The reigning off-road champion of our 2005 shootout was under attack from all sides. The Yamaha lifted weights during the off season, got pissed off and came out busting heads again in '06.
There is very little to complain about on the WR in 2006. The Yamaha wins our enduro shootout for the second consecutive year thanks to such a strong overall package for such little cost. Of course, you're guaranteed to find a better deal than the posted MSRPs this late in the season, but using the standard measurements as a guideline, the Yamaha is definitely a bargain shopper's dream. What truly gives the WR the advantage is that it's a great value for both trail riders and racers.
Getting back to the original question of what constitutes enduro riding, and therefore a good enduro bike, the Blue wonder doesn't miss a beat regardless of the riding situation. Tight and twisty, wide-open desert, gnarly rocks or slippery slime, the Yamaha can handle any off-road situation out there. By adding a level of refinement that is usually reserved for European bikes, the WR is bulletproof and, unlike your girlfriend, very low-maintenance.
Which was the closest to dethroning this Blue monarch? Because of the widely different requirements demanded by enduro riding, we'll have to let you decide where to rank the other five bikes based on our impressions. What's easily identifiable is that any one of these bikes has the potential to serve the needs of a wide swath of off-road riders. Every one of these bikes is a winner in its own right, because like the different regions of the world from whence they come, each member of this 450 half-rack has one or two things that makes it stand above the rest.
Let us know what you think about these new
2006 Enduros in the MCUSA Forum.
