Just got back from a great weekend in G, took the new to us 08 YFZ450 quad out for the first time and had a blast. Lots of fun, good power but man the stock suspension blows. Maybe I'm ruined from years on a two wheeler but going fast over cross ruts would damn near shake the bars out of my hands. I played with the setting all weekend and got the rear shock to decent enough but the front shocks are worthless in all but the smoothest stuff. So what are you guys running? I heard the Elka Dune Editions work good for the money with a rebuilt rear shock.

I need to stay somewhat reasonable $ wise, as the bike serves dual purpose for myself and my wife and she's got me on a budget , so +2 arms and full blown Elite's are out of the question (for now).

Also I'll probably throw a steering stabilizer on there, any recomendations?

Thanks,

Chris

Precision stabilizer and I really like the Fox Floats on my YFZ.

Are the Floats the non-adjustable set? If so it looks like they just have a "pre-load/spring rate" type adjustment for rider weight, no compression or rebound dampening, they are ok without it?

Thanks,

Chris

wouldnt rec dune edition. the yfz shocks are great stock. dune editions are for quads like 400ex's that had crappy shocks stock. they take tuning but remember its a sport/race quad. the faster you go the better the ride imo. befor dumping money invest in a stablilizer. call works performance, they make a triple rate setup that is bolt on and will make the ride better for around $100.

Axis rebuilds on the shocks... PM rivermobster.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/yfz450-FOX-...2QQcmdZViewItem

This is the set I have, lot's of adjustment.

Yep. All set up for that now.

Well we weren't putting around G? 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear and it still sucked. I dropped the high speed compression, played with the low speed, everything....as soon as I'd hit the ruts the end of the bars were doing the same thing the tires were doing...almost no movement from the shocks. It did great on cruising and even jumping but the shocks just couldn't react fast enough the handle the ruts. I rode another quad with the Elka Dune editions and it was better, then I rode another with Fox Evol's and it was really nice, aLso rode one with +2 arms and Elka Elites and it was perfect but I can't drop the cash and live to tell about it

Have heard that rebuilding the stockers works, they look like they have all the right parts but they just didn't work stock....maybe for MX racing but I just don't see it. So what's the approx cost for rebuilding the stockers?

Looking at a stabilizer but it wasn't so much the bars moving left to right that I didn't like, it was the bike bouncing side to side and taking the bars with it.

Thanks for comments and suggestions so far,

Chris

Did the handlebars feel too low? We have on in our group and I'm too tall for the yfz so when hauling thru ruff terrains at times I felt I was going over the bars. A +1 antivibe stem and bar risers make it a much better ride.

GWTT, do you think +2+1 aftermarket A Arms would make those stock shocks a better ride?

the stock springs on the YFZ's are just to stiff. thats why they get taken out when rebuilt.

+2 arms are cheaper then the shocks. run them on the stock shocks to soften them up.
or just save up till u can do it right.

i have a trx 450r. went with +2arms and elka triple rate dune editions. the rides at glamis,dumont, and pismo are awesome.

Way too low. Looking at the anti vibe bar risers. I'm 6'-2" and the wife is 5'-11" so I can't go too tall. Looking at the Rox Pro offset risers.

Some of the guys I've talked with said the longer a-arms on stock shocks don't work. So rebuild the stockers for now until I get permission for the +2 arms and good shocks?

no becuase if you get the stock shocks rebuilt for stock arms then they wont work right on +2.

stock shocks will work on +2 arms, not perfect but they'll work, then when youre ready for shocks or see some used ones at a good price you know you can just slap them on.. with your height your bike will handle better when its wider, right now it probably feels tipsy. its narrow and the bars are low. for duning wide is the way to go.

i ran stock shocks on my +2 arms till i got my elkas.
my stock shocks were so stiff that the leverage of the +2arms softened the springs up just a bit.
i went this route and worked for me, maybe not for all but it did for me.

fyi the location of the shock mounts on aftermarket a arms is on the exact same place as the stocks, the +2" are added after the shock mount towards the wheel if you know what i mean.

