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/128342
Eng ine: Sm oo ther po wer. Forks : All new. • SPECIFICATIONS Same great ergonomics. 2005 YamahaYZ450F Swinga rm: Improved for 2005 . MSRP ENGINE Do small refinements equal a big change for the YZ450F? HE grea ter ma jority o ut there w ho w ant lots of power without the hit. Don't get us wrong, t hough - this bike still goes whe n you twist the t hrottle , but it does so in a far more use r-friendly manner. You'll still be able to go fast on it but now a litt le longer, since you wo n't be holding o n so hard every time you crack t he t hrottle. And Yamaha didn't update just the motor. Like all of the '05 Y"Zs, the yz450F was fitted with an all-new fork with a new internalsystem that separates the air and oil. There is also a new Transfer ControlValve, which, in laymen's terms, means they have more adjustability. O n the t rack, we fou nd that t he forks do fee l a little stiffer, yet are smoother and do n't fee l nea rly as harsh as last year's units. So me how, Yamaha managed to find the best of bot h worlds w ith these forks. Yamaha also update d the rea r shock and linkage to help du rability and handling. Com pared to last year 's bike, the se are noticea ble improvements that allowe d us to get quite co mforta ble on the 2005 BEAST mode l, with o nly a few laps under our be lts. Turning the big bike was n't a pro blem, either. We co uld charge into corners and exit with authority. T he suspe nsion made us feel like heroes, as we we re able to dive into dee p ruts witho ut any problems. As for bringing the mighty thumpe r to a stop , all we can say is - not a prob lem. The binders o n t his bike worked flawlessly when it came t ime to slow down for a turn. Even our res ident "brake dragger" co uldn't get the bike's rear brake to fade at all. W hile we had this pro blem on the twostrokes, the four-stroke didn't seem to be fazed. Perhaps it was beca use of the added bo nus of engine brak ing. As for t he fron t brake, it wasn't too touchy o r soft, it was just right . No doubt the new routing of the bra ke line was res po nsible for this. As far as e rgo nomics are concerned , not much has changed - which is a good thing, rea lly We were happy wit h the feel . of the 2004 mode l and are equally hap pyactually a little more so - with t he 2005 , bike , since Yamaha went to aluminum Rent hal hand leb ar s. If ther e was one thing we cou ld gripe abo ut it, wou ld be t he four-speed gea r box. Yamaha did improve the shifting mechanisms on the bike fo r 2005 , thus making the bike shift eas ier. But some of our testers still found having four gea rs took a little getting used to; however, it was not hing that they cou ldn't live with. It just meant they wou ld be shifting less aro und the tighter tracks. We have only had the chance to ride the bike on a few of our favorite courses so far Glen He len , 1 MX and 5tarwest - so we -5 really haven't had too much time to fine-tune the bike yet - as if it really needs it anyway. But we can tell you this is one nice bike. All of the refinements, while subtle, still have an impact on the performance of the bike. And even though some of the testers found it a litt le difficu lt to get acquainted with the fourspeed gear box, we are sure that after a few more rides, we will all fee l right at home eN aboard the blue giant. www.cyclenews .com $6399 Four-stroke, liquid-cooled , DOHC, five titanium valves DISPLACEMENT 449cc BORE x STROKE 95 x 63.4mm COMPRESSION RATIO 12.3:1 LUBRICATION Dry Sump CARBURAT IO N r.Keihin FCR39H CLUTCH TYPE Wet, Multi-disc IGNITION CDI STARTER SYSTEM Kick TRANSM ISSION Co nstant mesh, four-speed FINAL DRIVE Chain FRAME Semi-double cradle SUSPENSION Front ....48mm Kayaba inverted cartridge fork w/adjustable compression and re bound damping Rear ....Kayaba single shock w/adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping & separate hi/lo-speed compression adjusters. WHEEL TRAVEL Front 300mm Rear 3ISm m BRAKES Front 250mm floating disc Rear 245mm floatingdisc TI RES Front 80/ 100-21 Dunlop Rear 110/90-19 Dunlop O/A LENGTH : 87.8 in. O/A W IDTH 33.08 in. O/A HEIGHT 52.08 in. WHEELBASE 15.24 in. SEAT HEIGHT .40.04 in. GROUND CLEARANCE 15.24 in. TRAIL .4.72 in. CASTER ANGLE 27. 1 degrees DRY WEIGH T 220 Ibs. FUEL CAPACITY 1.82 gal. CYCLE NE WS • SEPTE MBER 22, 2004 29