VOL. 54 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 24, 2017 P91
4
th
Place
F
ourth place or not, the Yamaha YZ450F is still one of our
favorites of the group, we just happen to like the Husky,
KTM and Honda a little better. Not one tester placed the
Yamaha on the top of their list, but it did get a couple of sec-
onds, and a few thirds and fourths. Nothing worse than that.
The Yamaha is a lot of motorcycle. It has arguably the stron-
gest engine (based on our seat-of-the-pants dyno), it's just plain
fast, it's loud (really loud), and it even feels a little big between
your legs. But what really stands out for us is its suspension—
it's the best, hands down.
Nothing beats the YZ's fork and the only bike that rivals it
in the back is the Suzuki. Put two and two together, and you
simply have the elite suspension package. "The YZ has the
best suspension right out of the box," said one tester. "It has
the best forks," said another. "The YZ handled well without
having to make any suspension changes," said another. "In the
suspension department, the Yamaha absolutely blew me away;
I could attack the roughest sections of the track and the bike
YAMAHA
YZ450F