This is not always the case... Different arm manuf's use different mounting locations, this is why they ask you to specify which arm you are using when ordering new shocks. The length is adjusted accordingly and the shocks are valved differently for the different leverage ratios.

true, i know alb, houser, i shock, and Jd performance will work on stocks. dont know about the rest.
and this goes only for standard travel. if he went that route thats some that he can use, long travel, no way.

I feel your pain, I went from two wheels to four and it was culture shock. Nothing like hittin the whoops pinned on 2 wheels. I ended up going with the Elka dune editon and Laeger long travel setup, but I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, I'm pulling my hair out waiting!!! I hurt my back 7 months ago and haven't been able to ride.

I think I need a longer stem also, I'm 6'0/6'1 and the bars feel low. I have an 07 which is 1" taller than the previous years, so I'm thinking a +1 should work for me. I also added a stick steering stabilizer, the cheap route but it does make a difference on the 6th setting, it has 7 total. I got the one from Cycle parts west.

Do you remember what settings worked for the rear?

I tried everything, but she still kept bucking. Felt like she was packing, and that was with the rebound on 3.

True, but only on LT shock setups though. He should be OK in this case, every standard travel shock is the same length and have the same lower mount location.

Careful on the big jumps though dude.....they soften up quite a bit.

Never expect a plush dirt bike like ride on a quad though either man. The handlebars are always going to be fighting you...... its just the nature of the beast.

i put an i shock set up on my 06 and for the money i thought it was well worth it. and i also put on a set of trailtech bars with the 1inch spacer to raise the bar, but hydrodynamics also does complete revales for stock shocks too.

if all youre wanting is +1 on the bars then get taller bars. the real settup will be a +2 stem with antibe clamp. superatv probably has the cheapest stem, great quality and finish. we got one on a 07yfz.http://www.superatv.com/Yamaha-YFZ-450-Steering-Stem-Plus-2-P191.aspx

the bars jarring back and forth. these stock front tires? the stockers love to "track" ruts. sometimes a tire upgrade does the trick. The Kfx is horrible to ride in ruts with stock front nobbies. Running aftermarket front nobbies such as ITP Maxxis or other make a difference in tracking ruts. As far as width helping tracking, not going to do much, like PHIL said,"its the nature of the beast". you two wheel guys say its easier to ride a quad. well yes it is. but to race one it isnt. I can tell you right now ruts are ruts. your going to get beat up. especially the ones near camp. the LT I have is great for big jumps and bad landings helps with thte whoops but when you go across ruts or get into grooves its going to be rough. I still recommend a stabilizer first. then look into anti vibe stem and possibly FLEXX bars. just from personal experience.

Thanks for all the replies, good info. I'm getting some quotes on rebuilding the stockers front and rear, and a full LT set-up.

Here's the plan so far (at least for today)
1. +2 anti-vibe stem.
2. Steering stabilizer probably just the rebuilable stick style. I need something to fiddle with.
3. Depending on the price I will probably just rebuild the stockers for now, front and rear set-up for my weight.
4. Go full LT set-up, shocks and a-arms when I get permission from the wife at a later date.


To answer some quesions......I can't remember what the final settings were on the rear shock, I messed with it so much, it wasn't great but the front sucked so bad it overshadowed the rear. I definitely think the rear needs rebuilt no matter what.

Razors up front on ITP wheels set at 5-6 psi.

Thanks again and I'll keep updating as I go forward.

Chris

I would look into buying some good used ones!! Took me a good 8 months to find a good deal for my Banshee.
Within those 8 months I ran into at least 10 good deals on TCS, AXIS & GT Thunder rebuilds for the yfz. Dual/Tripple Rates, Standard/Long travel, new & old...
I'd rather go aftermarket over the yfz build if the $ #'s are right. I had a pair of yfz shocks my Banshee & they're way heavier over my Works.