Making an impressive debut in the FIM EnduroGP World Championship last year, Yamaha’s WR450F has assisted Loïc Larrieu in securing the top spot of the podium no less than three times so far. Larrieu rode the Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team’s WR450F to two Enduro 2 class victories during the 2016 season and the Frenchman secured his first outright victory of 2017 at the recent EnduroGP of Italy. Yamaha-racing.com takes an in-depth look at the machine that powered him to those triumphs.
Sharing technology with Yamaha’s World Championship winning YZ450F motocross bike, Larrieu’s WR450F features an innovative reverse cylinder head engine and Yamaha’s trademark aluminium bilateral chassis.
Taking advantage of the feedback collected last year, Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team engineers have introduced further updates to make their WR450F machine more powerful and easier to ride. Compared to the production WR450F, a series of specific modifications bring a reduction of five kilograms to the team’s racing machine.
With the reverse cylinder engine offering a vast amount of power, team engineers focus their attention on making this power as usable as possible. Featuring a series of specific fuel injection maps developed by the team, the engine performance is boosted by an Akrapovic exhaust system.
Marc Bourgeois
Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team Manager
“A key point in the development of our WR450F was to make it as easy to ride as possible, something very important for enduro racing.”
Based on the standard KYB suspension the team apply a set of internal modifications that make both the forks and rear suspension capable of dealing with the increased needs of top-level racing.
Loïc Larrieu
Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team