Photo: yamaha-racing.com
Yamaha prepares a two-rider team for the 2016 edition of the Dakar Rally. Both riders will be using the new WR450F Rally, a machine Yamaha worked hard on this year. Weight optimization and aerodynamics have been the highest priorities for Yamaha, as the mechanics and engineers tried to make a bike as light and narrow as possible without compromising performance.
The 2016 WR450F Rally will have to carry Portuguese Helder Rodrigues and Italian Alessandro Botturi across the roughest terrains of South America during the approaching Dakar competition.
For 15 days, the two riders have 9,319 km (5,791 miles) to cover, with stages of varying length and technical difficulty, and making a bike strong enough to last in the grueling conditions and keep the pace up is quite an undertaking.
Engines can be swapped, but this is a costly repair, as it comes with time penalties, so building a power unit to endure the Dakar ordeals is a massive achievement per se.
The bike's powerplant is a 449cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4-valve engine mated to a manual 5-speed transmission. The wet multi-plate clutch is a Rekluse unit, and the bikes come with a kick starter.
Yamaha uses the classic off-road wheel combo, with a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear, with single-rotor brakes, 270mm in the front and 245mm in the rear.
The multiple tanks can carry 30 liters (7.9 US gal) of fuel, but even with them filled to the neck and all the rally-specific accessories, the 2016 Yamaha WR450F Rally only tips the scales at 123 kg (271 lbs), which is exactly the figure for the stock WR450F. The latter can be had for as low as $8,990 in the US, but you can expect a customer Dakar version to be almost double that figure.
For 15 days, the two riders have 9,319 km (5,791 miles) to cover, with stages of varying length and technical difficulty, and making a bike strong enough to last in the grueling conditions and keep the pace up is quite an undertaking.
Engines can be swapped, but this is a costly repair, as it comes with time penalties, so building a power unit to endure the Dakar ordeals is a massive achievement per se.
Yamaha uses WP suspensions supplied by KTM
It's nice to see one of the big Japanese bike manufacturers choosing a European suspension maker. At both ends, the 2016 Yamaha WR450F Rally uses suspensions manufactured by WP, a brand that has been under KTM's umbrella for a long time.The bike's powerplant is a 449cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4-valve engine mated to a manual 5-speed transmission. The wet multi-plate clutch is a Rekluse unit, and the bikes come with a kick starter.
Yamaha uses the classic off-road wheel combo, with a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear, with single-rotor brakes, 270mm in the front and 245mm in the rear.
The multiple tanks can carry 30 liters (7.9 US gal) of fuel, but even with them filled to the neck and all the rally-specific accessories, the 2016 Yamaha WR450F Rally only tips the scales at 123 kg (271 lbs), which is exactly the figure for the stock WR450F. The latter can be had for as low as $8,990 in the US, but you can expect a customer Dakar version to be almost double that figure.
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