2007 450 Off-Road Comparison - The Bull

Accoutrements for faster off-road riding would include larger gas tanks for range and skid plates for bashing into rocks. None of these bikes possess standout features for this type of riding. The KTM was the first to run out of gas, the Honda the last. You can easily stretch 60 miles out of a tank or kill any of them in 45 by being heavy with the wrist. Brakes on all the bikes are solid; most riders notice that the Honda has the best feel and the strong KTM binders have the least feel.

Taking It to the Trees Slowing it down a bit and turning a lot more, we rode the bikes in the forests and mountains to get a better grasp on the players. Some things changed, and some things didn't.

The Kawasaki showed the biggest difference. It was funny how the slowest bike was praised the most in the fastest riding, yet in the tight trees, riders were polarized. The light feel was still tops and handling drew very few complaints. But the smooth low-end power and comparative lack of torque had some asking for a little more. They were bothered by the extra downshift the KLX-R preferred or didn't like revving the bike more. Riders fresh off of a 250F would not even notice; most would be hard pressed to pick this out if not coming off another bike with more low-end tug. But in really tight trails, this one trait stuck out. The KLX-R clutch stood up to the abuse, as did the engine, rarely using the coolant catch tank. And this lower-speed quirk was most noticeable at a fast trail speed. Go for a true sightseeing ride or race through a section and you won't understand what we are talking about.

The Honda fights its powerful low-end and extra girth in the tighter sections. Feeling a bit heavier is one thing; adding in the snap and aggressive bottom power is another. Add those two things up and multiply them by a rider who has less throttle control and you can be in for a more tiring ride. Be smooth with the wrist and the CRF-X is as gentle as can be, especially if you are on the heavier side of the scale, because for you the suspension works better, too. We would say the Honda can be the best for the novice rider because of the low-end chug, but at the same time, caution the same guy about the low-end burst. Everything else in the trees is good, especially the steering.

The KTM stays light, stable and ultracompliant in the tighter stuff, with suspension settings that seemed made for trail riding in the woods. Its smooth power finds the traction in the slippery stuff and has pull when you need it. Some thought it was soft off the bottom, mostly lacking the snap to get going, not the torque to keep from bogging. Here, the light feel, particularly in turning the bar, aids the bike in getting through the woods as easily as can be. The bike received high marks for being thin, especially at the footpegs, keeping toes out of peril.

The Yamaha is such a bland ride that nothing stands out, at least in terms of bad traits. It seems to do everything well-nothing astoundingly so-and makes everyone happy the whole time. Its slightly heavier feel doesn't bother anyone. Its suspension is just plush enough to absorb the small stuff and stiff enough to allow racelike speeds; the clickers give a good range of adjustability, especially the high-speed adjustment on the shock. The motor, being electric feeling, pleased everyone. It has a wrist-to-rear-wheel connectivity that rivals anything out there-this even in its leaner-than-full-power jetting setting. Here, it resists breaking traction (the GYTR jetting is more than happy to spin the wheel, as well as get finicky at elevations above 7000 feet) and gets great fuel mileage for a bike with such a thin gas tank.

Garage Time You'll likely work on your ride, and we did all the regular stuff on these bikes during this test. Changing air filters revealed that the KTM rules with the easiest access and safest seating, right in front of you. Yamaha is second; it has a bit more room to work with than the others. The tight confines of the Kawasaki and even tighter box of the Honda make them slightly more difficult. Oil changes are a single-drain-plug no-brainer on the KTM, and you have the double-oil-filter setup to keep the lube looking good and working well for a long time. We've put more than 30,000 miles on an RFS motor, and that isn't bad for a bike that was introduced in 2000 as high-performance and possibly short-fused. The rest of the bikes have a routine and more than one drain bolt, but even a novice could figure them out. Worries about engine life are moot at best. Keep the air filters clean and the oil fresh, and you'll run them forever if you're wise enough to check the valves once in a while.

Speaking of which, all the valves are pretty easy to get into to check, with the KTM being the most difficult due to space. But if adjusting comes into play, the KTM is the only one with screw-type tappets and takes only 10 minutes to set. The other bikes require shimming, a two-hour job. All of the bikes have their fasteners dialed without any standout funkiness that pinged our junk-o-meter. We liked the coolant catch tanks on the Japanese bikes, and the steel rear sprocket on the WR lasts forever. There are enough odometer functions in this group to make your head spin, but the Kawasaki is the only one on which you can read the speed while riding (except in the dark). The KTM's stock light is the only one worth riding with at night; the Yamaha's light comes close. The other two will get you back if a ride runs late, not much more.