How to make your YXZ Race Ready
- Updated: July 16, 2016
As most of our return readers know, UTV Scene, Yamaha Motor Corp and Double E Racing have teamed up to race the new Yamaha YXZ1000R in the 2016 UTV Rally Raid Series. With half the UTV Rally Raid season complete, we are happy to report that our new Yamaha YXZ has performed exceptionally well on the race track, especially for a first year machine. I keep getting asked the same question from many people that are considering getting into UTV racing. They simply want to know, how I like it. Of course they’re wanting as much unbiased info as they can get, especially from someone with plenty of experience with the machine. Since we have been severely testing and tuning the new YXZ and probably have more race time on it than most, I’m happy to post this little say-it-like-it-is write-up on what I’ve learned to this point.
I’ve been asked if I could choose any machine on the market which would it be…. Point black, if I had to buy a new car tomorrow, it would be the YXZ without a doubt. And that answer isn’t just talk. I honestly love the car and so does my co-driver, Keith Little. There are a few reasons for our confidence in this answer, but mainly it’s because of how well the YXZ has held up under race conditions. Unlike the car we ran last year, a Polaris RZR XP 1000, we haven’t had to replace wheel bearings, front end bushings, tie rod ends, heim joints, etc. Basically all the wear items are in great shape through four rounds of the series, as well as all the testing and tuning we’ve done to this point. Each race is four hours, add the time we have invested into testing and we have a total of 31 hard hours and 668 long miles on the machine. And trust me these aren’t your typical hours and miles, that’s for sure, and the car is still rock solid! We truly believe you will see more and more racers switching to the Yamaha in future seasons because of this. When you add it up a YXZ ends up being much more affordable to race.
Like any new race car, there are always issues you find and need to address, so I put together a list of things that we’ve found that you should know about if you’re considering racing a YXZ. The following items are needed to get your YXZ as race-ready and bullet proof as possible…
Safety comes first
A cage, 5 pt. harnesses, fire extinguisher, horn/siren and I strongly suggest containment seats of some kind. S3 Powersports make awesome race cages that are safe, light and extremely functional. These are the basic safety requirements but don’t skimp on anything that can keep you and others as safe as possible. Also know that each series will have their own requirements, so please check your series rules and make sure you comply.
Suspension
If you are going to race the YXZ, you will need suspension work. The OEM Fox shocks are great shocks, but they need to be tuned and re-sprung for the specific style of racing that you are doing. Double E Racing can handle all of your suspension needs.
Radiator Relocation
One of the biggest problems we found with the YXZ is the location of the stock radiator. It is not conducive to racing or riding in any type of mud. It will clog and cause the engine to overheat quickly. We chose the Hess Motorsport CBR large volume radiator with two heavy duty fans and mounting brackets. As with every mod available from Hess, we’ve found their radiator relocation kit to be top shelf stuff.
- A temperature gauge
This is the second flaw we found with the YXZ. The 2016 models have no gauge for temperature display. Yamaha took note and made this change for 2017, so only 2016 owners will need this mod. 
Steering quickener
We run a Hess Motorsports 2:1 quickener. I honestly do not know how you could get away running anything less than a 2:1 in a woods racing environment and this is coming from a guy who hated a 2:1 on a RZR. Bottom line, this improvement couldnt be easier and more appreciated when you’re out their using it. Major props to Hess for this bolt on gem!- Pipe and Fuel map
The YXZ completely comes alive with a good full exhaust and fuel map. We chose Graves Motorsports for our needs and couldn’t be happier. The power difference between stock and adding these two mods is about 15 rwhp, which completely brings the car alive. This hop up makes the car easier to drive since you don’t have to rev the machine at maximum rpm to get at good usable power. - Bead Lock Wheels
Douglas Wheels handled all of our wheel needs and they can yours too. The DWT Sector 3-piece wheels are the lightest and strongest beadlock on the market! Bonus, they look great too! Depending on what type of racing you are doing, will depend on the offset you need. We run the 5+2 Sector wheels on all four corners for XC racing and run a 4+3 on the rear if we race a pure short course style race.
- Tires
GBC Motorsports has a tire for every application of racing. We have been using GBC tires since we began racing UTV’s and have way less trouble than any of our competitors using other brands of tires. For XC and short course racing we run a 27x11x14 Dirt Commander or Mongrel on the rear and a 27x9x14 Dirt Commander or Mongrel on front. The Dirt Commander or Mongrel is chosen based on course conditions. - Bumpers
If you’re racing, you need to protect the car in case of contact. We chose to build our own front bumper and bolted on a Yamaha factory rear bumper. - Sway Bar
The factory rear sway bar wants to slide side to side because the factory shaft collars (clamps) are not strong enough to hold it in place. At a minimum, new shaft collars need to be put in so the sway bar can’t slide. For true performance we recommend and run the Double E Racing all bolt in rear sway bar. Thanks to our many hours of testing with Marty Hart, this bar helps the handle characteristics dramatically.
- Steel Braided brake lines
I saved this for last because most racers will be fine with the factory brake lines. However, our races are four hours long and by the end our brakes get spongy. At first we thought they were fading and we were boiling the fluid. Then we realized the rubber lines were just getting hot and expanding. The braided lines fixed our issue.
There are many other things you may do, but these are the essentials to make you fast, reliable and safe. Always look at the series you will be running and follow their rules closely.
We would love to learn how you’ve improved your YXZ, so if you have found a good bolt on item, tip or trick that others could benefit from by all means comment below.
