Inside Eli Tomac's 2022 Star Racing Yamaha YZ450F

[@AntigravityBatteries]

And the Lithium batteries they use for durability and extra lightweight in the Star Monster Yamaha, and Monster Kawi are..... Antigravity Batteries. Yay.👍

[@TheLoob321]

Go figure, a straight up “feel team”, letting their riders be comfortable, absolutely owning the competition. Put that in ya pipe and smoke it.

[@Scandle68]

Right on. There's a day and night difference personality. He is clearly much happier. That by itself makes a big difference on the track. Getting a rider's bike set up the way HE wants it is ultra important with riders like Tomac who have an "attack the track" style and do certain things others don't (like pinning the throttle and using the clutch to control the power). Accommodate them, get the bike dialed to suit them, and let them do what they do. I think Kawi missed out on titles and wins they could have had. Tomac can still rip, but can you imagine if he was on this team today, but 4 or 5 years younger? He would be untouchable. Maybe the 4 or 5 years of extra wisdom are worth being a tiny bit past his prime. That's one bad dude either way.

[@motosporttouring]

I’m smoking it right now as a matter of fact.

[@jasonyama1082]

Michael is the best at these videos! Love these

[@jayreynolds57]

That has to be best mx bike check iv ever watched, great job

[@Raydio6]

Thing is sooo dang baddass I had to screenshot it like way too many times from every angle Tomac! Let’s go Beast mode A3

[@th_js]

That bike is absolutely stunning.

[@stayathome2]

Soon to be 66 and haven't ridden for 30+ years, but still follow it and try to get to Unadilla every year. Always was into the tech on the factory bikes, especially back in the era of true works machines. Always enjoy the explanations given in your videos; just enough techno-speak without having to be an engineer to understand it.

[@chris3407]

Michael, outstanding work on these. I don’t dislike hearing from the mechanics, but you star able to draw from a wider range of knowledge and comparisons so your recaps are outstanding. Great work! Side note: I have a hard time believing Star lost 15 lbs over factory Yamaha. 15 lbs from a stock bike, sure. 🤔

[@mxr248]

No it’s not hard at all.

[@mxwells216]

Eli also runs Renthal full waffle grips on pro taper bars.

[@chris3407]

@@mxr248 Can you explain? Is factory Yamaha so bad that they can spend millions racing and even building 450 motors for Star, yet bulk up their bikes so bad? I’m not saying you are wrong, just asking you to explain. Thanks.

[@leeham273]

@@chris3407 Factory Yamaha would add so much data acquisition parts and what not it would add up. That and a bunch of parts that were essentially bling and had no real benefit.

[@maxfried5328]

I’d say it’s pretty reasonable. There is a lot of weight on a 450. With a stock bike they have to balance performance and price. Completely different story with factory

[@todddooley793]

The best riders bike video I've seen. Good job Michael!

[@tredeuce]

That shorty silencer looks 🔥

[@onlysnaps69]

bruh

[@2216sammy]

Just finished watching the last of the Anaheim races , great ride Eli and it was very smart to not push too much a second place finish is still FANTASTIC and now we head to east coast tracks which many say you much prefer . I have no doubt in my mind that you will end up as champion in the end .

[@erichildreth7562]

Great review on Eli's bike and thanks for sharing!!!

[@roosthrower]

🔥they say the blue flame is hotter. It doesnt matter what bike it is its the rider and reliability that matter

[@kylewhyte2108]

Finally on a yamaha bro fan from day 1!

[@jimbeaux89]

I would kill for a setup like that. Then again, I’d be killed on a setup like that lol

[@haussman242]

Peep that lock wire on the rear brake line to the master cylinder

[@ryans2118]

Tomacs bike is sick!

[@SauceyDad]

The red plate adds 6 hp tho so...there’s that..

