Dirt and Trail Dec 2019

Ride impressions:
Our brief to Mike and Enrico was: Go out, have fun,
ride fast, tell us what you think of the new bike. Both
came back looking very impressed… this is one very
competitive bike.
“I love the instant power. The trend
these days is to make the big bore
bikes get smoother and smoother
– but this time round, it feels to me
as though Yamaha has focussed on
giving this model significantly more
torque – or old school aggression.”
Mike says: I love the instant power. The trend these
days is to make the big bore bikes get smoother and
smoother – but this time round, it feels to me as though
Yamaha has focussed on giving this model significantly
more torque – or old school aggression. And that’s
cool. You open the throttle and if you want, you
easily send that wheel skywards. You know that
this is a 450 the minute you ride it.
BUT: the changes to the chassis and all that
has paid dividends. I am really impressed. I read a
couple of international reviews on the bike – they talk
about frame flex and stuff – but I cannot feel anything
weird at all. The 202 feels a lot softer over the
braking bumps, softer on your feet and arms.
Also, although I know the bike weighs just about
the same as the 2019, it feels lighter to me. They
have lowered the centre of gravity and it shows. I’m
more confident throwing the new bike around- and
you can bring it back easily. I got it a bit sideways
on the one jump and I though “oh-oh!”, but the
bike actually saved me.
So from what I can tell, Yamaha has
made a bike that is more powerful than last
year’s model, but they have upgraded the
suspension and brakes to reign it in and keep
it all under control.
To me… this is a bit more exciting than last
years model, with more torque on tap which
means that you don’t need to ride the bike as
hard as the previous models.
This will probably pay dividends in the
engines longevity.
DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 5 3