or more on trails were you are not going that fast, I think you should stick with the Z. Just because it is a more maintenance free sport quad, and it has the luxuries that make it easier to ride on trails. This is what the Z400, and the 400EX are geared towards. The occasional MX track, and fast riding will be fine for a stock bike like this, but not as good as the YFZ,

The YFZ is more of a racer quad, where it's setup for track, and even hard core trail riding (GNCC) and fast dunes riding, not for the lax rider who just occasionally rides hard. These motors also require alot of up keep, with an oil change every couple of hours ride time, and also riding more in the power band than lugging it around. My cousin has a yz 426, and he's always doing some maintenance on the bike before, during, and after we ride, but his bikes runs flawlessly so it's the price you pay for speed. I think these motors are going to be similiar in up keep to the 2 strokes, but not quite as bad.

Personally I've never owned a quad with reverse. What did people do before reverse? I just pick the front of the bike up and turn it around, or push it backwards. Reverse to me is way over rated. I ride hard, and I plan on racing as soon as my YFZ comes in. I was going to race a 400ex, but it didn't make much sense to dump the 7000.00 dollars into it to make it a good racer, when I can buy this and be better off. I also ride dunes with my family, but we ride very fast most of the time (just ask "Crazie" how fast we can go when we want to) so this bike will be excellent for this too. If I was a trail rider that didn't go super quick then I would consider other machines in the sport quad category.