Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Well, as they say eventually every good thing has to come to an end and that is how I’m feeling this beautiful Monday morning. Last week I had one of the most amazing business trips of my life as I travelled down to Tallahassee, Florida for the official North American media launch for the 2023 YZ450F. Over the years, I’ve been on a lot of these business trips but with Covid-19 taking grip on our lives for the past two years, I haven’t left Canada since January of 2020. So even though I had to wake up last Wednesday at 2:30 in the morning for my 6am flight to the USA I was like a kid in a candy store as I bounced through the busy airport on my way through security and customs. To hit the skies again and head south, felt extremely uplifting and honestly, I was sad to see my trip come to an end on Saturday.
So before I get to describing my trip to Florida and how the new YZ450F was to ride, I’ll first go over the news of the weekend. First, how cool was it to see Ken Roczen win the first ever FIM World Supercross Championship in Melbourne, Australia. At the opening round KR94 played second fiddle to Eli Tomac but in Australia (with no Tomac) Kenny was the man. However, it wasn’t without adversity as in the second of three main events, he got a flat tire and was forced to pull off. The announcers were somewhat dumbfounded that Kenny would pull off instead of riding around and trying to score as many points as possible. But with the massive finish line jump having a metal ramp as a take-off there was no way he was jumping it safely with a flat rear tire. I think Kenny made the right decision and when he came back and took an easy second in the final main to secure the title he obviously knew what he was doing. Roczen was the early face of this new global series so it was great to see him win the title and finish off his season strong. On this side the Pacific Ocean it appears Kenny still doesn’t know what he’s doing for the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Series. Prior to the Red Bull Straight Rhythm last weekend, rumours had him riding for the Monster Energy Kawasaki Team in the USA, but with his strong ties to Red Bull, that just doesn’t make sense. To be a Red Bull athlete and to have access to all their doctor’s, their training facilities, as well as their global reach is a dream come true for any athlete. At this point I can see him keeping all of his sponsors, possibly adding a few more and doing his own deal on either a Honda, KTM or even a GASGAS. Maybe even on a new Yamaha, as I’m sure he’ll like the bike from the moment he rides it (more on that in a moment). Anyway, Kenny is in a good spot and I’m sure he’ll challenge for wins on whatever bike he chooses to ride in 2023.
In other news from this past weekend, the Future West AX Championships resumed in Chilliwack and this time it was Colin Jurin who was the big winner in the pro class on the first night of racing, and then Julien Benek won both main events on night two. After all Benek has been through, it was great to see him dominate at Round 4 and hopefully he can remain healthy and get the ball rolling as we look ahead to 2023. This series will now take a few weeks off and will resume in mid-November. Next up on the Canadian indoor schedule is the final round of the Triple Crown Series this weekend in Calgary. This race is going to be exciting. Not will series regulars like Tyler Gibbs, Mitchell Harrison, and Quinn Amyotte be there, but we’ll also see the return of Jess Pettis to the race track as well as a few west coast pro riders. Obviously Cole Thompson won’t be there as he’s still in Australia but the battles between the riders I mentioned above are going to be exciting to watch. Also, this is one of the best venues in Canada for AX as the floor is a little bigger and the indoor paddock is great. My family and I are flying out on Thursday and since there is a full amateur program this weekend, my son is sooooo excited to race for the first time in Alberta. Going back to Cole Thompson, on Friday night in Melbourne at the opening round of the Australian SX Series he had a great night. Not only did Cole win his heat race but in the main event he came from behind to finish second! This is a great start to the series for CT and this coming weekend they go back at it at Round 2 in Adelaide.
Okay, back to my trip to the Goat Farm last week. As I said I flew out of Toronto on Wednesday and once in Tallahassee, I met up with Justin Balkos from Yamaha Canada, Kevin Tyler from the MX101 Yamaha Team, and Kyle Thompson and Brad Nemeth from the Inside X show. It was great to see everyone and during the first night there, we all went for dinner and met up with some of the other journalists as well as the guys from Yamaha USA. It was a fun first night and you could feel the excitement in the air as we all knew the next two days were going to be special. It was an early start to Thursday as we were on the road to the Goat Farm by 8am. The first order of business was to gather beside one of the two SX tracks and watch the Star Racing Yamaha riders do there morning motos. Star Racing Yamaha is obviously a big team and to see so many riders going for it on a SX track at one time was simply amazing. It was a great way to kick off two days at the Goat Farm. After watching riders like Haiden Deegan, Nate Thrashers, Levi Kitchen, Jordan Smith and even Dylan Ferrandis (on the new 2023 YZ450F) do multiple motos, it was time for the official presentation of the new bike. We spent the afternoon doing static photos and also getting a tour of the massive Star Racing Yamaha facility. We even got a tour of the back woods at the Goat Farm where Ricky Carmichael and his family buried some old Kawasaki parts. Other than watching the Star Racing riders train on the SX track, this might have been the coolest part of the day, as I love history. On Thursday evening it was another fine dinner that consisted of some great food, solid company, and Kevin Tyler teaching two of the designers from Yamaha Japan how to play corn hole. This was certainly the most entertaining part of the day for sure!
