Yamaha YZ250 (2006)

Custom

Got some Zote foam cheap and made a seat foam for my YZ with it. Cut it down from stock profile cause I'm short and needed more reach. It came out over 2 lbs lighter than the stock setup. Not bad for ten bucks eh?

Throttle

I can't say enough good things about G2. Great company and great products.

Custom

Decided to make a gas tank from CF. I had been fooling around with the stuff for a few years and made several parts for the YZ sucessfully so decided to take the plunge. It took allot of research and shitload of work and about 6 months. The end product came out over a pound lighter than a stock plastic tank but could have been lighter still with a little less carbon and epoxy and a lighter gas cap. The aviation gas cap I ended up with weighs over a pound by itself. Learned allot from the project and planning to make more tanks. The next one will be a low tank like the Honda works tanks of the 90's.

Custom

The cost includes a 19" wheel with a 25mm axle which wasn't required since I made spacers to work with the stock wheel. I can definately feel the benefits in handling from the lighter wheel and swingarm. And the swingarm looks great. Picked up a Ti axle on ebay for $50 that worked well too bringing the rear end weight down significantly. This is quite a bit of work to pull this modification off but worth the effort and espense just to update the bike to modern technology on par with the 4 strokes.

Custom

Got a 2010 CR450F front brake caliper and master cylinder. Fit right on the forks and my larger front rotor. Added much better modulation to the front brake. It was locking up intermittently with the larger rotor and stock YZ front brake. Almost ate it several times before this mod by locking up the front wheel. Haven't had a problem since.

09/14/19 - update - Not very satisfied with the modulation.  I have to be very careful when braking to get any kind of feeling from the brake.  Its just too strong with a 380mm rotor.

Custom

Made a carbon fiber silencer and end cap for the YZ. The stock weight was 1224gm for the stock aluminum parts and the CF parts are 742gm saving 482gm, over a pound. Cost includes the epoxy, Kevlar and CF materials to make the silencer and also the mold. I have made several end caps since then for about $10 each since the mold is already made.

09/14/19 - After five years the silencer needs some work.  The carbon fiber mounts have rubbed through the canister in a couple places.  A little patching will fix it up but I'm planning to design a new one in carbon fiber with mounts that are built into the canister.

Custom

Made the mold for a custom pipe guard a couple years ago and made a kevlar/CF guard as a prototype. It's been on the bike for almost 30hrs now.

09/14/2019 - Update - This guard is still holding up well.  It shows some wear and discoloration from heat and weathering but still protects the pipe well , I haven't had a single dent since mounting it.

Custom

Made one for the stock swingarm and then made a second for the YZ450F swingarm. It's been on the bike for over 25hrs now with no problems.

09/14/2019 - Update - This chain guide has been flawless after five years and hundreds of hours of use.  It still looks like it did when I made it in 2014.

Hydraulic Controls

Made this upgrade about three years ago. The hope was that it would make the clutch pull easier but it only made a slight improvement in pull effort. The pull is very linear and smooth though. After getting used to it you forget it's there and it is very low maintenance once it's properly bled. It recently developed some play due to the actuator arm hole elongating. Had to put a washer between the hydraulic hose end and the mag cover to tighten it up again. Good product but it could be more adjustable and should reduce pull more. Maybe a larger slave cylinder would reduce the pull more.

071319 Update - After many attempts at bleeding this clutch I finally figured out what the problem was.  It has the same issue my 03 mini cooper clutch has, a pocket in the slave cylinder that makes it almost impossible to get the air out.  I finally tried what worked on my mini.  I had to submerse the slave cylinder in a bath of clutch fluid while bleeding it and held it upside down so the air pocket would fill with fluid.  That did the trick.  Now this clutch has great modulation and control.  updated rating to 5 stars.

Custom

Added this to rear brake about a year ago and it doesn't seem to help prevent brake fade like it should. Frankly, my rear brake seems to fade faster since puttitng this scoop on.

Brake Rotors

The oversize rotor came with the bike when I bought it used. During my first race it would lock the wheel up without warning almost making me crash a few times. The rotor floating hub wasn't lining up correctly causing the rotor to stick. After fixing that and getting a Honda CRF450 caliper and master it is much easier to modulate. But it's very powerful and will still lock up the wheel if not careful. I gave it three stars for the hub design and the quality of the rotor. It discolored quickly from heat and doesn't seem to be of as high a quality steel as stock Yamaha rotors.

Flywheel Weights

14oz flywheel weight. Added to prevent brake stalling. It did the trick and I hardly ever stall coming into a corner like it does without the weight. The motor still revs almost as quickly as stock but the power is noticably more tractable. Its really easy to put on and remove. I don't use it for moto but always for scrambles. I prefer no weight for moto because the bike seems to lay over easier and the power is quicker out of the corners. Planning to get a GYTR flywheel weight for moto as they carry the weight on the outside of the flywheel and you get more flywheel effect with a lighter weight than with the solid Steahly weight.

Suspension Tuners

Factory connection valving front and rear. Only a couple rides on it so far but it feels much better.

09/13/2019 -Update -  After a couple years on this revalve all I can say is I wish I had tried Factory Connection first.  I went through Progressive and Enzo but they didn't cut it.  This revalve works so good I can jump the biggest jumps with confidence and it absorbs everything with ease.  I've had to go softer on the damping clickers because I wasn't using all the travel.  There is about 100hrs on the re-valve and still working great.   I'm sending it back for fluids change and slight re-valving since I've dropped about 20lbs.

Levers & Perches

This is the composite lever.  Very light, unbreakable and folds when you crash.

Levers & Perches

Great lever, hard to find one that fits the magura clutch, ordered it from ARC. 

Triple Clamp

22mm clamps help it turn.  Really helped the handling without hurting stability at speed.