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Noticed in Matthes' RacerX Q&A piece this morning that he mentioned Reed/DVFerry's 04 YZ's were just about 250cc Nirvana.. but didn't match the motor on MC's YZ from a couple years earlier.
Anyone got some goss on how much power that thing laid down... and where that bike is now? In MC's house with his Honda collection?
Weird to think that the 04 YZ Factory bikes may not have matched a semi-privateer motor from a couple years earlier.
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Edited Date/Time:
Reed's bike could have been faster for sure, if that's what he wanted out of the bike. Nobody is gonna out-tune the factory that designed the bike from the ground up. Look at Reed's style vs someone like Ricky or James though. I guarantee you if Ricky and Reed were on the same team, Ricky would have the balls to the walls engine build and Reed would have one that's a little more well rounded.
Also, according to MXA, all the factory YZ250's had some ammount of flywheel weight. If McGrath's bike didn't have a flywheel weight, it would have felt a bit different.
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Those were my thoughts too, like, surely the guys that help develop and designed that motor wouldn't know less than a third party tuner. Funny that Reed said he tried to copy McGrath's riding when he first came to the States, emulating his style. I would've thought the engine package would've been copied too.
I think Reed's Nac Nac is the closest to MC's as far as style goes, nice to look at.
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I'm not sure that's what Matthes is saying, maybe just that they had similar engine packages, and that it hadn't progressed much since 02?
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Motocross Action has an article titled "Jody's Ultimate YZ250" or something like that where they talk about all the best stuff you can put on a YZ250. They threw on a 10, or 12oz flywheel weight and according to the article "every factory YZ250 rider used a flywheel weight."
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It's probly because McGrath's bike wasn't bound by the no lead fuel rule and Chad Reed's bike was
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I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought the Chapparal YZs of MC and Button were given the full factory treatment. Same bike as Dowd's but with different graphics.
Braaapin' aint easy.
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The year before- Suzuki of Troy, that was a factory bike too.
The above may be fact or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting. I am not sure, you have no chance.
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avidchimp wrote:MC's bike was full factory. Jimmy's was a team build.
H4L wrote:Yep. MC had full factory support. One of the 1st privateer non-factory teams to get it that I remember.
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:The year before- Suzuki of Troy, that was a factory bike too.
Either way, MC was the first one haha
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Lightning78 wrote:It's probly because McGrath's bike wasn't bound by the no lead fuel rule and Chad Reed's bike was
I'm going to throw my vote in for this. I think you're right.
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He's not commenting on which bike had more power or not, he's saying they weren't far off in terms of it was the same setup. It was good for MC in 2000, it was still good in 2004.
He's said numerous times over the years they had cylinders with MC etched in the side that they used on their bikes.
Cheers, Crush
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Damn!!! All kidding aside do McGrath and Reed's YZ's look just bad ass sitting still. It's like a weapon for crying out loud....
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Bramlett321 wrote:Damn!!! All kidding aside do McGrath and Reed's YZ's look just bad ass sitting still. It's like a weapon for crying out ...more
This. MC's YZ250 is like an icon of my childhood. I wanted to be just like him.
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Bramlett321 wrote:Damn!!! All kidding aside do McGrath and Reed's YZ's look just bad ass sitting still. It's like a weapon for crying out ...more
MC on the CR250 and YZ250 will always be my first thought of "motocross/supercross"
He had two iconic bikes and had the perfect attitude for the time.
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The latest print issue of MXA ran an old test of McGraths 1999 Yamaha and the article said it made 7 horsepower more than stock (52 compared to 45). Not sure that helps the 04 conversation. Maybe by 04 they were 8 to 10 HP over stock? In the 53 to 55 range?
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More powerful or not, McGrath's YZ had nothing on Reed's "Bell Bottom" forks. Those were easily the coolest works forks of that era.
