30-SECOND PRIMER ON THE 2019 YAMAHA YZ250F

The all-new 2019 Yamaha YZ250F’s plastic bodywork is lighter and more compact. The radiator shrouds are narrower and the radiators are larger. The seat height has been reduced by 8mm towards the front and almost 20mm lower at the tail end. The MSRP is $8199.

The bilateral beam frame is completely new for 2019. It features a redesigned swingarm pivot area along with redesigned upper frame bracing and rear frame spars.

The 2019 YZ250F has an on-the-fly two-mode adjustable engine mapping button and electric starter with ultra-lightweight lithium-ion battery.

The engine gets a high-compression, flat-top, forged piston and revised intake ports, cam profiles, optimized crank balance and a counterbalancer to produce better mid-to-high-rpm power. The new cylinder is also lighter and angled more upright. The transmission has revised gears, shift drum, dogs and shift mechanism.

The engine is all-new from the ground up and the wrap-around exhaust pipe has the muffler moved forward for better centralization of mass. .

A larger-diameter clutch is designed to improve feel and boost reliability.

The Kayaba SSS forks have updated settings, larger pistons and newly designed fork lugs/axle brackets, while the shock gets new damping, lighter-weight spring and 30cc increase reservoir volume.

2018 AMA 450 NATIONALS: WEAK? STRONG? OR ON THE REBOUND?

Eli Tomac.

The 2018 AMA 450 National class may seem weak, but how can that be when it still has Tomac, Roczen, Musquin, Baggett, Barcia and Peick fighting for the wins. However, it has lost factory-supported Jason Anderson, Christian Craig, Dean Wilson, Cooper Webb, Justin Bogle and Josh Grant. Plus, Justin Brayton, Malcolm Stewart and Chad Reed skipped the AMA Nationals. That may seem bad, but it is less than were lost during the Supercross season (where only 5 riders scored points in every race and Musquin, Tomac, Wilson, Webb, Barcia, Roczen, Seely, Millsaps, Bogle and Grant all missed races to injuries).

Ken Roczen.

The upside to all of this is that thanks to the amazing recovery of Ken Roczen from his arm injuries, the racing in the first three rounds has been nothing short of phenomenal. Tomac has won the first six motos, but he has had to come from behind to make it happen more often than anyone thought. With a stronger Roczen, Baggett, Barcia and Musquin as the season progresses—there could be some epic action in the remaining nine events.

Benny Bloss.

Plus, some long-ignored riders and young kids are suddenly getting noticed. Benny Bloss has five top ten motos out of six and Dylan Merriam scored three top ten motos. Other notables include Brandon Scharer, Kyle Chisholm, Cody Cooper and Bradley Taft.

Justin Hill will race select rounds of the 450 class starting next week.

As an added plus, Autotrader.JGR Suzuki will move Justin Hill to the 450 class starting at Mt. Morris. This is not a surprise, Hill signed his 2018 contract for the 250 class with a deal to move to the 450 class in 2019. But, since Justin has been just riding around in the 250 class with a six-moto average of 14th place (and hasn’t been in the top ten yet), JGR isn’t losing a 250 National contender by moving Justin to the 450 class. It is cynical to say, but it just might be that Justin planned to stink up the 250 class so that JGR would have to move him to the 450 class.

WHAT ZACH OSBORNE’S SHOULDER INJURY MEANS TO THE 250 CLASS

Zach Osborne is out. He lost the points lead last week in Colorado after a first turn crash. He struggled to finish 20th and everyone assumed that his previously ailing thumb was to blame. It turned out to be a shoulder injury.

With Zach Osborne now out of the AMA 250 Nationals with a shoulder injury (not the thumb injury that everyone expected,) the door has swung open for the Martin brothers, Aaron Plessinger and Justin Cooper.

Phil Nicoletti will move to Rockstar Husqvarna to fill-in for Jason Anderson in the 450 class starting at Mt. Morris on June 16.

Sadly for Team Husqvarna, who banked everything on Zach Osborne winning the 250 class after 450 riders Dean Wilson and Jason Anderson went out with injuries, the team is now decimated (but will add Phil Nicoletti to the team as a fill-in rider for Anderson). Nicoletti is already a fill-in rider at JGR, but said that if he ever got an offer from a factory team for a full-time ride that we would be interested in taking it—and he did.

Jimmy Decotis will be back at Muddy Creek on June 23.

