Hi All,

Any experience or thoughts on WR450 F as an overlanding tool?
Wanted to buy WR250R for overlanding purposes but seems underpowered.

450 F looks better though seems very expensive.

And its tank is only 7,5 L !

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"where the traveller goes, nobody knows ! "

The 450F is a very different beast from the 250R. It is an uncompromising competition machine. A lot more powerful, but also requiring significantly more maintenance.
Also, unlike the 250R it does not have a rear subframe of any significance.

A 450F could be turned into an adventure travel bike, but imho there are better options.

Unfortunately Yamaha never made an R version of the 450 like they did with the 250F and 250R.

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Belgium to Nordkapp via Iran | Discover Overland | Destination World

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I've ridden the WR450F quite a bit in Baja and in the California Desert. These were friends bikes I swapped with. On the highway sections in Baja the WR450 gearing was WAY too low for moderate highway speeds. Over 50 mph it started feeling over revved.

Off road the thing was WONDERFUL! Such a treat after getting off my XR250R.
The Honda is a great bike but NOT in same class as the modern WR450F. A real race bike.

That said, as mentioned above, the WR250R will be a FAR better long range travel bike. In fact I hope to buy a WR250R later this year.

The WR450F is a very reliable bike, more maintenance than the WR250R but less than just about any KTM ... and can go years without problems. But as a travel bike? NO! Don't do it!

As mentioned above, no rear sub frame (so no way to easily carry luggage and gear. Low gearing not good on paved roads.

Here in USA used WR450F's are cheap but usually well used. They are not road legal here in US, but some get plates for them and set them up as dual sports.


The WR25R is surprisingly FAST! Goes good on highway (I tested it) and
i read it's quite good off road ... and can be loaded for travel with gear and a lot of support from large community of owners.

My wr250r tops out at 139km/h on gps with stock gearing, with me leaning over the handlebars (im 2 meters tall) When given +2 teeth on the rear sprocket, I can clutch up wheelies in 3rd gear, and still cruise effortlessly on anything but the interstate.

Not my definition of underpowered.

The air intake is opened up, and theres a different exhaustsystem on it, thats it for power mods. The stock exhaust can be modded for juuuust about the same gains)

You will, however, notice the lack of torque, compared to a bigger bike, but that goes almost without saying. I have both my Xt600, and a wr250r, have many times considered to throw a better seat and larger fueltank on the wr, and use it for multiday/week-long trips. The bike is plenty capable.

I use mine mostly for daytrips and regular enduro, helping as a trackmarshal in our nation championship, but also a few weekendtrips.

A 450f would also be a great choice, if you can live with the few downsides. Luggage can be sorted out, gearing can be chanced, but youre still looking at a bike which needs oilchanges meassured in hours, not thousands of kilometers. I've only tried a450f once, but it was set up like a YZ, so very unridable in gnarly terrain, the suspentionsetup from the owner was also terrible, so not the best experience. He changed it back to Wr configuration, and changed the suspention-settings, and said it was like riding a new bike. Would have loved to tried it againm but unfortunatly he sold it. So please give us your input, it you end up buying one. That goes for either bike. =)

If a person were to want a bigger cc bike for travel but in that class of bikes there is also the Suzuki RMZ450X Suzuki Cycles - Product Lines - Cycles - Products - RMX450Z - 2017 - RMX450Z .
Don't know how the gearing is sorted on the bike but I really like it in the quad and it's been dead reliable . Since I can't plate them I'm not sure how other features will work for travel if better than the Yamaha .
Neither the Yamaha or Suzi 450 will go as far between maintenance items but they're not as bad like many think . The one thing I never cared for on the WR250 is the weight for the small'ish cc , I was shocked when I hopped on one the first time , but it does handle it ok. I'd never use one for long distatance road travel , hard to get used the rpm's it needs to run at , nothing like the big bore thumpers.

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'86 XT600/3TB motor,,, '88 XT600, ,,'92 XT600e,,, '08 Husky TE510,,, '05 DRZ463,,, '95 KLX650 ,,,'96 KLX650