[@andrewtorgerson6143]

facts lol

[@JDpower9211]

Lmao this guy 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@JonnyJetson754]

I believe the red color adds much more aerodynamics as well🤓

[@shaneWARs1]

The sound of these bikes are so good and so different then every one else's. Also hope Daytona wasn't a foresight of Et3 bike over heating in out doors Fernandez bike did last year

[@samuel123478]

i noticed some 3D printed parts on there as well!!!! interesting

[@andreasstefanou5898]

Did i heard well? Yamaha facilities in Cyprus??? I am from Cyprus 🇨🇾. There is not such a thing here. I wished it would... Awesome video by Lindsey like always. Much better than the usual video from mechanics

[@Scandle68]

Star Yamaha took a gamble hiring a rider who's never ridden a Yamaha, and has unique riding techniques that require a bike set up specific to HIM. A 29 year old rider is already past his peak performance years and a year older than the oldest supercross champion in history. He's also getting on a totally different machine that he's never been on, so they're starting from scratch on the set up. That isn't a good investment if he's hired specifically to win and deliver a title that season. But...that team is a very capable team that's hell bent to win, that's Eli Tomac they hired, so having red plate in the 450 division for a few weeks now, 4 wins in that class already this season, a growing 18 point lead, and winning Daytona, that investment is looking to be the home run they believed it could be. There's also the outdoors and what he could potentially do on that machine along with the current outdoor champ who is a straight up animal outdoors himself. There's also the domination in the 250 west sx series by Craig. Those Yamaha execs in Japan gotta be happy about the gamble and home run that they hit by turning it over to Bobby Ragen and the star boys, who also gotta be happy about the him run they hit after gambling on Tomac. That's a badass team of smart people.

[@mikebrown41182]

I wonder if Yamaha suddenly would say, no we going to put the engine in a neutral position again instead of the reverse, to make it less "fat" underneath. Remember James and Chads 06-09 generation, they were really good and suddenly they reversed the engine. Now over a decade later it is really good after many years of development. Just some food for thoughts.

[@jimbo4203]

Idk but I did love my 07' yz450

[@straighttimestirrups]

Hated my 06! Damn bike wouldn’t turn worth a crap but the engine was awesome!

[@rodneyking2173]

Piece of Art work

[@Kawiboy]

Insightful as always Mike 👊 👍😉..

[@traxxasrc10]

I’d love to see a breakdown of Anderson’s KX450

[@eric6rock]

I didn't know riders can have deals with parts manufacture and have exclusivity towards it. So his ride a top tier even more than Ferrandis. His name carries weight so glad for the Yamaha switch and Star Racing. Kawasaki got to tangled up with data and numbers and falling behind the basics of a team.

[@garrett3234]

these are absolutely killer vids!! my only question is on eli’s bike compared to Dylans they are running different length silencers. is this because they are on different engine packages. Eli is the only one with a shorty

[@HPRaceDevelopment]

the longer one is likely the smaller outlet one they had last year. smooths and tames hit some. my understanding is dylan prefers less power

[@NickW90]

They run the same length muffler

[@garrett3234]

@@NickW90 i looked it up dylan is running same 250s are longer still interesting. got to be with engine size and the package on the 250s being different

[@oskjan1]

From another video: they run the exact same engine. Just that they tamed Dylans map a bit while Eli left it at full power.

[@dank3823]

So what I want to know is when are the aluminum frames getting painted. A black frame would make that thing bling.

[@joelrowe9034]

That’s a Honda button by the kill switch on the clutch side

[@frankiemarchese2978]

Surprised to see bubbles in the graphics on a factory bike LOL

[@Pete_-sj2ic]

Does anyone know who makes the Hole-shot / mapping double button set up? Thanks

[@codywright1446]

Thoughts on running an external water pump on the 450’s for outdoors?

[@craiggoins6988]

I was wondering the same thing

[@HUSKY7-1]

Rear silencer guard looks like something you'd cook/griddle a fish on. Eli Turbot?

[@ryanbarker4422]

I've never tryed the air I like any Pro Circuit suspension.

[@SOFTAILX]

They need blue front fender.

[@smauller623]

Dang Michael just dig that shirt out of the dryer 🧐

[@dustin9035]

Best comment ever!!!

[@E4AdventureFilms]

Sharp looking bike!

[@2wheels1love21]

I could see on tv his bike is higher than me in the back😅

[@RichM0410]

Rode a ‘76 YZ125 and a 96 YZ250 so I know what the approximate value was in stock form. I have no clue what the value is of Tomac’s bike. Couldn’t even guess.

