2010 YZ450F rumors . . .

[XRpredator]

They caught some on video . . .

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[Patman]

Doc D!

 

[wardy]

alot of hype for BNG.

LOL!! but hey who cares it's friggin blue. it still won't turn.

 

[Patman]

alot of hype for BNG.

Seems fitting, JBS & hype seem to go together.

 

[01HondaCR]

It had me chuckling though. I watch a lot of road racing so that could be it. It was good to see Spies in there. Hopefully he can get this championship under his belt and move on to MotoGP. i will say i haven't heard any rumors about the bike. What am i missing?

 

[Patman]

What am i missing?

BNG. :laugh:

 

[holeshot]

It's no longer a rumor..............

http://www.yamaha-motor-europe.com/products/motorcycles/competition/yz450f.jsp?view=techspecs

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/new-bikes/2009/09/08/yamaha-unveils-2010-yz450f

 

[dirt bike dave]

Interesting bike!

Hopefully there will be some ride reports soon.

Is it going to be limited production?

I'm guessing the initial pricing is going to be quite high...


Seems very much track oriented and full race. No chance for a big tank to please the trail riders or offroad racers.

Not sure if the narrow focus will help or hurt sales. I guess they will sell the WR to the offroaders.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Looks like Yamaha is getting serious. Very cool.

 

[RM85rider123]

what in the world is up with the "back of the cylinder" exhaust? Very simple and yet interesting. I guess it increases performance somehow.

 

[Patman]

Hmmmm, pretty cool.

Who was it that did the "backwards" thing originally? Husaberg maybe?

 

[dirt bike dave]

I think Cannondale did it about 10 years ago. But it would not surprise me if it was 'originally' done a long time ago by someone else.

 

[dirt bike dave]

what in the world is up with the "back of the cylinder" exhaust? Very simple and yet interesting. I guess it increases performance somehow.

Seems like centralizing the mass is the big attraction. Though the links also say something about max power being generated with the connecting rod at vertical, reducing friction on the piston.

 

[_JOE_]

It is cool to see them going a bit more wild with the design. Yamaha seems to have been pretty conservative for a while now. I wanna ride one!

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Hmmmm, pretty cool.

Who was it that did the "backwards" thing originally? Husaberg maybe?

I don't know who did it first, but this isn't unfamiliar territory for Yamaha.

Paraphrased from Motorcyclist Magazine article

The Yamaha works OW48R inline-four GP two-stroke, on which Kenny Roberts won the 1980 500cc World Championship. It had the outer cylinders reversed (thus the "R" designation), Roberts says it was "the best inline-four Yamaha ever produced"

Additional info from MCNews

OW48R (1980) - Parallel four for Roberts' third title
The OW48R spec introduced at the Dutch GP, round four of the '80 series, was not based on the OW48 with its aluminium frame. It adopted a steel frame of the type used on the previous year's OW45 spec and mounted an engine with rear-directional (reverse) exhaust for increased power output. Introducing rear exhaust on the first and fourth cylinders, in other words the two outer cylinders, increased power by 7PS. The R in this spec's name stood for reverse.

Roberts began the '80 GP500 season with three consecutive wins on the OW48 and then rode the OW48R in round four, the Dutch GP. In this race he was forced to retire due to an air leak in one of his tires, but he rode this spec again at round five, the Belgian GP, and finished third. For rounds six and seven he returned to the OW48 and mounted the podium with two second-place finishes. For the final round he rode a OW48R with aluminium frame (prototype for the next year's OW53) and finished fourth. While changing machines three times in the course of the season Roberts won his third consecutive title.

 

[Patman]

1980? Boy that sure took a while to get in to production :laugh

I'm happy to see some "new" ideas coming to market finally. I remember the long travel bikes with the up swept expansion chamber, then the monoshock bikes being a big deal and the the water cooled production bikes then things sort of just went along for a while. The aluminum frame Honda's were a big deal and I sure remember when Cannondale offered there bike, man that was like tech overload. Maybe we're in a new state of advancement for dirtbikes again.

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

Ohhhh boy. Yamaha threw the design book at that bike. That has to be 1 incredible f to ride. They changed the forward engine momentum completely? More back? The loop exhaust for bottom end, 4 valves, and that sucker will corner with a set of 22's on it!

 

[Chili]

Well it's all new so hopefully they finally made one that will turn. I love all the new innovation going into the bikes in the last few seasons.

 

[01HondaCR]

Patman is old. ok there i said it.

 

[Patman]

Nah, old is a state of mind. I'm more of a 12 year old. Now some of these other guys, I bet they remember when dirt was invented so they could actually ride dirtbikes.

 

[BSWIFT]

I noticed that they listed the "wet" weight at 245 lbs. Nice to see a realistice weight listed. The bikes looks to have many inovations new to Yamaha eventhough some others have made simular attempts.
If I were 15 years younger I would be on the phone today ordering one but I'm pretty happy with what I have now. The SX season should be interesting if the Yamaha riders can stay healthy.

 

[dirt bike dave]

I noticed that they listed the "wet" weight at 450 lbs.

:yikes:


I think it is 245. ;)

But with the centralized mass, it probably only feels like 240.

Hopefully that 245 number is realistic and it's not actually 255 :laugh:

 

[Patman]

450... 245...255... whatever it takes.

 

[DWreck]

Cool bike. I still get excited when something new comes out like this.

Swifty, I can see you with the dealer on speed dial "Is it there yet? Is it there yet!?"

This coming year may be the first time James has had the most technically advanced bike in the field. His machines have always seemed to be one step behind the competition.

 

[BSWIFT]

:yikes:


I think it is 245. ;)

But with the centralized mass, it probably only feels like 240.

Hopefully that 245 number is realistic and it's not actually 255 :laugh:

DOOH! Fat fingers on skinny buttons! or Skinny fingers on REALLY skinny buttons!
I'm resisting making that call! Too many other things going on. I'll bet they will all be sold out in Oklahoma by the end of the week.