them to life. The Yamahas have a mark on the
throttle grip that needs to be lined up with
a mark on the housing to give it the right
amount of throttle. But… a little too much
and it won’t start, causing huge frustrations
especially in the heat of battle during a race!
Handling wise this bike really benefits from
its MX roots. KYB looks after the suspension
with slightly softer settings to suit racing
off road, pairing this with a frame from its
YZ-F MX brother and you’re left one good
handling bike. For slower riding and tighter
tracks the suspension is probably a bit
firm, but once you start to push things it
feels right and gives a lot of confidence.
I was also impressed with the cornering
abilities of the 450FX. It has really good front
end grip and didn’t tuck or push, making
what should be a big bike feel nimble and
easy to ride. As with all the four-strokes in
Yamaha’s range they have been trying to
make the bikes slimmer especially in the
fuel tank area. It has significantly improved
the feel in the cockpit and makes it a lot
more comfortable to ride and brought the
feeling closer to that of a European bike.
On paper the 450FX should really be on
the MX track with the only changes being a
bigger fuel tank and a side-stand. However, I
feel it is also just at home in the bush, albeit
it probably prefers the more open trails
than tight singletrack. It would also be a
weapon on the fast farmland cross countries
we have, if that’s more what you’re into.
I expected to almost feel a little
underwhelmed, like I did after riding the 2019
WR450F, but instead I was left impressed –
it feels a lot closer to being a race bike.
KIWI RIDER 47