2016 Yamaha YZ450FX First Riding Impression

Yamaha’s Off-Road Big Boy

Here is a link to the full test of the bike: http://dirtbiketest.com/bike-tests/2016-yamaha-yz450fx/

Yamaha has unleashed the YZ450FX and it is everything you have come to expect from the reborn YZ off-road racers and maybe more. Yamaha positioned it as a strict off-road race bike with an emphasis on GNCC-style racing–the YZ450FX is a carbon copy of the motocross to off-road transition list familiar to the YZ250FX introduced in 2015. Plus it just as close to the YZ450F motocross bike as it’s little brother. This puts Yamaha firmly in the off-road racing world with a full line of YZX off-road race bikes.

The first thing you will notice about the 450 is the kick stand and the 18” rear wheel, standout visual differences from the MX bike. A closer look shows a longer radiator shroud over a bigger radiator and a tiny electric starter motor placed underneath the header and the larger ignition cover needed to connect and power it. Then there are the things you can’t see. Tuning in the ECU and internally in the suspension. The wide-ratio transmission is a big difference and then there is the fine tuning that engineers and test riders come across that would be difficult for a regular rider to ever notice or even understand how to change. Wonder why the clutch plate material is different or why the engine mounts are thinner?

Riding the YZFX there are a few things that stand right out. The first is the power output. Well maybe right after the electric starting, everyone will like that! It has been tamed from the YZ just enough to be called tamed but not so much you’ll ever complain about it. The bottom is smoother and a little longer lasting than the burst the MX bike has off the bottom. From there on up you’d be hard pressed to tell a difference in power, especially in the slippery conditions we were testing in. It has that mid-range and top end ferocity the YZ is known for with maybe, just maybe, a little longer duration of pull. Whether this is from the spread of the gears or the tuning of the engine management, it was hard to tell. Overall the engine is impressive and powerful giving a horsepower feeling more than a torque drive.

Then the suspension stands out. Yamaha has been spot on in the other X versions and this bike is no different. On the test loop that included choppy bumps and even some MX jumps we were very pleased. Matching about three miles of tight and technical trails with a mile of MX and faster GP sections gave us a wide ranging course to see as much of the YZ450X as Southern California would allow. It was way more plush and settled than we expected while still acting like a MX bike on the track when needed. You don’t feel the little bumps like you would on a lighter bike, the 450 floated right over those and it didn’t get harsh anywhere in the stroke for our 185-pound tester. And it only bottomed when over jumping—just when you’d expect it too. We never felt the need to touch a clicker and just made sure the sag was properly set. Dropping a little air pressure in the tires to 12 PSI in the Dunlop MX81s really helped too. It is too early to really say this but we will anyways—this may be the best suspended YZX model and we really like the others a lot! A few more rides in different conditions will give us more background to verify this.

The next interesting thing that really surprised us was the light feeling of the bike. Typically 450’s get heavy when you get on the power, this YZ didn’t exhibit that feeling. It is light through the handlebar and flicks side-to-side quite easily for a bike that gained some pounds in its transformation to an off-roader. The suspension helps give the impression that the bike is lighter than we’d expected. Our first stop is to more technical and tight trails to see if this sensation sticks.

So was there anything we didn’t like? Not really unless we get picky. In the tighter racing trails you’ll never need first gear unless it gets ridiculously tight then you’d better be stingy with the throttle. In second there is plenty of power to get through anything as long as you can carry the speed. If you get any real revs going the power can be a bit much and very responsive, maybe too much. Then you can click it in third gear and ride the bike a gear high. It pulls it easy but you’ll use the clutch which is lighter in pull than the YZ. The power at lower RPMs and bigger throttle openings is great and the clutch handled the abuse. We played with Yamaha’s GYTR Power Tuner and improved the delivery for our rider and in our full test we’ll explain this in detail. But every YZ four-stroke owner should own one of these gems and learn what it can do. Aside from the tuner we feel adding a tooth to the rear sprocket, at least for the conditions we were riding in, would not have hurt. The gear spacing is never gappy, even on the track, we just preferred  shifting where the hit was in relation to the speed, this is a personal preference.

At $8890 Yamaha is also making a statement in the price wars too with a bike that is close to a grand less than most of the competition. The bikes are available now and we’re going to be riding ours a lot more for the full test coming soon.