After a good night sleep it was another early start as Friday was all about one thing….riding! We were at the track by 8am and the first rider was on the track by 9:15. It was actually a cool morning by Florida standards, so most of the soft media guys were a little hesitant to hit the track too early. Of our group Kyle Thompson was the first Canadian on the pristine Goat Farm outdoor track and I followed a short time later. Since I had spent two days riding the new 2023 YZ450F at Sand Del Lee two weeks ago I felt like I had a small advantage over everyone there. Meaning, I skip the ‘getting to know the bike’ part of my first session and go right to learning the challenging track. Since each of the media guys had their own bike I was able to set my bike to exactly how I wanted it with regards to sag, bar and lever position. The Yamaha USA testing crew of Steve Butler and Travis Preston both recommended 100mm of sag and a fork height of 7mm in the triple clamps. Since I usually run a tad more sag and my forks a little lower in the triple clamps these settings surprised me, but who was I to argue with the gentlemen who have been testing this new Yamaha since before Covid. I went with it and honestly the settings were perfect.
I think the first thing that everyone, even die-hard YZ450F lovers will notice, is how smooth the power delivery is on this new bike. With only four internal engine parts left over from the 2022 model pretty much everything is new and the way the 2023 YZ450F delivers power, allows the bike to remain more stable and connected to the ground. Even with the ECU map set to the more aggressive map setting the power is still smooth and manageable. This is great news for riders of all levels. Even pro riders like Dylan Ferrandis, Eli Tomac and Shawn Maffenbeier have all tried to make the power on the YZ450F less abrupt and more usable. As much as the power delivery starts off smooth on the new YZ450F, once you hit about half throttle the after burners ignite and the bike pulls very strong. For 2023, Yamaha has increased the rev limit by 500RPM and has added about 5% more power overall. They have also reduced the weight of the engine by three pounds and with an all new clutch design the engine is narrower between the clutch basket and the magneto side. So with smoother power delivery and less weight overall (this bike is over 5 pounds lighter overall than the 2022 model) I felt instantly more connected to the track when I was on the ground, but in air, this bike felt much more nimble and predictable.
To compliment the new lighter and thinner engine, Yamaha also completely changed the chassis and the 2023 YZ450F is flatter across the seat and tank area and more narrow through the footpeg area. The footpegs are also down 5mm and back 5mm so the rider triangle is increased to give the riders more room to control the bike. There isn’t much on the 2023 YZ450F that remains left over from previous models and that is why this story will be in two parts. I will list all of the new features and details tomorrow but right now I will answer the question that I’m sure everyone wants to know. With all of these changes what is this new bike like on the track?
Well, from the first moment I rode this bike back at SDL I was very impressed. Not only does it feel a lot lighter and more nimble, but with some of the weight savings coming from the new engine design, I felt like there is less engine breaking with this new model. This allows the rider to carry more speed into turns and once there, the bike remains more stable and predictable. In the past, I’ve felt like the YZ450F models have a pitchiness to them under breaking and also acceleration. For me at least, cornering on the older generation YZ450F was a constant battle for balance and connectivity. Well, those days are gone with the 2023 and this bike corners like it’s all rails and remains balanced from the beginning of the corner until the exit. The tendency for the front wheel to want to push through the corner is no longer there and as a former two-stroke rider who needs a little extra front end traction, this is exactly what I was looking for. In the air, the 2023 YZ450F also shines and with the reduced weight and balanced chassis it’s easy to throw around and be precise with your take-offs and landings and everything in between. The track at the Goat Farm has a plethora of big floating jumps and with all of the changes the YZ450F excelled on them and as the day of riding went on, my confidence grew. From the start of the day until my final lap (I was the last rider on the track at 3:30pm) I thoroughly enjoyed the new YZ450F and it’s one of the best “new bikes’ I’ve ever ridden.
As you can tell I had a great time in Florida. From riding the new 2023 YZ450F, to watching the Star Racing Yamaha riders train, to just simply travelling outside Canada again and hanging out with some cool people, this was an unforgettable trip. I really want to thank Yamaha Motor Canada for making it possible and to my fellow Canadian’s who joined me on this trip for helping to make it so enjoyable. As I mentioned above, I will go over more details tomorrow as well as a few more items I found out about this new Yamaha while I was riding it on Friday. In closing, thank you for reading and I will see everyone in Calgary on Friday! If you have any questions on the new YZ450F or even on my trip to the Goat Farm please feel free to email me at chris@mxpmag.com.
