VOL. 50 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 9, 2013 P67
1
ST
PLACE
YAMAHA YZ450F
COUNTDOWN
Y
es, the Yamaha YZ450F is our
2015 Cycle News 450 MX
Shootout winner. Surprised?
Not us, really. We've always felt that
the YZ450F—ever since it got its
big makeover in 2010—was a pretty
darn good bike, but never really a
shootout winner, until now.
Ever since its major redo in 2010,
the YZ450F has been suffering
through some teething pains, that
goes without saying. But Yamaha
has been addressing these issues
every year, and every year the
YZ450F has been getting better
and better. Last year, the YZ450F
finished a close third to the KX450F
and SX-F in our 450 shootout, but
after getting some more refine-
ments, the YZ450F has overtaken
both bikes. And it is a clear winner
among our group of test riders, too.
There are many reasons why the
YZ comes out on top. For one, its
motor. The YZ flat out rips and is
just plain fast. It makes tons of pow-
er and our dyno proves it. It easily
smoked the other five bikes by pro-
ducing 54.27 peak horsepower,
that's more than two horsepower
than the next-closest bike—the
Husky—and at least five horsepower
more than the Suzuki and Honda.
The YZ also yielded the most torque
than any other bike at 33.44 ft-lbs.
Even with all this horsepower the
delivery is very rider friendly, with
strong and manageable bottom-
