First Impression - 2010 Yamaha YZ450F
Brendan Lutes
- September 21 2009
- 65 comments
The wait is finally over—we’ve got our hands on the all-new highly anticipated 2010 Yamaha YZ450F. After spending all day on the bike at the picturesque Budds Creek facility in Maryland today, we’ve come away pretty impressed with the new bike. And with the amount of hype leading up to it, that’s saying a lot. This time around rather than building one long video, we’ve broken it into two separate ones. The first one consists of Yamaha’s Steve Butler going over the key features of the new bike, while the video you’ll find on the second page contains test rider Pat Foster’s initial impression of the YZF. We have plenty of more testing to do aboard the bike both back at Budds Creek tomorrow and later in the coming weeks once we take delivery of the bike. Be sure to check out an upcoming issue of TransWorld Motocross for a full in-depth evaluation.
Key Features With Yamaha’s Steve Butler
PAGE ONE: Key Features // PAGE TWO: First Impression
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September 22nd, 2009 at 2:36 am
Bubbas gonna haul on the yammy!!!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 am
i want one!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:42 am
Sounds beyond dope
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 am
If the new yz450 was a girl, I would marry her!
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:49 am
My jaw just dislocated….
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:56 am
that guy can ride!!! Nice style man. I dont know if its you or the bike
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:02 am
give us a 250f!! haha
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:25 am
sounds like a wet fart machine! Wish I had the money to buy it though!
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:35 am
just heard chad reed just stuck his first backflip, TW you better get some vid up!
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:39 am
pfoster is a bad dudde
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:04 am
I don't like the way the exhaust looks, but I like the way it isn't right under the right radiator and running by the air box. I never liked the idea of a red hot pipe so close to the radiator and hoses. It seems like that would make a bike run hotter. I thought the new Honda was cool, but this Yamaha is a huge step in the evolution in dirt bikes. It will be interesting to see what James and the others do on this ride.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 am
It's amazing how soft the suspension looks in slow motion go over the track compared to the ULTRA stiff works suspension that the pro's have. Looks too soft in stock form.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:38 am
TW your the best. that bike is tooo sick
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:47 am
looks like a naturally talented rider
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:58 am
Bike almost kicked him off twice exiting corners! At 1.04 and 1.50. Turn that rebound in!
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
damn this bike is sick…i wasn't expecting all this…seems everybody likes it…time will tell…nice bike
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:08 pm
he such a smooth, old school riding style. awesomeeee. very k-dub or MC looking. pretty sweet looking bike. good thing i have the $8000 to dish out for this bike. i guess i'll keep revvin the brains outta my yz250
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
what gets me though how r aftermarket companies going to make headers for the bike? like fmf, how is the megabomb or the akrapovic system gonna work up under there? just wondering
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
i love the bike ,i will have one a.s.a p yamaha kick as. :)<3
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
what song is that?
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
bad religion — infected.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Looks like it handles like shit. what is the advantage of longer exhaust???
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
no one cares about reed he sucks at life
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I think better low end power
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
What a great rider! Looks smooth. Smooth talker, too!
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
yo first off thats the same turn with 2 different camera angles and that wasnt the bike that was rider imput he was to straight up there
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
quieter to meet sound regs.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Won't the head pipe so close to the shock heat it up? I can see an opportunity selling some head shield for that area.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
where theres a will, ($) theres a way
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
It has a resonator on the head pipe. Why buy another one, like mega bomb?
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 am
As a 09' YZ450F owner, I can say that the reason I bought the Yamaha was the fact that it wasn't EFI. The reports, it seems, on all EFI's is that the top end never pulls enough. The Japanese bikes all make the same power, but come in different colors, don't they??? I think Yamaha's are the best bike for novice and intermediate riders, but now with the EFI, who cares?
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:24 am
More top end power.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 am
drd already have a full system for it….
