It has taken a couple of weeks, but we have finally broken in our 2019 Yamaha YZ250F with a tonne of seat time over the weekend just gone.
After spending about 30 minutes riding at a local track the week prior, we spent Thursday night moving a few parts over from the YZ450F to the new 250F, including our Tag T2 bars, ZETA / DRC pivot brake and clutch lever, Zeta shift lever, Zeta launch control unit as well as the number plates ready for our first race aboard the new bike.
With a two-day fun race event being held in memory of Tyler Lange at Renmark, it is fair to say our first race meeting for our Yamaha YZ250F was not only a lot of fun but provided plenty of bike time as we racked up just over two hours of seat time across the two days.
It actually proved to be a great event to get comfortable and set up on what will be our primary race bike for 2019. Starting Saturday with a teams race, we lined up with five teammates in a pony express style, MX race that had two riders from the team on the track at once, racing a single lap before tagging in the next rider.
It essentially meant around 10 one lap sprints over 40 minutes, with just under a two-minute break before going again on the Renmark track.
This was followed by a ten minute plus one lap race on Saturday afternoon. We backed up for another two ten minute plus one lap races back to back on Sunday morning, then another team race again on Sunday afternoon.
By the end of Sunday, with some help from Grant Beale from Bike Tune to dial in the ride height and sag, I was feeling more than comfortable on the YZ250F, and just about up to a speed I was happy with considering my limited ride time over the past few months.
By Sunday arvo I could not be happier with my decision to jump back on a 250F and am as excited as ever to go racing this year, and really am hanging to get out for another ride ASAP, but unfortunately it won't be this weekend, ill be to busy taking photos of some fast blokes!
APPIN OR BUST
While our YZ250F was the focus last weekend, Jayden also racked up a few hours aboard his YZ65 which is still going strong after being ridden week in week out since we picked it up in June last year.
For this weekend coming Jayden will be heading to ride the YZ65 Cup at Appin, the first of three events that will take place at this years MX Nationals for riders around the nation who own a Yamaha YZ65.
We were not sure if we would head to Appin to start with, Jayden is still somewhat new to the 65 class and is sure to be one of, if not the youngest on track this weekend, but with myself heading over to shoot the action for Fullnoise and another S.A rider needing to get a bike over, we decided a road trip was in store!
It should be a great event, and while Jayden will be aiming to finish each race, it will be great to watch some very fast riders on their YZ65's carve laps around the Appin track, the exact same track the pro riders will be racing on that same day.
With the likes of Jake Cannon, Kayd Kingsford, Phoenix Blanchette, Wil Carpenter, Koby Hantis and even Ben Townley's son Levi, along with some other super quick, talented riders, the crowd might just get a bit of a surprise at just how fast some of the young talents in this country is.
A WEEK IN MOTION - A collection of video's and films from the past week
