#YamahaYz450f

You know the age-old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” Well, that pretty much sums up the 2019 YZ450F because Yamaha’s big dog motocrosser was all new and completely revised for 2018. Last year’s model was a favorite amongst many riders of different levels and abilities – including yours truly – for various reasons, and the 2019 brings back all of the 2018’s strengths. However, Yamaha’s testers and engineers polished a couple areas and made a few tweaks this year that may sound trivial on paper but provide significant improvements in the actual riding experience.

By now we trust you’ve read the novel of a 450 shootout penned by Scott Rousseau, Editor-in-Chief of our sister site, Dirtbikes.com, comparing the Honda CRF450R, Husqvarna FC450, Kawasaki KX450F, KTM 450 SX-F, Suzuki RM-Z450, and Yamaha YZ450F. It’s definitely a lengthy read, but Rousseau packs it full of information suitable for the MX veteran and noob alike. And in case reading isn’t your thing, the accompanying video provided in the link above is both informative and entertaining (though you’ll still have to read the test to see our winner).

Yamaha’s radical, reverse cylinder head YZ450F set the world on its ear when it debuted in 2010. Sure, the ill-fated Cannondale MX400 of 1999 had already introduced the concept to the motocross world, but the difference was that the Cannondale suffered from fuel-injection issues and a lack of power whereas the Yamaha worked well right out of the box. Today, the YZs are the only Japanese motocrossers to use this major mass-centralizing design feature.