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Written/Tested By: Michael Allen
It had been some time since I lined up to race a National Hare and Hound (NHHA), but when Keefer brought up the idea that he and I should compete in the final round of the 2024 series it sounded fun. Initially I had no reservations and didn’t hesitate to saying that I was all in, but as the date grew near the caterpillar in my stomach began to come out of its cocoon and spread its wings. Regardless of how I felt about racing the event, there was one thing I knew for sure; there was no way I was going to get out of racing, especially after I promised Kris that I’d do it. Two weeks before the race I drove out to Yamaha to pick up a brand new 2025 YZ 450FX which was all new for 2024. I had yet to ride the new model and I was excited to compare it to the previous generation FX which I was very fond of. When I got home I started to put my desert racing touches on the YZ that would make my life slightly easier on race day. In my opinion there are only a few Items that make desert racing slightly more enjoyable. The first is a set of handguards, although I know some people can’t stand the look of handguards there is no arguing that for high-speed desert racing, they’re a must. You don’t really need “Bark Busters” as you won’t be slamming into any trees, so my go to was a set of Acerbis X-Force flag style handguards. The second is a set of foam insert tubes or “Bibs”, because no one wants to ride through the desert with a pinch flat or punctured tube. The other benefit to Bibs is that they deflect much less off rocks than traditional inner tubes do which makes riding through the rocks a little less sketchy.
The day before the race Kris and I headed out to the pits to test the bikes and make any changes we may want before race day. The first thing that came to mind when we were testing was that I had forgotten how to read terrain at speed so it took me the better part of thirty minutes to stop hitting rocks I would hit from not looking far enough out in front of me. We did a few bomb run practices and to my surprise the 450FX started better in first gear rather than second in the sandy terrain. When I tried second gear starts, it seemed to dig too much then when it finally bit, the front end wanted to come up requiring too much clutch work to be worth it. I did notice that the new clutch design had a slightly smoother engagement and better (easier) clutch pull because Yamaha got rid of the coil spring clutch and now uses a Bellville spring to control the clutch engagement. Once the bike got traction it ripped! In my opinion this is one of the fastest 450 off-road bikes on the market. The new model has a higher rev cut which was helpful because this 450 loves to rev and pulls it’s hardest from mid to top. When at speed I noticed the bike was a bit nervous feeling especially when I transitioned from being on the gas to braking. This may be because of the pitching sensation from rear to front as the bike dives as it slows. Another possibility could be because the chassis mounts on the FX allow for more flex than the motocross bike which is said to be good for tighter terrain allowing more compliance but give the bike a softer feel when at speed.
After the bomb practice we rode some whoops on the way to a rocky ridge, it’s then I noticed that the bike felt best when in the whoops when being ridden aggressively. In rock gardens the YZ450FX was a bit of a handful as it tended to deflect off of rocks and was hard to keep pointed straight (so much for that low speed compliance eh?). That being said I still think Yamaha has the best fork in the business, they never got caught up in trying to make air forks work and just continued to develop their KYB SSS fork. I found that if I used second gear in the rocks and slipped the clutch a bit, it made the bike keep its momentum and drive forward better. First gear has a very on off feeling and was a lot to keep pointed straight so I ditched first gear early I the race relegated to using the clutch more in second. The new “Tri-Shaft” transmission on the FX seems to work well and I think the gear ratios are spot on except for first gear, which in my opinion is a little too low and unusable unless the terrain is extremely tight and slow. After practicing I took the bike home to make some final tweaks before race day. I called Yamaha’s own Travis Preston and asked what changes he thought I should make for the high speed race the following day. He recommended that I drop the forks to near flush in the triple clamps and set the sag slightly lower to 108mm to “chopper” the bike out and add some stability. Additionally, he recommended that I soften up the front and rear suspension, so I went in three clicks in on compression front which was easy with their tool-less knobs on the fork and opened up the rear, while also opening up the rebound (faster) a couple of clicks to hopefully make it move more in the rocks.
When race day came I was a ball of nerves as we planned our now infamous bomb run lines then headed to the riders meeting. As we lined back up, revved our bikes, shut them off, watched the banner go up, it suddenly all became real and my stomach was in my throat. All that went away as soon as the banner fell the 450FX started in first gear and I dumped the clutch as we all raced to the end of the bomb (at least most of us did). The Yamaha has no lack of pulling power when accelerating and is plenty fast in stock form with stock gearing. Before I knew it, I was in fifth gear and nearing the rev limiter when I started to get a bit spooked and chopped the throttle as I entered a cloud of dust. I noticed that while still there, the nervous feeling when slowing down was much better with the setup changes I had made the night before.
