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How do the new changes to the ‘23 YZ450F carry over to the cross country ‘24 YZ450FX model? How do two-stroke cross country models fare in the woods? Mitch Kendra provides his insight after two test days at Randy Hawkins’ facility in South Carolina.
By Mitch Kendra
Last week, I had the opportunity to test ride some Yamaha motorcycles in a very unique way. Randy Hawkins’ facility in South Carolina–complete with both a moto track and woods loops–was the perfect testing area for the 2024 Yamaha cross country lineup for Jason Weigandt, Matt Rice, and myself, as well as a handful of other media outlets. Hawkins, a former off-road champion for the blue brand years ago, manages the AmPro Yamaha Racing team that competes in the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, AMA National Enduro Series (NEPG), and the US Sprint Enduro series here up and down the East Coast. A lot of GNCC entries come from around this area (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia down through South Carolina), so this venue provided us with a test on the conditions these bikes were meant for. The BluCru team also stated the YZ450FX machine is set up to do well in both desert, high speed West Coast conditions of almost 100 MPH and the rough, rutted, deep, muddy conditions where riders are going 10 MPH through tight trees (what we see on the East Coast at most GNCC events). The versatility of the machine is actually insane when you think about it! Two full days of riding (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. broken up by lunch) at an awesome facility provided us with a perfect location to dial in our initial thoughts! So, after a few days with the boys down in ol’ South Cackalacky, here is some insight on the three bikes.
My Build/Skill Set:
Starting off, note I am a C-level rider coming in at 5’10” and 165 lbs. (shorter, smaller, and slower than Kris Keefer). While I do love riding I do not get the seat time that Keefer, Josh Mosiman, and these other long-time test riders do. In the summer I will ride on average once a week on our one-lined single track in the backyard, with a track day or two thrown in each month. Here in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania I typically do not get to ride from around November until March. Despite the lack of seat time coming out of winter, I am in the gym and doing cardio at least three times a week, so I do have a solid base once I get on a bike.
So, while I might not be the pro level, expert tester, I do have some insights when it comes to you weekend warrior-type riders. We might not get out there as often as we would like, but we make the best out of our days of riding. Aside from the once-a-year Big Dave Vet Homecoming event at High Point Raceway every September (one of my favorite events of the year), riding back-to-back days for me is almost unheard of for the rest of the year. Between Thursday (32.8 miles total) and Friday (16.5 miles total), I got in a lot of seat time! So, let’s dig into it!
Brief 2024 Cross Country Lineup Overview:
The updated 2024 YZ450FX was the main focus of the event. The ‘24 model took on the new chassis, suspension, slimmer build, engine characteristics, and more from the 2023 YZ450F that Eli Tomac raced in AMA Supercross last year. Then, they took that machine and tweaked it some to be off-road specific: added a kickstand; skid plate; different transmission; a baffle in the muffler; smaller, 18-inch rear wheel; adjusted mapping, complete with a second, more mellow map; 10 mm lower center of bike than previous model, and more. Of the ‘24 YZ125X, YZ250X, YZ250FX, and YZ450FX, the YZ450FX is the only bike that received significant changes this year. However, Yamaha did have two two-stroke models on hand for us as well (YZ125X and YZ250X).
As for the YZ250FX model, expect that four-stroke cross country bike to follow the changes to the 2024 YZ250F motocross model that the race teams such as Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing and Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha are racing currently in Monster Energy AMA Supercross to be made for the 2025 YZ250FX model.
We started off with the two-strokes, so let’s start there.
2024 YZ125X and YZ250X Two-Strokes:
Full transparency, when I was in middle school my brother (two years older than me) would have me jump onto his two-strokes to give them a ride here and there, but I used to hate it as those screaming bikes scared the shit out of me! Not used to the quick, power delivery, his 65cc machine once flipped me off the back of the bike quicker than I could blink! A few years ago I got back on two-strokes here and there and learned my childhood fear of them had gone away (But then I remembered the other thing that used to bug me about them: the constant vibrating!). In the last two years I have ridden two-strokes more than I ever have. From my Dad’s old Husqvarnas from the 1970s to the two-stroke Rieju MR Pro 300 the office had as a test bike last year, I was getting more used to them than ever.
On Thursday, Weege, Rice, and myself were assigned the 2024 BluCru two-stroke cross country models, sharing the two machines back and forth between the three of us. I started up the YZ125 and off I went!
Going back and forth between the two bikes, I could tell I was gravitating towards the smaller of the two. One thing I do not like about the two-stroke YZ250X is the unpredictability. The initial torque and excitement of the YZ250X took some time getting used to and I found the 125 more comfortable. I was either on-or-off on the YZ250X where I felt more at home on the 125 being more so in the middle and using the clutch. Compared to my 250F, the two-stroke YZ250X had a drop off at the top of the throttle where my four-stroke normally keeps pulling.
Honestly, I would not purchase a two-stroke machine for the kinds of riding I do. As a second option, I would consider the YZ125X. But to me, there is nothing that beats my 250F back home. If you enjoy the way a 125 handles and do not mind giving up some speed to four-strokes at your local races, or are even looking to purchase a less powerful bike for some slower, more relaxed trail riding, either the YZ125X or YZ250X might be perfect for you. When in the woods, I prefer the four-stroke riding style (more rolling, engine braking, less revs, can be lazy on the throttle) vs the two-stroke riding style (higher in the RMPs at all times). I was walking the fine line of being lazy and staging lower in the RPMs than most two-strokes allow you to, and for the most part it was working out. Oh, and when you fall, which I did often, the 125 is way easier to pick up. Parts can be less expensive, too, so for guys that crash often and do not ride all the time, that is something that goes into consideration.
