WE TEST THE SERVICE HONDA CR500AF

3/24/08
3:06 PM
Page 1
WPS
34485
JUNE 2008
SLEEK
RADIATORS
NEW FORK
OFFSET
LOWER
CENTER OF
GRAVITY
LOW-BOY
PIPE
WEIGHT
BIAS
MOVED
FORWARD
ENGINE
MOVED
DOWN
BETTER
CENTRALIZED MASS
70992 34485
0
$5.99
$4.99
7
0 6>
WE TEST THE SERVICE
HONDA CR500AF
Attn retailer:Please display until June 12.
MOTOCROSS ACTION • JUNE 2008 • www motocrossactionmag com
MX
ACT
ION
MXA 0608 COVER usa&canada
ISSN 0146-3292
SEAT HEIGHT
DOWN ONE INCH
WR Geico YZ450_pg102-108
3/28/08
2:27 PM
Page 2
M S
A
’
E
O
T IC
A
H
GEMA 0F
YA Z45
Y
102 www.motocrossactionmag.com
WR Geico YZ450_pg102-108
3/28/08
2:29 PM
Page 3
R
ight
i
off the bat, before we go any
ffurther, the Geico YZ450F has $4000
w
worth of accessories and mods in it.
If you know anything about the MXA wrecking crew, you know that we don’t believe
that anyone needs all of this foof. On a
weekly basis, you can find any one of ten
different MXA test riders racing on bonestock bikes (with only the single aftermarket
part they are testing attached to it). We
must ride stock machines in order to have a
baseline bike to test products on. However,
in spite of our penchant for stock bikes, we
know that the best way to showcase the
capabilities of all that is possible is to put it
all on one super-exotic, full-race, flash-tastic
machine.
Human nature is drawn to fascinating
machines. More people stare at a
Lamborghini Gallardo than a Chevy Malibu.
So you can’t blame Geico, an insurance company that is making a big push into writing
policies on motorcycles, for wanting to sponsor the bike that would garner the most
attention. As a racing sponsor, it only seems
natural that Geico would want to build a
showcase bike, even though they don’t have
a rider, team and entry in the AMA series.
MXA’s interest in the 2008 Geico Yamaha
YZ450F comes not from the fact that it’s
been dragged through the parts warehouse
on the way to the racetrack, but in the
unique mix of companies that worked on
the bike.
Take Varner Motorsports as an example.
Terry Varner has been around the motocross
business for decades. He has seen the salad
days as well as the lean years. But the MXA
wrecking crew hasn’t tested a Terry Varner
engine in years—not since his days with the
FMF team. We were drawn to the Geico
bike in part because of Varner’s participation.
Equally intriguing to us was Schmidt
Performance. Dave Schmidt does the suspension for over 60 well-known amateurs racers,
and while he isn’t a big player on the AMA
National level, he has experience with real
world racers and the local scene. The MXA
test riders wanted to try Schmidt
Performance suspension because we felt it
would be counterpoint to a world dominated
by overly stiff AMA Pro setups.
We’ve known Adrian Cuomo from Ride
Engineering since his days at Yamaha. He is
a little guy in the world of CNC-machined
parts, but he works hard, has a creative
bent, and makes the kind of parts that most
Insurance: Geico has a gecko,
TV commercials and a
NASCAR sponsorship, but the
best way to reach racers is
with a full-race YZ450F.
JUNE 2008/ MOTOCROSS ACTION 103
WR Geico YZ450_pg102-108
3/26/08
10:49 AM
Page 4
AM ’S
E
T ICO A
GEMAH0F
YA Z45
Y
of the big powerhouse companies can’t be bothered
with. Ride Engineering’s triple clamps, rubber-mounted
bar mounts, fork compression adjusters, billet spacers
and brake clamps are unique.
Dean Dickinson is part of a family of famous tuners.
His dad, brother and he ran one of the strongest minicycle racing teams in motocross history (R&D Suzuki).
And today, R&D Racing is at the forefront of carburetor
tuning with its Power Bowl and Power Pump accelerator pump parts. When it comes to fine-tuning your
accelerator pump or adjusting your leak jet, Dean is the
man to talk to.
NOT EVERY PLAYER IS OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Of course, not every part on a dream bike can come
from players off the beaten path. The Geico bike still
fell back on the big players when it came to the clutch
(Hinson), handlebars (Renthal), perches and engine
guards (Works Connection), lubricants (Maxima), fuel
(VP), exhaust (FMF), piston (CP) and gaskets (Cometic).
Geico bit off a lot when it formed an alliance with
Hinson, Varner, Schmidt, Cuomo, Dickinson, Renthal,
Works Connection, FMF and Maxima. With each company acting on its own, there was a large possibility
that the end result would be “Franken-bike”—a monster
composed of conflicting ideas, goals and intents.
We’re glad to say that the Team Geico YZ450F was
not a Frankenstein version of a motorcycle, but it was
an eclectic mix of sensations. Here is a quick list:
104 www.motocrossactionmag.com
Clean machine:
Although built by a
consortium of hop-up
specialists, the Geico
YZ450F came together
with a little loving care
(and many test laps).
