Suzuki RM-Z450
Suzuki's latest RM-Z450 isn't all new but it's lifted the model's game, making it our winner this year.
Holeshot Assist allows you to dial in your start to suit your experience and the conditions, the new Showa air fork virtually lets you set the bike up for every moto - yet uses only two air-adjustments, not the more complex three like some competitors. And relatively small changes to the already strong 449cc liquid-cooled fuel-injected four-stroke engine, and the starting and cooling - plus transmission revisions from an already crisp-acting base - have all made a noticeable difference. The bike starts easier, and though peak power is almost identical it feels gutsier where it matters. Even the seat's a tad more grippy.
A whisker less heft, a slightly stiffer rear via a redesigned frame, and turn-on-a-dime agility - the changes aren't radical and they're not rocket science, but together they make this Suzuki RM-Z450 king of the Kiwi dirt-bike hill.
