FIRST RIDE
P74
2014 YAMAHA YZ450F
(Top) The narrower radiatorshroud area makes the YZ
feel less bulky.
(Bottom) The new motor
offers more usable power.
tine Zaca Ranch in California.
Afterward, we opted to ride the
bike a couple of more times at
various other tracks before putting our words down on "paper."
Getting straight to the point, the
2014 Yamaha YZ450F is, without doubt, an improved machine.
However, it might not be as dramatically improved as we thought
after first hearing about all the
changes it took on, but the bike
is better. Period.
We were already pretty big
fans of the previous YZ450F because of its strong motor, solid
handling and excellent suspension, but, yes, it had some quirks
which prevented it from winning
our comparison tests lately, but it
was still usually in the hunt.
One of our biggest gripes with
the "old" YZ450F was that if felt
bulky and heavy on the track
compared to some of the other
bikes in its class – but not anymore. Our testers immediately
noted the YZ's new trim and
slim layout. The air intake ducts/
radiator area is noticeably thinner, making the bike feel more
comfortably and maneuverable
between your legs. And the bike
just feels much lighter, even
though its static weight (245/wet
pounds) is basically the same as
before.
Hopping off the 2013 YZ450F
and straight onto the '14, the new
YZ is noticeably more flickable
on the track. Making quick lines
changes – especially in corners
- is far easier and requires less
effort, same goes for in the air.
Our Pro tester said he could immediately feel the more centralized weight and felt the bike was
more eager to react to rider input. Simply put, the new YZ450F
just feels lighter on the track and
far more flickable.
Yet, despite having slightly
less wheelbase, the YZ is no
less stable at speed, something
we enjoyed with the '13 model.
This bike still likes rough tracks
- rougher the better. A lot of this
has to do with the Yamaha's excellent fork and shock, but it's
important to find that just-right
ride height. The YZ is still finicky
about that. We found 103-105mm
(sag) to work pretty well on a variety of tracks. But we encourage
you to experiment.
Since the bike has been in our
possession, we've only slowed
compression by one click on the
fork and two clicks on the shock.
We also took a quarter-turn out of
