P92
RIDE REVIEW I 2024 YAMAHA YZ450FX
For all those additional parts,
the FX has a $200 higher price
tag than the YZ450F, which is a
bargain compared to if you were
to buy all those parts yourself
and bolt them onto your YZ450F.
The YZ450FX has plenty of
company, like KTM's 450 XC-F,
Honda's CRF450RX, Husqvarna's
450 FX, GasGas' EX 450F, Sher
-
co's SE-F 450, Beta's 430 and
480 RR, Kawasaki's KX450X,
among several other big-bore
four-stroke variants.
Like most of these bikes,
the FX is explicitly designed
for GNCC, NGPC, WORCS,
Hare Scrambles, Hare & Hound
(desert), and Sprint Enduro-
type racing. The FX fits the bill
if the course is semi-fast and
the trees aren't too tight. Top
National Enduro pilots and
ambitiously talented amateurs
can wrestle a 450FX through
the trees, too, but for us mere
mortals, these bikes are best
suited for faster and more flow
-
ing circuits.
HITTING
THE TRAILS
So, what's the new YZ450FX
like to ride? Yamaha gave us the
chance to test it in some real-life
off-road conditions at its testing
grounds in Union, South Caro-
lina, just a few minutes up the
road from where the Big Buck
GNCC is held and not far from
Randy Hawkins' AmPro race
headquarters. It's also the same
facility that just hosted round
one of the U.S. Sprint Enduro
Championship, and the knobby
tracks were still nicely burned in.
