Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1-80o-COLLECT Chaparrall Mazda Factory Yamaha VZ250 Spec~ications Rider Je remy McGrath Mechanics Randy Lawrence Cy linder Piston/rings Cra nk Carburetor Spa rk Plug Pipe Muffler Gearing Gas/oil Head Ignition Reed/Block Air Filter and Steve Butler Yamaha Motor Corp . (YMC) modified YMC Standard Mikuni NGKlB7EV Pro Circuit Pro Circuit IS /56 EIIlYamalube -RYMC Programmable YMC YMC Uni-Filter S il encer Pro Circuit Chain Transm is s ion Clut ch Clutc h cover Tire s D.W. ERT YMC Hinson DSP Bndqe stone (fro nt) M78/ (rear) M77 YMC magnesium , YMC Excel Hubs Axles Rims Brake rotors Front 270mmstandard (floatinq) Rear 240mm standard Brake calipers Front Nissin YMC Rear YMC Master-brake cylinders Front YMC Nissin Rea r Standard Brake pa ds Standard Forks/mods KayabalYMC S hocks / mods KayabalYMC (incl. linkages) Renthal/ McGrath-bend Han de lbars Leve rs Factory front/ XT -easy adjustable S kidpl ate .' DSP/ Carbon Fiber Trick bo lts All aluminum and titanium Grips ' Renthal soft Throttle Standard/aluminum pipe Plastic Standard. Graphics 100% Footpegs Titanium (special wide) Seat 1O %/standard loam 1997 O Frame VZR Titanium sub-frame Dowd u se d th e s a me clutch w e had before Jerem y came along ." Butl er says th at many of the rid er s who have tested McGrat h's bike find the clutch very easy to use . "Most guys say the y like the clu tch," Butl er said. "I th in k if th ey go t into a su percross race, however, with the d irt a little gri ppy, then they might struggle . Other p ro s d on't even wa n t h is se tu p." An o th e r u n iq u e cha ra cte r istic McG rath d emand s fro m h is bike is heavy steering. Butler's idea is tha t with the steering so stiff, the front end is easier to use in the wh oops . " I th in k it h e lp s him throu gh th e whoops," Butler said . "It keep s the bik e straight. His front fork is also really stiff with a lot of oi l dam p ing . Th e shock does not feel so bad, but the fork is very s tiff. Th at ' s w ha t we ha ve heard fro m guys who h ave ridden th e bike . Wit h Jeremy, he rid es over th e fron t of th e bike - tha t' s his s tyle, so mayb e that ' s why he likes it like that." Amaz in gl y, McGrath' s se ttings for outdoor mot ocross are very productionorien ted . . "His mo tocross bike ·is much d ifferent," Bu tler said. "He likes the outdoor b ike ver y soft, ju st abou t standa rd, so the tw o bikes are very different." Power is anothe r thing McGrat h feels makes him all the bett er in tough condi tion s. To sa tisfy his po wer n eed s last yea r, McGra th ran a mod ified '94 cylinder on his bike, bu t this year, he ran a '98 cylinder wit h '94 characteristics - lots of pullin g power. "Jere my likes h is bike to b e very respon sive and to have a lot of smooth ove rrev. It do es not need a lot of power, but it has to ha ve a good response whe n he pull s the throttle. If you listen to his bike, it revs out of a corn er at a di ffer ent time to anyone else. He is very picky a t when he wants to wind 'the throttle, and it wo rks for him ." • McG ra th also likes his bik es to run on the rich sid e. "Jeremy is very critical abou t his jetting; he likes to turn the throttle to full b efo re the p ow er comes on . H is bike takes a lot of throttle opening before it r espond s. You w ill see Jer emy really hit the th rottl e - he's so aggressive. Kevin Win dha m wou ld ride his bike and say it was very rich . Most pros like to fee l the power as so on as th ey turn the th ro tt le, bu t not Jere my . I've talked to Jeremy's p rev ious mechanic s and they all sa y he' s liked it that wa y whe ther he was riding a Honda. Suzuki or a Yamaha." As far as ergonomics, one of his main changes is using a 1997 YZ seat, which is lower than the 1999 sea t. "H is legs are kind of sho rt," Butler sa ys . " He u ses a 1997 sea t, wh ich is 10 mm lo w er than t h e n ew bike' s." McGra th us es a lu(Above) Billel-aluminum triple clam ps hol d the fo rks in minum Rentha l han dl eplace . . bars wi th his sig na tu re (Below) Perhaps th e area of which McGrath is most critical is McGrath ben d . the clutc h. His has to work just rig ht and be st rong eno ugh to . According to Butler, handl e his hlgher-tha n-normalabuse. once McGrath is ha ppy w it h hi s s e t ting s, it's u n u sua l for him to make any chan ges during the season. "We se t u p the bike before th e fir st race o f the yea r and we did not d o mu ch a fte r wa rds," Butl er said . "Once Jerem y s ta r te d wi nni ng , th a t was it. All of ou r testing was d on e late in 1998 and w e had 12 s u p e rcr os s ra ces in a r o w , a n d vou d on 't have ti m e ' to m a ke eN changes: ' The COI'J orate I;n.e erry Beal, marketing specia lis t with Yama ha Motor Co rpo ra tio n, has his ideas of why McGrath wo n his sixth supercross cha mpions hip on th is bike. "Jere my r!des this bike ~o its full po tenti al," Beal sai d . "If you watch Jerem y very closely, he IS always looki ng for the best lines, the fastest lines, differen t lines. I've seen him ou t of shape and then 'iu ~t as he ge ts back in contro l, he's already on the thro ttle. You don't see too ma ny riders doing that:' Beal also says that because of McGra th, YZ sa les ar e at an all-time high. "Wha t Jeremy has brought to Yamaha is a lot of kno wledge and, w ithout d oubt, this bike he is now rid ing is one of a kind . We owe it to jerem y that our sales are higher than at any other time, except in the '70s when bikes were walking out of mo torcy cle shops. " T '" '" '" 1i o U o 27

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