Best Enduro: 2019 Bikesales Bike of the Year Awards

The 2019 Bikesales Bike of the Year (BOTY) Awards recognise excellence across 11 separate motorcycle categories.

Let’s continue with that process by announcing the Yamaha WR450F as the winner of our Enduro category.

Yamaha isn’t silly, it knows where its bread is buttered, so even though its 2019 WR450F was developed with the aid of some serious pro motocrossers, it also added features to help weekend warriors make the fearsome WR a mild mannered lounge chair in the bush.

To help tame the $15,199 rideaway machine, Yamaha has now included the Power Tuner App for smartphone tuning, a free download, along with the hardware to fit to the bike to fine-tune the engine’s ignition and fuel maps.

Meanwhile, the WR-F’s engine received a few updates for 2019, including a more enduro-spec ECU and a lighter clutch, while Yamaha put a lot of effort into making the whole bike easier to move around on by making it more compact.

It’s got more fuel range, too, with 7.9-litre tank now expandable to 8.5 litres once the internal funnel is removed. Easier to move around and more range: always good news for trail riders.

Once you have the bike set up to your liking, the 2019 WR450F will carve through the bush with the best of them and make a real mess of a grass track. Yamaha’s venerable machine continues to shine.

Congratulations Yamaha.