As for the 250 National class, it is still interesting even with the loss of the current 250 National Champion. Osborne will join Adam Cianciarulo, Dylan Ferrandis and Jimmy Decotis on the sidelines (Ferrandis is scheduled to return at Mt. Morris and Decotis will return to action at Muddy Creek). As it stands now, after six motos, there have been 4 different moto winners (Jeremy Martin, Justin Cooper, Zach Osborne and Aaron Plessinger). Those four become the most likely to succeed.

CURRENT 2018 250 NATIONAL POINTS STANDING
1. Jeremy Martin (Hon)…129
2. Aaron Plessinger (Yam)…121
3. Alex Martin (KTM)…116
4. Zach Osborne (Hus)…105
5. Justin Cooper (Yam)…98
6. Jordon Smith (KTM)…77
7. Chase Sexton (Hon)…76
8. Austin Forkner (Kaw)…75
9. Garrett Marchbanks (Kaw)…72
10. R.J. Hampshire (Hon)…72

Alex Martin.

The spread in points from first to fifth is only 31 points (compared to the 450 class where the spread from first to second is 28 points). The only rider in the 250 top five not to win a moto is Alex Martin—who is third in points. Even more significant is that 14 of the top 20 riders in the 250 class have scored points in every moto so far.

2018 AMA 250/450 NATIONAL WINNERS AT A GLANCE — AFTER 3 OF 12 ROUNDS

Zach Osborne (1) had a bad day at Thunder Mountain and had to give up his red plate to Jeremy Martin—and a post-race medical exam revelaed a shoulder injury that will put him out of action. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson

Date           Venue                            450                         250
May 19……Hangtown, CA…………Eli Tomac…………Zach Osborne
May 26……Glen Helen, CA………..Eli Tomac…………Aaron Plessinger
June 2…….Thunder Valley, CO…Eli Tomac…………Jeremy Martin
June 16…..Mt Morris, PA
June 23.…Muddy Creek, TN
June 30.…Southwick, MA
July 7..…..Red Bud, MI
July 21.….Millville, MN​
July 28……Washougal, WA
Aug. 11…..Unadilla, NY​
Aug. 18…..Budds Creek, MD​
Aug. 25…..Crawfordsville, IN
450 Points leader…Eli Tomac (Kaw)
250 points leader…Jeremy Martin (Hon)

WATCH THE THUNDER VALLEY 250/450 NATIONAL IN UNDER 4 MINUTES

2018 GRAND PRIX WINNERS AT A GLANCE — AFTER 9 OF 20 ROUNDS

Pauls Jonass won his sixth 250GP of the season at Matterley Basin.

Date           Venue                         450                           250
Mar. 4……..Argentina…………..Jeffrey Herlings……….Pauls Jonass
Mar. 18……Holland #1………….Jeffrey Herlings……….Pauls Jonass
Mar. 25……Spain………………….Tony Cairoli…………….Pauls Jonass
Apr. 8………Italy #1………………Jeffrey Herlings……….Jorge Prado
Apr. 15…….Portugal…………….Jeffrey Herlings……….Jorge Prado
May 1………Russia……………….Clement Desalle……….Pauls Jonass
May 13…….Latvia………………..Jeffrey Herlings……….Thomas Kjer Olsen
May 20…….Germany……………Jeffrey Herlings……….Jorge Prado
June 3………England……………Jeffrey Herlings……….Pauls Jonass
June 10…….France
June 17…….Italy #2
July 1……….Indonesia #1
July 8……….Indonesia #2
July 22……..Czech Republic
Aug. 5………Belgium
Aug. 12…….Sweden (canceled)
Aug. 19…….Switzerland
Aug. 26…….Bulgaria
Sept. 2…….Turkey
Sept. 16……Holland #2
Sept. 30……Italy #3
450 Points leader…Jeffrey Herlings (KTM)
250 points leader…Pauls Jonass (KTM)

WATCH THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX: HERLINGS DOES IT AGAIN, BUT DID HE DO IT ON PURPOSE

MOTOCROSS ACTION READER SURVEY: LET US KNOW WHO YOUR ARE

Make sure to take our detailed MXA Reader Survey so we can accommodate you better.

