VOLUME 58 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 14, 2021 P147
HONORABLE
MENTION RUNNER-UP
2021 KTM 450 SX-F
FACTORY EDITION
When you hear the words
"Factory Edition" you know it's
going to be good. This year's
KTM is bolted up with every
part you could ever want on a
motorcycle including a phone
app. Aside from the pure cool
factor, it's one of the easiest
bikes to go fast on.
HONORABLE
MENTION
2022 HONDA CRF250R
The 2022 CRF250R was
the most anticipated 250
motocrosser of the year. In my
opinion it lived up to the hype.
A ground-up redesign made
it better in every way and I'm
eager to see where it stacks
up in our shootout.
RYAN'S 2021
BIKE OF THE YEAR
2022 YAMAHA YZ250
The 2022 Yamaha YZ250 takes top honors as
my favorite bike this year. This is the first time
since 2005 that it's received any major updates,
and the redesigned cockpit and easy-to-ride
engine character re-sparked my love for two-
strokes. I grew up riding two-strokes for their
low cost and ease of maintenance but was
simply never skilled enough to ride them in that
pipey meat of the power.
The new YZ fumigated all my old two-stroke
memories of razor-thin power bands and shift
points that felt like Morse Code. A flatter, more
neutral seat gives the bike a modern feeling; like
you are riding on the bike, not in it. A streamlined
air intake under the seat allows the engine to
make heaps of linear and usable power in every
rpm range. The lightweight YZ still has that two-
stroke flickability and is equipped with the KYB
suspension found on the YZF models. It's simply
a blast to ride, and I was clocking laps that were
nearly two seconds faster on this bike compared
to its 250cc four-stroke counterpart. If I were to
buy one bike this year, my money would be on
the 2022 Yamaha YZ250.
