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BIKES: 2010 Yamaha YZF450F
Written by: Benjamin Segal
Eastern Dirt Magazine   http://easterndirt.com
10/25/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
Aschmann enjoying the plush fork as he enters the whoop section. (Photo: Easterndirt.com) ยป More Photos

“The Survival of the Fittest”, a phrase coined by Herbert Spencer and made popular by Charles Darwin comes to mind when we think of what is going on in the worlds’ economy today. Capitalism, as it has proven throughout history, will surely weed out the meek, leaving only those companies who have the resilience, courage and strength to endure. Could it be that we are bearing witness to this kind of trimming of the fat in the world of MX today?

Fuel injection on a motorcycle is not a new concept, street bikes have benefitted from the better throttle response and fuel economy FI provides for years. MX bikes however, for some reason resisted making the transition. It must be because we love getting fuel all over our hands between motos trying to get the jetting just right. FI on an off-road bike has existed for some time, A handful of dual sport/ adventure bikes have had it for several years, ATV's are on board and it has been in development for MX applications for several years. In 2008 when Suzuki tried to beat everyone to the punch with their RM-Z450FI it was released prematurely and fell flat on its face.Their bike, when fitted with FI was a turd. Amid rumors and speculation over what was the real problem, America Suzuki
Motor Corp. never clearly explained why so very few of their 08 450’s reached dealers. For 2009 Honda and Kawasaki stepped into the ring with their FI 450’s and Suzuki managed to work out the kinks in their program to get their FI 450 onto dealer floors. We had officially entered the era of FI MX bikes.

But one color was missing from this Japanese Quartet. Where was Yamaha while all this posturing and jostling for top FI honors was going on? Why would they choose to remain in the dark ages of technology with their archaic mechanical carburetors? Why were they content to sit at the back of the design and technology pack and release the 09 YZ450F without FI? Not that it was a bad bike, it obviously was still very competitive. James Stewart stomped on everyone except for Chad Reed and still won the SX championship on a mechanically carbureted bike.

Could it be Yamaha knew something we didn’t know? Something the even the other manufacturers didn’t appear to even consider? Were they just playing their game close to the chest in 09, content to sit back and let the other manufacturers show their cards while they refined and fine tuned their YZ450F with fuel injection to the point of absolute perfection?

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