I am going to buy a new quad and would like to know which one is the best duning machine. I think the Honda's seem to be made a little better but the Yamaha seems to be a little faster. HoW about prices, whos has the best prices. Any thoughts??? Thanks, Jim.

I think the yamaha is better, but thats my opinion, both bikes have stiff suspension for MX so both are ruff in the dunes, but the honda sitts higher, so its up to you

The Honda is much easier to ride, and the suspension isn't harsh like the YFZ. The Honda is also torquier and you know what it takes to turn paddles full of large amounts of sand, torque. The seat is also plusher on the Honda. If you want to ride your new machine a lot and not get worn out the Honda is the only way to go.

The honda is the way to go if your the lazy man!
Torque doesnt matter really on these machines, they both have the power to rip through dunes. The YFZ is faster and has more options for upgrades at a much cheaper price per gain than the honda. The YFZ seat is kinda roough, but youll have enought fun on it not to notice it. The YFZ suspension is SUPER stiff, however that is why they are adjustable. Just click it all the way down and VIOLA, instant perfect suspension.

Buy the way: I bought the YFZ

I have a yfz, and can't think of another bike I would trade it for. I have raced a few of the honda's, and have yet to find a faster one. Of course, mine is not stock, so that isn't really a fair comparison. I think they are both great bikes, but when I bought mine, the honda was not out, so there was nothing to decide.

I'm gonna have to save my posts on this subject, cuz I think it will come up often;

ok, I own both the Honda and the Yamaha. Both are great duning machines and neither will dissapoint you. The Yamaha is faster, and can be made even faster with less $$ than the Honda. The Honda is mucho smoother in ride and can take the Yamaha through the whoops. The Honda is kick start only so if you stall it you will be kicking instead of hitting the start button. It kicks over very easy though, so it isn't as big of a deal as you would think. You will need to have more foam added to the Yamaha as the seat will hurt your butt after a few days of riding. The Honda is a much more "refined" machine, meaning things fit better, everything is smoother, the transmission shifts MUCH better than the Yamaha and the engine runs smoother also. The pipe on the Yamaha glows red at night. The battery on the Yamaha is small and you may need to re-charge from time to time. The Honda *may* have a problem splitting the case if you kick start it with throttle on, or try to kick it the wrong way (it is a front forward kick.) The Yamaha has alum a-arms and they have been known to bend when landing hard.

The race shops say that for right now, the Yamaha is faster but they expect in the end the Honda will be made to be just slightly faster than the Yamaha. My guess is at that point it will be the rider that will win the race - not the bike.

I'm gonna make a wild statement here: If your under 30, buy the Yamaha, if your over 30, by the Honda. If u can - buy both!

Thanks for the candid responses. It is always hard when you are buying a quad because unless your riding group has one you can not ride it in the dunes first to see if it fits your riding style. I have rode the new Yamaha but not the Honda. I really like the Yamaha but do have reservations about some of the things written here. I will wait a few more months before I make my decision and I am sure there will be a ton of info on this web page. Again, thanks to all for the responses. Jim

I think both bikes have their plusses and minuses. You might want to talk with tron, as he has both. Since I'm old and lazy, I went with the yamaha for one reason..the electric start. I don't find the suspension horrible, and the seat is no worse than many of the others I've used over the years. But when I would really notice it was hard, I'm usually standing anyway.

I don't care if someone is faster than me or not. I have fun with mine, and I know I don't ride anywhere close to the machines capabilities. So, whatever one you pick, I'm sure you'll have a great ride.

RED




BLUE



BLACK

<-----------------------Says it all for me, Thanks to the G.Com folks opinions

Cool hope you rip the dunes like no other on it

Way over 30 here and I just got my first quad Feb 9th. It is BLUE Way beyond my current riding capabilities but gettting closer everytime. I have no problems with the seat, but then I operated heavy equipment for over 22 years. I am very happy with BLUE, but I figure I would have been happy with RED also. Good luck and GREAT riding

KT

Congradulations Bob you made the right choice!

LA Cycle quoted me 7200.00 OTD ...... No helmet

Not quite ready to send the tres to pasture..... but ya never know

But then again you all are ignoring the best duning bike out there......
And its not red or blue ( yellow either )

And it doesn't help ...
Esco I mean posting all those pic's!!!!!



That is one sweet bike!!!!

Hmmmm....... maybe Bethany doesn't need a 400 ex after all
How hard did you say that thing was to kick?

Hey Bob...congrats on the new bike. I knew you would go red..

There was a time in my life... not so long ago either that I thought I would never own a "4 wheeler"...

Then, 2004 was just not my year... Hernia surgery on the 2nd of January... heal from that, then I go and bust my knee... I'll be lucky if I'm ready by next season...

So, I began thinking about these two bikes more and more. The worst part is (depends how you look at it I guess) that I broke my right knee... the one used for kick starting. My 250R isn't the easiest thing to start... I'm already freaking out about stalling it on a big face and having to get off the bike to start it. This made me think about going to the Yamaha... which is something I don't really want to do. I'm not "the fastest guy" out in Glamis, never will be... I want something comfy that I can ride all day and keep the 250 as the "attention getter".

My question is... you guys stated that the Honda is easy to start... how easy? I can start my 50 with my hand and my 250 is just a pain in the arse. I know it's tough for you guys to "tell" me how "easy" it is or isn't...

Would someone with a reconstructed knee be able to kick it over?

Once I pay the 50 off and throw a paddle on it I can just walk in with a few g's and put the rest of the 450 on my Honda card at ECC... gotta use that 15% off for big things ya know .

That electric start sure would make things easier though...

Toy collector....

My oppinion: Don't mess with your knee... The honda may be better for you in all regards but that one... But if it was me (and I think it will be in a few), I would suck it up and buy blue ONLY for the electric start.

I know what you mean when you look at a face and wonder about Kick starting on it (I also ride a 250R). It changes your perspective on duning.

24v, what did you change the gearing to?

YFZ! YFZ! YFZ!

childish, I know.

hard to spend over 7k on a quad when you can spend under 6k for a crf450 bike that will eat quads for breakfast. and have much better suspension.