Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Race Test: 2000 YZ426F Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship Our Mad Racing! Race TechlTy Davis Racing Yamaha VZ428F _ put through a torture test at the LaughJln U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship. Human fatigue and an Injury were the only things that held the bike back. or years the Best In The Desertpromoted Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles has been known as one of the most challenging, yet fun desert races on the west coast. It's called a desert race because it takes place in the Nevada desert, but the truth is that this particular Casey Folks-laid out course is nothing like a National Hare & Hound or even anywhere near the style of Folks' other races. The Laughlin Hare Scrambles has no ATVs, no trucks and no buggies unlike Vegas to Reno or the upcoming Nevada 2000. The Laughlin Hare Scrambles is for motorcycles only and, while it is fun, it is not for the faint at heart. In 1998 Folks turned the event into a team race that was laid out over a figure-eight course of roughly 45 miles that teams circled three times, making the race approximately 135 miles. Before that the Laughlin Hare Scrambles was a one-man event that was so tight and technical (by southwest standards) that even a guy on a 125 won the overall once. That's why the event is not your typical desert race. It's still tight and it's still technical, and because teams race around the course three times, it gets rough extremely rough. The terrain around Laughlin is sandy, rocky and there is Cholla Cactus everywhere. If the long mileage doesn't give your body aches, the Cholla certainly will. It's not uncommon to see riders come through the pits with cactus needles sticking out of their bodies. In fact, if you don't get at least a little Cholla in you, you aren't riding hard enough. Last year I rode Laughlin with Team Green rider Dana Van Stee on his Kawasaki KX125. We finished third in the 125 Pro class, but Dana ended up doing most the work. The bike was totally bitchin', but I got mass arm pump and had troubles riding a bike with a small engine in the sandy, rocky terrain. Like I said before, a 125 can be very successful in Laughlin, but not with me at the controls. This year, in fact, a 125 team finished fourth overall. .1 had fun on the 125 last year, but this year I wanted something with a little more meat. I could have settled for a 250cc two-stroke, but my teammate Rick Daniel suggested that we ride a Yamaha YZ426F. After riding a 426 for the first time, Daniel fell in love with the bike and even purchased one himself. He didn't have to twist my arm. The YZ426F is always a safe bet. The only problem was that we had already began building our YZF for the Glen Helen Six-Hour Endurance Race, an event that is more like a six-hour motocross than a six-hour off-road race. I had given our YZF to Mad Racing, and Mad owner Hootie Davis had already completed a suspension setup that favored the rough Glen Helen Six-Hour circuit, not the rough Nevada desert. I talked to Hootie about the matter. Although Hootie wasn't happy with it, Rick and I decided that we would sacrifice and make do with the grand prix setup that Hootie had already come up with. We were going to try to meet a medium between the two events and run with it. 16 n By MATT FREEMAN PHOTOS BY PHOTOS BY GRUMPY, MARK KARIYA AND FREEMAN F APRIL 5, 2000' cue I e e vv s There is a substantial weight difference between Rick and myself and because of this it took us many hours to get the suspension dialed in, and even then it wasn't perfect for either of us, but that is the nature of doing a team race with a partner that is not your size. Using Race Tech Gold Valves for the fork and shock, Hootie went to work and came up with a setting that required lighter fork and shock springs. The fork went from a 4.7 to a 4.5 and the shock from a 5.6 to a 5.4, partly to meet the rough off-road terrain and partly because of my 155-pound body. On his personal YZF, on which he primarily rides motocross and grand prix, Rick actually went with stiffer springs. As it turns out, the setup was not too soft for Rick at all. In fact, it was little too stiff for the both of us, but we will take full responsibility for that. During our test session Rick, Hootie and I tested in an area that is tight and sandy like Laughlin, but not quite as rough. On that day, we got the suspension set to where Rick and I thought it worked best, but in Laughlin at the actual race, the course was rougher than either one of us had remembered. At one pit stop we actually backed off on the compression, which helped out quite a bit. We both agreed that our test did not do justice to Mad Racing, and that the Six Hour would be the true test for the suspension' not Laughlin. I have used Mad Racing suspension before on various bikes, and there is no doubt in my mind that Hootie knows how to tune suspension on a motorcycle. Unfortunately we put him in a difficult situation, but he was still more than willing to help us out. For instance, Hootie helped us jet the YZF. We equipped our FCR carburetor with a Factory R&D P-38 Lightning, which improves throttle response. For Laughlin, Hootie installed a 48 pilot jet, and that turned out to be a wise decision because as tight as the race is, there are a lot of situations where quick and crisp throttle response is of the utmost importance. A 168 main complemented the lower rpm perfor- mance. A 162 main and 42 pilot jet is stock. Long ago, when we had made our initial plans for the YZF, Rick and I agreed that we were going to stick with the stock exhaust. Having both ridden the YZF with several aftermarket pipes, we were both totally satisfied with the power output and performance of the O.E. exhaust. After 132 miles of Laughlin, we still believe in the stock unit. We changed almost everything else, but that's typical when turning a motocross bike into an off-road bike. Some add-ons are simply a necessity when bullet-proofing and preparing your bike for an off-road race. For instance, an IMS 3.4-gallon tank with a dry-break fuel-cap system is a must for long races. This year the first half of the figure-eight Laughlin course was 21 miles and the second was 23, so technically we could have chanced it and only refueled after completing the entire 44-mile figure eight, but why chance it when there is cash on the line? Even though the IMS tank will hold 3.4 gallons, we avoided topping it off in order to make the bike as light as possible. We also made the bike lighter by using a set of IMS Pro Series footpegs. They are more aggressive and beefier than the stock pegs. Something else that no off-road racer should live without (and probably won't for long) is some sort of steering stabilizer. Randy Norman of GPR Stabilizer was at Laughlin and was more than happy to mount up one of his brand new units on our BRP triple clamps and handlebar mount. Using a Scotts Performance bolt-on frame bracket for the stabilizer rod and a Pro Taper handlebar, both Rick and I agreed that the new GPR Stabilizer worked great for Laughlin and would do just as well in most other races. It is easily adjustable and has all kinds of fea• tures that were well thought out. It also comes with a universal mounting kit, which made it easy and cheap to install. We are definitely planning on using the little black-gold unit in future races. Other can't-live-without parts included a Ty Davis Racing Hot Start

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