When Piet Retief set off for the Emakhosini valley in Zululand in February 1838 the journey took him and his seventy co-travellers a good few days on horseback. Our 90 minute helicopter trip from Durban to the site of King Dingane’s royal kraal was a lot more comfortable and infinitely safer. As a bonus, we got to go home the following day, while Retief’s return ticket was decisively cancelled after negotiations broke down in the worst possible way. But while the Boer leader visited the area in the hopes of acquiring land to settle his people, our reason for raiding Mtonjaneni Lodge, overlooking the thoroughly revenged remains of Dingaan’s kraal at Mgungundlovu, was to experience Yamaha’s awesome new YZF 450 quad.
In developing the YZF Yamaha did what quad nuts have been praying for – taken the motor from their race-winning four-stroke YZ dirt-bike series and put it into a four-wheeled frame that can deliver handling to suit. The single cylinder 439cc twin-cam liquid-cooled engine boasts five valves, all of which are made from titanium for added strength and lightness. Although a serious competition engine it offers an electric start.
The rest of the machine is as race-ready as the engine. The independent double-wishbone front suspension has aluminium upper A-arms and steering knuckles, and the competition spec Kayaba piggyback shocks allow 230mm of travel. At the other end a cast aluminium swingarm houses a link-type system modelled after that found on a YZ MX bike, hanging from a Showa shock absorber that controls the rear wheel through 256mm of travel. Dual, twin-piston hydraulic discs up front and single hydraulic disc out back help keep the rider out of the trouble that the engine seems so keen to rush him into.
The guys at Mtonjaneni Lodge near Melmoth are keen quad racers, so they built a short track on their farm on which we could explore the raceworthiness of the machines. I was experiencing a little back trouble at the time – there’s a broad yellow streak running down the middle of it – so I didn’t get anywhere near as airborne as the expert quad riders, but their aerobatics proved that the Yamaha can handle a jump as well as anything else on this planet. They circulated at blistering speeds while the less proficient amongst us had great fun on the flat bits and tip-toed over the jumps.
More to my liking was the five kilometre trail ride through the forest that borders the lodge. The big Yamaha responds to throttle opening instantly, pulling like a demon through the five speed gearbox. The natural tendency to understeer due to the lack of any differential action is easily overcome by steering the bike with a combination of body movement, steering control and throttle action. There’s so much power on tap that the back can always be pulled around on the throttle, no matter what the speed or engine revs. And the suspension just soaks up anything Planet Earth can throw its way.
Despite having limited experience with quads I enjoyed the Yamaha outing hugely – I certainly had tons more fun on our hill than Piet Retief did on his adjoining one all those years ago. Consensus amongst the experienced racers amongst us was unanimous. There’s a new top dog out there – the Yamaha YZF 450 is simply the meanest mother money can buy, bar none.