Rapid ReaXtion: New Yamaha Teams
Friday, November 30, 2012 | 10:35 AM
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PrintJason Weigandt:
Yamaha usually goes about racing in two ways. If they can get a superstar, they go for titles. If they can't, they try to flood the starting gate with as many blue fenders as possible.
They're definitely into the latter mode right now, as this is the first time in a decade Yamaha doesn't pack a Stewart or Reed type star heading into Anaheim 1 (and before Reed, they had McGrath). While the JGR boys could maybe, just maybe, pull out a win in 2013, most of these teams are centered around just putting bikes in the main event.
It's good news for some second-tier riders. With so much talk recently about purses and privateer support, you have to applaud Yamaha for helping out so many riders who would otherwise be searching for work. Chisholm was bounced through the RCH and JWR deals before ending up with nothing, Velocity3 puts him back to work. Kiniry didn't have offers, this saved him (and Chizz is one of the few riders who loves the YZ450F, so he gets what he wants here). Travis Baker was out of work via TLD, now he gets a landing spot. Alex Martin and the perennial privateer team of privateer teams, Eleven10 Mods, finally have some help.
The current line of Yamahas has taken some heat. The YZ250F still uses a carb, and the YZ450F has morphed into the most controversial bike in its class. And it's likely that blue machines won't win any titles this season. But the idea that Yamaha is giving back to the riders who need it most is actually really, really cool. Next time you want to complain that the industry and manufacturers aren't doing anything to help the little guy, remember this press release.
Steve Matthes:
Great news for fans of Yamaha everywhere with the release of Yamaha’s privateer teams for the 2013 season. This PR follows the one about a month or so ago announcing the JGR, Star and Rock River programs.
The fact that Yamaha is recognizing that they need to step up is a good thing. The starting lines have been bare of blue for a few years now as pro racers have expressed apathy about getting on the outdated YZ250F or the controversial-does-it-work-or-does-it-not YZ450F.
Nice to see teams like Ti-Lube Yamaha and Eleven10 Mods, established teams that have been around, be rewarded for their hard work in terms of bikes, parts and use of the Yamaha SX track.
This is a good step in getting blue out there and while none of these announced riders are going to contend for championships this year, they’re all solid riders capable of filling the mains with carburetors and air filters where the gas tank used to be.
The Velocity 3 Team comes out of the gate with Kyle Chisholm and Bobby Kiniry and both racers should be right there around the top ten in the highly competitive 450SX class. This is a sx-only team but Kiniry and Chisholm will be at the outdoors in some way, some manner (Kiniry is still racing up in Canada but will hit the USA nationals that he can).
Not in this press release but confirmed is Chris Blose is alongside “Filthy” Phil Nicoletti on the Ti-Lube Yamaha squad. Blose is a former top privateer that’s been injured for a couple of years now. One thing about Blose is he’ll give you 100% and won’t complain. Nicoletti will be a 450SX rookie but has some skills and it’ll be interesting to see what he can do.
Alex Martin, Chad Sanner and all the guys at Eleven-10 Mods will be giving it 100% and great to see the support given out to the little guys. I’d look for a teammate for Martin to be announced real soon as well.
Travis Baker had a nice summer for the TLD Honda guys, he’s back on the brand that saw him come into the pros on and hopefully he gets back to the SX finishes that he once had. Brett Metcalfe for the outdoors? That should be interesting to watch.
Yamaha just added six racers for next year, every single one of them will be in the mains and many times in the top ten. And that’s not counting Kiniry who rode blue last year. I’d say that this is a nice bit of free agent work by Team Tuning Fork.
For some more of my thoughts on Yamaha’s moves, check out this blog I wrote a few days ago over on Pulpmx.
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Is there like a specific reason that Yamaha hasnt made their 250F fuel injected? Im pretty sure that it would make their bike more competitive and not have that carb bog that can occur on a non fuel injected bike.
The YZ450 is a victim of bad publicity, courtesy of james stewart. He didn't do well on the bike so now everyone thinks its a bad bike. and So what if the YZ250f has a carburetor still.
Honestly do you think wether the bike has a carb of is gonna make average guys like you and me faster? nope. Everyone just goes with the crowd its pathetic. So i guess bashing on yamaha is cool now? is that why everyone does it?
@cxd56...I agree 100%. My bike still has a carb('08 CRF450) and is still more than competitive with the sprayers. I personally haven't ridden the bass ackwards YZF but I doubt it is that bad, especially considering James is crashing most of the time still. Kudos to Yamaha for steeping up.
Honda please take note. Raise the contingency and help some smaller teams!
Yamaha should of jumped on Dean Wilson and put him on a 250.I bet we would see a title contender on a Yamaha in the outdoors.
I've been excited about this for a while now. Blue needs to be a big part of MX and this is a good step in the right direction. It's become "trendy" to hate on the YZ450, and I've had enough of it. Stew is manufacture poison anyway. Starting with a bunch of blue collar racers is a great way to build back up to championships. Nice going Yamaha.
