What do you do when you have the most dominant motocross bike in the paddock? If you’re a Yamaha engineer the answer is make it even more dominant. Already winning around the globe, the MY23 YZ450F has been totally reworked to make it lighter, slimmer, stronger and faster.
Roostin’
The Australian media was treated to Yamaha’s all new class-leading motocross weapon at Ride Park in Melbourne’s western outskirts recently – an event hosted by the Monster Energy Yamaha CDR team, including Luke Clout and Australian Pro MX1 champion Aaron Tanti.
They were joined by Australian WMX champion Charli Cannon and Josh Coppins from JCR Racing in New Zealand.
An injured hand prevented Clout from turning any laps, but Tanti and 17-year-old Cannon – who had never ridden a 450 motocrosser before –were on hand to run in the bikes before letting the new bikes loose with the press. Tanti appreciated the roomier cockpit, the slimmer ergos and the lightweight handling, while Cannon – who showed impressive speed – liked the power delivery and found it easy to transition from her YZ250F.
Light and fast
The following day the media had the chance to test the new bike, which is essentially new from the ground up. The engine, for example, is fully revised, including a free-flow induction system, new piston, bigger inlet valves, optimised port shapes, rebalanced crankshaft, stronger and more compact gearbox, lightweight clutch and compact crankcase that runs an internal oil tank with greater capacity – all designed to offer an increase in maximum rpm and more mumbo for longer, stronger pulling power.
The power is tuneable thanks to the free-to-download app, so you can dial in your preferred delivery using your smartphone.
The app has been updated for MY23 with some great easy-to-use functions, including a simple scroll bar for power delivery and new features such as traction control, launch control and a lap timer.
Plus the bar-mounted blue button can switch power maps on the fly. The bilateral-beam frame chassis is also revised, strengthened and lightened for added cornering ability and front-end grip while the suspension is retuned to match. The seat is flatter and more rounded to make it even easier to move around on. And did we mention slim? YZ450F is thinner at the knee-grip point as well as having slimmer shrouds. The new YZ450F has gone on a serious diet with many components shaved down to make for a more mumbo for longer, stronger pulling power. The power is tuneable thanks to the free-to-download app, so you can dial in your preferred delivery using your smartphone.
The app has been updated for MY23 with some great easy-to-use functions, including a simple scroll bar for power delivery and new features such as traction control, launch control and a lap timer. Plus the bar-mounted blue button can switch power maps on the fly. The bilateral-beam frame chassis is also revised, strengthened and lightened for added cornering ability and front-end grip while the suspension is retuned to match.
The seat is flatter and more rounded to make it even easier to move around on. And did we mention slim? YZ450F is thinner at the knee-grip point as well as having slimmer shrouds. The new YZ450F has gone on a serious diet with many components shaved down to make for a dazzling 109kg wet – that’s with a full tank of fuel. This makes the new motocross weapon one of the lightest in its class.
On track
So how does the new bike ride? ‘Mind blowing,’ according to MXTV and ADB tester Lee Hogan, who was particularly impressed with the standard full-power map that comes with the bike. Aaron Tanti and Luke Clout are already confirmed to race this model for Australia’s Monster Energy Yamaha CDR team for 2023. But what about reigning US MX and SX champion Eli Tomac? Word on the street suggests he was holding back inking a deal until he rode the new bike…now he’s on board, happy to once again show the opposition the way around the track.
The bike that started a revolution
If you wanted to win 25 years ago, you needed to be on a two-stroke motocrosser – four-strokes were considered fine for trailriding but not high-revving enough to race on.
Yamaha turned that established notion on its head when a four-stroke prototype, full-factory machine was unveiled at the 1997 Las Vegas Supercross.
Doug Henry rode that prototype to victory, sparking the first production modern four-stroke motocross bike, the 1998 YZ400F. This high-revving, lightweight machine hit the ground running and the rest is history.
Four-strokes took over as the bikes to race and win on, while global two-stroke sales fell through the floor.
Fast-forward to 2010 and Yamaha once again revolutionised the industry by revealing a YZ450F with a reverse engine – the intake came in from the front while the exhaust exited the rear.
The downdraught design allowed engineers to boost power while centralising mass, offering a big boost to handling. The MY23 continues with this rearward-facing design and it remains one of Yamaha’s trump cards. Unlike the four-stroke engine, it has yet to be copied throughout the industry.