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this an article about my favorite quad the yfz.A few years back we loaned our 2004 Yamaha YFZ to Kory Ellis, who used it to race the ’04 Pro Production class at the GNC Motocross Series. With Kory’s and Lone Star's help we determined that it took a little over $7000 to make the ’04 YFZ competitive in the Pro class. We came to the conclusion that Yamaha already squeezed just about every bit of power out of their motor, so you really didn’t need to spend too much time, money and effort in the motor department. Back then we simply let Yamaha’s potent powerplant breath by adding a pipe and tossing the air filter lid -- and it was good to go. Is this still the case as we race into 2006?

Back in the day, pro setups utilizing a heavily modified 250R engine typically made about 48 horsepower. With the new generation of 450cc four stroke machines, we are now achieving the same numbers by simply bolting on an exhaust, so it’s easy to see why we first thought that high-dollar motors were a thing of the past. In the years since, all of the motor builders in this industry and beyond have turned their attention to further developing the OEM’s new high performance four stroke engine.

Now it’s common to see B class racers pulling to the line with full blown race kits in their motors and a full array of both internal and external modifications. Whether you want to admit it or not, chances are you won’t find a pro motocrosser sitting on the line without extensive internal motor mods. The fact is competition dictates necessity and times have once again changed.

As always, the foundation of any project is critical in achieving one's goal. Our goal was to build a production based race quad that provided a Pro Am rider with enough amunition to contend with a pro-level ATV. All the while, this bad-to-the-bone racer needed to offer more reliablity than the top level pro rider needs. Our choice foundation was simple, Yamaha's YFZ won our 2006 12 Hours of ATV America Shootout hands down by winning every single category. The decision was a no brainer, the YFZ got the nod.