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS: BUTTON FLY, TOMMY GUN & THE BYRNER

June 9…Antonio Balbi 1981
June 9…Brad Hagseth

June 10…Michael Byrne 1979
June 12…Randy Hawkins
June 13…Dick Mann 1934

June 13…Tommy Searle 1990
June 14…Keith Johnson 1982
June 14…Nick Evennou
June 14…Jeff Gibson 1982

June 14…Jimmy Button 1973
June 15…Julien Lieber 1994
June 15…Willy Browning

June 16…Jimmy Albertson 1988
June 16…Greg Berg

June 16…Grant Langston 1982

PRIVATEER LIFE: CODY WILLIAMS’ DAY AT GLEN HELEN

MXA PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: SCAR TITANIUM FOOTPEG MOUNTS

Scar’s titanium footpeg brackets are half the weight of the stock brackets. They are CNC-machine from aerospace grade Ti-6AL-4V Titanium. They are deigned to shed mud easily, save weight and provide sure footing—especially when mated to Scar titanium footpegs. For more info go to www.scar-racing.com or see you Parts Unlimited dealer.

WOULD YOU RACE WITH THESE FORKS ON YOUR BIKE?

Twin-shock Ribi forks on a twin-cylinder Honda RC125 works bike.

A single shock version of Valentino Ribi’s Quadrilateral linkage forks.

Lance Moorewood at Saddleback testing a set of Rich Thorwaldsen’s Thorks.

Jody Weisel on a Wasp Yamaha 650 with beefy chromoly leading links.

A Cheney BSA with trailing link forks.

Horst Leitner designed these parallelogram forks with an eye towards making them as an option on his ATK Motorcycles. He built three sets — for a Honda CR250, Yamaha YZ250 (shown) and ATK 406.

A Cheney Yamaha with chromoly version of the Ribi Quadrilateral twin-shock forks.

THROW-BACK TWO-STROKE VID: RAILING ON A 2016 HUSKY TC125

REM IS RACING AT GLEN HELEN ON JUNE 17 & JUNE 30

For more information go to www.remsatmx.com.

OLD SCHOOL TT SCRAMBLE SERIES AT GLEN HELEN ON JUNE 17

For more information go to www.oldschoolscramblesracing.com.

2018 GREAT PLAINS VINTAGE MOTOCROSS: JUNE 23-24 AT THREE HILLS

For more information go to www.greatplainsvintagemx.org

SOCAL VINTAGE MX CLASSIC AT GLEN HELEN ON JUNE 16

For more information go to www.burnerdesignusa.com

KURT CASELLI FOUNDATION EVENT ON JUNE 23

For more information go to www.kurtcaselli.com

2018 NORTHEAST VET CHAMPIONS AT THE WICK ON JUNE 23-24

For more information go to www.thewick338.com

AMA VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE DAYS ON JULY 6-8 AT THE MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR TRACK

For more information to go www.amavintagemotorcycledays.com

2018 MONTREAL SUPERCROSS ON SEPT. 15, 2018

For more information go to www.supercrossmtl.com

LAST DOG STANDING VIDEO: GLEN HELEN LIKE YOU’VE NEVER RIDDEN IT

MOTORCYCLES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF: THE “KIT AMERICA” METRALLA

You may only remember Bultaco as a maker of trials and motocross bikes, but many road racers remember the Bultaco Metralla M2 street bike. The “Kit America” version came with a close-ratio gearbox, and different gas tank and bodywork. Metralla is Spanish for “shrapnel.”

SUBSCRIBE TO MXA & GET A $25 CHAPARRAL GIFT CARD—YOU MAKE A PROFIT BY READING MXA

The June 2018 issue of MXA could be in your mailbox, on your computer or in your phone already. It is filled with moto-stuff that you can’t find anywhere else.

Do you subscribe to MXA? You should. We know that you think that print magazines are dead and that the internet will fill the void, but most of the stuff in the current issue of MXA won’t appear on the web for several months, if at all. Luckily, you can get all of MXA on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android by going to the Apple Store, Amazon or Google Play or in a digital version. Even better you can subscribe to Motocross Action and get a $25 Chaparral gift card to spend on whatever motorcycle parts or products you need. You can call (800) 767-0345 or www.hi-torque.com/product/motocross-action or click on the box at the bottom of this page.

JOIN MXA’S FACEBOOK GROUP CHAT OR GO TO OUR TWITTER PAGE

We love everything moto and want to bring all moto junkies together into one place to share their two cents, ideas, photos, bike fixes, bike problems and much more. To check it out first you must need to or already have a Facebook account. If you don’t, it isn’t much work and you could even have an alias so nobody knows it is you. You can go to MXA’s Facebook page by clicking here.

Follow us to see fresh content every day at www.twitter.com/MXAction or on twitter at “MXAction”.

SAVE THE DATE! AMA NATIONALS, MXGP & MUCH MORE

Eli Tomac is three for three or six for six.

