Off-Season Mid-Week Topic: McGrath's YZ

mitch199
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mitch199
Edited Date/Time 11/2/2018 6:35pm
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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BikeGuy321
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BikeGuy321 10/31/2018 5:27pm
10/31/2018 5:27pm Edited Date/Time 10/31/2018 5:30pm
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.
mitch199
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mitch199 10/31/2018 5:33pm
10/31/2018 5:33pm
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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Alex814
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Alex814 10/31/2018 5:33pm
10/31/2018 5:33pm
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?
BikeGuy321
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BikeGuy321 10/31/2018 5:49pm
10/31/2018 5:49pm
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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Lightning78
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Lightning78 10/31/2018 6:15pm
10/31/2018 6:15pm
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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Falcon
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Falcon 11/1/2018 1:34pm
11/1/2018 1:34pm
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.
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avidchimp
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avidchimp 11/1/2018 1:49pm
11/1/2018 1:49pm
Falcon wrote:
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...
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.
MC's bike was full factory. Jimmy's was a team build.
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H4L
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H4L 11/1/2018 1:54pm
11/1/2018 1:54pm
avidchimp wrote:
MC's bike was full factory. Jimmy's was a team build.
Yep. MC had full factory support. One of the 1st privateer non-factory teams to get it that I remember.
Thisusernameisavailable 11/1/2018 2:02pm
11/1/2018 2:02pm
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.
The year before- Suzuki of Troy, that was a factory bike too.
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 11/1/2018 2:03pm
11/1/2018 2:03pm
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
Matt Fisher
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Matt Fisher 11/1/2018 9:57pm
11/1/2018 9:57pm
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.
Crush
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Crush 11/2/2018 5:19am
11/2/2018 5:19am
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.
Bramlett321
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Bramlett321 11/2/2018 5:30am
11/2/2018 5:30am
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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TJMX947
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TJMX947 11/2/2018 6:30am
11/2/2018 6:30am
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 loud....
This. MC's YZ250 is like an icon of my childhood. I wanted to be just like him.
nascarnate326 11/2/2018 9:18am
11/2/2018 9:18am
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 loud....
TJMX947 wrote:
This. MC's YZ250 is like an icon of my childhood. I wanted to be just like him.
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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Just south of Paradise... 11/2/2018 12:03pm
11/2/2018 12:03pm
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?
BikeGuy321
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BikeGuy321 11/2/2018 6:35pm
11/2/2018 6:35pm
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.
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