Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128237
Stefan Everts' Yamaha YZ450FM and YZ250FM whic h Stefan jumps. The remai ning c h an g es to t he b ike a r e t hose ma d e to every se rious GP m achine. Using tit an ium almost eve ry whe re saves w e ight , a nd whe re i t isn ' t , ni ne t imes out of 10 , aluminum is used . Ca rb o n fi ber g uard s pr ot e ct the su mp , a n d a carbo n fi be r r ear cha in gu ide is also u s e d f o r t he e ngi ne - m o u n ti n g br acket s. A coup le of ca rbo n f i b er p i ec es w ra p a ro u n d th e fork leg s. Aggres sive t ita n iu m footpegs, Ace rbis p lastic s, Pir ell i rub ber and Eve rts- be nd Tommi bars with Pro Gr ip g rip s fi ni sh th e bi k e . Int erest ingly , the wh eel hubs used on Stefa n 's bike ar e standard , o nly fea tu ri ng a spec ia l coat ing alon g with th e m otor's crank c ases. m ach in e are the brak es and c lutch. Repl acing t he st an dard cable-operat ed unit, a h y draulic cl utch is fitted fo r tw o r e ason s. Fi rs t , it ' s l ig h ter a n d w ith no fre e pl ay omits the need fo r adj ustme nt during t he race. Se cond. it has a m o re progressi v e action . Th e brak es, wh ic h are dev eloped in close co ll aborat ion w it h th e Rina ldi t ea m . a r e m an ufa ctur ed b y It a li an c o m p a n y B r e mb o a nd f e atur e a bery ll ium fr ont brak e c aliper powered by " new m ast er cylinders. " sim il ar t o w hat i s us ed o n the K TM f ac to ry bikes. Th e team ac t ually on ly use a Br embo unit on the front of th e bike an d a n ' 0 2 Ya m a h a cal i pe r o n the rear . be cause it is fitted w it h a differ en t-s ize d pi st on f rom th e ' 0 3 uni t. wh ich t he rid er s prefer; 270mm and 2 45mm Br akin g d i s k s finis h the bik e's brake set up. Bu t th e bi g g est a n d o ne of th e m ost beneficial cha nges to the bik e is the us e of th e factory sp ecifi c ati on KYB suspen sion packag e. Featu rin g 50mm USD for k s and a sho ck th at is based o n th e product ion uni t but feat ure s intern al m odifications and run s both h ig h - and low -s peed co m p re s si on damping sys t em , t he st r i king thi ng about th e sus pension is j ust how soft and fast th e package is . With very little sta tic sag on the rear . by p ushing do wn firmly o n t he rear o f the sea t , t he act io n of th e rear susp en sion ca n be made to m ov e down alm ost int o its m id strok e. Likewise, whe n released, it ret urns at a rat e th at almost suggests that th e shoc k had lost all of it s nitro gen . Told th at Stefan likes his suspen sion ve ry "light " due to th e fact that h is ridin g style is " very jumpin g and j ok i ng ," t he ac t io n of both th e fork s and shock t hen firms up co nsider ably du e to th e speed and d ist anc es with ....UST IN CASE One thi ng th at yo u notic e abo ut t he wa y in which Stefan's bik e is pr ep ar ed is t he number of areas th at are m odi fied as a precaution ary m easure and not t o impro v e p e r f or mance. With the footpeg s and the st eering head nut wired int o po s i t i o n , th e L&M Yamaha m ech an i c s even run a zip -tie around the bolt that h o l ds th e launch dev ic e in pl ace, j ust in cas e th at bo l t sh o uld fai l. Th e other thi n g y o u notic e when ab le to get up cl o se to th e bike i s h ow everyth i ng h a s a n exa ct pla ce . Each c ab le is route d i n a ve ry d efi n it e way . Each hose fo ll ows a v er y d efin it e p ath . And w iring looms are att ach ed t o t he frame in an exact and pr