Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128235
~ 2004 4 50cc Four-Stroke Motocross Shootout • ." With only three bikes, our 1004 450cc SII otout isn't as close as you'd think it would be . '-'.. Motor This one surp rised us all. Knowin g KTM 's reputati on for horsepower, we figured com ing in tha t the SX wou ld be the ball s-out fastest bike on the track , but it wasn't. It seem s that the all -out horsepower king of this year's shootout is none other tha n th e YZ450F. It has a ton of power from way dow n low , and give n that it only has four gears, you 'd thi nk the wider ratio would rob it of power - but , honestly, it's hard to imagine the Yamaha with more powe r than it has. The Yama ha's powe r com es on way down low and ju st keeps pulling. It' s an awesome , torquey motor. Honda has im proved the powe r delivery of its 450 significantly since last yea r. T he 2003 bike seemed lazy - almos t like Honda was trying to make its bike so easily ridable that it took th e fun out of it. I mean , don't get us wro ng , the bike had pl enty of power, but it was sometimes k ind of hard to tak e advantage of when you needed to punch it and get over an obstacle or someth ing like that. Thi s year, the Honda is snappier. wh ich is defin itely a good thi ng , and it revs to the moon. Overall, the Honda's new power characteristics have made it a much more capa ble MX machine tha n it was even last yea r, whic h is saying something . Th e KTM definitely isn't short on power - actua lly, it felt every bit as powerful as the Honda , so it' ll get a move on. We'v e come to expect big things from KTM's powerp lants, and this one, although not crazy fast, didn 't disappoint. It's got pow er everywhere, and plen ty of it. Honda "For such a powerful motorcycl e, th e Honda's m otor isn't as intimidating as you'd think. It's surpri singly controll able." "I like tha t the Hond a's snappier th an last y ear 's. Last year' s bik e was a bit too mellow for me ." KTM By Sh ootouts, but n ow th at th e AMA ru le T HE ST A FF OF CYCLE N EWS PH OT O S BY KI T P A LM ER "The KTM 's motor isn't all that mu ch different from the Honda 's - it' s very strong yet very manag eable." allows fo r o nly 4 50c c o f d ispla c ement t o ride a t humper in th e 250c c c lass , H o n d a ' s CR F450R has w o n j ust abo u t eve ry s hooto u t it's t ak e n th a t ' s w ha t w e' re l im iting our sh o otout to as well. part in si n c e it w a s rel eased . It st art ed "It's not as fast as I expected from th e KTM horsepower psychos, but it' s plenty fast enough." o u t go i ng up agai nst t he tried- a n d - Fo ur-Strok e Sh o o t o ut was rath er lim - among o ther s, in " O pen " F o u r -S t ro k e it ed , with o n ly the ma in con t en ders - "Whoa Nellyl You 'd better respect this motor. This th ing's fast!" With t hat sa id , thi s yea r's 4 50cc tru e YZ 4 2 6F a n d KTM 520 SX . Yam aha 20 O CTO BER 8 ,2003' cue I e nevvs ' Power everywhere. Wow , th is th in g is som eth ing else. You need t o get over that obstacle? Ju st twis t it!"