Generally speaking there did not seem to be a huge difference between the 125 and 250. Jumping and going up hills felt much easier on the 250cc bike but otherwise I felt they shared similar characteristics.
2024 YZ450FX:
While I did not have the YZ250F or YZ250FX to compare the YZ450FX to, I was able to consider the 2021 YZ250F motocross model I have back home during my testing. My bike is fully stock (just graphics and hand guards), so I felt right at home right away on the four-stroke big bike. I will say initially I realized the YZ450FX had a stiffer platform than my YZ250F does. While the YZ450FX cross country bike has a softer setup than the YZ450F motocross model, the stock YZ450FX is set up for someone who is bigger than me. Initially, set up for someone between the 185 to 200 lbs mark, I believe the initial valving of the 250F machine is less than that. And personally, I enjoyed the stiffness of this bike compared to my YZ250F back home. Now, do not get it twisted, I do not want supercross suspension for the moto and woods riding I do here in the hills of Pennsylvania, but I did like the initial hold up of the forks. On my YZ250F, I do feel at times the forks tend to be too soft and pitch me when I enter turns, causing me to feel uncomfortable and causing a wash-out type of feeling. I did not notice that feeling on the stiffer YZ450FX forks.
The nice thing about this bike too was we could all three hit some jumps and bumps that developed on the moto track without being too soft of a feeling either. Again, that versatility is key for the cross country bike. The suspension, paired with some tuning maps on Yamaha’s map, could make this bike a very rideable machine for someone with my size and skillset in muddy wood sections between trees but also very rideable for someone bigger and much faster on a full on moto track just moments later! Plus, the way the top end is reversed, the larger fuel tank (2.1-gallon capacity vs 1.6-gallon capacity of YZ450F motocross tank) does not make the machine any taller or wider. The larger tank was basically not noticeable–which is a good thing for those dabbling in both disciplines. A new, low fuel light also turns on and yellow when it is time to pit and refuel, meaning no more out of gas walks of shame! A full coverage skid plate protects from those exposed tree roots and rocks we are accustomed to here on the East Coast, and the kickstand allowed us to take breathers in between sessions wherever we wanted to without having to find the closest tree. With the lowered overall platform, I did not find myself stressing while reaching for the ground, which can be the case especially in the woods. There is also a change in the footpegs–5 mm both down and back towards the rear wheel–which was meant to help with the rider triangle. I never experienced the cramped feeling of the 2022 YZ450F to compare the 5 mm changes to but from what I have been told the small difference will be much appreciated by the masses.
Comparing the two-stroke models and the 450cc bike, I preferred the four-stroke more. I mostly liked the stiffer YZ450FX set up compared to the YZ1250X and YZ250X forks. In the woods and off-road, you want softer suspension than motocross suspension, but even though the initially softer-than-motocross YZ450FX forks are valved for someone bigger than myself, I was not getting beat up by the stiffer valving. And engine characteristic wise, going up steep hills on a predictable four-stroke gave me much more comfort than having to use the clutch while higher in the RPMs did.
We had three guys jumping back and forth between the bike, so I did not mess with the tuning of the YZ450FX. I did notice a difference in the regular map vs the more mellow map, especially in the tight woods sections dodging through trees and going up and down the small hills that GNCC tracks typically have. Again, the versatility right from the getgo made this bike literally jump on and go for me after watching Matty Rice go easily twice my speed.
One thing I did notice almost immediately on the 450cc machine was how my arm pump showed up almost instantly. I did not get much arm pump at all Thursday, but Friday was a different story. Second day of riding aside, I was probably going a little faster and holding on a little tighter on the four-stroke. Not sure if this was the case with anyone else but for me it was night and day difference in my forearms.
Recap:
All dirt bikes are a lot of fun! Two-stroke or four-stroke and 125, 250, 350, or 450 is a personal preference because you can go as fast or slow as you want on any of the machines. As Weege said, you might go a little bit faster on a four-stroke, even though two-strokes can feel faster. But a 450cc machine is a lot easier to go a lot faster on, which makes things go from bad to worse easier.
You know when you go on vacation and you do not want it to be over and it feels like the week flew by and you are back boarding the flight home before you know it? Well, that was me on Saturday! Yamaha went all-in for this intro. And I mean all in.
Two days of riding with techs on hand for anything we needed from setting the sag to answering questions to washing the bikes after a muddy session to changing the plastics and prepping the machines for us. I want to say a huge thank you to Yamaha, Mike Ulrich, Tyler Hutt, Randy Hawkins, and the rest of the BluCru squad for taking such great care of us.
While I cannot promise you will get the full experience we got last week, Yamaha does have demos where you can test all sorts of different models. Jason Raines has test bikes ranging from the 65cc models all the way up through the YZ450F, so you can spin a few laps on different platforms and learn information about different bikes before you purchase one. I was riding one of our local tracks in May 2022 when the track I was at, Switchback MX near Pittsburgh, was having a Raines Yamaha demo event. I tested out a few of the models, including riding a 450cc bike for the first time ever. If you are on the fence about two specific models, say a 250cc two-stroke vs a 250cc four-stroke, or between two-stroke 125cc and 250cc machines, this could be a great opportunity to ride both bikes back to back to help influence your decision. Plus, Jason is a great guy and will help answer any questions you may have when it comes to one bike vs another. Check out the Yamaha website for information on the nearest demo day for you.
