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System and a Flywheel Weight and Shark Fin, which protected our rear disc wonderfully. The hot start system was developed by Ty himself and is a must for YZF riders. I stalled our bike more than a few times in the tight terrain and even fell over a few times. Had it not been for the hot start button, I would have been kicking the thing (literally) a lot longer than I did to get the stroker started. Rick reported no such problems, probably due to the heavier flywheel. Leading up to the event, we tested the bike with a ten-ounce and 12ounce weight. We liked both, but felt for Laughlin the ten-ounce was best. It's another one of those add-ons that make riding a YZF much more enjoyable and easy at the same time. The added flywheel weight provides more torque and more manageable power, which in turn keeps you from making mistakes. The only downfall to using a heavier flywheel on a four-stroke is that it reduces engine braking, which was difficult for me to get used to at first, but eventually I adapted. In addition to choosing the right flywheel weight, we had to keep gearing in mind as well. We tried several different gearing/flywheel weight combinations and finally opted for a 14/51 combination - quite a bit lower than the stock 14/49 setup. Because our 426 had been ridden hard and often leading up to Laughlin we had to replace the stock chain with an RK GB520MXZ and the rear sprocket with a Rentha I. The countershaft sprocket was an O.E.M. part that we received straight from Yamaha. Ty also provided us with a TM Design Works chain gUide, a piece that he sells through Ty Davis Racing. The piece is plastic and replaces the stock aluminum and plastic piece, which is prone to bending into the sprocket and chain when bashed up against rocks. Laughlin is just the place to have something like that happen, and after the race, we indeed noticed several gashes in the new chain guide. It didn't budge a bit. Installing a good set of handguards is another hot ticket for off-road racing, and Acerbis Pro Rally Guards are the best in the business. A particular rock waterfall on the A loop proved that fact. I managed to gash the Pro Rally Guard up very nicely the second time around up the waterfall. Had they not been mounted to the bike, I would have been mounted in an ambulance with a cast. Because rocks and cacti are so plentiful in Laughlin tire choice was a huge concern. We could have just went with an aggressive intermediate tire to meet our needs half of the tIme, but because Laughlin is sandy we chose Michelin's S12 front and rear - their soft terrain tire. To battle flat tires we stuffed Michelin Bib Mousses in as well. I had no complaints about the tire necessarily, but Rick felt the front tire did not work to well for him. The rear tire worked great for the both of us. After 132miles of racing it had some knobs chunked off, but you can't ask for anything more out of a soft terrain tire with as many rocks that were present. Michelin's M 12 tire may have worked better for some sections of the course, but even the rocky sections are loose and sandy especially after the completion of the first loop. And it was sure nice not having to worry about flat tires. So how did we do? Not as well as we could have. Well, let me rephrase that, I didn't do as well as I could have. In the weeks leading up to the event I injured my left knee and at press time, I'm still visiting the doctor regularly trying to decide what action to take to rehabilitate it. Racing or riding motorcycles isn't an option. During our test sessions I hem-hawed around trying to decide if I was even going to ride. 132 miles of Laughlin is a long way to race for one person. The Iron man class is only required to race 88 of the 132, so that was out of the question. We decided that Rick would ride the first 44 mile loop and then hand the bike over to me and I would ride half a loop and then he'd double up again and so on. As it turns out we didn't stick to the plan. After doing the first loop, Rick felt that the terrain in the first section would be two hard on my knee so he stayed on the bike for 65 miles before handing over the bike to me. He was riding superbly, but the last 23 miles of his first leg really tired him out and he slowed up a bit. I got on the bike to do the second 21-mile portion of the loop and struggled - not with the motorcycle, but with my injury. I rode timid and slow. My heart wasn't in it. Still, the bike worked great. After a couple stalls and a tip over, I handed the bike back over to Rick and he did another 44-miles with no rest in between. The only place to rest at the Laughlin Hare Scrambles is in the pits. Multi-time Laughlin HS winner Ty Davis overheated and dehydrated himself at Laughlin last year, trying to ride the event alone after his partner had been injured just before the race. With just 21 more miles to travel, Rick handed the bike over to me for the last leg. I picked up the pace a bit and rode better the second time, but we had fallen from third in class at one point to fifth (out of nine). In the end we finished 27th overall out of an approximate 175 bikes that started the event. Not horrible, but not the results we were looking for. Once again, we can't blame our results on the bike. What better proof of that than the fact that the Winning Open Pro team, who overalled the entire event was Nick and David Pearson, and they were mounted on a YZ426F. The second-place team was Ty Davis and Doug Blackwell, mounted on a YZ426F. As a matter of fact, the four bikes that beat us in the Four-Stroke Pro class were all YZ426Fs. Seems like they're everywhere, some more potent than others. But even while going against toplevel talent like Pearson, Davis and Blackwell, Rick said that he thinks riding a YZF is an advantage in itself when it comes to the wide variety of terrain that is faced in a southwestern off-road race. After having logged plenty of miles on our modified Yamaha YZ426F, I'd have to say that I believe it too. l:1li 2000 YZ426F Project Parts Michelin S12 font tire Michelin front Bib Mousse Michelin S12 rear tire Michelin rear Bib Mousse Ty Davis Racing Hot Start System Ty Davis Racing Flywheel Weight Ty Davis Racing Shark Fin T.M. Designworks Chain Guide Mad Racing suspension mods (labor) Race Tech Gold Valve (fork) Race Tech fork springs (4.5) Race Tech Gold Valve (shock) Race Tech shock spring (5.4) Renthal 51T Sprocket RK GB520MX.Z chain Ceet Racing graphics kit (TS-2 Gripper) ...... Acerbis Pro Rally Guards Acerbis Pro Taper Pro Rally Guard mounting kit GPR Stabilizer IMS Pro Series Footpegs IMS 3.4 gal. Fuel Tank w/dry break IMS Quick Fill Dry Break Cover Pro Grip grips BRP triple clamp and bar mounts w/stabilizer mount Scotts Performance steering damper rod (bolt-on) Answer Pro Taper handlebar (Doug Henry bend) R £, D P-38 Lighting Accelerator Pump. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acerbis Answer BRP CEET GPR Stabilizer IMS Mad Racing Michelin 800/659·1440 661/222-7170 949/380· 1160 760/599-0111 800/284-8473 800/237 -9906 760/806- 1948 800/422· 1682 eye I ... Pro Grip Race Tech R £, D Racing Renthal RK Chain Scotts Performance Ty Davis Racing n ... _ S • $65.67 $205 $65.86 $181 $89.95 $149.95 $149.95 $59.95 $130 $134.99 $79.95 $134.99 $89.95 $64.95 $78.42 . $139.99 $80 $32 $350 $96 $349.95 $9.95 $7.69 $179.99 $ 79.95 $99.95 . ..$73.99 Total $3180.04 800/461-1226 909/594-7755 562/864-8218 877/736-8425 760/732-3161 818/248-BIKE 800/854-4691 MARCH 29, 2000 17