P182
FEATURE I 2024 BIKES OF THE YEAR
HONORABLE MENTION:
2024 YAMAHA YZ450FX
GNCC-raceable blue machinery
is really competing with big
orange from the showroom
floor with the latest edition of
Yamaha's X-series off-roaders.
Yamaha's $10,199 450FX is the
king of that turf. It's massively
powerful, sort of frightening, re
-
ally. And even though I used the
tuning app to turn the power all
the way down and the traction
control all the way up, it still felt
like it was trying to kill me at this
year's Big Buck GNCC. So why
did I like it? I guess I like know
-
ing the potential is there to really
fly on a course if I'm up for it.
2024 Yamaha YZ450FX story:
https://www.cyclenews.
com/2024/03/article/2024-
yamaha-yz450fx-review/
HONORABLE MENTION:
2025 KOVE 800X RALLY
This is supposed to be a 2025
model and 50-state legal. But the
pre-production unit I rode can
best be described as a KTM 790
that dropped all the responsible/
safe parts in the dumpster and
has continued to ignore rules on
its way to destroy tires. A big dirt
bike it certainly is, with a claimed
dry weight under 400 pounds and
95 claimed horsepower on board,
it is a rowdy party to ride. Obnox
-
ious, even. But it nods back to Su-
per Enduro and HP2 times when
the ADV segment was looking for
edgy models to drive interest and
evolution—about the same time I
started taking notice.
CN
2025 Kove 800X Rally story:
https://www.cyclenews.
com/2024/12/article/2025-
kove-800x-rally-review/
