Yamaha does some of its best work on the dirt, and in fact, it was crowned as 2022’s Manufacturer’s World Champion in MXGP, MX2 & WMX. With a long tradition of Motocross and Rally racing, the Japanese motorcycle maker creates some of the best bikes around for off-road use. One such bike is the celebrated YZ450F, which has been improved in all the right places for 2023. This devilish off-roader inherits from its racing counterpart a lot of what Yamaha learned through years of development and dedication to compete. With each passing year, upgrades are made to the racing bike. Yamaha’s lucky customers get a chance to have most of them carried over to the production model. Some of the most significant changes the Yamaha YZ450FM racing bike went through in 2023 are now available on the production model YZF450F. In essence, Yamaha may be the one motorcycle brand with the absolute best 450cc dirt bike on the market today, with leading technology and engineering, creating a product that excels at what it’s meant to do.
With the YZ450F, You Get Lightweight, And A Lot Of Off-Roading Power
Pretty much any 450cc dirt bike delivers a thrilling and exciting ride off-road. They are powerful, light, and can tackle some of the most challenging terrains with ease, even in the hands of not-so-experienced riders. But that didn’t seem to be enough for the folks at Yamaha, and they set out to improve on the already class-leading YZ450F. To be able to accomplish this feat, they’ve actually managed to shed some weight off the bike and make it slightly narrower, all the while adding more power.
Yamaha did a complete top-to-bottom overhaul on the 2023 YZ450F. The engine is all-new, with a 500 rpm increase in the rev limit. This might not seem much, but that extra rpm allows the rider to push the gears just a little bit further until he finds himself in a comfortable enough position to actually shift gears. It still is a liquid-cooled, 450cc engine, but it has a new exhaust and intake port, larger intake valves, new piston and cylinder, crankshaft and balancer assembly, and more. Yamaha says the combined effect of all these changes in the engine is a lighter and more compact unit with more power distributed across the entire rev range. The ergonomics in the 2023 YZ450F have been revisited as well with a revision of the handlebar, seat shape and height, and foot-peg position. The ergonomics improvements alone are definitely something that will be more comfortable for a wider range of riders.
One Of The Most Interesting Quirks Of the YZ450F Is Its Backward Facing Engine
The YZ450F has an already traditional backward-facing engine which comes with the bonus of having the air intake moved up higher on the bike, with the air filter being placed in front of the fuel tank, which holds the same 1.6 Gallon as the previous model, even though it is also redesigned. That works wonders on long off-road bouts since the bike's air intake won’t get clogged with mud and dirt as easily. Another aspect of the YZ450F that is all new for 2023 is the frame. It looks just like last year’s model, but it’s been completely redone, with the goal of getting it to be a little stiffer and more rigid, giving more balance to the chassis. Yamaha claims a wet weight of only 240 pounds.
Being a dirt bike, it has a fitting five-speed transmission. Fewer gears mean less weight, and Yamaha did more than that positioning the transmission in a way that forms a triangle between the crank, drive shaft, and main shaft to achieve even less weight by means of a more compact assembly. The clutch is also new and light. While the previous model used coil springs, the 2023 YZ450F clutch uses a disc spring and integrates the primary gear and basket into a single steel unit. Again, resulting in a more compact and lighter unit, with the added bonus of being more durable, with a smooth clutch engagement and feel.
The Yamaha YZ450F Features State-Of-The-Art Off-Road Tech
The bike also features new traction control and updated launch control systems. The traction control communicates wheel spin to the ECU, helping the YZ450F find ideal traction throughout the whole time the rider is accelerating. The launch control system has a rev limiting setting that can be adjusted in 500 rpm intervals between 6,000 and 11,000 rpm. Both these systems are controlled by the new Yamaha Power Tuner App, which is a free-of-charge feature that can be installed in your iOS or Android device and use wireless connectivity to relay info to and from the bike.
The fully adjustable KYB suspension provides excellent shock absorption, with 12.2 inches of travel up front and 12.4 inches at the rear, making it easy to handle the bike through the most demanding scenarios and maintain control at high speeds. All this combined makes for an adrenaline-fueled off-road experience that is sure to please many riders looking for a 450cc dirt bike. Yamaha addressed all the issues past models had and created a truly outstanding off-roading machine that is set to be a benchmark for the class in the years to come. With a starting MSRP of $9,899, the YZ450F offers an unbeatable package for off-road enthusiasts to have a blast every time they hit the trails.