News – Yamaha YZ450F 2010: a new revolution? – Used YAMAHA

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Yamaha YZ450F 2010: a new revolution ?

News - Yamaha YZ450F 2010: a new revolution? - Used YAMAHA

While Yamaha has officially launched the communication on its new 450 cross country, a glance in the retro is needed to fully appreciate the revolution introduced by this new 450 YZF model 2010… Presentation and flashback !

That’s it ! After having "left lying around" information on the web for a few weeks about its new 450 cross country, Yamaha officially communicates on the new 450 YZF 2010.

The real novelty of this bike revolves around its engine architecture, with a single cylinder tilted backwards. But to better understand the revolution that Yamaha could bring with this new YZ450F, a glance in the retro is essential !

Back in 1997: two years before the birth of Site (read our), Yamaha shakes the landerneau of motocross by lining up in the Grand Prix 500 and in the famous American Supercross championship with a 400 4-stroke prototype.

Even though Husqvarna had won the 500 World Championship title with a 4-stroke a few years earlier, and even though valve engines are already a bit present in enduro, the fact that Yamaha is investing heavily in 4-stroke is a real challenge at the same time technological, commercial and sporting.

The sporting challenge was quickly taken up when Doug Henry won, in May 1997, the final of the US Supercross championship in Las Vegas with his official Yam 400 4-stroke, with the nose and beard of every 250 2-stroke! A truly historic victory, in that it marks the beginning of the end of 2-stroke motocross…

And in the fall of 1997, when Yamaha invited journalists from around the world to Las Vegas to test drive the very first production 400 YZF, the press did not hesitate: "it’s the revolution !", title in particular Motorcycle Journal.

A few years later, Yamaha did the same thing again with a 250 YZF, which had to scrap against the 125 2-stroke and won almost instantly! And today things are clear: no 2-stroke is entered in the world motocross championship and even in league championships, the 2-stroke is extremely rare..

Thanks Cannondale ?

This new Yamaha 450 YZF 2010 is therefore entirely new … but is it revolutionary? The cylinder is tilted backwards, allowing the intake to be installed on the front of the motorcycle and the exhaust to the rear. Thus the admission, entrusted to an electronic injection, is more direct in the cylinder head. Suddenly, the air filter is found in place of the tank, which better protects it from water and dust and avoids being heated by the exhaust. On paper, it is therefore very beneficial !

But to place all this material, it was necessary to remove the backbone of the frame. And Yamaha is sacrificing the perimeter frame fashion for the first time. The term is not mentioned in the press kit, which speaks of a "aluminum bilateral beam frame".

This framework architecture has been used by the other three Japanese manufacturers for several years, but it appeared more as a simple marketing argument. However, on this new Yamaha, the perimeter frame is essential to have room above the engine, as is the case for example on the official Dakar KTMs..

But Yamaha is not the first manufacturer to reflect on the "cultural" place of the cylinder in a cross bike! It was Cannondale, the famous American mountain bike manufacturer, who first proposed a rear cylinder, front admission, injection and perimeter aluminum frame … in 2001 !

Everything was therefore already there, but it’s a huge flop and Cannondale must stop everything so as not to jeopardize … Husaberg, which belongs to KTM, has also been releasing a kind of "backwards" engine for two years. which is very effective for its enduro motorcycles. And Vertemati, the artisan Italian manufacturer, plans for 2010 a 450 cross country with the same technical choices.

But history has proven it time and time again: when Yamaha takes such a technological orientation, the dimension is quite different and many candidates may follow suit … "Follow the leader", as we say in a of their Rising Sun competitors ?

The real revolution? Electric !

However, to speak of "revolution" is exaggerated. Rather, it is an attractive "evolution", which seems smart and should prove effective in the field. A bit like what Yamaha has just achieved with the new R1 (read our), well on its way to being world endurance champion (read), or even Superbike (read) from its first year of existence !

And for the win, the 450 YZF 2010 has its joker in the person of James Stewart, the US cross-country superstar !

The only disappointment of this YZF 2010, on paper, it is the absence of real research of decisive reduction of the noise emissions, if not the presence of a small plenum chamber..

While cross-country bikes usually make way too much noise, the builders seem – surprisingly? – turn a deaf ear … However, the first to release a high-performance AND silent motorcycle will have every chance of establishing himself as the leader of a revolution whose outcome is already marked out: the electric cross-country bike! See you in five years at the Las Vegas Supercross? To be continued … Stay connected !

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