450's Suzuki vs. Yamaha vs. Honda

[UncleRico]

Why do you think it is that Honda has 5 of the top ten spots in the point standings in the ATV pro motocross class (not to mention the top two locked up)?

Suzuki has 3 of the top 10 spots and Yamaha has spots 8 and 10.  I keep hearing how fast the YFZ is and how great a bike it is, but I wonder why they can't finish in the top 5.

Do you guys think it's the riders, or the factory support, or are the Honda's that much better than the other two?

Just curious.

(Oh, I may be a little biased, btw)

[Ida_Mann]

I'd be curious about the attrition of the quads,,,,and I wonder how many times each brand falls out of a race or doesn't finish well due to mechanical breakdown.........

Id@

[Rellimniets]

I grew up on Honda's myself, my Father swore on anything Honda and I have never ever had any kind of issue with anything Honda, I think they build a nice peice of equipment that is meant to last. Now as far the racing portion of this is concerned, I dont do much of it, but any bike/Quad can be built after market to match each other, but whats underneath it all is what counts.

For me that is Honda and I stand by this.

[Southern4x4]

Why do you think it is that Honda has 5 of the top ten spots in the point standings in the ATV pro motocross class (not to mention the top two locked up)?

Suzuki has 3 of the top 10 spots and Yamaha has spots 8 and 10.  I keep hearing how fast the YFZ is and how great a bike it is, but I wonder why they can't finish in the top 5.

Do you guys think it's the riders, or the factory support, or are the Honda's that much better than the other two?

Just curious.

(Oh, I may be a little biased, btw)

im a honda guy all the way but remember it depends on the rider

[arod]

 i think it is factory money. john natalie has said many times he liked his yfz better than the honda, but honda writes him the big checks. when suzuki was leading the way with factory money they were up top. now honda is putting up big money so suzuki has competition. yamaha does not have the big money in mx which is why they are at the bottom. yamaha? they are putting their factory money in gncc xc racing. which has them dominating the xc series for the last few years. i think when yamaha gets in more with the mx program, they will be a force to be reckoned with. the YFZ did set the new standard FIRST. just my .02 point of view.

[VForcedave]

Since the 450 Suzuki is relatively new, I think they will be the one to beat in the near future. I half way follow the race scene and from what I have read and seen Honda will not be up there very long. Correct me if I am wrong.

[RAD 450r]

Honda has a huge continegency program, they payout a quarter million for all motorsports and I think about $105,000 for ATV's a year.  For xc raicng everbody rides honda's in the pro's that arent factory because of their program. Yokley and Ballance ride the others because their factory backed, not sure about borich.  For motocross same thing, except spader,brown,gust,jones and ellis all ride others than honda, that leaves the rest..Honda.  Anybody could correct me if im wrong

[Chillinthemost]

Love my YFZ

[eric]

I agree Chillin and I have ridden all 3 on the trails    I give Honda a very close 2nd.

[klutchbuster400]

Yamahas feel like they have more power, but obviously the lt-r has better handling.
Havent rode a 450r yet

[eric]

Yamahas feel like they have more power, but obviously the lt-r has better handling.
Havent rode a 450r yet

I think they might hit the hardest although all have good power. Again I have only ridden them on the trails all stock.

[1FasterBlaster]

I grew up on Yamaha. My Dad rode nothing but Yamaha's.Then I rode all the honda three wheelers.Once I got on quads, I of course wanted a Yamaha.Started on a Blaster, now I have a LTZ400. I'm actually very glad I do. It rides very fast, and I actually passed someone on a YFZ. Gotta luv reverse too!
  It's not the quad...but the rider!!

[Dr.Dirt]

I grew up on Yamaha. My Dad rode nothing but Yamaha's.Then I rode all the honda three wheelers.Once I got on quads, I of course wanted a Yamaha.Started on a Blaster, now I have a LTZ400. I'm actually very glad I do. It rides very fast, and I actually passed someone on a YFZ. Gotta luv reverse too!
  It's not the quad...but the rider!!

