The 2025 Yamaha doesn’t have a ton of changes on paper but the changes that it does have seem significant enough to feel on the track. I decided to write some of these “feelings” down by level of importance. Below are some of the changes made by Yamaha in 2025 and what those changes mean to you (the rider) on the track.
Linkage: Yamaha says that their updated linkage has better holdup for the rear end under acceleration and that is what is delivered on the track. The linkage itself is a little stiffer through the whole curve which is basically what the Star Racing Yamaha team is using on their race bikes. Unlike the 2024 bike where I felt like the rear of the bike was tougher feeling than the front, the 2025 has more of a comfortable feel on acceleration, which was immediately felt as soon as I got on the track. I could tell that the 2025 YZ450F was more balanced and had less pithing towards the fork on de-cel. The bike remained a little flatter feeling when transition from on to off throttle. I also noticed that the rear of the bike didn’t over power the front when braking hard into corners or loading the chassis down hills.
- Yes, you can swap your 2024 linkage with a 2025 but you will have to go lighter on your shock spring and change your valving stack. It is not a swap and go part. The 2025 YZ450F comes with a 56N/mm spring instead of a 58 N/mm like the 2024 does.
Lower Engine Mounts: The new 2025 solid one piece engine mounts are 8mm thick, unlike the two piece 4mm thick front mounts that the 2024 came with. The 2025 one piece mounts have increased rigidity as well as a shape change to match the rigidity. Basically this is what I was doing with my 2024 race bike. FCP made one piece mounts and that gave me more front end traction on lean angle. The 2025 YZ450F has more front end bite than the 2024. The older bike felt light in the front end off throttle but the 2025 bike has a little more tire contact feel when leaning. This is a welcome change and was needed. I heard that Yamaha almost went to this type of design for 2023, but instead went with the slightly more comfort setting of the two piece design. I like have a little more stability and slightly firmer bump touch of this one piece lower mount. This is what the YZ450F needed.
- Yes, you can swap out the 2024 lower engine mounts for the 2025 mounts and get more front end feel. However, you may need to update/change your fork setting (clickers) and sag.
Suspension: Yamaha not only changed the shock spring and valving but also went with a new fork pressure spring (free length went from 107mm to 112mm, preload went from 2mm to 7mm) and a new delta shape rebound shim to allow a straighter path of oil flow. Along with these changes the valving setting was beefed up a little to allow less pitching and an overall flatter feeing ride. The suspension does feel a little firmer than last year and even though a small amount of comfort was gained, the big news is that the bike is just a little calmer than the 2024 machine. I had problems with a little twitch when transitioning from wide open to shutting the throttle off and the 2025 doesn’t have as much wiggle in the front end as the 2024 bike had. This gives the rider a little more comfort coming into corners as well as confidence knowing that he can ride looser with his arms. I had to ride a little tighter on my 2024 YZ450F and that sometimes gave me arm pump, which I normally don’t get. The 2025 YZ450F helped relax my arms/technique when pushing and that is something that this bike needed to help me ride a little freer.
Engine: There is some mapping changes on the 2025 YZ450F but don’t expect to have a newfound feel from the 2025 Yamaha. It still has a lot of low end pulling power and is a lot of bike near the end of motos, but you can make some Yamaha Power Tuner map changes as well as TC settings changes to help slow this blue beast down. Even though I talk like this is A LOT of bike (and it is), I still prefer the YZ450F engine character out of all the 450 engine deliveries that are available (at least for the west coast tracks). It can be lugged around in third gear more than any other 450 out there and has enough excitement/low end feel to get you out of loamy/sandy conditions quicker than other machines. See a smooth/linear map below..
Footpeg Mounts: I never had a problem with standing on the footpeg mounts on the 2024 but some of you have so Yamaha shave their new mounts down to help aid in that problem for 2025. Not a huge deal because you can buy Works Connection mounts and solve that problem but Yamaha addressed on the new bike.
- Yes, you can swap out the 2024 footpeg mounts for the 2025, but if you’re in the marked for new mounts, get the WC offset footpeg mounts as they are a little thinner near the top of the mount.
Throttle Tube: Not a huge deal but Yamaha also changed their throttle tube to gain more clearance from the grip flange to the throttle housing. AKA YAMATHUMB! I don’t get this at all, but you weekend warriors still might find this change useful.
So with all this being said, the 2025 YZ450F is a better Yamaha with added stability and better lean angle grip. We probably will not see an ALL NEW YZ450F until 2027 so these small changes will have to suffice you bLU crU’ers for now. I think they did a good job at addressing some issues and making us a little happier out on the track. I get some grief at times for saying that I liked the 2022 model more than the new platform YZ450F, but I will give credit where credit is due. The 2025 YZ450F is getting more stable and corners much better than the older model. Good job, Yamaha.
