New to Motards

[oldguy]

Well not long ago I brought a 2015 Yamaha WR450F, from Mr Motorcycle, ( plug for them) road legal version. The first chance I got to go for a decent ride,

My WR450F Review
PRO'S...................F@#kn awesome fun bike to ride, through the twisty back roads.

Down side..........The fuel range, how can i put it..........it sux hard i got 100k to the tank. :-(
The seat...after about 15k it felt like i was sitting on a piece of wood
The ride height, too tall for me, when it comes to the stop start of around town traffic lights i am struggling with getting a foot on the ground.without falling over.

Ive had the idea of converting it to a motard for commuting to work and a bit of back road riding.
So through Torpedo7 ordered their motard wheel set, set of disc's oversize 320 front and standard rear and going with a 50t rear sprocket which is the same as whats on the 18" rear wheel, leaving the front sprocket.
The theory is when time to swap out wheels I don't have to change the chain as well.
It should lower the bike as well.

Am I on the right track........:confused:

[caseye]

Well not long ago I brought a 2015 Yamaha WR450F, from Mr Motorcycle, ( plug for them) road legal version. The first chance I got to go for a decent ride,

My WR450F Review
PRO'S...................F@#kn awesome fun bike to ride, through the twisty back roads.

Down side..........The fuel range, how can i put it..........it sux hard i got 100k to the tank. :-(
The seat...after about 15k it felt like i was sitting on a piece of wood
The ride height, too tall for me, when it comes to the stop start of around town traffic lights i am struggling with getting a foot on the ground.without falling over.

Ive had the idea of converting it to a motard for commuting to work and a bit of back road riding.
So through Torpedo7 ordered their motard wheel set, set of disc's oversize 320 front and standard rear and going with a 50t rear sprocket which is the same as whats on the 18" rear wheel, leaving the front sprocket.
The theory is when time to swap out wheels I don't have to change the chain as well.
It should lower the bike as well.

Am I on the right track........:confused:
Bum! Got a better idea I have OLD FELLA.
Fix the poor bloody Buel@#$%! hey me mol mate, been too long.
Looks like a plan, but mateeeeeeeeeee you've gotta get more than 100Klicks out her.

[oldguy]

Bum! Got a better idea I have OLD FELLA.
Fix the poor bloody Buel@#$%! hey me mol mate, been too long.
Looks like a plan, but mateeeeeeeeeee you've gotta get more than 100Klicks out her.

Hey mate been a while, was going to come out last Thursday night on the new steed, but ended up working late.
Yep I should put the Buell back on the road.
will be returning to the SATNR very soon, just get this bike sorted.

[caseye]

Hey mate been a while, was going to come out last Thursday night on the new steed, but ended up working late.
Yep I should put the Buell back on the road.
will be returning to the SATNR very soon, just get this bike sorted.

Bloody Good News that is, we'll,shorten up the ride length and inculde at least one Gas Stop and a pill stop just for you old buggers and yer decrepit bikes, lol. Be good to see you.

[scott411]

wicked purchase John, be an awesome way to see the back roads in NZ,

there are aftermarket fuel tanks avaiable from Clarke and IMS, that will help alot,

with going to the smaller diameter motard wheels, you will need to gear the bike up, you might be able to get away with a 42 or smaller rear sprocket and keep the front the same, you will need another chain, or at least 2 joining links,

for the race motard KX450F, i am going up 2 on the front, and about 6 off the rear from Std MX set up,

[oldguy]

wicked purchase John, be an awesome way to see the back roads in NZ,

there are aftermarket fuel tanks avaiable from Clarke and IMS, that will help alot,

with going to the smaller diameter motard wheels, you will need to gear the bike up, you might be able to get away with a 42 or smaller rear sprocket and keep the front the same, you will need another chain, or at least 2 joining links,

for the race motard KX450F, i am going up 2 on the front, and about 6 off the rear from Std MX set up,

Thanks Scott,:niceone: that's just the sort of stuff I wanted to know. The motard setup mainly for the commute to and from work (take the long way home)
and still be able to swap wheels and do more adventuresses rides, and the odd trail ride. though I still have the 250 for that.