Why don't the other Jap 250's have the Dual injector like the Kaw's have.Does Kawasaki get to have a cod lock on that technolgy for a few years?
The YZF has gotten a bad rep partially because of Stewart but he wasn't the only one who had issues with it. Also remember he never publicly said the bike sucked (thats just what everyone assumes) all he said was he could GEL with the bike which was true. He also pointed out other people that liked the bike so dont bash him for the bad rep. Yamaha bad rep was due to them not helping in fixing the issue for that model during the season when a lot of riders on them needed help on set-up.
Not to mention PING has also said the bike is unpredictable at high (pro) speeds or if something upsets the bike. He (PING) has also said that you can hit the same bump the same way 5 times and the bike will do something different each time.
But like i said he never said the bike was a turd, he said he couldn't make the adjustments for the bike to fit him.
Im sorry if i dissed stewart in my previous comment, i was just trying to explain my viewpoint. I've always been a stewie fan.
I speculate that it was tough going for Yamaha during the last few years due to the economy. All of us has been affected one way or another. It presented decisions that are not the status quo. Priorities shifted and people compromised. Hindsight most likely would have had another rider push the 450 agenda. The pendulum will swing the other way for Yamaha. I started on a Yamaha in the seventies and ride a Yamaha today. I really dig all brands. A Ktm 150 is on my radar for the future.
@cxd56 I am in full agreement with you...after he flubs up the 2013' SX and Nationals, the RMZ 450 will be the next "weird" bike...
Yamaha is just getting started...this is there m.o. since day one...the next release of models will be bad ass......they have done this since the seventys. They make damn good bikes (the absolute best valve train by a mile) and they are innovative (reinventing the wheel sometimes is hard...lol) I can't wait to see the next go round....the WR's are already REALLY nice.
As far as recessionary pressures are concerned, it would have been beneficial to develop the bikes (both 250 and 450) WHEN economic conditios are bad - so that when there is a turnaround and people do start to buy they buy the best - Yamaha's downfall was the dissolution of the factory team - following the road race model established in the GP circuit.
The only problem is is that they didn't have a "valentino rossi" so to speak. - what they had was a disjointed race program that was not in cahoots with their R&D program.
Here is a question. If yamahas race team was as dedicated as KTM's there would be no way the "weird bike" moniker would stick.
They (KTM) get parts CNC'd very quickly and out to the race team for testing - with yamaha what do you get GYT parts? The Gibbs team is more factory than the factory!
Oh and before we go there the production rule is crap. Teams have been cheating with frames and swingarms for YEARS!!
Ive rode yamahas since 79, turn the damn motor back around didnt work for cannondale not going to work for yamaha, just like when they jumped on the 4 stroke bandwagon with doug henry and then started production nothing changes till no one wants to ride one, they did the whole backwards motor, did the publicty with the whole backwards theme and rested on people will buy because is different, new just like there first 4 stroke model, stewart wasnt the only one with problems every time you turned around there was a 450 on the ground, and mainly it was a lot of simple falls, front end pushing instead of biting, they have no team, they have no RnD just a bunch of satelite teams GYT parts and some aftermarket crap. Its really stupid to think that one rider can influence a whole motocross community that a bikes tracks just because of his results, just another thing people can blame on on stewart and bag on him. Scarcasim just in case you dont get it some people are that dumb thats the bike im going to buy the one that wins the most. Now that no one wants to ride them yamaha will wake up and update especilly the 250f what has changed on that the last 5 yrs the graphics.
The ONLY people who blamed the Yamaha for Stewart crashing were the Stewtards.. Most normal fans remeber him crashing all over the place on the Kawi too.. And he is still crashing on the Suzuki.. How many times did he go down this summer?? Several.. Millsaps ran fine on the bike... I do not think the 250 would be faster with fuel injection.. I think FI sucks myself.. It just means if you modify something you have to buy more expensive crap to re-map it now.. And now you have more electric gizmos to go bad and drive up more cost.. It sucks..
The only sensors I need are my eyes and my throttle hand.
I have been aHonda guy for quite some time now. In early 09 i still was lining up at the races with my 06 and heard how the 09 was gonna blow us away. Well it ended up he needed more tear-offs than I did. Long starts my 06 blew the 9 away. I bought an 09 and an 11. The only thing that can beat me on the starts is a much bigger dude on a YZ450f. They run well. No secret but since FI days have come, the power is way off compared to 08 and older Honda's. The handling is another problem. One lap thru a rut and I feel awesome, the next lap the Honda makes me feel like a rookie. If only I had a factory mechanic to get the set-up right and even then I doubt that would work. All the manufacturers are suckin wind right now. It was made very apparent that America has not suffered enough, let the blue state of CA live with their decision. She's gonna get uglier from here on out.