ecise way . In fa ct , ev e r y - "I just exPected It to have a little more wow factor." said the author of Everts' VZ250FM. 34 O CTO B ER 22 , 2003' cue I e n eVIl's VZ250FM .z: \ If: v Ill: n , ::11 where an elect ri ca l c able is attach ed t o th e fram e, black electri c al tape is fi rst run around th e fr ame for two reaso ns : fi rst , so t h at th e m e c hani c s k now exactl y wh er e t o co n nect th e ca ble , and second bec ause the pla sti c tap e offers slightly m or e fr iction so t h at t he c abl e won ' t slip o r be c ome loose. It's those li ttl e deta ils that give t he b ik e a t rue "fa ctory" loo k . THE MASTER'S MACHINE By his own admission. Stefan likes to have progressive pow er and if possibl e very strong midrange. Th e rea son? He lik es to use j ust one gear - t hird - as soon as he gets th e jump o ut of th e gate. N ot becaus e he' s ge tt ing old , lazy o r has a serious foot inj ury . but bec ause he says it m ak es hi s co rne r exit speed qu icker bec au se he doesn't h ave t o wo r ry abo u t shi ft i ng . Th e seven -tim e c h a m pio n also likes to hav e hi s lev ers up h ig h . a seat that i sn ' t t o o high. an d he likes t o feel aerody nam ic on th e bik e. He also likes a bike t hat offe rs him good t raction on t he front end whe n he stands, beca use he spen ds so much t im e on th e peg s. His sty le of riding is "all abo ut the front of the bike, " !}e reckons . Wh en r id i n g the bik e, i t is clear t hat wh at Stefan has asked for from h is L&M Ya ma ha team is exac t ly what th ey've given him - a bik e with i nc re d ib ly st ro n g mid r a ng e . W it h a not ic eably shorter sec ond gear th an s t a n d a r d (so me t h i n g th a t Ste fa n ad mits has help ed him get out of t he g at e so we ll thi s y ear) , t h i rd g ea r goes on and o n . and o n . and o n . In f act . third g ear . lin ked to th e bike's final drive of 15/50. is th e on ly gear yo u rea lly ne ed , espec i all y if y ou are ab le t o carry mass i ve am ount s of corn er speed like Stefan . If yo u' r e not , an d few rid ers are, wh il e th ird g e a r will happil y p u ll yo u a r o u n d eve n th e ti gh test of co rne rs, it's secon d ge ar th at feels m o re com fo rt able . O nly p roblem wi th us ing seco nd gea r, thou gh, is t hat you fin d yourse lf hav ing t o sh ift as soon as th e bike sta rts t o exi t a t urn . Th e ex act reason Ste fan k eeps his Yamaha in th ird . Wh at' s reall y impressiv e. and what m ak es t he bi k e s o m uch easie r to ri de th an a standard YZ450 F , is th e fa ct that t he m ot or 's pow er comes in with no h it at all. It isn 't in any way aggressive, althou gh it is immense ly strong , and it has hug e amou nt s of torq ue, whi ch is a great thing . as y ou ca n ju st roll th e p ow er o n and o ff wh en ev e r n e ed ed . With so mu ch t orque and mi drang e grunt, the bike ena bles y ou to focus so lely on choosing lines, as y ou don 't have t o think a bo ut any t hi ng o t he r th an b ra king and ac cele rating . What is interesti ng is th at th e bi k e pro d uces powe r simi lar to an o ld er , d ar e I say it , " E uro st yle " thumper at times and not th at o f t he h ar d - h it ti n g m o d ern- d a y J a panese fo u r-s troke . O kay. so it' s o ne hell o f a c o m p ac t , li gh t wei ght an d powerful m otor , but it does fee l surp ris ingly lik e a four- strok e of o ld and reassurin g ly easy t o ride. Th er e is defin it el y no agg ressi ve , h ard -h it ting po wer with Ste fa n's bike.