ERGO’ S / STYLING
• Slimmer front number plate, two-piece side covers, and a sharper rear fender for a tighter, race-focused look and feel.
• Honeycomb-pattern seat cover to aid sliding forward while improving grip.
• Weight-saving new wheels, with the rear wheel laced in a three-cross-spoke pattern for better impact absorption and ride feel.
• Fresh styling across the board, plus an optional 70th Anniversary Edition livery in white / red speed-block design. hot the motor gets. If you are a rider who would need to occasionally tweak the cable tension mid-day, that hassle is gone now. The hydraulic system self-compensates, keeping the bite point steady throughout a long moto. Sadly, the lever doesn’ t have a hand span adjuster, though, which I’ d like to have seen. So, fingers crossed that comes down the line at some point. Another clever addition is Yamaha’ s new ECU lock function, built into the free Power Tuner smartphone app. Think of it as a digital key. You set a password, and without it, the bike simply won’ t start. For a motocross bike, this is a first, and it’ s a feature I didn’ t know I wanted until now. Sure, it won’ t stop your bike from being stolen, but it will stop them from wheelieing it down the main street of town, which I guess is a small piece of satisfaction. In a country where dirtbike theft is a real issue, Yamaha deserves credit for being the first to bring this kind of smart tech to the customer.
KIWI RIDER 53