2018 AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
May 19……………………Hangtown, CA
May 26.…………………..Glen Helen, CA
June 2..…………….…….Thunder Valley, CO
June 16..…………………Mt Morris, PA
June 23.………………….Muddy Creek, TN
June 30.………………….Southwick, MA
July 7..……………………​Red Bud, MI
July 21.…………………..Millville, MN​
July 28.…………………..Washougal, WA
Aug. 11..………………….Unadilla, NY​
Aug. 18..………………….Budds Creek, MD​
Aug. 25.…………………..Crawfordsville, IN

2018 125 TWO-STROKE ALL-STAR SERIES
May 19……………………….Hangtown, CA
June 2………………………..Thunder Valley, CO
June 16………………………Mt Morris, PA
June 30………………………Southwick, MA
July 28……………………….Washougal, WA.
Aug. 18………………………Budds Creek, MD
Aug. 25………………………Crawfordsville, IN (Finals)

2018 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Mar. 4……………………..Argentina
Mar. 18…………………….Holland 1
Mar. 25…………………….Spain
Apr. 8……………………….Italy 1
Apr. 15……………………..Portugal
May 1……………………….Russia
May 13……………………..Latvia
May 20…………………….Germany
June 3………………………England
June 10…………………….France
June 17…………………….Italy 2
July 1……………………….Indonesia 1
July 8……………………….Indonesia 2
July 22……………………..Czech Republic
Aug. 5………………………Belgium
Aug. 12……………………..Sweden (Canceled)
Aug. 19……………………..Switzerland
Aug. 26……………………..Bulgaria
Sept. 2……………………….Turkey
Sept. 16………………………Holland 2
Sept. 30………………………Italy 3

2018 MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS
Oct. 7………………………Red Bud, MI

2018 REM GLEN HELEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 13……………………Glen Helen, CA
Jan. 20……………………Glen Helen, CA
Jan. 27……………………Glen Helen, CA
Feb. 3……………………..Glen Helen, CA
Feb. 10…………………….Glen Helen, CA
Feb. 17…………………….Glen Helen, CA
Feb. 24…………………….Glen Helen, CA
Mar. 10…………………….Glen Helen, CA
Mar. 24…………………….Glen Helen, CA
April 7………………….…Spring Series #1
April 14……………….…..20th Anniversary #2
April 28……………….…..Spring Series #3
May 5………………….….Spring Series #4 (National track)
May 12……………………Spring Series #5
May 19……………………Spring Series #6
June 2…………………….Glen Helen, CA
June 16…………………..Glen Helen, CA
June 30…………………..Glen Helen, CA
July 14……………………Summer Series #1
July 21……………………Summer Series #2
July 28……………………Summer Series #3
Aug. 11……………………Summer Series #4
Aug. 25………..………….Summer Series #5
Sept. 1……………………Summer Series #6
Sept. 1…………………….Glen Helen, CA
Oct. 6……………………..Glen Helen, CA
Oct. 20……………………Glen Helen, CA
Oct. 27……………………Glen Helen, CA (National track)
Nov. 17……………………Glen Helen, CA
Dec. 1……………………..Glen Helen, CA
Dec. 15……………………Glen Helen, CA
Dec. 22……………………Glen Helen, CA
Dec. 29…………..………Glen Helen, CA

2018 WORLD OFFROAD CHAMPIONSHIP (WORCS)
Feb. 2-4…………………..……Las Vegas, NV
Feb. 23-25……………….……Phoenix, AZ
Mar. 23-24……………….……Lake Havasu, AZ
Apr. 20-22……………….……Hurricane, UT
May 25-27……………………Cedar City, UT
Sept. 14-16……………………Glen Helen, CA
Oct. 19-21………………….…Adelanto, CA
Nov. 9-11………………….…..Primm, NV

2018 AMA SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
April 14………………………….Boise, ID
May 13………………………….Tucson, AZ
June 8…………………………..Austin, TX
June 9…………………………..Austin, TX
Aug. 3-5………………………..Quebec, CN
Sept. 8………………………….Sturgis, SD

2018 OLD SCHOOL SCRAMBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Feb. 11………………………Glen Helen, CA (canceled)
Mar. 24-25………………….Glen Helen, CA
June 17……………………..Glen Helen, CA
Aug. 19………………….…..Glen Helen, CA
Dec. 9………………………..Glen Helen, CA

2018 ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 25………………………….Prescott, AZ
Sept. 15…………………………Costa Mesa, CA
Sept. 22…………………………Reno, NV
Oct. 20…………………………..Denver, CO
Oct. 27…………………………..Everett, WA
Nov. 3……………………………Boise, ID

