2015 450 Motocross Shootout
Cycle News Staff | December 12, 2014
For three straight years, the Kawasaki KX450F has been the king of the 450s in our annual 450-class motocross shootout. Can it make it an unprecedented four straight? That was the big question going into our 2015 shootout.
We knew going in, however, that it was going be tough for the KX to stay in command since all of its competitors took on significant updates for 2015: the Suzuki RM-Z450 got major chassis changes and new air forks; the Honda CRF450R got updated air forks and motor mods; the Yamaha YZ450F got a host of refinements; the KTM got all of the mid-year 2014 Factory Edition updates, and the all-new Husqvarna FC 450 simply got in on the action for the first time in many years. And the Kawasaki took on some changes, as well, most notably getting the latest-generation Showa SFF-AIR Triple Air Chamber fork. (We chose not to include the KTM 350 SX-F or the Husqvarna FC 350 this year so we could focus all of our attention solely on the big guns of the big-bore class.)
As usual, we rode all of the bikes at a variety of tracks, but spent most of our time on them at Glen Helen Raceway. We feel brings out the best and worst in every bike that takes a lap around this very demanding track, which has a little bit of everything: tricky ruts, deep loam, long uphills and downhills, and jarring braking bumps, just to name a few. And, as always, we rode the bikes just how you’d get them off the showroom floor. We ran the stock tires, handlebars, levers and even grips—absolutely stock. The only adjustments our test riders—who ranged from novice to experts—could make were only the ones that were already available on the bikes, such as suspension clickers, handlebar positioning and ECU adjustments.
So which bike won? Read on and find out. We saved the best for last.
For more Cycle News Motocross motorcycle reviews, click HERE.