Power: Terry Varner ported the head to smooth out
the valve pockets ($549), modified the carburetor ($250),
fit a 13.75:1 high-compression CP piston ($278) and finished it off with an FMF 4.1 exhaust system with a
Megabomb header ($849). It was a powerful
engine...very powerful. It had a tremendous chunk of
power in the midrange, but it wasn’t very flexible over
the top. In essence, it hit hard and did most of its work
with a burst of power. At first, we thought the powerband was too short and too abrupt, but later we came
to realize that we could harness all that extra horsepower by gearing the YZ450F taller (we swapped the
stock 49-tooth sprocket for a 48). The taller gearing mellowed out the explosion, spread out the midrange and,
while it didn’t add top-end, it did widen the usable
girth of the mid.
Clutch: MXA has two kinds of test riders: those
who abuse the clutch mercilessly, and those who just
abuse the clutch. Obviously we are big fans of Hinson
clutch components. The Geico bike had the posh setup:
billet clutch cover ($159), cush-hub basket ($265), pressure plate ($179), inner hub ($299) and clutch plates
($199).
Suspension: At first blush, Schmidt Performance’s
suspension felt too stiff, but as we cycled down from
pro test riders to vet test riders, a few clicks one way
or the other seemed to satisfy everyone. Of course, it
should be noted that the YZ450F has the best stock
WR Geico YZ450_pg102-108
3/26/08
10:49 AM
Page 5
MIA: Terry Varner
hasn’t been seen
much in the last
few years, but he’s
back. Varner did
the engine, FMF
the pipe and
Hinson the clutch.
AM ’S
E
T ICO A
GEMAH0F
YA Z45
Y
suspension of any bike sold this year. Thus, Dave
Schmidt made most of his changes to the shock’s valving
to help absorb the smaller, square-edge bumps better, yet
keep it down on flat corners.
As for the forks, every test rider liked the fact that
they stayed higher in their stroke, which gave a more
consistent overall feel. Schmidt didn’t change the spring
rates, but the forks were plenty stiff for fast riders. The
shock and fork mods were $190 each with about $140
worth of small mods and parts going to the oil lock
collars, high-speed compression spring and new seals.
It’s no secret that the YZ450F isn’t the greatest-turning
bike made. It has a tendency to push in the center of the
corner. It doesn’t go out of control, it just has a hitch in
its giddy-up. Ride Engineering felt that 22mm offset triple
clamps were the solution to the problem. They weren’t.
They didn’t destroy the handling; they just didn’t fix it.
Ride’s $419 triple clamps come complete with the stem
and lower bearing already installed. For another $80,
Geico added Ride’s rubber-mounted bar mounts. These
beefy bar mounts help isolate vibration to reduce fatigue.
The bar mounts can be rotated backward to move the
bars closer to the rider.
Ride Engineering added their proprietary compression
adjusters to the top of the YZ450F’s Kayaba forks. These
CNC-machined discs make it possible to change the compression clicker without the use of a screwdriver.
Miscellaneous: With a Regina 520MX chain ($130),
Uni Filter ($26), CV4 silicone hoses ($77), Flu Design
Geico graphics ($99) and Cycra Stealth hand guards
($35), the Team Geico bike bristled with innovations.
Everywhere you looked there was an anodized alu-
106 www.motocrossactionmag.com
New name: Schmidt
Performance did
the suspension on
the Geico YZ450F.
Schmidt specializes
in amateur racing,
but they have the
licks to go pro.
WR Geico YZ450_pg102-108
3/26/08
10:50 AM
AM S
TEICO’ A
GEMAH0F
YA Z45
Y
minum part—from the Ride brake
clevis to the Works Connection
engine plug kit.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO RIDE?
It had a punchy powerband that
lifted the front wheel with half
throttle thrusts—thankfully, the
gearing change brought the
engine around to maximize its
usability. One of the pluses of having too much power is that you
can mold it into something
delightful. The chassis felt out of
balance and the ever-present push
was still there. Most test riders
fiddled with making the forks
softer, while getting the shock to
be more absorptive in the midstroke (the high-speed adjuster
seemed to do the trick). As it sat
when it was rolled out of the
truck, it was a confused and
mixed-up package. But, it was just
set up wrong (or maybe it was set
up by a committee). In the end,
with each ride the numbers began
to gel.
By the end of the third race, the
MXA wrecking crew began to feel
right at home on the bike. At first
it was too powerful, too stiff and
too out of balance. But, with simple
setup tips, we got it to be a usable,
well-suspended and decent-handling
YZ450F.
Yes, Virginia, it cost $4000 to
outfit this bike, but these showcase kinds of bikes aren’t asking
you to go whole hog—they are
just showing you what is
possible. ❏
Page 6
Van Gogh: Ride
Engineering’s
22mm offset triple
clamps were works
of art. Most MXA
test riders are
ambivalent on the
pulled-back offset,
but loved the bar
mounts and raw
aluminum look.
WHO, WHAT, WHY & WHERE
CP Pistons ........................(949) 567-9000
CV4 .....................................(800) 874-1223
Cycra ..................................(740) 929-0188
Geico Insurance ..........www.geico.com
FMF ....................................(310) 631-4363
Flu Designs.......................(661) 256-2313
Hinson ...............................(909) 946-2942
Renthal ..............................(877) 736-8425
Ride Engineering ...........(949) 722 8354
R&D ....................................(562) 864-8218
Schmidt Performance ....(951) 943-3955
Varner Motorsports ........(909) 227-6156
Works Connection........(800) 349-1475
108 www.motocrossactionmag.com
Dutch boy: Works
Connection provided
the skid plate and blue
anodized engine plugs.