Yamaha WR 450F

Bigger Bark. All New Spark...

Introducing the all-new WR450F. Our big-bore off-road rocket blasts off into 2003 with more power, significantly reduced weight, a stronger chassis, smoother suspension, more aggressive bodywork, and push-button electric start. But the magic little trigger is merely the icing on this incredible new trail missile. From its larger 449cc four-stroke powerplant and stiffer, lighter-weight frame and swingarm to stronger brakes and countless other upgrades, this totally new off-road weapon now packs an even mightier one-two punch of broader, trail-taming power and sharper, suppler handling.

Yamaha bunged on a great ride in Australia's alpine country to introduce its new electric-start duo - the WR450F and WR250F. Barry Ashenhurst was there to take it all in.

Everything Yamaha does these days seems to push it another notch above the opposition. It seems to advertise more than anyone else. It has a PR machine that actually functions - a miracle in an industry in which the discipline is largely ignored - and in some states, Queensland for example, it seems to be involved one way or another in everything but soup kitchens. Yamaha has a very public face. It's a face all dirt riders recognise, and that's what you call good marketing.

The company also knows how to get that face in the press. Anyone who rides a dirt bike, Yamaha or otherwise, has watched with interest as the evolution of the WR-F and YZ-F series four-strokes unfolded. Much of the sustained interest was due to Yamaha's strategy of teasing us with tidbits of information long before the new bikes arrived - and then coming up with a winner.

Honda made us wait years for an electric-start four-stroke and then gave us a school bus called the XR650L. Yamaha built expectations with tantalising delicacy, then treated us to the WR400F, a bike you could race or trail ride without major modifications and that, unlike the XR650L, actually weighed less than a fully optioned armoured car.

We were mesmerised by the YZ400F and WR400F, and thought they were some sort of miracle when they were released in 1998, though in truth, Yamaha was building on short-stroke, high-revving engine characteristics pioneered by manufacturers like Husaberg. What Yamaha did that marques like Husaberg didn't do was put its engine in a much better engineered, and dare we say a much more reliable package. That made it a much better bike.

The WR400F enduro model went on to become a best seller before turning into the WR426F. Now that beast has turned into the $11,599 WR450F - the first electric-start WR - introduced to the motorcycling press alongside the WR250F (also with an electric leg) at a press function in the New South Wales high country recently. As an introduction to a new model, it couldn't have been better.

It became obvious right away that a great deal of effort has been expended in making these new bikes lighter: the word "lightweight" pops up frequently in Yamaha's press material. So does the word "new". In raising the engine displacement of the biggest WR to 449cc, Yamaha has also taken the opportunity to refine some of the bike's characteristics and make improvements where they were needed, to the extent that the 450 is actually a new bike.

In changing or updating virtually everything, Yamaha also revamped the power delivery, and frankly, we think that's good news. The WR426F had an aggressive engine and a slab of midrange-hit that some riders, me included, just couldn't handle. Like the motocrosser, the WR426 was a bike you could either ride or you couldn't. It was as if Yamaha had said: "Yeah, we can make a four-stroke behave like a two-stroke, watch this", and built the 426 to prove it.

ANYONE CAN RIDE IT
You could say the same thing about the WR450 versus the WR426 and have few riders disagree with you. For all the improvements to the new bike, and the increased power, the first thing I noticed about the WR450F was how unintimidating it is. The bike is fast enough for most of us, but it's not scary. Anyone can ride this bike and enjoy it, and it seems to me that that's a deliberate move on Yamaha's part. Having proven it can build a four-stroke that behaves like a two-stroke - a considerable achievement - it's now offering us a 450cc four-stroke that's easier to ride than its 250cc four-stroke; an accomplishment even more worthy of our admiration.

The 450 engine is very strong, but there's no vicious power snap to freeze your sperm into a million quivering shards. The energy is delivered in what bike scribblers like to call a "linear" fashion - in other words, proceeding in a straight line with no bumps or sphincter-spasms in the power curve.

The WR450F is an easy, fast, bike to ride: it's greatest virtue. In my opinion, enduro riders will want a performance pipe to encourage faster throttle response, stiffer suspension at both ends if they're big blokes, and more aggressive knobbies than the street-legal Michelins that are on there now, but for most trail riders this bike is set-up very well.

The ride is plush; the suspension is more progressive than it was on the earlier WR400 or the WR426; there's plenty of power on tap; the bike exhibits neutral handling at trail speeds; it steers well; it doesn't pull any dirty tricks on you; and has very nice brakes.

I had some difficulty finding neutral on both bikes. That may be a gremlin that inhabits only pre-production models; then again, maybe it isn't.

 You don't have to be an expert to ride the 450; most blokes will ride it all day and get home without the distraction of liquefied kidneys and permanent sphincter pucker. Having so much power available, in a bike that seems to get so much of that power to the ground without wheelspin, is a big advantage, and we reckon the 14-50 gearing is damn near perfect for trail riding.

I don't know how many dirt riders would consider both these bikes before buying one of them, but I have to say that I thought the 450 was easier to ride than the 250, and to be honest, was a lot more fun. I thought the 250 was set-up slightly firmer than the 450, but you don't have to rev the bigger bike as hard, and there's more margin for error in gear selection.

Frankly, while saluting the masterful engineering that produces so much power in such a small engine, the 250 is just too much hard work for me.

On the other hand, the smaller bike would certainly have an advantage in terrain where you have to change direction quickly and constantly.

If I had to choose between the 450 and the 250 ($10,999), I'd buy the bigger bike, simply because offers more power in the same-size package, and therefore requires less physical effort for the same result.

Source Bike Point