ATV Scene's Project MX Blaster Part 2
From first time racer, to national championship contender…
By Joe Tolle
STAGE 2
Meeting the needs of the intermediate racer
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| Up front, our project Blaster enjoys a much wider stance thanks to Burgard Cycle's great performing and very affordable +3 +1 A-arm package. Performance on the track between stage 1 and 2 is as dramatically different as it looks in the pictures. |
In Stage 1 of our Project Blaster, we made our machine faster, better handling and more durable through the use of basic bolt-on parts. We also addressed one area overlooked by many beginner level racers, -- rider comfort and control. While we added quite a few mods in the first stage, most of them were relatively inexpensive and could be added individually.
After stage 1 was complete, we sat down to reevaluate our machine's strengths and weaknesses to determine what was needed to take it to the next level. Our conclusions were unanimous; fix the suspension. With our machine's boost in power and stability, the stock shocks felt even more harsh, packed worse, and bottomed harder then ever. Remember, all the power in the world will do you no good if you cannot get it to the ground.
Stretch and lengthen
In order to gain stability, extend wheel travel and improve durability,
we decided to replace our machine's axle, A-arms and swing arm. Starting up
front, we contacted Burgard Cycle and ordered a set of +3" wider and
+1" forward A-arms. The A-arms are made entirely of chromoly and are
camber adjustable. Out back, Burgard set us up with a +2" chromoly swing
arm with round housing carrier. The trick round housing setup makes adjusting
your chain very simple. You only need a couple of tools to get the job done,
as opposed to the five or six different tools needed to manipulate the stock
chain adjustment system. To complement the looks of the machine, we opted
to have the swing arm and lower a-arms powder coated candy blue, while the
upper a-arms were chromed.
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| While they may be the least expensive pair of custom built shocks on the market. The Works Steeler front shocks gave us the confidence to do things we wouldn't have considered with the Blaster's stock front shocks. |
At the tail of the machine, we ditched the wimpy stock axle and replaced
it with a much more gnarly Dura Blue Eliminator. The Dura Blue axle is constructed
of chromoly, is adjustable between +1" and +3" per side and features
a limited lifetime warranty. If you want some extra reliability and stability,
but aren't’t ready to throw down the cash for A-arms and a swing arm,
the axle can be added without effecting the leverage on your stock shocks.
Get the clunk out of your junk
With the chassis components picked out, we needed to address the
suspension. If you have looked at the going prices for shocks these days,
you know how staggering the cost can be. Fortunately, competing in the Youth
Production and 200/300 classes is more affordable than in many other classes.
The average machine has less invested in it and outcome is still more determined
by rider skill then by amount invested.
Works Performance is one of the longest standing names in aftermarket ATV suspension. Besides offering high dollar full out race shocks, Works is about the only company currently offering a more affordable line of custom built high performance shocks. For the front of our machine, we ordered a set of Works Performance Steeler shocks. These shocks feature dual rate springs and are preload adjustable. The dual rate setup allows a softer spring shock to soak up small bumps, while the stiffer spring helps the shock resist bottoming. We ordered our shocks without reservoirs to save some cash, but Works can later upgrade them with ressies if you like. For the rear, we ordered a Works Performance Quad Star shock. This shock is preload adjustable and features a remote reservoir,
Works shocks feature a 30-day ride guarantee in case you aren't’t completely happy with the ride of your new suspension and since their shocks are rebuildable, they aren't’t disposable like the Blaster’s stock shocks.
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| The rear end of our machine did a much better job of soaking up both large and small hits with the Works Performance Quad Star shock. The Burgard Cycle Round Housing swing arm also makes chain adjustment a snap. |
To protect our new suspension, we contacted Shock Pros and ordered a set of their black with blue flame shock covers. They are constructed of a waterproof canvas type material and close around your shocks using industrial grade Velcro. If you spend the money on new shocks, a set of these is well worth the investment.
If looks could kill
After our chassis and suspension upgrades we were ready to bring
the looks of our machine into the 21st century. A company called, "Project
Blaster" was quick to the rescue with their vented front fender kit.
Project Blaster takes a Maier Plastic one piece front end with cut out vents
in the center. Their fenders allow an expanded metal grill for better cooling
and improved looks. Of course, the new front fenders come with all necessary
mounting hardware.
Nuts and bolts
If you race then you have to maintain your machine regularly. This
often involves removing your plastic and by the time you’ve done it
a few times, you may have noticed that those stock Phillips head screws strip
quite easily. To ease maintenance and further improve the looks of our machine,
we installed a stainless steel allen head bolt kit from GYT-WYPT Racing. They
offer kits for many Yamaha models and we have used them on more then a few
machines in the past.
