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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
They’re awesome bikes. Both of those front fenders are “not good”.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw this connection. As soon as I saw the 70th anniversary edition I went to the dealer and ordered one. I ordered a black seat cover and some silver wheels from Dubya as well. All my goodies came in, now just waiting on the bike. I have been a Doug Henry Fan since the early 90’s.
I thought that when the ‘23 came out, but in person it looks right. Now other fenders look like big, floppy…
The front number plate?
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Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
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I think Star left Tomac...
Pretty sure JCoop raced the '26 over the weekend. I thought the rear fender looked different, on TV. Looked closely at his IG pics and it looks like the '26. Can anyone confirm? @ML512 ?
Damn, good eye! Looks like to 2 piece side panel to me.
Wasn’t the strongest debut results-wise, but it did have the red plate!
I believe youd have better luck comparing the frame and sub frames. I believe my OEM side plates have similar rivets on them, unless I'm just fully missing what you're looking at.
Edit: The second I posted this I saw it, absolutely a good eye on that exhaust side plate being different. Definitely looks like a 2026 by the upper side plate bolt if anyone struggled to see the color difference under the graphics.
Heres the side views for comparison.
Looks like the '26 to me. And like I said, as soon as I saw him when the camera cut to him, the rear fender shape looked different, which is why I was looking closely at pics, in the first place. Found this.
Looked like Tomac and Webb where still on the 2025 model if side plates give any indication.
Yep, looked that way to me also. Interesting, for sure. Maybe ML or Keefer can get some info.
I like that they used the entire side panel up for his numbers. Doing that hadn’t crossed my mind. Once mine comes in, I was planning to see what it would take to run the ‘25 style side panel
Pitbits has confirmed my suspicion.
Interesting move, for sure.
the press rode the new 26 bikes early this week. Anyone know when the embargo is lifted and we can see some ride reports?
I believe I saw the 22nd.
You would think with the bikes in dealerships they could report on it.
Pit Row
Got my suspension back from Enzo and got my first ride in this past weekend at Cycle Ranch in Floresville, TX.
Take a look and feel free to give me some feedback, thanks!
For anyone that may care, I wanted to give a review of the '26 YZ450F as I recently picked one up. Avg Vet rider, occasionally race but just no time to take it too serious these days. Current other bikes are '21 YZ250F (modded, 2nd injector etc,) YZ125, 98 YZ250. Haven't had a 450 for many years. Ride the 23-25 a few times, and that set me on the path to wanting one.
Anyways, very quiet. Sounds kind of odd actually but I kind of like it. Ergos most people know about by now. Overall good rider triangle but it is tall. Engine was really interesting. Initially very smooth and rideable and then ramps up really hard. I don't see it like the 450s of old, that you lug around in 3rd but that's ok. I prefer the free rev character that this bike has. Easy for me to get used to. Handling was great. Doesn't even feel like a 450, to me. Lays over super easy, planted. Suspension is nice. It has initial movement bit then gets pretty firm. I went 4 out on forks and 2 out on shock for now. Still playing around. Need to set sag etc. Overall, I just think this bike is incredible. Obviously this is just a 1st impression but I was surprised how they were able to smooth this bike out, feel more like a 350 in the chassis but still be incredibly fast. Really good bike for the everyday mx'er, in my opinion. Which is saying something as I don't consider myself a "450 guy."
You wouldn't have happened to ridden a 25+ ktm 350sxf would you and can compare it to that?
I did not, unfortunately. I know in some other threads, a few guys have mentioned that a lot of my things that I didn't like about my old 350 (and 350s) in general, were much improved on the newest gen. So that is great to hear, but in the end I wasn't really looking to go down that road again. But I do think the '26 YZ takes enough of the edge off (compared to the 23-25) while maintaining a lot of the positives of that bike. So I think it's really in the conversation now for vet guys who were maybe not sure on a 450 and were going the 350, modded 250F, 250 2stroke route. Obviously I suggest trying one before buying but it really surprised me.
Yeah I've been back and forward between 350's and 450's more than I like to admit and always end up back at the 350. I absolutely love the new gen 350 but still find myself thinking about getting another 450 ha ha.
I actually had a 23 yz450 and while it was a good bike it was just too much. I then tried some more mellow 450's, the kx and the triumph but found there power delivery quiet boring and made the bike feel very heavy. That's where I've always liked the 350 because it has a very lively quick revving fun feel to it and it's never too much.
The 26 yz450 sounds like it might be more somewhere in the middle. Not a brute like the 23-25 but not slow revving and heavy feelin like the kx and triumph.
What you are describing is exactly what I have also felt. The '23-25 YZ was the first 450 that I'd ridden and felt like it was lively and didn't have that typical 450 feel. But it was just a bit too much for me to actually buy one. I took a chance on the '26 and it's exactly what I was hoping it would be. That's why I wanted to post because I feel like there are probably quite a few people that may be on the fence there, so maybe they would want to try the '26.
I sort of touched on this in my original post but it doesn't carry 3rd in slow corners like a '25 but I will say that you can downshift to 2nd and short-shift it back into 3rd and then it'll pull you over jumps and whatnot. And that's where I sometimes had an issue on the 350. It needed to really rev out 2nd before I clicked 3rd. Where to me, while 2nd is a bit short on this YZ, it doesn't take much revving out in 2nd for it to carry pretty seamless into 3rd, if that makes sense. But that was my main negative (if you want to call it that) from the slower '26 engine, compared to the '25. But it's a trade-off that I'm willing to make, for my skill level.
It's funny you mention gearing, I've never owned a 450 were I felt the stock gearing was right for me. The new 350 is one of the only bikes I feel the stock gearing is absolutely perfect, I run 3rd/4th gear everywhere and never use 2nd, and I am 100kg and ride deep sand.
All 450's I've owned always seemed like they wanted to be somewhere inbetween 2nd and 3rd, and 1 or 2 teeth either way never really got me exactly where I wanted to be. I just feel like a 450 really should be able to pull 3rd gear no problem.
Yeah I know what you mean. It's maybe too early for me to have a hard stance on the gearing on this bike. The track I rode had some tight corners and some were rutted up and wet, and some others were starting to dry and like hardpacked. Not the best conditions. I think on any flowy track, you can probably carry 3rd in most cases. But my ride this weekend still was a good indicator that the bike does not love slow lugging in 3rd in those types of corners (it never felt like it was going to stall though, which was great.) But even if the gearing is a little weird to some, I had no problem short shifting back into 3rd and the bike had plenty of power and stayed singing. Everyone feels things differently but I think the gearing is probably going to be ok for me, because on a track that is more fast and flowy than I was just on, I will simply just use 3rd more.
I'll be interested in what the new Honda has in regards to transmission ratios. Supposedly went to longer gears?
I have a 350 (2024) and have ridden the YZ450s and a 25/26 CRF. The new 450s are really good. I can't say I prefer them to my 350, but the meaningful differences to me are in subtle chassis feel differences, rider triangle, clutch feel, etc., rather than feeling like a completely different class of bike like a 250 for example.
The YZ feels very strong, but if you twist a little less it is very smooth and easy, though strong, with surprisingly little engine braking. The rider triangle feel is much more 'on-top' which doesn't really suit me. The CRF feels much more comfortable, but the clutch felt pretty on-off to me. The 350 doesn't have the torque, but if you use the RPMs as designed it will go as fast as you likely want to go.
Yeah i don't mind revving and find riding around at half throttle on a 450 kinda boring. Maybe I just gotta finally accept I'm a 350 guy ha ha.
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