Yes it's blue, but who cares?

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#21

09-13-2009, 04:38 AM

tremor38

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Join Date: Oct 2006

Location: Misawa Japan

Posts: 3,106

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nobrakes

I've been drooling all over the Husaberg 450 for a while now, but they recently came out with a 390. I think that'd be the one I'd get if I were going to do it.

That said, three of my friends went on a TAT ride - multi-week back-road/trails trip across the USA. One on a WR250, the other on a KTM 950 SE, and the 3rd on a KTM 640 LC4. A few days in the WR had a fuel pump failure. And a few days after that, the 950SE had a fuel pump failure. Maybe just bum luck and coincidence, but both these guys take good care of their bikes. The LC4 was not completely immune, he was cleaning jets at one point due to some crappy dirty fuel along the way. But at least he could fix it with tools in his fanny pack. The WR guy never made it out of Tennessee, and 950SE guy had some help from some friends to cross reference compatible part numbers and then overnight a pump from NAPA to replace it. Anyway ... food for thought. Carburetors have their drawbacks, but leaving you stranded is usually not one of them. Right now, I'm appreciating the carburetor on my bike.

Yup. I like a lot of things about EFI, but the prospect of getting stranded makes me uneasy. Posts at the Thumpertalk WR250X/R forum are talking about fuel pump failures happening early-on with some of the first batches Yammie cranked-out. The pumps also seem to be very sensitive to anything less than super clean fuel. Some guys have been successful getting the gunk cleaned out by a machanic..others were not so successful and had to buy a new pump. It was also interesting to read that some of the fixes involved just rapping the pump sharply with a mallet

I've been looking at the WR pretty closley as of late. I just hope the major fuel pump issues have been resolved when I'm ready to make the plunge. I'll definitely beef-up my road service plan before then LOL!

#22

09-13-2009, 05:10 AM

tremor38

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Join Date: Oct 2006

Location: Misawa Japan

Posts: 3,106

Sweet looking ride. I see Yamaha is continuing to move away from the five valve head to four valves. It started with the R-1's old genesis engine and now they've worked the way to the YZ..F's. I remember somebody over at thumpertalk told me I was crazy when I said that change would probably work its way to the off-road models.

I wonder if top-end reliability will take a hit because of that. Seems like the CR's and KX...F's were going though valves like pairs of socks, while the five valve YZ...F's were holding much better. It will be interest to see if Yammie has solved the problem.

I didn't notice any off road only WR's in their 2010 overview. I wonder if they are completely phased-out or will there be a late 2010 introduction with the new YZ based, 4 valve motor. Seems like Yammie wouldn't want to drop their enduro segment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WestOzKLX

Opinions.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/pr...9/0/video.aspx

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/pr...0/0/video.aspx

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/pr...2/0/video.aspx

Last edited by tremor38; 09-13-2009 at 07:11 AM.

#23

09-13-2009, 08:50 AM

WestOzKLX

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Join Date: Mar 2008

Location: Perth, Western Australia.

Posts: 3,229

I have no official word, but I suspect they will carry over the current WR450F and WR250F models from 2009 with a few tweeks. Do some real world R and D over 2010 with the YZ450F and "hopefully" release an all new WR450F with a version of the 2010 YZ450F engine in 2011, FI and all the new new stuff. They'll have to sort the tank for the WR model though, 6 litres certainly won't cut it.