INSIDE DYLAN FERRANDIS’S STAR RACING YAMAHA YZ250F

Dylan Ferrandis’s Factory Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F in all its glory. Alex and the team gave us an ample amount of time to go over this bike.

Starting at the front of the bike we find a set of Neken handlebars. Dylan runs the R00002 bend which is on the high side of things. Dylan prefers to have each side cut just slightly to give the bar a more narrow feel. Dylan does have his steering races pretty loose and likes to have it that way for his riding preferences. The steering stem, top clamp nut, and spanner nut is production. The steering stem is a production piece and fits Dylan’s needs for flex characteristics.

An interesting note about the GYTR clevis placed on the brake line is that the line is stock but moved further up in position to give the line more slack. Because Dylan’s bike has tall handlebars on it this give the brake line a little bit more room to move around .

You can’t see it with the rubber cover over it, but the front brake lever on Dylan’s bike is pulled extremely close in. Alex trims the adjuster bolts down so they can reel the lever even further in than stock adjustment allows. The throttle cable and throttle housing are production parts. The front brake master cylinder is also a stock component. Also shown are the banjo bolts with wire ties on them. All the banjo bolts have a similar wire tie on them in the event of the line getting knocked and spinning the nut loose.

A really unique item on Dylan’s bike that Alex pointed out to us was the throttle grip itself. These ODI grips have an added piece of rubber to stiffen up the wall of the grip. These keep Dylan from getting blisters on his thumbs. ODI grip donuts are also added to both sides of the bike.

The team runs Neken triple clamps and bar mounts. Dylan prefers to be in the back holes but the mounts forward. You also can see the clearance between the forks and handlebar is at 0. They literally rub up against the handlebar they’re so close.

Dylan runs the KYB A Kit PSF-1 forks on his YZ250F. These are air forks.

Dunlop spec tires are mounted to Excel rims with Kite heavy duty spokes and nipples. Dylan prefers to run this particular Dunlop spec tire (spec is factory tire) that was released last year to the factory teams to run. He loves this front tire so much he doesn’t use anything else really.

A titanium front axle is placed through the Kite anodized hub. The titanium axle makes the front end more rigid. The fork lugs are what you would find on a 2019 Yamaha YZ250F.

The front brake rotor is supplied to the team by Braking. The pads themselves are stock and off the shelf just like you would buy at your local Yamaha dealership.

A Light Speed carbon guard covers the stock caliper and anodized hangar. Also notice the kashima coated lowers on the KYB front forks.

The Star Racing team uses OEM radiators with black radiator louvers. They are covered with Twin Air screens to protect the radiator fins from rocks or debris during racing. You find a lot of these during the outdoor season.

Cycra provides the plastics front to back on Dylan’s bike. A unique air box cover is placed on his Yamaha YZ250F. Although we would love to show you, we have to respect the team’s wishes and keep some things top secret. We can tell you that it is designed to provide more air flow to the motorcycle. You can find similar designs on the Husqvarna Factory bikes with the holes cut out in the side panel for more air flow.

Dylan likes to have his handlebars pretty cleaned up. That means a start switch and kill switch will be the only things you find on the controls. Mapping is done through the ECU with the team so there is no need to have a map switch.

On the opposite side of the bars his clutch is moved over and gives room for the kill switch to slide over as well. Dylan’s clutch is level with the bar but the bar is so tall that it actually is pretty high in position.

The meat and potatoes of the Star Racing bikes is the engine. They are done in house by Brad and Jeremy at Star Racing. Dylan is on a fairly neutral engine package and is tailored to his liking. Mapping is done through a Vortex ignition. Small changes with the clutch and engine are made through the season but for the most part this remains relatively the same all year.

GYTR supplies a host of items in including this ignition cover on Dylan’s bike. The case saver you see to the right is actually a stock item with the plastic part removed.

The entire team is supplied with Rekluse TorqDrive clutches. Dylan can be  very hard on the clutches and prefers a stiffer spring most of the time. Alex explained that they do make changes depending on the track to the clutch to better suit what Dylan is looking for.

In the distance is a stock shift lever in a very neutral position. Up close are Raptor titanium foot pegs, mounts, and pins. The spring is OEM. The position of the foot pegs is also in the standard position.

Both the front and top engine hangars are titanium components that change the rigidity characteristics of  Dylan’s bike.

A titanium swingarm pivot is used on Dylan’s bike with a cap to cover it. This little cap just prevents mud from packing inside and making it harder to work on if necessary. Both sides are plugged with what is called Delrin plastic. Delrin is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. Below is a photo of the opposite side

Swingarm pivot plug shown above. The plug on the right side also helps with preventing mud packing behind the brake pedal during racing or during bike wash.

On the A-kit KYB rear shock you’ll notice on the compression assembly that Alex can adjust high speed/low speed compression as well as rebound. He also has another rebound adjustment at the bottom.

