Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ty Davis' Montclair Yamaha YZ250 -. RIDIN6ft'S BIU AT WASBOUOO · CAN It ANY BEl'rER? oer By KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY TYLER MADDOX The Bike: 2002 Yamaha YZ250 Rider: Ty Davis Tuner: Jim Hardacker Application: World Off-Road Championship Series his year's World Off-Road Championship Series has not only boiled down to a two-man struggle for the gold cup between defending champ Mike Kiedrowski and Ty Davis, but it has also turned into a twostroke-vs.-four-stroke shootout between Kiedrowski's Yoshimura Suzuki DR-Z450 and Davis' YZ250. As of now, Davis and his two-stroke Yamaha have the upper hand, but only a few points separate the two riders. And with just two rounds left to go, the outcome of this battle within a battle is far from over. Last year, I got the chance to race Kiedrowski's DR-Z430 in a WORCS race in Oregon and was impressed by the DR's powerful yet tractable motor and plush suspension. More recently, I got the chance to swing a leg over one of Davis' YZ250 race bikes that he's used in this year's WORCS series. In the AMA National Hare & Hound Series and the Best in the Desert Silver State Series, where sheer horsepower is half the battle, Davis opts for the VZ426F thumper. In the generally tighter and more technical WORCS races, however, Davis prefers the lighter weight and quicker handling of the two-stroke VZ250. Last month, I hooked up with Davis and his tuner, Jim Hardacker, at the Washougal WORCS round in Washington, where they provided me with an exact replica of the VZ250 that Ty would be racing in Sunday's Pro class; in fact, the bike I would ride on Saturday was the actual VZ that Ty won on at the Lake Havasu City, Arizona, round earlier this year. Ty's bike features many aftermarket components listed on the opposite page, but one of the main standouts is the grey-colored ceramic-finish exhaust pipe, which Ty sells through his own Zip-Ty Racing aftermarket business (the pipe is actually built to 40 JULY 10, 2002' a U a • e Ty's specs by Flow Racing - formerly known as Noleen). "The ceramic finish is stronger, and it gives our pipes a distinctive look," Davis said. The bike also features a white 3.2gallon fuel cell from IMS, and the wheels Ty uses feature U -shaped rims, similar to those found on stock Kawasaki KX125s, but these are actually aftermarket D.I.D rims. Of course, Ty swaps the stock 19-inch rim for an 18-incher (more sidewall equals less flats), but Ty kind of goes against the grain in the off-road racing community by swapping out the front 21-inch rim for a 20-inch rim. Ty says he likes the added protection of the larger sidewalls but also likes the bigger bite and increased traction that comes with it, though some off-roaders feel the 20-inch wheels have the tendency to "climb" out of the ruts. Internally, Ty's bike has been ported for added power across the board, though it took more than one grinding session to achieve the exact kind of power he was looking for. When it came time to ride the bike, I took a lap of practice in the Unclassified race and was quite surprised how in tune I was with the bike. I mean, it almost felt as though the bike was set up especially for me, when, in fact, it was completely tuned with Ty's settings. When I came in from practice, Jim was waiting with tools in hand, ready to make "Kit adjustments," but he wasn't about to argue when I said, "Don't change a thing." n _ "" s Even though Ty's VZ has an exhaust bark that mimics David Vuillemin's works YZ250 motocrosser, Ty's machine, I'm sure, preduces a far more manageable and controllable power delivery than Vuillemin's bike, which I have heard hits harder than Barry Bonds' bat. Of course, that kind of power wouldn't be good on the trails, but Ty's VZ is. Even though his bike has a respectable hit of its own, it still pulls smoothly off the bottom and just keeps pulling and pulling and pulling. As far as I know, the bike never stops pulling. Only occasionally was I able to really wring out the bike, mainly up Washougal's "Horsepower Hill." (I never had to worry about getting passed up that thing.) But the motor was just as The author gives 1) Davis' 'tZ250 a try at the WORCS round at Washougal. He certainI)' couldn't blame the bike for not winning his c..... capable when the trails tightened up, having plenty of torque and chug to get me out of trouble - and I got into plenty later in the day. Ty's suspension was just as appealing. Both the front and back ends were plush - a lot more plush than I thought they would be for someone of Ty's caliber - but still strong enough to soak up the hard hits. I was perhaps most impressed with the front of the bike, which seemed incredibly stable. The front end never shook or twitched and just plain stayed planted, even on the slippery, muddy sections. I now understand why Ty chooses to run the 20-incher and why most serious off-readers use steering dampers. I signed up for two races at Washougal, and my first race on Ty's bike went well, but getting caught up in a bottleneck from hell didn't do much for my results, though I thoroughly enjoyed riding Ty's bike. My second race on the bike wasn't so enjoyable. It had rained - more like poured - just before the drop of the green flag and, despite getting one of the best holeshots of my life, I soon gave up on the idea of racing and instead went into pure survival mode, and I don't think I would have survived had I not been on Ty's bike. Luckily, we had added some flywheel weight between races, which made

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