[husaberg]

Well not long ago I brought a 2015 Yamaha WR450F, from Mr Motorcycle, ( plug for them) road legal version. The first chance I got to go for a decent ride,

My WR450F Review
PRO'S...................F@#kn awesome fun bike to ride, through the twisty back roads.

Down side..........The fuel range, how can i put it..........it sux hard i got 100k to the tank. :-(
The seat...after about 15k it felt like i was sitting on a piece of wood
The ride height, too tall for me, when it comes to the stop start of around town traffic lights i am struggling with getting a foot on the ground.without falling over.

Ive had the idea of converting it to a motard for commuting to work and a bit of back road riding.
So through Torpedo7 ordered their motard wheel set, set of disc's oversize 320 front and standard rear and going with a 50t rear sprocket which is the same as whats on the 18" rear wheel, leaving the front sprocket.
The theory is when time to swap out wheels I don't have to change the chain as well.
It should lower the bike as well.

Am I on the right track........:confused:

Ballards in Aussie have a 15L tank for $389 Aud.(likely one of these below)
https://issuu.com/ballards/docs/ballards_2015_issuu
Or Clarke direct
http://www.steahlyoffroad.com/fuel-tanks-intake/yamaha-fuel-tanks.html
Or IMS direct
http://imsproducts.com/Products/index.cfm?PartNumSet=117333&mad=true&modD=true&yed=true&siD=true&seD=true&tyD=true&ReleaseTitle=15

You can get add or get softer seat foam as well.
You might find the steering a bit ponderous on the Motard rims Esp on turn in, in that case get a smaller offset set of yokes.

As for the seat height if the wheels and seat don't fix that.
http://www.motorcycleloweringlinks.com/index.php?content=yamaha-lowering-link

[oldguy]

Yay finally finished, have to say doesn't look too bad at all. just been for a short ride around the block, everything seems as it should, no funny noise's hope for a bit of fine weather, may get out for a short ride. Have heard that the spokes need to be check regular on the wheel sets, so next investment will be a spoke spanner.

[FlangMasterJ]

Looks incredible! Just be super vigilant if you ever park it up somewhere.

[flashg]

Looks awesome. I have a 2012 injected one and it came with a spoke tool and sparkplug spanner, thats all. You should have one.

[flashg]

And I did have an IMS 11.3 litre tank (standard 7.2) I bought that one because I could still use my plastics and keep that neat original look. Larger tanks available at the time wouldn't allow you to use your plastics. Things may have changed now though.

[donjohnson]

Looks great, know what you're saying about the fuel range.

[oldguy]

Looks great, know what you're saying about the fuel range.

Have upgraded to this, trip showed 200K's still had fuel in tank and fuel light had not come on. Not sure how far I could have got to the tank but that's way better. will need to get a Speedo Healer next.

https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=329794&d=1491286225

https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=329795&d=1491286229

[Alx]

Looks verrrry nice! I've bought the same wheels from Torpedo7 and fitted them with Bridgestone S21 yesterday.

How's the stock kickstand with these smaller wheels? Not too tall? Certainly is on my Husky.

Agree re: gearing on the rear, anything 45t or under will make a big difference. You could always go up 1 or 2 teeth on countershaft sprocket depending on what's there now, if it helps budget wise.

Edit: Just saw the age of the post, deleted unnecessary comment..

[oldguy]

Looks verrrry nice! I've bought the same wheels from Torpedo7 and fitted them with Bridgestone S21 yesterday.

How's the stock kickstand with these smaller wheels? Not too tall? Certainly is on my Husky.

Agree re: gearing on the rear, anything 45t or under will make a big difference. You could always go up 1 or 2 teeth on countershaft sprocket depending on what's there now, if it helps budget wise.

Edit: Just saw the age of the post, deleted unnecessary comment..


kickstand is good, didn't have to shorten it, bike a little more upright but fine. ''Gearing'' I'm running a 42 tooth rear and the stock 13t front, just did a 750k trip over the weekend, gearing was fine, have to keep reminding my self its only a 450. still may try going up one on the front to 14t.

[Michaelpum]

slight modifications and knackeredMk1

not exactly words you would put together

good luck with the new project thats only a bit of work and not alot of money