A blue powder coated spring that has seen better days along with DLC coated shaft.

The chain sliders, guides, and rollers are stock but the block in the rear is a carbon Light Speed component. Inside the carbon piece is actually a production guide.

The sub frame is at a standard height but the team does have options available depending on the rider’s preferences.

Dylan is the only one on the team without ribs on his D’Cor seat cover. He also runs a bump made out of a bar pad to keep him in place on the starts. Dylan prefers to have a more worn in seat than new. Alex explained that Dylan is very in tune with small changes to the bike and notices if the seat is brand new or if the handlebars aren’t exactly where he likes them.

FMF supplies exhausts to the entire team. The exhaust is tailored to the engine package and can be changed to help with sound and creating more power in areas to the riders preferences. Alex explained that the current system they are running is the best version they have been able to come up with.

Out back is an EK chain with Vortex rear sprocket. The bolts holding the sprocket into place are titanium.

A titanium rear axle is used with Zeta chain adjuster blocks. As far as the axle position goes, Alex told us that this set up is a happy medium for Dylan in both the whoops and turns during racing.

The locking nut on the rear axle is steel and Alex did say he wasn’t too much of a fan of titanium on rotational parts.

Braking supplies the rear rotor and is attached to an OEM caliper and brake pads. The bolts holding the rear disc to the Kite rear hub are titanium. The caliper also has a carbon piece to protect it. The brake lines are also a production piece.

The rear brake master cylinder is a factory piece. What makes it factory? It is simply the same thing as you would find on a 2019 Yamaha YZ250F, the only difference being that the sight glass window has been removed to prevent the risk of damage during racing.

Some factory components that lie underneath the motorcycle are the link and knuckle. These are factory components and supply Dylan with the feel he is looking for. Both the knuckle and pull rod are works components.

A very unique piece on Dylan’s bike is the extra material added to the brake arm. It is threaded with adjustment if need be and is attached to the GYTR clevis. The reason for this particular device is to prevent the guts of the rear master cylinder being stripped out from its housing. If the rear brake were to get ripped off or yanked upwards at the tip, the guts of the rear master cylinder could potentially be ripped out and cause complete brake failure. Alex explained to DB that this tab helps prevent those problems.

While appreciate the sheer beauty of the motor you will see that on the tip of the oem brake pedal is a brake snake. This prevents from the brake being ripped away from the motorcycle and causing brake failure. This also prevents from rocks and tough block being trapped between the brake pedal and clutch cover.

Across the entire motorcycle you will find these Zeta engine plugs and trinkets. They are aluminum and anodized blue to go with the color scheme of the bike.

The water temp sensor is moved up into the hose. Colt Nichols’ mechanic Trevor Carmichael builds these pieces and then they are anodized. The original location on the production model is on the spigot. Due to the vibration at the spigot, this is a more accurate reading for the team to use than oem placement. On the right side of the motorcycle the team uses Oetiker clamps which don’t need to be adjusted. They are as tight as they will get and stay in place.

A Light Speed full coverage skid plate is used on Dylan’s bike. They actually have wings on both sides that protect more of the sides of the engine from debris.

An item on Dylan’s bike that is extremely tucked away is the back up start button behind the shrouds. We would be lying if we said that we found this all on our own. Alex pointed out this back up starter just before we left the pits and wanted to share. A lot of the factory teams including Ken Roczen, Joey Savatgy, and Aaron Plessinger have similar back up start buttons to ensure they have a means to getting the bike running if the main start device is damaged during racing.

The team uses a 1.8 radiator cap over the production 1.1 . This helps prevent the water from boiling over while racing.

This Works Connection holeshot device is in what Alex calls medium to deep position. The steel grates that are used now in Supercross have so much traction that most riders are going pretty deep in their forks. Although this is only a one-button design, Alex explained that they will either change the fork guard or slide the ring up on the fork a bit to quickly make changes during race day.

The team uses D’Cor graphics for their entire bike as well as seat cover. An interesting note is that the numbers are cut out by the mechanic and the actual material is a bit thinner to keep the weight down on the bike. Dylan also squeezes very hard and stands up a lot more than the rest of his team which rips off the number plate graphics easy if they don’t do some precautionary cutting beforehand.

Mettec supplies all the titanium on the motorcycle front to back. An interesting note that Alex pointed out was that the hardware is used on the race bikes but eventually makes its way on to practice bikes and then test bikes for the team. He explained that the titanium fasteners they use are very durable.

You will find numbers on parts of the engine cases on every factory bike you see if you look close enough. These numbers like the ones shown above are a means of inventory for the team. This allows the team to keep an eye on hours, parts used, and performance of the race bike. Most teams use 2-3 engines that are in circulation at all times during the race season.

 

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