2015 450 MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
P42
SHOOTOUT
P42
BY THE CYCLE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
F
or three straight years, the Kawasaki KX450F
has been the king of the 450s in our annual
450-class motocross shootout. Can it make it
an unprecedented four straight? That was the big
question going into our 2015 shootout.
We knew going in, however, that it was going
be tough for the KX to stay in command since
all of its competitors took on significant updates
for 2015: the Suzuki RM-Z450 got major chassis
changes and new air forks; the Honda CRF450R
got updated air forks and motor mods; the Yama-
ha YZ450F got a host of refinements; the KTM
got all of the mid-year 2014 Factory Edition up-
dates, and the all-new Husqvarna FC 450 sim-
ply got in on the action for the first time in many
years. And the Kawasaki took on some changes,
as well, most notably getting the latest-generation
Showa SFF-AIR Triple Air Chamber fork. (We
chose not to include the KTM 350 SX-F or the
Husqvarna FC 350 this year so we could focus
Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha,
Husqvarna all take aim
WILL A NEW KING
