2015 Yamaha WR450F Rally Racer Revealed

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Yamaha revealed its WR450F Rally, the off-road race machine designed for competitions such as the famed Dakar Rally. Developed by Yamaha Italy and Rebel X Sports, the WR450F Rally will be ridden by racer Manuel Lucchese but will also be available for sale to prospective racers for €13,490 (US$17,080). A conversion kit will also be offered for €5,690 (US$7200) so WR450F owners can make their machines Rally-ready.

Based on the Yamaha WR450F, the Rally version was adapted to carry 7.55 gallons of fuel in two evenly-distributed plastic tanks (4.8 gallons at the front, 2.7 gallons in the removable rear tank), giving it a range of approximately 300 km (186 miles). A specially-designed bash plate with a water reservoir is installed below the engine offering added protection to the water pump while also housing a large toolbox for emergency repairs.

No details about the engine were released, though Yamaha says the muffler has been tuned to improve performance at both low and high rpm. The engine mapping was also modified to meet the needs of rally racing.

The fairing is mounted to the front tank with quick release bolts, allowing easy removable without needing tools.

Behind the tall windscreen is a full navigation tower with an RNS Tripmaster, and electronic roadbook holder for rally racing. The navigation system is controlled using bottons mounted near the left handgrip. The navigation tower is mounted to a specifically designed bracket allowing it to be easily removed to convert the WR450F for Enduro competition.

The headlights are 50 watt LEDs and mounted inside a special shell to prevent any reflections on the windscreen. The WR450F’s standard 7 Ah battery has been replaced with a 14 Ah lithium ion battery to power all of the extra navigation instruments and lighting.

To better handle the higher speeds involved in rally racing, the standard WR450F’s 250mm front brake disc was replaced by a 270mm wave-style disc.

[Source: Yamaha]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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