Australian_Trailrider_2016_02_03

FEATURE:
WR450F LAUNCH REPORT

increased to 270mm to help aid lever

feel and overall braking performance.

RIDE EXPERIENCE

The bike does look completely

different to last year’s — even your

nanna will be able to tell them apart.

Once you’ve thrown the leg over (the

bike, not your nanna!) you’ll feel just

how spacious the ride position is.

Once you’ve then set the handlebars

to a location that suits you the best

(one of four positions), you’ll notice

just how much room is left to slide

forward, plus the pegs have been

lowered 5mm to help add to the

spaciousness. A set of “full wrap”

handguards have been added to the

enduro kit to save your fi ngers and to

give you the confi dence you need to

argue with trees of any size.

The bike doesn’t feel any thinner

than the 2015 model but it feels much

lighter once you’re moving. That’s

until you whack the throttle hard and

in that split second, just as your lower

anatomy starts to feel weird, you’ll

know you’re on a serious 450. It’s also

worth mentioning, however, that the

mechanical muffl er seems to keep it

pretty quiet without sacrifi cing loads

of power.

Speaking of power, it’s extremely

linear and very responsive from the

bottom end all the way into the over-

rev. That annoying “pop back and stall”

the old EFI engine had occasionally

when loaded up at low RPM is gone.

There’s a strong argument that a 49-tooth

rear sprocket may work better for some

people, but the current gearing has been

said to take a rider to beyond 170kph