I've done that in the woops on my Blaster. Either the rider sucked, or was just tired, because theres no way that I could beat a good rider on a YFZ with my Blaster lol.

[Old_School]

95% of the race is the quad. The other 5% is the rider................

Better make that 5% count.

All in the rider folks. -Mark

[sweetrider215]

i will stick with yamaha i love mine lol

[MadMudder]

Ok, im no racer. But I do allot of research and read all the magazines. When your talking about this kind of racing, you talking about super modded quads. I mean the frames aren't even the same as stock or even close to stock. Plus the rules are so strict to level the playing field that the guy next to you doesn't have a huge advantage over you. So I think it boils down to money and rider skill. Almost every one of the professional racers are extremly tallented. The only time it really matters what your riding is when your talking about the stock classes or low mods or whatever there called. Then it starts to really matter whats under you.

[Chuck_Norris]

Love my YFZ

I'll second that

[arod]

 the frames are stock,maybe gusseted. kory ellis runs a stock swingarm and so was doug gust up at gatorback.

[Exmx54]

Yamaha is my choice, the Honda's are good bikes too. I'm not a fan of the LTR.

[Fox17]

a lot of it is the rider. look at motocross. ricky carmichael has raced kawasaki honda and suzuki. he has won championships on all of them. 2 perfect seasons on the honda btw. jeremy mcgrath has ridden for yamaha and honda and won championships on both. the bike matters but the rider is the most important.

[LT-R450ApK]

i heard in ocala them boys got them all stock LTR's Runnin
Maybe just a rumor though

[4fittyr]

it's all business  win on sunday !!sell on monday! rider and machine combo

[trx#9]

i think it is factory money. john natalie has said many times he liked his yfz better than the honda, but honda writes him the big checks. when suzuki was leading the way with factory money they were up top. now honda is putting up big money so suzuki has competition. yamaha does not have the big money in mx which is why they are at the bottom. yamaha? they are putting their factory money in gncc xc racing. which has them dominating the xc series for the last few years. i think when yamaha gets in more with the mx program, they will be a force to be reckoned with. the YFZ did set the new standard FIRST. just my .02 point of view.

John Natalie isn't on the honda payroll. He gets free bikes and thats about it. The only true factory team is suzuki. John Natalie didn't even have a mechanic at the second round of the WSPN - (espn) series. His sponsor had to find a mechanic for him at the race track to help him out and luckly Mike from A.T.P. racing was there and filled in for the weekend. Some factory team, huh. While suzuki had 10 factory mechanics working on Doug Gusts and Jerimiah Jones bikes. Yamaha has about the same deal as honda, they give free bikes out and no factory assistants, but that will shortly change after this ESPN series blows the sport up to Dirt Bike statis.        Right now the Yamaha motor sucks thats why they can't keep up. There motor can't take a lot of compression like the honda's 14 to 1 and even 15 to 1 set ups. The yamaha's cranks blow out with anything higher than 13 to 1. There for Yamaha's only putting out low 50's horse power numbers, while the honda's are around the 60 hp. mark. Sorry yamaha fans, they need to  fix there crank problems before they can keep up.  

[53yfz450]

then why does pat brown pull tons of holeshots. i wouldnt say they SUCK i would say they arent as reliable. becasue they dont suck. ill give it 2 you them hondas are fast but so are the yamahas. but i think at the pro stats they all are fast and puting out tons of HP. ive seen a scatered winning of holeshots. in texas lysinger got the holeshot in moto1 and in moto 2 it was brown and ellis up front. but other rounds its hondas. only latey has suzuki been getting them.

[trx#9]

Then why are the yamie riders jumping ship. Pretty soon there going to be nothing but honda's and suzuki's. Pat brown doesn't pull  tons of holeshots I think he has maybe one or two all year. Remember the holeshot 50% motor 50% rider. On the track is were the torque of the honda motors pull away from the yamies. The suzuki kinda in the middle of the road power wise.