Cop' a load of this!
By TMX Archives on 19th Dec 07
Although world championship glory eluded Josh Coppins this season, the Rinaldi Yamaha team's YZ 450FM once again proved itself as the winningest bike in the MX1 world championship.
Of the many challenges faced by a grand prix motocross team bidding for world championship glory, it's the adjusting to the arrival of a new team rider that is arguably the most difficult. Part and parcel of the racing game, and something many teams have to do each season, the building of a new union between rider and team is fundamentally important to the successes of both
parties.
With no two riders having the same personality, and with all riders liking their bikes set up in a specific way, the welcoming, understanding, supporting and working with a new rider is one of the great challenges faced by all teams. Get it right and the sky's the limit. Get it wrong and the results everyone hoped to achieve fail to materialise, often due to miscommunication.
For '07, the Rinaldi Yamaha squad had to start over in a major way. Welcoming New Zealand's Josh Coppins into the team, for the first time since '01, they found themselves working with a number one rider other than Belgian Stefan Everts. With the Everts/ Rinaldi Yamaha pairing the most successful in the recent history of GP motocross, having to start a fresh with Josh was a major change for the Italian team.
Replacing the most successful GP rider of all time was never going to be easy on Josh either. The only rider to beat the dominant Belgian in '06, with Everts retiring from competition, Josh was the rider Yamaha hoped would be the first MX1 world champion of the post Stefan Everts era.For much of the '07 MXGP season, that is exactly what Josh looked like doing. Having quickly gelled with the Rinaldi Yamaha team, the quiet Kiwi started the world championship season all guns blazing. Winning, winning and winning some more and as the MX GP championship gained momentum, Josh sat comfortably in the championship driving seat. The '07 MX1 title was seemingly his for the taking.
As most every one now knows, Josh and Yamaha's dream start to '07 failed to turn into world championship glory. Barely putting a foot wrong during the first five races of the season, and with a championship lead as big as 107 points at one stage, a freak crash in the Czech Republic resulted in Josh breaking his shoulder blade, which ultimately ended his title aspirations.
As anyone who has ever raced competitively and switched from one brand of motorcycle to another will tell you, adjusting to a new 'ride' isn't something that happens overnight. It takes time to adjust from one make of motorcycle to another and when you're a GP motocross racer, the pressure to get adjusted to your new machine is much, much greater.
Ensuring that your bike is set-up exactly how you want it can be a time consuming, laborious and often frustrating process with the search for the perfect engine and suspension settings requiring a genuine team effort. For Josh, that process, somewhat surprisingly, didn't start with him testing Everts '06 MX1 championship winning bike.
"I didn't ride Stefan's '06 championship winning bike when I started testing with the Rinaldi team because I knew that it wouldn't be to my liking," explains Josh. "I started riding a production YZF450 and then went onto the Yamaha Rinaldi Racing & Development (YRRD) kitted bike, which already had a really good motor. Then I moved onto a base setting factory bike, which had nothing to do with Stefan's '06 bike. From there I just personalised the bike for me. We played around with the power curve a bit but, to be honest, the motor was pretty close to what I wanted straight away.
"The hardest thing for us was getting the suspension right, largely because Stefan ran a pretty far-out set-up. That meant that the guys at Technical Touch and Kayaba had to work hard to give me what I liked. Stefan likes his suspension pretty soft while I like mine a lot firmer."
You only have to look at Josh's number six YZ450 to realise that it is both very different, yet in many ways very much the same as a production Yamaha 450. Retaining a standard chassis, swing arm and linkage, the bike mixes production parts with YRRD equipment to produce a bike that is effective on track as it is good looking off it. The exact internal workings of the Rinaldi motor remain, unsurprisingly, a closely guarded secret with the team giving away little specific information about what has been changed on the inside of the motor. Confirming that different camshafts and piston are what gives the motor more power, several other different engine components are then used in order to 'change the character of the engine'. The end result is power that is much smoother than that liked by Everts in '06. Although an extremely smooth rider, the Belgian liked much more aggressive power, almost exactly the opposite to Josh.
One of the most obvious changes made to the bike is the fitting of Brembo master cylinders and a hydraulic clutch system. Giving the bike an unmistakable 'factory' look, the mix of Brembo and Nissin brake parts - the brake callipers remain Nissin, gives the team reliable, progressive and incredibly powerful stopping power. The use of a hydraulic clutch system gives a consistent and light action.
Blue, black and silver from top to bottom, the mix of lightweight materials such as titanium, carbon fibre and aluminium used on the bike is all too obvious. With both the fuel tank and the combined sub frame and airbox made from carbon fibre the addition of several other carbon fibre guards ensure that weight is reduced while strength and protection is increased.
