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2010 YZ450 Press Launch
By Ryan Gauld 
Yamaha brought three of the new rides for the press to throw a leg over.
Right out of the gate, I have to applaud the Yamaha Canada team that looks after the media end of things. They have set up two ride days for their new machines competition end of things, which have gone quite well in the eyes of the media. For this company to promote and come up with ideas they have this year is quite different from the past. In the tough economic times they have still been able to recognize the value in showing their newest editions to the Yamaha fleet, and have gone out of their way to get it to the public. The latest of their revelations for 2010 is the all new YZF 450 motocross bike. This bike was first introduced back in 1997 when US factory pilot Doug Henry guided his YZ400 to a huge win in its racing debut on the grand stage at the season finale: Las Vegas supercross. It revolutionized the sport of motocross then, and now the company has done it again.
On Friday October 2nd, Yamaha Motor Canada invited all media groups to the Montreal SX for the launch of this new machine. You may say ”What an odd place to launch a bike?” We were all thinking the same thing when the idea first came out. It all fell into place and MXP was there to see what the heck this bike was all about. At first look, it doesn’t even resemble any sort of Yamaha you have ever seen before. The plastic has changed, and there’s an all new “bilateral beam” aluminum frame, which puts all the motor weight and rider weight in the middle of the bike. The next biggest change is the fact that the motor is backwards compared to any other motocross bike ever made. This allows for the straightest intake path possible, therefore making the power instant. What motocrosser doesn’t want that, right?
The bike felt way different right away. It is a completely different Yamaha than the last few year's bikes After a great technical intro from the Yamaha crew it was time to take it to the track. Right away this bike felt way different than any Yamaha I have ridden. The mass centralization of the motor and rider weight almost makes the bike feel like it has no front end. I for one found this pretty wild when jumping the machine, but when you went to attack the turns, it didn’t force your body weight to the front of the bike like past Yamahas. Instead, it made you sit more upright with the weight in the middle of the bike. This allowed me to feel more comfortable while attacking corners; less movement from front to back. The next thing I noticed right away on the SX track was the bike had a little too much snap. Obviously with the new battery-less EFI system you are going to get that, but the total package of the motor seemed almost too much to hang on to in the confines of the Montreal SX. I came in and asked the crew to tone it down a bit. This is another new option of this slick bike. It comes with its own mapping system that you will be able to use very easily to advance or retard the timing and fuel injection settings. It literally took 30 seconds to make this bike go from riding a bull to riding an older bull that still has the power but transfers it differently to the ground and enable me to hang on. I took a bit of the snap out of it and it made the bike that much easier to ride without taking the mid to top range power away. It was pretty amazing and it is easy to use. There are nine different settings available for the ignition and EFI. The best thing about this is if you buy a bike from Yamaha before Dec. 31st,2009 you will receive the compact YZ Tuner for free (valued at $350). I also heard a rumour that this promotion will last for the entire year. Oh ya, it’s only offered in Canada as well. Thank you Yamaha Canada!!! 
After the boys explained how the YZ Tuner works I asked them to give it shot. I felt the bike was to snappy right away so we made some changes in a matter of seconds and the bike was easier to ride. 
I was blown away on how the tuner worked. It was so easy and worked so good. This is a great step for any rider that is finicky with thier machine. It makes changes simple and quick.
The more I rode the bike the more comfortable I felt. The new suspension component made the bike feel good for my weight just being stock. I will be excited to ride this on an outdoor track because, like I said, it was hard for me to hang on to this bike in the tight space of SX. So once again Yamaha has changed the face of motocross. The all new YZF450 is a bike that will blow you away with the changes and technology put into it, but still gives you that fun, comfortable feel you always get out of Yamaha product. Then again, if you don’t like it just pull out the YZ tuner and make some changes. It is easier than changing a tire!!
Visit www.yamaha-motor.ca for more info on this new machine.
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