Beater/project Yamaha WR450f

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Probably the main reason that I would love to look for my next career in Colorado. If anything in healthcare administration comes up over there send me a PM :D

:rofl: Plating bikes is just one of the perks... there are many higher ranking reason to live here. :D I don't know too many people that work in health care, but will keep you in mind.
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
Greg, look for my seat to arrive Tuesday, if you can hurry and get it done I will give you the address in St George to send it to so I can use it next weekend.

Thanks is advance. :)
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Greg, look for my seat to arrive Tuesday, if you can hurry and get it done I will give you the address in St George to send it to so I can use it next weekend.

Thanks is advance. :)

:rofl: If you're serious, we could work something out. Let me spend some time on my new seat and see if it's actually an improvement. At the least, I could let you borrow the staple gun and meat knife, it really wasn't that hard!


I think I'll send my Dodge seats down as well?

I don't do Dodge seats... :p :rofl:
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Well, I took the bike out for it's first ride yesterday, other than the scary test ride I took less than 2 weeks ago. First thing I did was ride it around my neighborhood and see if there were any bugs that needed to be addressed.... I'm sure my neighbors loved that, the WR is loud and I was playing with the throttle more than I should have. :greg: The test ride went well, I've got some small coolant leaks, but nothing to be worried about. I'm going to pull the tank off later and check all the coolant hoses, make sure the clamps are tight.

I decided to go ahead and load up the bike for a real ride... I headed out to Rabbit Valley 15 minutes away, on the Utah/Colorado border. Rabbit Valley is great, there's plenty of varying types of desert riding, sandy washes, fast dirt roads, dirt singletrack, technical rocky singletrack, etc. It's one of my favorite places to ride!

Moment of truth! Unloading the bike...

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I hopped on the ATV trail, rather than the dirt road, and headed into the desert... there's plenty of whoops and jump and the WR wanted to spend more time in the air than on the ground. It really likes the front wheel off the ground, seems like you just have to think about it, and you're pulling the front end up! :eek: What's real funny is that I geared the front sprocket up 1 tooth, from a 14 to a 15, thinking that would tame the bike down a little... I don't think it did anything to slow it down, but it feels like a good gear ratio for desert riding.

I forgot how nasty these big WR's are, compared to what I've been riding for the last several years, this thing is just EVIL to ride. It scares the hell out of me, but also puts a huge grin on my stupid face. I love the thing!

I do wish I were in better shape, this bike wears me out... fast. I need to work on that, start riding my mountain bike again and get back into the gym. I couldn't believe how fast I was getting worn down. I'm slow, old and fat... and the WR450 is kind enough to remind me when I try to ride fast. :(

I blasted around Rabbit Valley, getting used to the light, narrow and fast WR450 until I reached the trailhead for the Rim Trail and the great view of the Colorado River and the railroad track below.

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Again, I was reminded that I'm not that great of a rider... I killed the bike climbing up this double ledge. I could blame it on the higher gear ratio, but it was all me.

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I wrapped up the Rim Trail and headed for some more smooth, fast singletrack. This trail is a BLAST, it climbs and drops up and down some steep hills, into washes and tosses in a few ledges and whoops to keep you on your toes.

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And that was it! The bike ran great, I have a few minor tweaks I want to do, but was more than impressed with this machine. It ran flawlessly and performed very well.

I know a lot of people are curious about the seat, so I'll address that... the modified seat is amazing. Like I mentioned, I'm out of shape and fat, so when I get tired and can't stand anymore, I need a decent seat to put my fat ass on. The addition of the 1" foam made a huge difference, it's night and day. I rode for a few hours on Sunday and my backside didn't feel bad at all afterwards. I think the seat change was a huge upgrade in the comfort department. The downside is that it adds 1" of height to an already tall WR, but if you have the inseam to spare, I'd highly recommend it. I have a 34" inseam and standing over the bike is still comfortable, but the height is noticeable. It's not enough for me to worry about lowering the bike any.

So there it is! I'm happy as could be with the bike... I have some other additions coming up in the near future, which I'll be sure to add to this thread. Thanks to everyone that provided encouragement, kind comments and most importantly, parts!!
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
:cool: Looks like a great ride. Glad the bike performed as you would have expected. (or maybe above what you would have expected) :D
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
RING RING,

Greg: "Hello....Russ this is Greg, just thinking about a little ride down here. You interested in coming down?"

Russ: "Sure, what time?"

.......

Thanks for nothing Greg. I could have picked Caleb up on the way down. :(

Seriously... wait I was serious about the dialog above.
Anyway, the WR has turned out great. You have done some great work and I will be sending my wife after the padding. Can you be a little specific on what I am looking for cuz my ass can't take the pounding anymore. Wow, I may want to change that so this thread doesn't start taking on a prison theme.
 

Rot Box

Diesel and Dust
Supporting Member
Location
Smithfield Utah
Great report! Looks like a fun place to ride :cool:

How does the suspension feel? Do you think that has anything to do with it wearing you out? A few more rides and you'll fall helplessly in love ;)
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Thanks everyone, I'm super happy with the beater! It runs great and is hardly recognizable as the beat up, neglected machine it once was!


RING RING,

Greg: "Hello....Russ this is Greg, just thinking about a little ride down here. You interested in coming down?"

Russ: "Sure, what time?"

.......

Thanks for nothing Greg. I could have picked Caleb up on the way down. :(

Seriously... wait I was serious about the dialog above.
Anyway, the WR has turned out great. You have done some great work and I will be sending my wife after the padding. Can you be a little specific on what I am looking for cuz my ass can't take the pounding anymore. Wow, I may want to change that so this thread doesn't start taking on a prison theme.

That was a quick 3 hour test ride, you tell me when you want to come down and I'll show you these trails and we can spend a weekend riding around here. There's miles of great single track, as fast or as technical as you want it!

For the seat, I stopped by an upholstery shop and told them what I was doing. They had 2 typed of seat foam and I asked for the dual density foam... felt more firm to me. It really wasn't hard to find what I needed, nor do the work.



Great report! Looks like a fun place to ride :cool:

How does the suspension feel? Do you think that has anything to do with it wearing you out? A few more rides and you'll fall helplessly in love ;)

The suspension seems fine, I think I'm just fat and out of shape! Really, standing up on the bike in whoops wears me out so fast, my physical fitness has really gone down hill in the last couple years. :(
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Just to wrap up the 'rebuild/build', I got my order from Highway Dirt Bikes and bolted their handguards on! Killer parts, very beefy and nothing but the best quality!

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STAG

Well-Known Member
Your new plastics looked so good, it made me jealous. And jealousy is a sickness so today I had to go buy me a new plastics kit for my 450. It looks a lot better to me than the factory white, especially because my cousin has my bike's twin, but now his is stuck white and mine is black. I still need to buy the front number plate (possibly one with a headlight) as there was not a number plate included in my kit. Same with fork guards.

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rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
:rofl: If you're serious, we could work something out. Let me spend some time on my new seat and see if it's actually an improvement. At the least, I could let you borrow the staple gun and meat knife, it really wasn't that hard!

My ass just couldn't handle it any more. I had to do some modification so that it would pass inspection this year so I added the LED turn signals(thanks Caleb, Anarchy Motorsports) and took my seat apart and added some foam. Turned out great and look forward to trying it out this next week. I am going to St George riding.
 
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