With the standard exhaust replaced with an Arrow system, with the hard anodised aluminium hubs laced to black Excel rims and fitted with Pirelli rubber, and bristling with machined parts, the bike's KYB suspension is just about as special as you can get. With factory 50mm USD forks taking care of the damping at the front of the bike a factory KYB shock, with an 18mm rod and titanium spring, takes care of the rear of the bike. Riding the blue rocket Because of the way Josh has his suspension set-up, his bike feels noticeably smaller than a production YZF450. In fact without even turning a wheel, the whole bike feels lower, and with around 10mm removed from the height of the seat it's instantly noticeable that you feel closer to the ground. Using quite a low bend of handlebar the front of the bike remains level with the rear, allowing you to move around on the bike easily and comfortably. The positioning of Josh's front brake and clutch levers are high, which although not too much of a problem when sitting, makes things uncomfortable when braking stood up.
One of the most impressive things about Josh's bike is the ease with which it starts. Even when the motor's been run for 20 minutes, one light kick, in conjunction with using the hot start lever, is all that is needed to fire the bike into life without hesitation.
One thing that's not hard to do on Josh's bike is feel comfortable on it when cornering. With the bike continuing to feel smaller than a standard YZF lap after lap, manoeuvring the bike is extremely easy. The plush action of the rear shock is one of the first things that you notice when out on track. Although Josh and the Rinaldi Yamaha team have worked tirelessly this season to achieve a suspension set-up that he is 100 per cent happy with, the action of the shock feels similar to that used by Stefan Everts last year in as much as it is extremely progressive. It is also noticeably softer than the much firmer suspension set-up Josh used when racing for Honda last season.
Initially the action of the forks is every bit as supply as the shock. But when landing from bigger jumps the forks hardened up unexpectedly as they near the bottom of their stroke. With the shock getting progressively firmer throughout its stroke, the fact that the forks became noticeably firmer once they'd passed through the mid-stroke takes a little getting used to. Stefan's KYB forks by contrast were a lot plusher from top to bottom.
The spread of power that Josh's YZ 450FM produces is, unsurprisingly, strong, but also easy to use. Completely
different to the power characteristic of Everts '06 MX1 title winning bike, which was quite explosive, Josh's motor has usable strength to its mid range and to top-end. Where as Josh's '06 Honda had hard-hitting power his Yamaha is mellower, although still as responsive and powerful as you'd expect it to be. Being easy to manoeuvre and having smooth, strong power, it's easy to see how Josh is able to push hard right until the end of a moto.
First gear is noticeably longer than on a production YZF 450. In some tighter corners, first gear is long enough to pull the bike all the way around the corner without having to change up mid-turn. Second gear provides really smooth and strong power, which can be used in the majority of corners as the rear end rarely breaks away. The bike is massively easier to ride than a standard 450 Yamaha and while the power is strong not once do you feel like it's too much or it's going to pull your arms out of it sockets.
Both of the bikes Brembo brakes are incredibly strong, especially the front, which is exceptionally impressive as, despite not having a great deal of feel its stopping power, kicks in almost the moment you start to pull on the lever. The hydraulic clutch has a very light and very positive action, which makes it easy to see why Josh preferred it over the cable-operated system.
Summing up what Josh's bike is like to ride is fairly simple. It's enjoyable, it's powerful and it's manageable. It's much easier to ride and ride hard compared to a standard YZ450 and despite having forks that don't offer the most progressive action the overall package of motor, chassis and suspension come together to provide an extremely manageable yet powerful machine. One on which Josh will start the '08 MX1 world championship hoping to claim his first MX1 world championship title.
SPECIFICATIONS
Bike: Yamaha YZ 450FM
Rider: Josh Coppins
Team: Rinaldi Yamaha
Engine
Engine modifications: Crankshaft, Cylinder head, Exhaust & intake valves (YRRD titanium), Camshaft, Programmable ignition (YRRD), Exhaust system
Piston: YRRD
Exhaust: Arrow titanium
Carburettor: Keihin FCR
Crankshaft: YRRD
Transmission: Standard 5-speed
Ignition: YRRD computer adjustable CDI
Spark Plug: Champion
Clutch Basket: Yamaha
Lubricants: Yamalube
Fuel: Unleaded
Chassis
Front brake: Brembo factory master cylinder & radial calliper, 270mm Braking disk
Rear Brake: Brembo master cylinder with Nissin
calliper, 245mm Braking disk
Triple clamps: CNC machined from billet, standard off set & rake
Bars: Tommi
Levers: Brembo
Grips: Domino
Handguards: Acerbis
Fuel Tank: CRM Compositi, Carbon Fibre, 7.8 litres
Plastics/bodywork: Acerbis
Air Filter: DT1
Radiators: Manufactured to teams specifications to be stronger than standard. Road racing style adjustable pressure cap
Sump guard: Carbon Fibre
Chain: Regina
Chain guards: Carbon Fibre
Sprockets & gearing: Afam 14/52|
WHEELS
Rear Wheel: 19' Excel rim (black)
Front Wheel: 21' Excel rim (black)
Tyres: Pirelli with mousse
Suspension
Forks : Kayaba factory 50mm USD
Shock: Kayaba factory, titanium spring, 18mm piston rod
Suspension linkage: Standard
Foot pegs: Titanium
Graphics: Acerbis
Seat: Acerbis
Other: CRM Compositi, Carbon Fibre sub frame/airbox
Specification: