#WHIPITWEDNESDAY

Rider: Tommy Hahn

Tommy Hahn had an exceptional amateur career. Growing up with his brother Wil Hahn the two riders were a couple of the top riders in amateur racing. Tommy raced at Loretta Lynn’s eight different years winning his first championship in the 125 A class in 2004. He would then finish out the motocross season that same year finishing eleventh at his first national in Steel City. Though he would have many podium finishes through the years, his first win came in 2009 when he won the Steel City National in the 450 class in 2009. Tommy also rode for some of the best teams for the years. Notably, he was picked to fill in for Factory Honda HRC where his results had secured him a ride for the next year. Tommy finished his career in 2017 after thirteen years of racing.

SECOND OVERALL PRESCOTT ENDURO CROSS

A winning ride from Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Colton Haaker in the final race of the evening helped take him to second position on the podium in Round 2 of the 2024 AMA EnduroCross Series at Prescott Valley, Arizona. Five-time champion Haaker qualified quickest inside the Findlay Toyota Center after setting the pace in the Hot Laps session onboard his Husqvarna FX 350. He carried that form into Moto 1 when he finished in second position. Haaker overcame a late incident to salvage fourth in the second moto, but saved his best for last by going on to take victory in Moto 3 – taking charge on the final lap to greet the checkered flag first. Those 2-4-1 scores were enough for a comfortable P2 overall and he has climbed to third in the standings.

IRONMAN CHALLENGE: SURVIVING GLEN HELEN’S 24-HOUR ENDURANCE RACE

MXA PHOTO TRIVIA

Who is this rider?? Answer at the bottom of the article.

24 HOURS OF GLEN HELEN IRONMAN

ASK THE MXPERTS: DOES MXA HAVE ANY UPDATED 2023-2024 YZ450F MAPS?

Dear MXA,

I am the proud owner of a new 2023 Yamaha YZ450F, so I read the YZ450F test in the March 2023 issue very thoroughly. Several things caught my attention in the MXA test that I could feel on the track.

First, you said, “At the first twist of the throttle, the YZ450F is ultra-responsive. It isn’t herky-jerky down low like last year’s 2022 YZ450F engine; instead, it is overly sensitive to the slightest rotation of the throttle tube.” Boy, is that ever true. I found myself wheelying when landing from jumps or turning the throttle on when exiting ruts. I noted that you said, “We tried Yamaha’s optional “Smooth Linear” map (blue map button lit up) in hopes of taking the bark out of the low-end.” You said that it didn’t help. I concur. I downloaded that map, but it still had that aggressive bark right off idle.

So, what I really want to know is, what have you done since writing the YZ450F test that I can use to calm my YZ450F down—a lot?

In the time since we wrote the YZ450F test, we have put a lot of hours on the YZ450F with different test riders on a weekly basis 9And we have already tested three maps on our 2025 Yz450G, but we aren’t completely satisfied with them. However, you should look into raising the gearing by going from the stock 49-tooth sprocket to a 48. This made second gear taller, which cut down on the amount of thrust it generated out of corners and allowed it to pull further before we had to engage third gear. It helped, but it wasn’t a cure all for the overly snappy throttle response.

The second thing we did was to get the Yamaha R&D department to give us an even mellower map than the “Smooth Linear” map we started with. We tested the new map for a week and then told the R&D guys that we needed it to be even more detuned down low. To their credit, the R&D guys suggested a map with even more fuel between 2000 and 5000 rpm. The added fuel took away some of the crispness and toned down the bark.

Here are the the fuel and ignition map charts that we have been running on our 2023-2024 YZ450F. We are still working on the 2025 map.

To read more of the MXeperts articles, click here.

MXA VIDEO: WE TEST THE 2025 HONDA CRF250 WORKS EDITION

The 2025 Honda CRF250 Works Edition is officially here and it retails for $10,599, a $2300 upcharge from the stock 2025 CRF250. Are the mods worth the extra dough? It has an extensive list of differences like the new Nissin hydraulic clutch, new Yoshimura RS-12 titanium exhaust system, hand-polished cylinder ports, custom-tailored ECU settings, kashima-coated outer fork tubes, titanium oxide-coated fork legs, black anodized fork lugs and triple clamps, titanium oxide-coated 18mm shock shaft, Twin Air filter, Throttle Jockey Team Honda HRC graphics and seat cover, matte red metallic cylinder-head cover, D.I.D gold chain and DirtStar LT-X rims, hand-operated fork-compression adjuster, Renthal kevlar grips and Dunlop’s MX33 tires (instead of Pirelli).

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: JEFFREY HERLINGS ON MXON

“The end of the year and we won a lot this season and took a podium finish at the Nations. The goal was the world championship but that was not possible although I am pleased that I raced twenty GPs and I finished 59 motos. I want to thank the entire team for their hard work and their contribution to all of it.”

MXA PHOTO OF THE WEEK

MXA’s Jody Weisel (22) navigating his way down one of the many rough downhills that Glen Helen has to offer.

CLASSIC MXA PHOTO

Mitch Payton (right) with Adam Cianciarulo (left) after Adam had won his 250 motocross championship in 2019.

MXA Photo Trivia: Broc Glover He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1976 to 1988. Glover earned six AMA national championships, a record that stood for nearly 20 years until 2003 when Ricky Carmichael finally eclipsed the mark