Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

REAR GUARD

HOWTORIDE/ADBGARAGE/WERECOMMEND / TECH / KIDZ KORNER / USED RIDE / FACTORYRIDE/READERSRIDE/HERITAGE/ACTION/OAS/BUYERSGUIDE

IHAVEBEENlovingridingthe

YamahaYZ450Foverthelast

fewmonths.Imanagedtoget

outforafewridesinthemudto

getfamiliarwiththebikeand

playaroundwiththesuspension

settings.Thestiffersuspension

thatcomesintheYZ450Fsuits

my90kgframe,sothereisno

needformetochangespring

rates,butIhavebeenfiddling

withtheclickerstogetthe

suspensioncomfortable.

Theforkisplushandsmooth

soIhaven’tmadetoomany

changesbutIhavestiffenedup

theshockslightlytomakethe

bigbumpsandG-outsalittle

easier.Thechassisisverystable

soit’seasytopredictwhat’s

happening,whichhasmademe

feelcomfortableonthebike

rightaway.Thebikedoesn’t

seemtostepoutoflineandno

matterwhatthebikegetshit

withitseemstokeeponthe

straightandnarrow.

Thepowerisincredible.Right

offthebottomtheenginehasa

hugehitthatgetsyougoing.

Thepowerandtorqueonly

seemstoincreaserightthrough

therevrangeasyouopenthe

throttle.TheotherdayIwas

practicingmystartsandwas

blownawayathowmuchthe

bikehooksupanddrivesoff

the line.

IusedtheYZ450Ffora

coachingschoolatLake

MacquarieMotorcycleClub.My

jobasacoachinvolveschasing

kidsaroundallday,sothe

electriclegmakesstoppingand

startingallthetimemucheasier.

Iamusedtopullingovertothe

sideofthetracktogiveriders

BOYDY IS BACK ON BLUE AND LOVING IT!

GET A

GRIP!

pointers or tips, before having to

kick the bike over and take off

after them. With the electric leg I

can do this without losing any

time, and I’m saving precious

energy too.

The fi rst thing I did to the

YZ450F was remove the stock

half-waffl e handgrips and

replace them. The standard grips

feel like they’re made out of the

same rubber as the tyres. They

are rock hard and uncomfortable

so I ditched them for a pair of

Renthal handgrips.

I’ve also given the YZ450F its

fi rst service. I changed the

engine oil and oil fi lter and

replaced them with genuine

Yamaha stuff. The way I fi gure it

is, if they make the bike surely

they know the best products to

put in it so I’ve raided the

Yamalube oil cupboard. The oil

that came out was reasonably

clean but I like to do the fi rst

service relatively quickly and

thensticktochangingtheoil

everyfivehoursafterthat.

WhileIwasatitIcleanedand

re-oiledtheairfilterandthen

wentovereverynutandbolton

thebiketomakesureeverything

wasstilltight.Thisisagoodidea

whenyougetanewbike.Ithen

checkedthetensiononallthe

spokesandlubedandtightened

thechain.

Ihaveorganizedawhole

bunchofGYTRgoodiesforthe

YZ450Faswellasacomplete

customgraphicskitfrom

KustomMXandacustom

seatcoverfromTopline

Upholstery.Nextmonththebike

shouldlookentirelydifferent.

TechnicalEditorMatBoyd

SOFAR

HOURS

3.5

MODSTHISMONTH

Renthalhandgrips

MODSNEXTMONTH

Toplineseatcover,KustomMX

graphicskit,GYTRparts

YAMAHA YZ450F

RRP

$12,399

WARRANTY

Three months parts only

DISTRIBUTOR

Yamaha Motor Australia

INTERNET

yamaha-motor.com.au

MAIN.Boydy has no trouble in the corners

buthehas stiffened the shock for big bumps

1.Yamaha’s hard half-waffl es have made

wayfor a set of Renthal handgrips

2.Levers are part of the GYTR parts

package being covered in the next issue

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114 |JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au