We haz them. KTM 450 EXC KTM 530 EXC Husky TE 630 BMW G 450 X Beta 400 RS Beta 450 RS Beta 520 RS Those are just the 50 state DOT street legal real dirt bikes that you can buy anytime your want. That does not even cover the quasi legal Huskies or KTM's that come with a title and can be plated in a lot of states. And every one of those comes with real chains, sprockets, handlebars, brakes, suspension, etc. You don't have to upgrade the brakes, the power or the suspension. Just unbolt the useless crap and ride.
Again, they market the road-legal WR450R here in Australia and many European nartions. It doesn't have to do with them bringing one out, its got more to do with them passing US emissions standards. Hell, over here you can still buy a road-legal Yamaha AG100 - a 100cc air-cooled two-stroke! Now that most manufacturers have gone to EFI, though, expect a wave of US emission compliant bikes to hit. Or not, depending on how anal your respective authorities are and how willing the manufacturers are to bend to them. Judging from the amount of people here saying 'I would buy one', I would say that the Big Four are very interested and probably already hard at work. Game, set, match - boingk
There is no such thing as a WR450R. The model being sold now world wide is the WR450F which is pretty much a race bike, the Euros and Aussies just get the corked up version with a light kit to make it street legal. The bike everyone is talking about here would be completely different, just like the WR250R and F probably don't share more than a handful of parts.
You can no longer buy a wr450f either , no 2010 models here. Just left over 09s. if you can find one.
I haven't seen a street legal WR450F in a few years either, 2006 seems to be the last year but I'm not sure. They don't even sell a street legal raptor 700 anymore, but 350 is still available. Seems like yamaha dropped all those when it became difficult to pass emission tests with carburetor models, euros who still use carb restrict the bikes until they pass. I reckon japanese won't go into that business of fooling the customer AND circumventing regulations, but unfortunately it is impossible to tune fuel injection to feel good and pass emissions, that's why euros which have different ignition and fuel maps do not have the selector switch stock because it would be illegal. Fortunately they do have all the wiring and connectors
I had an 02 WR426 with a yz cam , yz exhaust blah, blah... I would not want it for a dual sport that would entertain any amount of highway use. Your model design would be nice tho'! There's a bunch street legal 400's and 426's on craigslist right now, and they don't sell very quickly. That's the same reason I don't want the great KTM duals - Many of us would like to be able to do comfortable hiway miles without the upkeep hassle and still be able to do some challenging off-roading with enough torque to wheely over obstacles. The WR250R is a wussy in that regard. That's where a WR450R would be very nice to have. But for God's sake Yamaha, if you make one, put a gas tank on it that lets us at least get past the city limit sign! Keep it under 290 lbs please so I can pick it up without going to a hospital the next day.
To compete with an F800GS? Maybe. But it would need to be retuned to reduce peak power, bring the power lower in the rev range, and increase torque. In any event, NOT the equivalent of a 450cc Adv Thumper.
the 660 tenere would be yamaha's competition to the f800...even if it's not in the us YET. a wr450r would have to split what the wr250r does and what the tenere does. guess time will tell if yamaha fells there is a need to.
How far away is a overbored 290ccm wr250r/x with suspension mods, and the usual free flow stuf, and some nice programmer, and a little weight loss ? The 450 would probably be heavier than the 250, and still not produce insane horsepower, and would still need to be uncorced, have the suspension reworked and so on. Dont get me wrong, I would loooooove a 450ish, in the same style as the 250r/x, but i really dont think they can make the bike people want, at a very competitive price. Most people tend to be fine with a dr/klr/xt and so on, because of the lower price. Other people buy "race"bikes. When it comes to it, were not so many in between, the petition speaks for itself. Some 600ish votes is nothing. I think I could get more people to vote for me for the next election The grass is alwyas greener on the other side. I think one could make its own wr450ish bike, for less than yamaha could sell em for. I think you can shave 15kg of a xt600 fairly easy by going with alu rims, and ditching the sock exhasut, trim the ass, and smaller blinkers, mirrors and stuff like that. That gives you 140kg and around 40hp on the wheel with the right year and small mods, you have wide 5speed transmission, and a very tested and trusted motor. This is still no racebike, but add some usd forks and a new rear shock, and you can take this puppy anywhere. It has 6000-10000km oil service limits, cant remember with the valves, its not 20.000miles, but then again, the 250 dont seem to hold the valves within limit that time anyway. Its still not a 450r but you have a bike capable of doing the same stuff, as i see a potential 450r do. I dont know the dr and the klr wery well, but i've seen buildthreads of the same concept with thoose bikes. I know the above is a little "out there" and tomorrow I might be thinking otherwise, but I would love some input, and would REALLy love to hear what people would expect of the 450 spec wise, know that they know the 250 so well. Thx
Yep the Phazer.. 80 ish claimed HP (not sure of the torque). From a reliability standpoint I'm pretty sure it would take the RXV right off the market. However I don't know what the engine weight is or how you would connect a transmission to it, or its dimensions.
Thanks, I found an article on it. Its actually a pair of YZ250F engines. your right it would make an awesome powerplant for an open class bike. To bad the AMA in their wisdom basically banned multi-cylindered dirtbikes from competition.
I truly don't get the idea of looking for Japanese bikes to get what you want in a dual sport. I think Dirt Bike magazine said it best this month in their Husky 630 vs. KTM 690 test saying that big Japanese dual sport bikes "now occupy the role of budget commuters." For 2011 you will be able to buy dirt worthy 450's from no less than four Euro companies. BMW, KTM and Beta already have them and Husky will be releasing one with the new BMW sourced motor. The BMW even gives you a three year warranty. So why all the hand wringing over Yamaha? I have a closet full bumble bee yellow, red and blue Yamaha riding gear starting all the way back with DT's. But I still say screw Yamaha. They already lost me. You know that even if they do build a dual sport 450 it will be a WR in name only, weigh 300 pounds and maybe make as much horsepower as my old XT350. Every dual sport event I go to is well over half Euro bikes now for a very good reason. People are obviously sick of half assed offerings from Japan and are buying KTM's and Huskies. Maybe the dual sport market is too small to be worthwhile to the Big Four. It isn't to other companies.
You are missing something. Many people are willing to trade some horsepower and weight penalty for a lower maintenance on an ADV bike. Do you know that the Wr250R manual specs 26k mile valve adjustments? Find out what it is for any of the Euro 250s and you will have your answer.
If you are looking for low maintenance over decent suspension and power then there are still many choices that aren't blue. So, again, why the hand wringing over Yamaha? We are truly in a golden age of dual sports. There is something for everybody right now. Just shove the blue gear to the back of the closet.
The market still has a gap, I think. There is nothing long-distance tourable, bigger than a 250cc, that's not either ancient technology or a fire breathing exotic. I'd rather have low maintenance, comfort, range and luggage capacity than super-low weight, big horsepower, or top of the range suspension.
