Welcome to the world of 2026 Yamaha YZ & YZF motocross bikes. My name is Brian Wheeler, a former MXGP pilot from 1988 to 1997. So I am led to believe it would be a great idea, once to get the opinion of the veteran rider, so I have been shipped in for MX Vice to ride the 70th anniversary Yamaha in MC Flevoland, Lelystad, in the Netherlands. To my amazement, it was hard pack and not a grain of sand in sight , and I can’t lie that was a great start to the day.
1st off I was invited to try the GYTR 125 Yamaha which is the stock 125 Yamaha with all the bells & whistles loaded on from GYTR – ignition, pipe, cylinder etc ,well to be honest its been a while since I threw my leg over a one twenty five, but apart from the fact in most turns I should have gone down another gear or two to carry probably 12kg of relaxed muscle, it was good fun. However, when I was in the correct gear, I would say it almost pulls like a 150cc, also felt like you could turn on a tuppence, that’s 2pence for the younger generation. Apart from the power improvement, the bike felt pretty good all round, but all said it was a freshie, which, as we all know,you can’t beat that feeling .
Personally, I would say the bike would be perfect for your 13 to 16 year old person, but for most veteran pilots, you definitely would have to work way too hard to keep the motorcycle singing, which would be the only way to ride this bike because the more you made it scream, the better it went .
Next up was the GYTR 250F Yamaha, which was also a stock bike with all the bells & whistles bolted on from GYTR. Now this was a game changer, as I have ridden a stock 2025 YZF 250 and was wondering if there would be much difference. The answer was yes, the first thing I noticed was how well it pulled from the turns, even on low revs, but on the flip side, if you were redlining the motor on rpm, it was almost a case of hold on tight . The next thing you would notice is that you could then hold the gear longer down the straights than what you would on the stock motor, which on some short straights it was very handy as you would be in good shape for the next turn, so the the GYTR motor got a big tick in the box for the veteran pilot as probably most older riders just need a bit more than a 250f, and the 450 can become a bit to much at times. The brakes and suspension all work great as expected. I thought the suspension would be a tad soft, but actually it felt great, which meant the bike felt good in and out of the turns. This made it very easy to ride, which most veteran riders are looking for. So, overall, I would say a definite yes to the GYTR kit for my Veteran comrades if they are finding the 450F a bit too much to handle.
Finally, it was time for the big dog ,the 70th anniversary YZF450 Yamaha in the retro white. To be fair, it does look sweet . The bike has had some pretty major and minor tweaks, starting with a different inlet port to help with the performance for a smoother delivery, which felt pretty good. Although in the test I tried different mapping and found the bike easier to ride with the mapping on an aggressive setting, as with the more mellow setting, it was a bit too mellow coming out of the turns, which almost gave it a slight delay of power, which might work better for a less experienced pilot. As I have just mentioned, there are different mapping settings on the handlebars, although you can tweak these now with the new app and Bluetooth them to your bike. But with all this technology, I must say the most impressive thing is that now you can finally set a password to activate or deactivate your CDI, which means if stolen, this bike can not be started, a big tick in the box from me .
Next to mention was the chassis change on the front down tube to help with turning , well I cant lie, to be honest I was struggling to keep the bike in the line I wanted on the turns but I do believe this was more to the reason that the bike was set up for 85kg not 101kg so the rear of the bike was just sat down a bit to much this meant the front of the bike was very light through and out the turns which would explain the difficulty round the turns. However, into the turns, down the straights, and over the jumps, it wasn’t an issue. The next change is the clutch, which is now hydraulic and is set to still give you the feel of cable when you release the leaver, which I must say was perfect and right on the mark. Also, must mention a one-way gripper seat cover that worked pretty well, another small tweak was the slight lowering of the silencer, so you can actually get your hand into the rear of the bike to lift it onto your stand, not that important until you’re over 50 years of age.
So to finish the day, we had the opportunity to do some starts on the MXGP steel grid, which, after a few setting changes and the launch control set, I nearly cracked a hole shot as there is one thing for sure with the 450YZF, you are never looking for any more horses, well, for a veteran that is. So my final thoughts on the 2026 Yamaha 450YZF, I would say a great motorcycle, which, with a day or two of setting up, you could fine-tune the bike for your personal preference, then start to really get the full advantage of this bike. Is it for a veteran pilot? Well, if you think you’re strong enough, then it’s a big fat YES from me.
Just like to thank Drew Irvine , MX vice (Bradley Wheeler), and all the crew at Yamaha Motor Europe for looking after the old man and giving me the opportunity to give you all the veteran (old farts ) opinion .
Brian Wheeler
