Ridin’ On A Budget: 2009 YZ450F

The 2009 Yamaha YZ450F that got me playing in the dirt again…

I’d been looking at classified ad listings for several weeks trying to find myself a good, clean bike for a decent price. I really wanted to get back out there and start riding again. I didn’t have a huge budget to work with, even though I would have loved to splash out on a brand new bike.

I saw a clean 2009 Yamaha YZ450F advertised for sale, claiming low hours and a negotiable price – it was definitely worth taking a look at, at the very least. After inspecting the bike and doing some negotiating, I parted with $2500 and had my new ride loaded up in the back of my van.

Once I got home, I gave it a once-over, and ordered some parts to freshen it up. The headset bearings were notchy due to a lack of grease, so I replaced those and packed the new bearings with waterproof grease. I also spent the time re-greasing the swingarm and linkage bearings, which were also very light on grease.

The rest of my shopping list entailed a new Polisport plastic kit, Polisport fork guards, Vortex alloy sprockets, an RK 520 MXU gold racing chain, Pirelli Mid-Soft MX32 tyres, a States MX gear lever, a States MX oversize braking disc kit with a set of Ferodo brake pads, a set of Ariete grips and a complete custom graphics kit thanks to Alex at Rival Ink.

I’m really happy with how this bike now looks and rides, and all of this was done on a very tight budget – all up, I spent about $800. It just proves that you don’t need a brand new bike to enjoy riding motos.

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