New YZ 250 Build (I Need Therapy)

I'm finally back home and can start to make some progress on this build. After selling the RM250AF, I got the itch to build another 2-stroke, but this time, a blue one. I grew up racing YZ250's, learning to ride on a 1996 (I know) and subsequently owning/racing a 2001, 2002, and 2003. I never got to spend any time on an aluminum-framed Yamaha two-stroke, so I thought I'd build one.

This bike started life as a bone stock 2020 YZ250 with less than a handful of hours. Great. Now the teardown to start the build! I didn't completely frame the bike because it honestly didn't need it.  I took it down to just beyond what you see below:

Yep, still working out of a storage unit while the house gets finished. It's fine. Not my preferred situation with the clutter and poor lighting, but it will do. I pulled the carb off to clean it and set the jetting (PC specs for now), put on a Moto Tassinari VFORCE 3 reed assembly,  Hinson complete clutch and cover, GYTR 8oz flywheel weight, and GYTR ignition cover. 

The frame only needed a bit of love to clean it up before starting re-assembly. First up, the front end. There was a surprising amount of grease when I took off the stock triple clamps, but that got cleaned out and redone before installing some Luxon Gen 3 Pro clamps and bar mounts.

 I put the offset to 22mm. All the ti-hardware is a nice touch and definitely fits the vibe of this build. Then, it was time to put on the forks and front wheel. 

Before I left the country, I had Enzo start building some A-kit suspension for me. I didn't have a stock set of donors handy, so these were built from scratch. I also picked up a full titanium kit from RaceTech. Here is the stock front axle and nut compared to the ti axle:

Once the forks went in, I got a bit excited and put the front wheel on (Haan hubs, DID rims, bulldog spokes) with the new ti hardware, along with the plastic, bars, and levers.

Yep, it's a 50th anniverary build. My 2025 YZ450 has the traditional black/blue Star livery, but this one is going to stay white for now. I feel like the NOS pink bar pad works with the graphics, but TBD.

Some of the other bits got installed as well, e.g. Lightspeed brake guide and more ti hardware.

I still need to install the Lightspeed carbon front disk guard, ti caliper bolts, and bleed the brakes, but I slapped the tank and shrouds on there to see how it would look. I ended up going with the Polisport restyle kit for now, but I do have a carbon tank and carbon air box/subframe on "order" from CRM. Who knows if they'll ever make it though lol. Here's how she sits now: 

Next step is to get the swingarm, kit shock, and linkage installed.  I'll post then when I get back to it!