All just rumors. I'll believe it when I see it. Don't get me wrong - I'd love it but those rumors have been going for several years.
I was at the local Yamaha shop in Missoula yesterday looking at the WR250R. I really like the bike, but as I own a 1250 Bandit and a XR650L, I think I want something bigger than a 250. I really like the Yamaha bikes, but the 450 is not available in street-legal guise. Yet.
Were did you hear rumors? I hear lots of people loudly wishing for one (me included) but nobody that has any clue whatsoever. Huh?
yami makes a non-street legal wrf450. that's what you're thinking of. a wr450r would be a 450 version of their 250 dual sport.
Where do you plan to ride your dual-sport? If it's mostly woods/off-road you may be fine with "just" a 250. I just bought a WR250R and my other bike is a Triumph Speed Triple. This after having owned a DRZ400S in the past. If your looking for mostly street & fire roads then it may or may not be the right bike for you.
Something to consider... considering the origins of the WR250R motor, for Yamaha to make it a 450 size bike, would it need to be a 2cyl 500? Lion
500cc twin WR adventure bike! Yay unsubstantiated rumors! Yay! Where's the Photoshop nerds when you need them?
A 500 inline twin would be welcome in an adventure bike package, but it would add way too much unnecessary weight for the type of dirt-bike-with-lights philosophy that the WR250R follows. They make the WR450F road-legal in other markets like Australia and parts of Africa. Fk, just sell me one of those Yamaha! Until then, I'm having a blast on the 250, and not really missing the extra cc's for the tight mountain trails we ride on.
I'll let you know once I get to really ride it in the dirt. I've got a lot of parts and new tires coming in. I'm going to run it good before modding the intake/EFI programming/exhaust to get a good baseline and to break it in a bit. Those parts are already on the way though too.
It seems like the Japanese are getting scooped by the euro street legal 450 enduros now out like the BMW, Husky and KTM. It's a huge plus and saves a lot of "grey area" licensing BS for enduro bikes. I can't image the Japanese won't repond with their WR's, CRF-X, KXF's etc.
Just got off a WR 250 SM with a aftermarket pipe/remap And all kinds of stuff taken off..... IMO it felt like my DRZ completely stock.... and I think thats just because of the lower weight. i did not ask him how much the pipe and remap was. Turns real good, but there was no torque. again IMO I think it would hang in with a DRZ in top speed, but I have to say that getting to top speed, the DRZ will win.
I have heard zero substantial information about any plans for a WR450R. And why would it be a 450 even if they did it? Yamaha hasn't had a dual sport larger than 250cc for how many years now? Ten? Fifteen? Why wouldn't they make it a 500, or 550, or 600, or 650? Remember, the WR250R started with a clean sheet of paper and some parts borrowed from the FZR-1 engine. It had nothing to do with the WR250F. If Yamaha came out with a larger new dual-sport, it would also probably be a clean sheet design. So it could be any size. If they decided to raid their cruiser parts bin they could do a fuel injected pushrod air-cooled single with displacements up to 835 cc or even 927 cc.
... you forgot to mention the "In the US" part. They still offer the 660 Tenere outside the US. http://www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/products/motorcycles/adventure/xt660z.jsp?view=techspecs As far as any rumors of a 450 R², I would find it hard to believe that we're going to see ANY new development from ANY manufacturer in this economic climate.
We get street legal WR450F, CRF450X and KLX450R from Japan, but Suzuki are too soft-cock to get into the biggest market segment we have here in Australia?? All the Euro's have road legal 450s on the market here too. The WR450R, if it was the same bike as the WR250R would be a great seller here to. Suzuki's DRZ400, which has been around for over a decade unchanged, is a huge seller because not everybody wants a high maintenance race bike to ride on the trail! Probably why Suzuki won't make a road legal RMZ450!