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 am
haha, I agree about the wet fart machine, hah
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 am
Back off the rider. He looked good
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 am
that song is by Bad Religion
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
id be willing to bet anybody that james knew about this bike before he signed the contract. why else would he go to yamaha, guaranteed that this bike has been in development for about 5 years. that explains why the yamaha sucked so bad for the past five years and why they never changed it. anybody agree?
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I went to my local dealer the other day to see when i could get one.. he tod me after the 1st of yr! he just lost a sale..lol im trying to have this bike in my living room under [ok next to my tree] by dec.24..
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
yeah but they cheated… they designed the stocker system.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:12 am
dear transworld, can we please get rid of that sheckler tool at the begining? its ruins the vid. the only thing white he drinks…. isnt milk…
o. ugly bike but should be fast.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:58 am
wtf video dont be unavailable!
:( check back soon? how soon? this is gay 
September 24th, 2009 at 2:34 am
so he said the bike doesnt kick you, but he got the shit kicked outta him comin outta that turn to the big gulp…
September 24th, 2009 at 4:11 am
Fuel injected 250 twostroke would be nice…. no matter what its a slug 450 open pile for all you throttle twisters.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:22 am
It sounded like he was reading a pr script from yamaha to me
September 24th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
yeah. that thing damn near threw him off the bike
September 24th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Should put the engine sounds in, or does it secretly sound like shit?
September 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
The seat/tank/shroud area looks totally gay.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I know it sounds good and all… but what is going to happen in a muddy race with the intake in the front….. IDK i am not an Mechanical Engineer, but seems to me it would want push more things in there…. But other then that… WOW Yamaha… Huge
September 25th, 2009 at 2:18 am
lol havent you ever heard of cannodale, they tried it 10yrs ago but failed miserably, hope yami has this sorted and it works
September 25th, 2009 at 7:01 am
bike of the decade
September 25th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I don’t know, but the new so called ‘improvements’ are very questionable to me.
Pipe in the back, air box at front. The suspension works like shit on the video. Pat Foster is such good rider, but on this new YZ it doesn’t look like smooth riding at all. You guys can’t say “wow yea the new YZ450F that bike is outstanding” - solely because ‘James Stewart’ rides on Yamaha.
Back to the roots Yamaha, put Factory stuff on the stock bike and all is fine. But these new space bike suckz!
Greetz!
September 25th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
P Foster's comments about its weight in braking bumps and corners makes it sound like a rolling Weeble that doesn't like to be leaned over or knocked off of its axis.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:25 am
whats the song in the second vid
September 26th, 2009 at 12:28 am
LOL yeah man that guy can move, he looked like he could pass 4 a pro (probably is).
September 26th, 2009 at 12:30 am
well a pipe can add more power or change it a little bit. it all depends on what type of power u want^_^
September 26th, 2009 at 5:36 am
mine is on the way. oh yeah!!!!
September 28th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
fmf should make a straight pipe for this
September 29th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
do you guys think if you put two round bales side by side and cover them with dirt . Would it make a good table top
September 29th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
you have no taste reed is the best
September 30th, 2009 at 5:35 am
My thoughts exactly!!!!!!!!!!!! About the commercial.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
This should blow out the Honda 450!!! gettin a free one of these babies next season!!!!
October 7th, 2009 at 5:26 am
This bike should beat out the Honda in shootout!!! gettin a free one of these babies next season!!
October 13th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
the bike looks good.. but its the 1st year with this all new "machine". so id stick with honda till they work out the kinks on the 2010 bike.. and see what the review is like and the specs in 2011 and see the new changes.
honda all the way!!!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
well judging by how hard it was to explain this bike and the rest of the positive reactions buy PF, this bike sounds great. Watch the video, the bike hardly unsettles even in the big breaking bumps.
With the centralized mass and the already amazing suspension this bike will be hard to touch.
and if any of you out there are going to say that it doesnt have enough power I'd like to see (half of) you hold this thing wide open around the track and use all of its power.
if anything a little less power is better because you can control the bike better.
I think that this bike should be in the mix for the shootout winner this year..
can't wait!