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
P96
SHOOTOUT
forks, spark arresters and are
designated for the trails, they
each have their own unique
story.
The Honda is old-school.
It's still carbureted and hasn't
changed much in the past 10
years but has a starred his-
tory when it comes to off-road
racing, especially in Baja. The
Honda is best known for being
user-friendly on the trail and reli-
able. The EFI-equipped Suzuki
is semi-new, first appearing in
2009 then quickly disappearing
again a few weeks later due to
emissions issues. It reappeared
just this year in pretty much the
same form it had in 2009, but
this time fully CARB-compliant.
The Yamaha, which got a major
overhaul last year, is about as
high-tech as it gets, featuring
Yamaha's "backwards" engine
design and, of course, EFI. It
closely resembles Yamaha's lat-
est YZ450F motocrosser.
Ready To Ride
If you rolled the Honda, Yamaha
and Suzuki off the showroom
floor, all shiny, new and pretty,
and headed straight your lo-
cal public riding area and rode
them in bone-stock form, the
undisputed instant winner would
be the carbureted Honda. How
can a carbureted bike that hasn't
changed in over a decade be
better than two modern fuel-
injected bikes? Easy, Honda put
a lot of work into meeting the
Green Sticker requirements and
Even though the Honda CRF450X
has been around a while, it's still a
fantastic well-round off-road bike.
