2015 YAMAHA YZ450F
FIRST RIDE
P56
SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE CHANGES GET US
EXCITED ABOUT THE 2015 YZ450F
BLUE
BY YOU
New fuel injection calibration and
ignition timing, as well as a seemingly
minor external gearing change, do
wonders for the YZ's DOHC, four-valve
motor and its power delivery. We rode
the 2015 YZ450F back to back with the
2014 YZ450F and found that the '15's
motor is far easier to control and man-
age than before, especially in the first
half of the powerband. Richer fueling,
combined with a one-tooth smaller (48T
to 49T) rear sprocket, gives the 2015
YZ450F smoother and less explosive
acceleration off the bottom, which our
testers said made the new YZ much
easier to ride overall. One of our tes-
ters said that, in comparison, the 2014
YZ450F has noticeably more hit off the
bottom than the '15 but that this did not
BY THE CN STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
A
fter taking on an extensive re-
vamp in 2014, which included
major updates to the chas-
sis and motor, the Yamaha YZ450F
returns with minor but very effective
changes for the 2015 model year. Our
first ride on the new YZ450F left our
test riders surprisingly impressed.
On paper, Yamaha didn't do a
whole lot to the YZ, especially the
powertrain, leaving us to believe that
we wouldn't notice much of a differ-
ence between the 2014 YZ and the
'15 on the track. Wrong. We felt a big
difference the first time we clicked
through all of the bike's five gears.
