Whether in the air or on the ground the ’10 YZ450F is balance.

Honda was quickest to the first turn with Yamaha, KTM and Kawasaki in tow.

Kawasaki used its monster motor to stomp the timed third-gear roll-on.

Yamaha had the slowest top speed at the end of the start straight, but it gets up to speed quicker than most.

All of the 2010 450 motocross bikes are close in weight, but the Honda CRF450R continues to shine as the lightest of the bunch.

Sound emissions are one of the most important ongoing issues for dirt bikes. KTM has a significant advantage with its quiet 450 SX-F.

Kawasaki continued its dominance once we strapped the bikes on the dyno at Mickey Cohen Motorsports.

KTM showed the most peak torque on the Mickey Cohen Motorsports dyno and it coninues to make the most as revs climb.

In recent history there hasn’t been an off-road motorcycle with more hype surrounding it than Yamaha’s 2010 YZ450F.

The entire intake system has been relocated to the front of the motorcycle and is neatly tucked in underneath the fuel tank.

Not only has the engine received numerous internal updates, its architecture has been reversed with the intake on the front side and the exhaust at the rear. It’s also been tilted rearward in the chassis to make it feel lighter when moving.

An Excel rear wheel shod in a 120-series Dunlop D756 tire moves through an updated swingarm designed to complement the main frame’s new rigidity balance.

The Kayaba rear shock has a bigger piston, nitrogen reservoir, and a heavier spring. It’s also been relocated to the center of the motorcycle in the area typically used by an off-road bike’s conventional airbox.

One of the reasons the Yamaha “glides across the track” is its superbly balanced Kayaba Speed Sensitive suspension.

The Yamaha’s retooled frame, swingarm, and engine function together with the suspension to deliver a bike that handles differently from the competition.

Yamaha pledged that the new aluminum chassis would be proficient at not only putting power to the dirt, but, through clever engineering and mass centralization, make the machine feel much lighter and more agile while in motion.

Through clever engineering the Yamaha YZ450F feels much lighter while in motion.

The bike feels similar to the Kawasaki in terms of width and the seat is flat allowing the rider to maneuver his body forward or backward unencumbered. However, the spacial relationship between the rider triangle makes for an extremely tight cockpit.

If you’re looking for the bike with the highest quality stock suspension the ’10 YZ450F is it.

Steering is very neutral with the YZ never turning more or less than what the rider inputs through the Pro Taper handlebar.

It would seem that a bike which turns so well in slow corners might be a handful through faster sections, but that simply isn’t the case. At speed the Yamaha tracks straight through obstacles and resists headshake.

In terms of engine performance all of the testers appreciated how effectively the YZ transfers power to the rear tire, especially in limited traction environments.

The YZ450F’s engine is extremely adept at putting power down to the dirt.

Indeed the ability to adjust the position of the handlebars in four ways really allows the rider to tailor the YZ to his or her particular riding style. We also really dig the humungous works-style footpegs that not only look cool, but disperse energy better when landing jumps or pounding through whoops.

While brake feel isn’t as good as the KTM or Honda, it does offer more than enough power to scrub off excess speed. It all comes back to the excellent overall chassis where perfect balance allows for the rider to get aggressive at the levers.

Nothing could upset the Yamaha’s solid chassis at Racetown 395.