first ride 2010 YZ450F cycle news

The YZ450F is like no other 450F we've ever ridden: It's ultra nimble, feels extremely light (even though it gained some weight over the '09 YZ), handles well and has tons of useable power - all of the things Yamaha said it would have.

And it turns like no other YZ450, too. It stays in the ruts and rarely stands up halfway through the turns. Steering is effortless and it goes where it's pointed, no questions asked. Since the bike is so well-balanced and weight is so centralized now, it is no longer a requirement to climb up on the fuel cap anymore; instead, you can keep your weight in the middle of the seat, lean forward a bit, and whip the bike through the turns like no other bike in its class. This is especially nice because you don't have to move around on it so much anymore, which saves energy. But if you still like to get your weight way forward, the bike's slim profile and flat layout let's you do so with ease.

However, the bike does take a little getting used to, mainly because it's so much more responsive and agile than any other 450 we've ever ridden. Combine this with instantaneous power (and lots of it) and the bike is at first a bit of a handful. It almost feels like a 250 two-stroke but with 450 power. But, the more you ride it, the more you get used to it and the more you can start taking advantage of its quick and responsive handling, especially in the air. The bike is very maneuverable when both wheels are off the ground. By the end of our two days, we felt right at home on the new YZ, like we had been riding it for years.

Suspension is top-notch all the way. Both the shock and fork are plush and very confidence inspiring. Over the two day, we made only a few minor suspension adjustments to the damping clickers.

Throttle response is instantaneous, almost too instant, really. From zero throttle to just cracking the throttle, the Yamaha almost leaps out of your hands, which was a bit of a problem at first, mainly for the less-aggressive rider, but even our Pro tester could relate. The YZ feels a bit herky-jerky and somewhat hard to control in bumpy corners when you're working the fine line between the two throttle positions, you almost need to keep one finger on the clutch at all times to smooth out the on/off throttle transition, but we found that by simply adjusting more slack into the throttle cable helped make the Yamaha far more controllable and even more enjoyable to ride.

We also swapped the stock 48-tooth rear sprocket with a 47-tooth to help make the power even more useable by giving the Yamaha more grunt and less snap, which seemed to work better on this flowing and rather fast track.

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