Ride Engineering vs Luxon Triple Clamps
Story and Photos by Trevor Hunter
Triple clamps have become all the rage in recent years, and more bikes than not at the track and on the trail seem to have them these days. Now, we don’t feel that all bikes need to have aftermarket triple clamps. In some cases, they even hinder the bike’s performance. For instance, on the last gen Yamaha 450, we felt no need to stray away from the stock clamps as the offset and comfort was very good. However, the 2024-2025 Yamaha YZ450FX (and subsequently the 2023 YZ450F) is heavily changed and while we don’t have a bump comfort issue with the stock Yamaha clamps, we do feel the desire to find some more stability out of the blue machine. That’s where Ride Engineering and Luxon enter the chat. Both are leaders in the aftermarket triple clamp world, among some other brands, and both put out quality products that we feel are worth testing for potential benefits.
These clamps were tested on our 2024-2025 Yamaha YZ450FX test units in west coast off-road conditions. Most of the riding took place on faster GP/desert/motocross terrain with some rocky single track mixed in. As far as chassis setup goes, we felt that a 3mm fork height and 100mm of sag was the best balance and overall setup with both sets of clamps. Likewise, both sets were tested with stock and revalved suspension and our takeaways proved the same with each.
Ride Engineering’s 23.5mm offset triple clamp set retails for $674.90 and is available in Blue, Black, and Silver. The set comes with both top and bottom clamps, a pressed in aftermarket steering bearing (and a race that needs to be changed out to accommodate), and pinch bolts. The stock rubber mounted bar mounts fit these clamps (which is how we tested them), or you can buy Ride’s one-piece bar mount design for $109.95, polyurethane cones for $29.95, and rubber mount fastener kit for $7.95. Note, there is only one bar mount hole in these clamps, but Ride sells separate offset bar mount bases to offset your handlebars one direction or another.
Luxon’s Gen3 Medium 54 23.5mm offset triple clamps retail for $699.95 and are available in Black or Blue. The 4-post rubber mounted bar mounts with the three different cone stiffnesses retail for an additional $189.95 as tested, and $59.95 more for the optional riser kit. Luxon’s clamps have six bar positions available front to back (3 different holes and reversibile offset bar mounts) plus four positions in height (for 24 total adjustable positions), vs. Ride’s two positions using one hole and reversibile offset bar mounts (plus whatever optional heights/offsets that must each be purchased separately). Additionally, Luxon uses an OEM bearing that bolts right into the frame with no race change necessary, simplifying installation.
In the dirt, Ride Engineering’s 23.5mm offset triple clamp has a lot of positive traits, and most of our testers really didn’t have anything glaringly great or anything bad to say about the clamps. For western off-road terrain, we all felt an improvement over stock with more stability at speed, a more stable and balanced platform in rough conditions on decel, and adequate cornering. The added stability on corner entrance helped improve the overall cornering of the bike, and we really don’t have any negatives to these clamps over stock for our intended purpose. The stock Yamaha triple clamps are tough to beat, so the result of the Ride Engineering 23.5mm offset clamps are quite impressive to us.
Moving onto the Luxon clamps, they boasted a lot of the same improvements over stock that the Ride Engineering clamps presented. However, they also proved slightly more polarizing with aspects that stood out greatly for the better, and some that were just marginally worse than the Ride clamps. The biggest similarity, and something that shouldn’t be a surprise, is the offset change had all the same effects (as they should with both being 23.5mm) and acted as a positive change amongst our testers. Stability and plantedness improved greatly, especially as traction became a premium, bumps grew larger, and the ground became more unpredictable with rocks, edges, etc.
One of the standout features of the Luxon clamps is the front end traction. The ability to cut down in corners, maneuver the motorcycle, and the overall feel through the clamps, especially under a lean angle, is impressive. It retains a light, nimble feel with the added benefits of the extra stability.
The ground feel with the Luxon setup is precise, yet on the firm side which is what leads us to the one small drawback we had. While it’s confidence inspiring and performs well, there is a little bit more hand feel than we’d like when it comes to riding/racing off-road. It isn’t an overly harsh feeling, but you just feel slightly more through the front end and can be a bit much when you’re on the bike for several hours at a time. We did feel that when sprinting for an extended period of time, we felt a tad more fatigued with these Luxon clamps vs the Ride clamps. However, we felt more confident pushing the pace while doing so.
A positive of the Luxon clamps as we tested them is the ability to interchange the stiffness of the rubber mounted bar mounts. Our Pro/expert level testers felt the “soft” elastomers were too soft, causing a harsh feeling. By increasing the stiffness to the “medium” elastomers, we felt a nice change in bump comfort, though we still felt more than both the stock and the Ride Engineering clamps.
On the other hand, the Ride Eng clamps didn’t increase harshness over the stock Yamaha clamps, but they also had a slightly less “connected” feel in comparison to the Luxon’s which was seen either as a positive or a negative depending on the rider. We didn’t find ourselves chasing the front end or struggling with corners in any way, but there was overall less ground feel, and less of a performance feel, but more of a comfort feel with a softened touch.
Our riders who prioritize maximum comfort over anything else like the characteristics of the Ride Engineering triple clamps. The added stability with the offset change and no loss in bump comfort from stock makes this set a viable option for really anyone in the market looking to change the handling characteristics of their new Yamaha 450 like we were. On the other hand, our riders who prioritize speed, feel, and control of the bike and were willing to give up ~5% comfort like the characteristics of the Luxon clamps. There really is no bad option here – it’s up to you to determine what you want out of your bike.
