YZ450FX | Tom Buxton
The first things I think of when I hear the
words “450 XC bike based on a motocrosser”,
is a lot of power and plenty of scary moments.
After receiving plenty of updates to both
engine and chassis last year, the Yamaha
YZ450FX has remained pretty much
untouched for 2020. These changes came
straight from the motocross track thanks to
the YZ450F. With all this in mind, I swung a
leg over Big Blue, to see what it was like.
First things first, this most definitely puts out
some serious power, which probably isn’t going
to surprise anyone. I have always enjoyed riding
bigger capacity bikes as you can be a bit lazier
with gear changes and ride a gear higher in
most places. The 450FX bike is no exception
and could lug along in a higher gear really well.
There’s definitely no hiding the fact that this is
46 KIWI RIDER
closely based on a motocross engine. It is very
quick revving, which helped it excel in the sandy
conditions we tested it in, as the revs would pick
up quickly and make you feel like you were on
top of the sandy rather than sinking in. The first
part of my ride was on more open tracks and I
was worried that it may suffer from stalling and
flaming out in the tighter tracks which is the
usual problem for these light-revving engines.
My mind was put to rest after realising the
mapping is slightly different to the MX model,
allowing the bike to handle tight trails too.
One problem I have found with all the
Yamahas I have tested previously is actually
starting them. Adding an electric starter
has definitely saved Yamaha riders from
having one over-developed leg muscle, as
they sometimes take a lot of cranking to get