[Webike News Editorial]

Participated in the enduro race with the customized off-road SEROW250

On May 22nd 2016 (Sun), the enduro race, JNCC 2016 R-3 Jonniel-G, was held at G-gatake Snow Park in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. At this race, Kenji Suzuki attracted people’s attention by participating in the “FAN-A” class with his SEROW250. Participants of the JNCC is classified into three classes: the COMP class in which top enduro riders compete, the FAN class for beginners and trail riding, and the KIDS&TRY class for kids and off-road beginners.
For this third round, as many as 530 riders came together to take part in the race held at the springtime snowpark.

An ex class-A rider, and a top enduro race rider

Kenji Suzuki is an ex international class-A rider of the international motocross race. Lately, he has been in charge of the development of the Yamaha motocross enduro motorcycles, and has been actively participating in enduro races, too. He has won the JNCC championship in the past. He also performs brilliantly in MTB games, and owns a MTB shop called “wide open” in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Took part in the world race with his commercially sold trail bike, WR250R! Won the 4th place at the final sprint enduro.

Kenji has participated in ISDE with his WR250R in the past. ISDE, the International Six Day Enduro, is the world’s largest enduro event held since 1913. It is a team competition by country, and each team will have six members. It is quite natural to ride on a motorcycle for race, but Kenji used his commercially sold trail model, WR250R, for this race. He won the silver medal even though he competed against 450cc class rivals.
At the final sprint enduro race of the final day, he fell along the course, but astoundingly caught up, and ended in the 4th place. That incident attracted great public attention.

This time, the editorial team of Webike Japan had actually checked Kenji’s SEROW250 used at the enduro race. Here, we would like to tell you some custom tips we’ve observed.
Still, it had a standard engine, and wasn’t remodeled that much.

Almost as if a works team machine! Colored in “Yamaha Blue”

What draws attention the first is its graphic design colored in Yamaha blue.
Swing arm is a place where it is likely to get easily scratched. The swing arm of this machine is securely wrapped with a decal. And by matching it with its installed tire, you can read the DUNLOP logo which says “DUNLOP GEOMAX AT-81”.
Of course, it is its sponsor’s logo, but to place a brand logo that he/she is actually using is a fun decoration for general riders.

Uses Y’s Gear “Power Beam” for frame reinforcement

Its frame side is equipped with a “Power Beam” of Yamaha Y’s Gear, which is known to those in the know. “Power Beam” is a damper based on the “performance damper” that was originally developed for the high performance automobile. It suppresses the deformation of the frame and vibration during travelling. “Power Beam” is an item that wins high reputation at the Webike review site. It mainly improves the maneuverability and riding comfort.

ZETA aluminum parts are used for other engine parts, and they add a style to the rugged engine area.
Frame guard is also the ones of ZETA. It is an excellent item that protects the rear master cylinder as well. An aluminum Y’s Gear part is used for the under guard. It is unavoidable for the underbody parts of enduro models to get hit, and an under guard part is indispensable.

Ski slope course of G-gatake Snow Park requires reinforced brake

* Brakes are reinforced while the guards are carefully installed.

ZIGRAM rotor of ZETA is being used for both the front and rear brakes. Brake hose is replaced from the original one to the racer model made of stainless steel mesh or Kevlar mesh. An OEM item is used for the rear brake hose. When you consider riding on an off-road course, the OEM swelling brake hose becomes a better choice, for you need to control the rear brake hose more delicately.

It adopts a “PRUNUS” exhaust, the original brand of SAKURA KOGYO which manufactures many OEM exhausts of YAMAHA. It is a slip-on exhaust and weighs 2.2kg; 1.7kg lighter than the OEM exhaust. It is especially important to reduce the weight of the exhaust when it is placed far from the center of the vehicle body.

The original SEROW250 adopts tubeless tire for the rear wheel, but this bike seems to have a tube inside, for the GEOMAX AT-81 selected this time is a tube tire.

“Suspension Technical Shop Technix” has adjusted its suspension, and the rear suspension has been replaced to the “TGR TEC-1.1 Performance Rear Shock Absorber” from the original part. The front suspension is set a little stiffer than the original.

Handlebar parts are adjusted for off-road riding

It uses many ZETA parts for the hand guards. The aluminum frame type “ZETA Armor Hand Guard Bend” is adopted for its guard and is jointly tightened to the top clamp with the “ZETA Hand Guard Mount Side Type”. It adopts the “ZETA X2 Protector” for its hand guard to protect it from the flipping stones.

It uses “ZETA Handlebar Clamp Kit” for its top clamp, and its handlebar is positioned a bit high. This clamp kit is an excellent part that allows you to change the height of the handlebar in several stages just by exchanging some parts. You can change the height to make it suitable for street ride and change it again when you ride off-road. You just need to be careful adjusting the length of the clutch cable when you do so.
The seat is made high by installing the Y’s Gear Touring Seat. It has optimized its vehicle body position for off-road ride.

In total, it is being composed of ordinary commercially sold parts. It actually uses the original engine. It is a “FAN” SEROW whose suspension is being optimized.
Of course, it can be rode on streets without problem if you just replace the tire.
Its customization serves as an useful reference for riders, such as installing the “Power Beam” or adjusting the position with a clamp kit. It surely is a good guide for both on-road and off-road fans!

This bike, however, seems to have finished in the 16th place at the FAN-A class race (111th place overall out of 328). It was a fairly intense battle as it faced troubles like dropping off of parts.
Let’s see how this SEROW seeks revenge at the next fight!

See Accessories of YAMAHA
See Accessories for YAMAHA SEROW250