Dirt Rider Torture Test

Dubach Racing and Enzo teamed up to find a little more YZ in the WR450F. The plan worked. Joe Melton demonstrates.

#118 Dr.D Racing
Yamaha WR450F
Does This Look Infected?
Modified bikes should mirror their stock, pre-tweaked selves. Improvements should be made in places where standard manufacturing processes, demographic targeting and business economics require a blanket approach. The stock WR450 is a broadly pleasing bike. Sure, it comes with silly throttle stops and other restrictions from the showroom. But in "realistic" mode, the bike is hard to dislike.

The Dr.D bike is just like stock, only improved as much as possible where it's needed to compete in closed-course, WORCS or GNCC racing. It's almost like Doug Dubach and his team (which was comprised of Doug, Jeff Emig, Joe Melton, Kevin Foley and PR-master Terry Beal) infected the bike with some sort of wonderful, fast-guy disease.

Personally, I had the fastest time on the motocross track on the Yamaha. Why? Mostly it was because Joe Melton, the only member of Dubach's testing crew who didn't fall deathly ill during our two-day event, was mocking me. The WR wasn't happiest down low in the rpm, and it didn't possess the greatest tightly spaced MX gearbox, but I was still fast on it and Joe was very con. dent. He even bet lunch on our one-lap race. Was that smart for his wallet? Wait and see.

Dirt Rider Torture Test Dr D Racing Team

Dr.D Racing enlisted former MX champion Jeff Emig, Tom Wallace, Terry Beal, Steven Stoyakovich, Doug Dubach and Tim Olson to help with the torture.

Besides being motivated by a friendly rivalry, I was fast on this bike because it was simply usable. The bike has a WR heart with a YZ attitude. The motor makes smooth power and lots of it, predictably, but brings it much sooner than expected.

The instant response to the throttle was welcomed on the wet track during our test. It picked up the power in YZ fashion and stretched it out as long as the leggy WR. I wasn't the only one who was impressed.