Question from Dan about 2010 YZ450: My only issue with the bike is under hard braking in sharp braking bumps I get some pretty crazy front end chatter. At first I figured my forks just weren't set up properly, but I have tuned them in my with suspension guy and they work awesome everywhere. I also have a problem with the front wheel feeling like it's going to knife at any time in gradual turns or at the entry to a sharper turn. I am pretty good at setting my bikes up but this one baffles me.
Our reply: Dan, okay, let's start from the beginning. Pretend you did not tell me that you were good at setting bikes up nor a suspension shop helped (and was good too), but you said the exact same things about your 2010 450's handling.
I would say your rebound is either way too fast or way too slow up front.
I would also tell you to look at rear sag settings; it could be not enough which causes the rear to stinkbug and the front end to dive.
But reality dictates you have a bike that handles sweet everywhere else. So......
How much do you weigh before gear and what is your rear sag set at?
Is the valving completely stock or did a shop go through it?
Lemme know so I can make a better guess. Privateer mx experts and pros around the world install the YamaLink Race, reset sag to 100mm, slide the fork tubes up about 3mm and then report back how frickin' fantastic their 2010 is. Kind of caught us by surprise. Each one reports the bike doesn't stinkbug on hard braking into turns, the bike stays lower on face of jumps and the rear end just eats up ruts and square edge under acceleration. Stable + turns like a scared cat at slow to medium speeds. I'm not that fast, and these riders do not know each other so to have the same comments come back must mean something. And their lap times drop a few seconds.