2018 MAXXIS BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Mar.11…………………………..Lyng, England (canceled)
Apr. 1……………………………Culham, England
Apr. 22………………………….Canada Heights, England
May 6…………………………..Blaxhall, England
June 24………………………..Desertmartin, Ireland
July 29………………………….Duns, England
Aug. 12…………………………Hawkstone, England
Sept. 23………………………..TBA, England

2018 MICHELIN BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
April 8………………….…….Lyng, England
May 20……………..………Preston Docks, England
May 27…………….……….Hawkstone Park, England
July 1………….…..………..Sherwood, England
July 15………….…..………Canada Heights, England
Sept. 2…………….…..……Crookwood, England

2018 DUTCH MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Mar.11…………………………..Markelo, Holland
Apr. 2……………………………Oldebrook, Holland
May 6…………………………..Mill, Holland
July 14-16…………………….Lichtenvoorde, Holland

2018 GERMAN ADAC MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Apr. 22………………………….Drehna, Germany
May 27………………………….Molln, Germany
June 24…………………………Bielstein, Germany
May 6……………………………Blaxhall, Germany
July 15………………………….Moggers, Germany
July 29………………………….Tensfeld, Germany
Aug. 26…………………………Teutschthal, Germany
Sept. 9…………………………..Gaildorf, Germany

2018 LORETTA LYNN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
July 30-Aug. 4…………………Hurricane Mills, TN

2018 MONSTER ENERGY CUP
Oct. 13………………………….Las Vegas, NV

2018 REM OCTOBERCROSS
Oct. 27……………………………Glen Helen, CA

2018 DUBYA WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP
Nov. 3-4…………………..…..Glen Helen, CA

2018 PARIS SUPERCROSS
Nov. 17-18………………………Paris, France

2018 THOR MINI OLYMPICS
Nov. 19-24…………………….Gainesville, FL

2018 DAY IN THE DIRT
Nov. 23-25………………………..Glen Helen, CA

RACES YOU MISSED! WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR (ALTHOUGH NOT FOR ARENACROSS)

Don’t worry! They will try to burn the stadium down again next year.

2018 AMA SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6……………………..…Anaheim, CA
Jan. 13………………………Houston, TX
Jan. 20………………………Anaheim, CA
Jan. 27………………………Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 3……………………..…Oakland, CA
Feb. 10………………………San Diego, CA
Feb. 17………………………Arlington, TX
Feb. 24………………………Tampa, FL
Mar. 3……………………..…Atlanta, GA
Mar. 10………………………Daytona, FL
Mar. 17………………………St. Louis, MO
Mar. 24………………………Indianapolis, IN
Apr. 7……………………..…Seattle, WA
Apr. 14………………………Minneapolis, MN
Apr. 21………………………Foxborough, MA
Apr. 28………………………Salt Lake City, UT
May 5…………………….…Las Vegas, NV

2018 AMSOIL ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6-7………………………….Dayton, OH
Jan. 13-14………………………Worcester, MA
Jan. 20-21……………………….Wilkes Barre, PA
Jan. 27-28………………………Greensboro, NC
Feb. 10-11………………………Madison, WI
Feb. 17-18………………………Florence, SC
Mar. 17-18………………………Denver, CO
Mar. 24-25………………………Nampa, ID
Apr. 7-8………………………….Wichita, KS
Apr. 21-22………………………Portland, OR
Apr. 28-29………………………Reno, NV
May 4-6…………………………Las Vegas, NV

2018 BRITISH ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6…………………………..Manchester
Jan. 13………………………….Newcastle
Jan. 20…………………………Birmingham
Jan. 26-27…………………….Belfast
Feb. 10………………………….Sheffield
Feb. 17………………………….London

2018 HAWKSTONE INTERNATIONAL
Feb. 11………………………….Hawkstone, England

2018 RICKY CARMICHAEL AMATEUR SUPERCROSS
Mar. 11-12……………..…….Daytona, FL

2018 WORLD TWO-STROKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Mar. 31…………………..…..Glen Helen, CA  

2018 GLEN HELEN NATIONAL 250/OPEN TWO-STROKE INVITATIONAL
May 26.…………………..Glen Helen, CA

Photos: Brown Dog Wilson ,Kyoshi Becker, Debbi Tamietti, Brian Converse, Ray Archer, Daryl Ecklund, Spencer Owens, MXA, MXGP