W
hen Josh Coppins and Paul Whibley
ask you along to test a few bikes from
Yamaha’s dirt range, you down tools
and go. Thus we found ourselves at Woodhill
Sandpit riding park northwest of Auckland
with the two big-hitters on hand to explain
their roles and goals with and for Yamaha.
Josh’s role is Director of Motorsport, while
Paul is an Off-road Ambassador and racer.
It’s always great to chat with people who have
extensive time and knowledge of a brand –
not to mention, outstanding racing pedigrees.
Josh has also worked hard with Yamaha over
many years in a development/tester role
with several dirt models and, while guarded
about future developments for obvious
reasons, his insights are still fascinating.
The bikes on hand to ride were a YZ450FX,
YZ250F and the YZ250X two-stroke. We had
young guns Tom Buxton and James Scott
along to help out and Paul also gave up his
time for the photo shoot. I had a ride around
too, but largely tried to keep out of their way.
These are our thoughts on the Blu Cru.
KIWI RIDER 39