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| GYT-WYPT Racing's stainless steel allen
head bolt kit eliminates those stripped out phillips head screws and adds
a professional looking touch to your machine. |
Big air with no scare! Works Performance most entry level shocks felt like they had three times the travel of the stock suspension. Whether we were pounding through the whoops or airing it out, the new shocks definitely raised our test riders' confidence. |
Ride time
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| Project Blasters' vented front fender kit has to be the single biggest improvement you can make to your Blaster's appearance. If definitely got a lot of attention whenever we took our machine out for testing. |
With the Fall comes rain, thus ending our testing at the New Vienna MX track in Ohio. Looking for some dry dirt to play in, we took our stage 2 Blaster to Earlywine’s Indoor Motocross Track, located in Northern KY. The track is a forgiving SX layout with lots of doubles, whoops, several large tabletops, and plenty of bowl turns. Not the ideal place to ride a stock Blaster, but ours was no longer stock. So how did our stage 2 Blaster perform? It exceeded our expectations!
The first thing you notice about this machine is its new appearance. While the Project Blaster graphics kit and seat cover we installed in stage 1 helped make our machine stand out, - their vented front fender kit make it look outstanding! This combined with the sweet looking blue flame, shock covers by Shock Pros and the stainless steel allen head bolt kit from GYT-WYPT Racing, had onlookers interest. The most common comments were, "What is that thing,” and “ That’s a bad looking Blaster!”
On the track we were blown away by the performance of the Works shocks, Burgard Cycle A-arms and swing arm package, and Dura Blue's axle. These shocks and chassis components are some of the most affordable on the market, yet they completely transformed the handling of our Blaster. Money well spent if you ask us.
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| Test rider Ryan "Superman" Barns was extremely impressed with our Blaster's new found handling. All of our test riders felt the cornering speed was greatly improved with the machine's extra width. | Our Blaster's extended wheelbase helps
keep things nice and stable. Our machine is definitely ready for a serious
injection of |
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When it came to protecting our new suspension, Shock Pros had us covered with their sweet looking Blue Flame shock covers. |
By the time our test riders hit the first jump the difference was clear. Instead of just soaring off the face of jumps, the Works shocks gave the machine a feeling of leaping into the air. This extra feeling of confidence was even further substantiated on the down side, or when coming up short. The suspension rarely bottomed and never did so with the same harsh clunk of the stock shocks.
The whoops would have been a bit of a handful on our stock machine. However, our test riders could choose to double, or simply plow their way through. The extra wheelbase provided by the Burgard A-arms and swing arm, combined with the vastly improved Works shocks, kept our Blaster tracking straight no matter how hard we attacked the track.
As you would imagine, the machine’s cornering ability was also improved.
The Dura Blue Eliminator axle and Burgard A-arms provided our machine with
an extra 6 inches of width, which aided tremendously in our machine's cornering
ability. Corners could be either railed or squared off with ease. The need
for body English in turns was greatly reduced, but don’t get too lazy.
These are not ZPS style shocks, so the machine does not squat way down in
the suspension travel as it would with some of Works higher end shocks. However,
for the money we saved, we’re willing to lean just a bit more in the
turns.
The Bottom Line
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The stock Blaster is an entry-level sport machine. If you want to get serious with your racing, the Blaster needs serious upgrades. Our project Blaster has been transformed into a serious racer for the intermediate level rider. We accomplished this while spending only a few hundred more dollars then some long travel A-arm/suspension packages alone!
Besides the improvement in performance, all of the components used in this stage go a long way in increasing your machines reliability. The Dura Blue axle and Burgard chassis parts are quite a bit stronger then stock and the Works shocks do an excellent job of keeping both man and machine protected from the harsh realities of a motocross track.
With all of the bolt-ons from stage 1, combined with the chassis and suspension upgrades from stage2 our Blaster is now quite a capable performer. If you want to win at the nationals though, it’s going to take a total package. The only stone left unturned is internals of the motor. Make sure you check back for stage 3 as we try and gain the necessary power to lead from holeshot to the checkered flag.
Stock |
Stage
1 |
Stage
2 |
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| In an effort to increase our machine's straight line stability, we increased its wheelbase three inches overall. Burgard Cycle helped us achieved this with their +1" forward A-arms and +2" swing arm. | ||
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| To widen the rear of our machine, we installed a Dura Blue Eliminator +3" axle. As you can see in our before and after pictures, it makes a huge difference in the machine's stance. The Dura Blue axle is also far stronger than stock and should hold up a lot better to the rigors of motocross racing. | ||
STAGE 1: STAGE 2 |
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