VOL. 52 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2015 P45
I
t's not that surprising that the
Yamaha YZ450F is the best-
selling bike in its class—be-
cause it's that good. The 2015
version was the hands-down
winner of our 450-class MX
shootout, our test riders falling
in love with the YZ's outstanding
suspension, solid handling and
insane power, having the most
dirt-throwing power in its class
(at least until the late-arriving
2015 KTM 450 SX-F Factory
Edition emerged on the scene
well after shootout season was
over).
Ever since the YZ450F got
a complete overhaul in 2010,
Yamaha has been fine-tuning the
bike with every passing year and
this year (2016) is no exception.
As much as we liked the 2015
version, it wasn't perfect. For
example, we penalized it for
lagging behind in the front-brake
department and it still failing
to jump on the launch-control
bandwagon. Plus, some of the
other bikes turn better than the
YZ, which is something the YZ
has struggled with ever since
2010. Luckily, Yamaha ad-
dressed all of these faults for
2016.
But first, you probably noticed
that our 2016 Yamaha YZ450F
test bike doesn't look like your
traditional YZ—it's yellow instead
of blue! Don't worry, Yamaha
still offers the bike in its tradi-
tional blue color scheme but to
commemorate the company's
60
th
anniversary, Yamaha is
also offering the bike in limited-
edition yellow and black, which
it has done before in the past to
celebrate other milestones in the
company's long history. In the
early days of motocross, YZs in
the U.S. at least, like the ones
Bob Hannah and Broc Glover
rode, were yellow. Problem was,
so were Suzukis. Wanting more
of their own identity, Yamaha
HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY
YAMAHA
DEBUTS ITS
2016 YZ450F
AND WE
TAKE IT FOR
A SPIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
