BEST 2016 DUAL-SPORT/ENDURO: Yamaha YZ450FX

In the past decade, competition-ready enduro machines almost exclusively came from Europe. But Yamaha isn’t afraid of breaking out of its comfort zone and decided to go straight after a certain Austrian company by introducing its YZ450FX - one of the best dual sport motorcycles we’ve come across. Clearly sick of seeing waves of orange bikes dominate off-road racing series like GNCC, National Hare Scrambles, and hard enduro, Yamaha built an off-road-specific racing model and turned the tides a bit more blue. This MX-based machine has been optimized for off-road riding but has proven to have all the bark, and bite, that a race-ready machine needs to be a winner.