The first part of loop one was fast and choppy which agreed with the softer setup, but when the whoops or G-outs got bigger, the bike tended to wallow and bottom out. The sand dunes and washes were really fun as I felt that the YZ performed well in softer berms and turns. It never seemed to want to push or knife, it just stayed planted which gave me a little extra confidence (that I needed). One place the bike (and I) struggled was when the terrain was deep and sandy with random rocks in the trail. Just when I’d get the bike pointed where I wanted it to go, I’d tag a rock and it’d throw me off line and I’d have to force the bike back into line where I wanted it to go. I think that the chassis is a bit ridged and just had a hard time not deflecting off these sharp impacts. That being said I loved having an 18” rear wheel with a “Bib” installed as the extra cushion of the tall sidewall and the foam absorption of the tube helped the bike not completely throw me off the trail. If you’ve never ridden off-road rocks with foam inserts it’s a game changer because there isn’t air in the tube to bounce off rocks, the insert just acts as a dampener and absorbs the impact and has a dead feeling which I love. One place I failed as a tester during this whole experience was that I didn’t change any of the mapping. I spent the entire day in the factory map which was good in faster flowy trails, but had me struggling with an on-off feeling in the tighter rocks. I would want to go to a smoother map for an easier ride for a longer race like this.
As I wound through the first loop finish chute, I was feeling pretty damn good since I thought I rode the first loop faster and better than expected. I can’t lie; I thought that there was no way that Kris was in front of me coming into the fuel stop. This is the point in the day where things started heading downhill because as I rolled in to get fuel I asked where Kris was and they said he was 2 minutes in front of me (I had forgotten he CUT THE START and came out of the bomb in 3rd overall, not that I would have beat him even if he didn’t). I was immediately deflated as I knew my chance of catching him was going to be slim to none. If there is one real downside to racing a stock Yamaha, it’s when it comes to fueling with a stock tank. In the heat of the moment I had a hard time flipping up the quarter turn fastener and getting to the fuel cap. Once I got to the fuel cap and started fueling it was so hard to see the fuel because the tank is basically pitch black. My fuel guy also informed me that in the first 40 miles I used about 1.9 of the 2.1 gallons the FX holds. When the bike was full I had to put everything back in place and finally take off to try and catch my competition.
For the first 3-4 miles of loop two I charged with the hopes of catching Kris, but that only lasted until the second hard hill when the rider in front of me got stuck and I ran into the back of him and stalled. I thought that I’d catch this inferior off-road rider and soon pass him on my way to victory. Boy was I wrong, I watched him ride away from me until he was out of site. As I continued to struggle with the front end bouncing off line I also continued to get passed by rider after rider, each one deflating my pride little by little. About 1/3 of the way into loop 2 I went into survival mode and lost all hopes of catching Kris.
Loop 2 was relentlessly hard which was only compounded by being very tired and hungry. It seemed as though the race promoter was somehow able to connect every rock garden together with another rock garden, by connecting that to a rocky hill, then to a rocky valley. I did find that the 450FX did much better when standing in the rocks and being able to shift my weight and choose my lines. I think this had to do with the “chopper” like settings I had on the bike, because when sitting down the bike wouldn’t turn and I felt like I hit every rock in my path. About the time I started getting passed by more riders, I fully threw in the towel. I was waving riders by, stopping for pee breaks, water breaks and ego breaks. After clearing the hard enduro canyon I could finally see the final valley that I thought would take me to the finish, the only problem was that valley would only be used after about three more rock canyons, four rocky sand washes and 16 rock gardens later. When I finally saw that we were headed to where I could see the campers I was in a heated battle with a 16 year old young lady on a Beta 200. We passed each other about six times in the last 3 miles. I’d bobble and she’d get past me for a few hundred yards, then she’d miss a turn and I’d sneak by her at a snail’s pace. This lasted until the first group of spectators when my ego wouldn’t let me lose to a minor on a bike with half the cc’s of my bike. The energy of the spectators rejuvenated me and for the final 200 yards I was basically like Ricky Brabec flying across the final chute and through the finish line.
As I crossed the line there was Kris, a grin of achievement on his face and ready for a hug. There is no better feeling than finishing a desert race, the sense of accomplishment is unexplainable after battling the desert (and a 16 year old on a Beta 200) for the last three hours and twenty minutes. Kris ended up getting docked 5 minutes and still beat me by twenty minutes although at that point I no longer cared, all I wanted was a Coors Light and a nap. The Yamaha 450FX never faltered throughout the entire day and did everything I asked of it. Sure there are some changes I will be making to it before the next desert race, but overall I think it was a great choice for my comeback to the NHHA series. Before the next race I think I’ll be adding some FASST Company Flexx bars to help take away some of the harsh feeling that was transferred through the traditional handlebars. I’ll be getting the suspension re-valved although I haven’t decided who I’ll chose for that task. Finally I’d like to possibly get an IMS quick dump fuel tank to make my pit stop a bit faster. It was a good feeling to come back to racing, the people you meet in the desert race are salt of the earth, always willing to help and always cheering for you even if it’s in the middle of nowhere. Kris says we’ll be back for the 2025 season, but I think I need to do a bit more training, manage my expectations a bit better and hell, maybe even test ride a Beta 200.