[@grinte2266]

can u make a vide about showa fork and kyb fork, what are the differnece betwween those two of stock bikes. I got kawasaki 2019 450 aand I m thrilled about that fork, it does work amaizing.cant really wish for something better.

[@tcmx712]

From what I've experienced after a revalve of both the kyb performs better in the first half of the stroke (braking bumps, square edges, etc) and the showa performs better in the last half of the stroke (g-outs, flat landings and high speed rhythms)

[@grinte2266]

@@tcmx712 thank you

[@mxcollin95]

What was that yellow circular piece on the front of the carbon fiber front brake guard covering the front brake reservoir? It looks zip tied on the front of the guard.

[@cjkell7174]

excellent video

[@Motoshane74]

I could me mistaken but the starter and killswitch buttons look different from stock, is this so he doesn’t accidentally bump them while riding?

[@FastEddy301]

Yes, seen another review of the bike and they mentioned it.

[@handbanana6843]

Yes I believe they 3d print guards to go around the buttons to keep the riders from accidentally hitting them.

[@travisharnish5780]

Why don’t the numbers on side number plates rotate a little to flow better with that bike?

[@NoName-hw8ty]

Not an eye catching bike at all, but definitely an absolute state of the art machine from end to end.

[@mrabrasive51]

Don't they put pressurized helium in the frame tubes?🎈🎈🎈

[@chapensmothers5664]

Does tomac run a quarter turn throttle?

[@andrewtorgerson6143]

what is that picture on the whats it called air bottle thing

[@jonathanlane9867]

How much would this suspension package cost a normal consumer..??

[@johnwadsworth4916]

Yea there finally setting the bikes up for the rider not like the factory engineers

[@shortreiviews7-11]

Dose Tomac run a 280mm front rotor?

[@SideOut4Life]

Don't forget the red plate now

[@rpk1528]

What is Yamaha's future with the cable clutch, is their plan to keep it or eventually go hydraulic?

[@luixzzzz]

Cables better

[@superzuki8222]

Was that a second start button zip tied on the frame on the right side?

[@oskjan1]

Yes. In case the primary button breaks.

[@wfoholeshot8614]

Nice job. Q-How do they get air into front forks?

[@FirstGendodgegarage]

With a hand air pump

[@dustin9035]

What's the secret parts inside those cases?

[@solorunner1389]

Holy shit..how you mean?That boy good

[@devinfraser9795]

That poor bike 😂😂😂 Tomac is hard and on it … and power he wants all the power he can get ..

[@joshdereus]

Bar bend ?

[@paulelm4645]

They may have to add more carbon fiber to production bikes

[@NickW90]

DID chain and Renthal grips lol

[@RealDisrespecful]

No ek chain

[@thefridaynetwork]

where are all the "blue pig" haters now?

[@tcmx712]

Still here, it all comes down to preference but myself and alot of others just hate the way yz's feel and handle. Doesn't mean they are a bad bike, they're great but for alot of people who don't have a factory team behind them they just don't work. Plus you can't put the fact it's more the rider aswell Tomac hasn't finished outside the top 3 overall in supercross since 2014 (which was his rookie year)

[@thefridaynetwork]

@@tcmx712 hmmm interesting. I see tons of riders at local tracks and magazine test riders that would disagree with your "they just don't work" statement.

[@thefridaynetwork]

@@tcmx712 Tomac finished 4th in 2016 SX.

[@tcmx712]

@@thefridaynetwork sorry yes he finished 4th one year but was top 3 all the others, geez nitpick much haha??? Also for the reasons I don't like the yamaha is the same reasons why most magazine test riders don't place the yz first in their shootouts. It may have a great motor and the best suspension but it's undeniable that it is the worst handling bike on the track (still passable in the handling as all modern bikes are just not anywhere near as good as any of the other bikes)

[@thefridaynetwork]

@@tcmx712 That's just your opinion. Some people may think the KTM platform is the "worst handling bike on the track." So stating that Yamahas "just don't work" is inconsiderate and ignorant.

[@JamesyMusial14]

These vids are weird I prefer to hear from the actual mechanic that builds and maintains the bike