Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Jeremy McGrath's Maz,d aparral Yamaha YZ250 By Geoff Meyer erem y McGrath will be the firs t to tell you tha t wi nni ng championships requ ires more tha n jus t having excep tional riding skill - a welltu ned motor cycle is just as important. All the talent in the wo rld alone - eve n . McGrath's talent - won' t win you titles if yo u d on't ha ve a wort hy motorcy cle un d e rn ea th yo u . O bvio us ly, t he Mazd a / Ch aparral . Yama ha YZ250 tha t h a s ca rr ied McGra th to tw o stra ig ht AMA Superc ross titl es is o ne s uc h motorcycle. Recently, we got the chance to examin e and r id e the m oto rcy cle th at McGra th ro de to h is un p reced e n ted sixt h AMA Supercross title. McG rath's mac hine is highly modifi ed to sa tisfy his per sonal need s and to increase the YZ's d u ra bility for the rigor s demand ed by the most talented and fastest su percross rid er in th e world . A quick gla nc e at McG ra th's bike revea ls so me of th ese upd ate s : b eaut iful b ill e t- a lumin um trip le clam ps and clu tch perch , titanium bolts, footpegs and subfra me, a carbonfiber ou ter -clu tch cover, a larger frontbrake caliper, works Kayaba forks , specia l Brid gestone tir es, and ma gn esium hubs. It ' s a b ik e w e a ll dream about owning . J '" '" '" - M ~ G> .c .8 u o 26 McGrath likes his wo rks KYB for ks adjusted extremely stiffly so he can charge the whoops and land off the tr iples without fear of bottom ing . Of cou rse, McGra th does not wo rk on th e bike him self. In st ead , Yamaha Mo to r Co rpora tion's Steve Bu tler an d McGr at h' s race tu ner Randy Lawrence are in charge of tha t. Butler , yo u can say , acts as a liaison between Yam ah a and McGr ath' s Cha pa rra l race team, while Lawrence, em p loyed by Cha pa rral, is res ponsib le for keepi ng the bike in tiptop sha pe over a race weekend an d season. We fir s t s poke to Butle r, o rigina l build er of Mc G ra th's r a ce ma chin e, abou t th e bike and McGrath' s requiremen ts. "What you learn about Jere my is that every littl e part is import ant ," Bu tle r sa id. "For examp le, he is so p icky about his clutch. He wa nts it to gri p at a particular part of the lever; it's go t to be jus t that perfe ct area . I've never know n anyone w ho puts such a n im porta nce on how his clu tch is, and I'v e worked with Dam on Brad shaw, Kevi n Wind ham and Dou g Dubach (all form er Yamaha factory rid ers)." This might exp lain w hy McGrath is one of the best "ho lesho tters" around it' s a simp le matter of confide nce that he h a s the bes t- w orking sys tem in the world . "We thought here at Yamaha we had a great clutc h," Butler said . "Then Jerem y ca m e a long and wa nt ed a ll th ese changes. I have to say we found he has made many changes . We had neve r had to improve th e clutch . In fac t, John

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