2 0 1 7 Y A M A H A W R 4 5 0 F V S . S U Z U K I R M X 4 5 0 Z V S . H O N D A C R F 4 5 0 X
P94
SHOOTOUT
California OHV Green Sticker-
legal vehicles are subject to
evaporative, exhaust and sound
emission requirements set forth
by the the California Air Resourc-
es Board (CARB) and face more
stringent regulations than Red
Sticker bikes. Modifying, tweak-
ing or changing anything related
to the engine and exhaust on
a Green Sticker bike instantly
turns it into a Red Sticker bike.
Again, for most of the country
this isn't even an issue, since
most Southern Californian riders
don't mind not riding in 100-de-
gree heat and dust anyway.
Still, there are those who do,
and the Honda CRF450X, the
new Suzuki RMZ450Z and the
Yamaha WR450F are all de-
signed for them. These are the
only 450-class four-stroke Green
Sticker-complaint trail bikes
offered by the Big Four manu-
facturers from Japan. Some of
the European manufactures, like
KTM and Husqvarna, don't even
bother offering Green Sticker
bikes anymore, instead having
chosen to go the extra distance—
which really wasn't all that far—to
take their Green Stickie bikes
and just make them street legal.
Whatcha Got?
Even though these three bikes
are similar in design in that they
all have 449cc single-cylinder
Green Sticker-compliant four-
stroke engines, aluminum
frames, electric starting, head
and tail lights, five-speed wide-
ratio transmissions, kickstands,
18-inch rear wheels, coil-spring
The Yamaha WR450F is high-tech
and has racing in its DNA.
