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Tarantula Performance Racing also will be debuting its new Race Safe bumper for adult-sized sport ATVs on our project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross quad.

The Race Safe bumper design premiered at the 2009 Indy Dealer Expo on the DRR DRX50 shown above. The Race Safe bumper design varies greatly from our original MX Series front bumper, which is pictured below and also appeared on the Spyder Quad Suzuki LTR450 headlining this blog.

The great feature about both bumpers is the removable, replaceable center insert. The inserts can be customized completely by racers with a number, their name, sponsor logos, images, etc.

Combined with the Race Safe nerf bar and heelguard combo, including all the other performance add-ons listed in previous posts, we're really starting to get a sense of how the TPR project YFZ450R is going to look when its finished.

We've got a few more components on their way, including Douglas Wheel Technologies "Champion in a Box" wheel set and ATV Four Play's MGC long-travel MX a-arms. Stay tuned.

TPR Parts - color match pegs/nerfs

I've been posting a lot about our sponsor parts, and with good reason. Many of the aftermarket industry's top companies have signed on to help build our project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross quad. But Tarantula Performance Racing is indeed the primary sponsor and will debut two new products for adult-sized sport quads on this project YFZ450R.

TPR will premiere its Race Safe nerf bars and front bumper for adult sport ATVs when this project is finished. The Race Safe line has already debuted for youth ATVs on the DRR mini quads.

Below is an image of the color-match Race Safe nerf bar and heelguard combination recently released for youth ATVs.

The Race Safe nerfs for adult-sized sport ATVs, like the TPR 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R, will feature netting from the footpeg forward but will retain an aluminum heel plate behind the peg for increased rider safety. Like the DRR youth nerf bars, the adult line will also feature replaceable foot pegs and a 'pocket' to keep competitors' wheels out and the rider's feet safely on the quad.

You can read more about our Race Safe product line here http://www.atvsource.com/articles/press_releases/2009/021309-tpr-race-safer-youth-product-line.htm

We haven't made the final call on our color combination for the Race Safer nerf bar and heelguard combo that will appear on the TPR project YFZ450R, but we're thinking black bars with blue footpegs. Feel free to send us your thoughts on the color scheme.

Parts keep rolling in - double post Wednesday

Our sponsors have been phenomenal so far with getting us parts for the TPR project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross quad.

A few more parts landed on our doorstep this week, including our RPM Dominator II axle, Maxxis tires and Cycra handguards. The RPM axle adjusts to bring our rear width out to the 50-inch limit for AMA motocross nationals and most other motocross series events.

RPM is clearly the industry standard. In 2008, 15 of the 20 AMA pro ATV riders used RPM axles. A walk around the pits at any national will reveal the majority of amateur riders also stick with RPM as their axle of choice. We've used other axles before, and for us the decision to run RPM was clear.

Cycra also sent us their Stealth handguards Racer Pack, which includes the two-position adjustable mounts and all the necessary hardware.

Cycra's Stealth guards are their base model and come without the pro-bend feature on their newer handguards to help reduce weight. The pro-bend style guards are designed more for cross-country riders banging between trees, and the Stealth guards will still provide us with optimal protection from track roost.

We also got our first set of of Maxxis Razr tires this week. We purchased this first set through a distributor as a back-up and practice set, but Maxxis is sponsoring the build with a set of four tires. DWT has been backed up, and we have been waiting on wheel sizes from them to let Maxxis know what tires to send us, so in the meantime we ordered Maxxis Razr MX 18x10x8 standard rears and the new Razr Cross 19x10x6 front tires for a set of rims we had laying around.

This Maxxis combo with the Razr Cross fronts and standard Razr MX rear tires is by far the most popular set up at the track this year. A majority of the pros are running this set up, including the team Suzuki and Yamaha riders.

The majority of our sponsor parts are in, though we have a few still on their way from Galfer and DWT. After we get the quad back from ATP Racing Engines, the next step will be for TPR to begin manufacturing the Race Safer nerf bars and front bumper along with ATV Four Play building our MGC long-travel MX a-arms.

This parts update is part of a double post for Wednesday, so keep reading to see where you can check out how the TPR project YFZ450R looks and performs when its done and ready for the track.

Media blitz - ATV.com to feature TPR YFZ450R

The editors at ATV.com, a Vertical Scope online publication, have partnered with Tarantula Performance Racing for a three-part series on the 2009 TPR Yamaha YFZ450R project motocross quad.

ATV.com has quickly established itself as a primary source for sport, utlity ATV and UTV ride reviews. The online e-zine - viewable by clicking here http://www.atv.com/ - also provides readers and ATV enthusiasts with updates on racing action, product tests, ATV related feature articles, forums, classified ads, dealer and trail locator widgets and tons of other cool features.

The three-part series on our project YFZ450R will start with an article on the actual build itself with information on the engine work and performance parts installs accompanied by high resolution photos. The second article will focus on our actual ride review and test with ATVOnDemand.com. The third story will run several weeks after the first two and discuss how our sponsor products have held up in practice and during races.

Currently, ATV.com is in the midst of a similar, six-part weekly series on a project Yamaha Raptor 250. At the end of the series, ATV.com will give their project Yamaha Raptor 250 away to one lucky reader. Check out more about the ATV.com Yamaha Raptor 250 giveaway by clicking on this link - http://www.atv.com/features/yamaha-raptor-250-project-part-1-1282.html

The TPR project YFZ450R series will begin running after ATV.com's series of stories wrap up this summer with the Raptor 250 giveaway.

Steel City National - part 2

Well, our trip to the Steel City ATV National this weekend started with a major detour thanks to the Pennsylvania Turnpike closure Saturday morning, and Saturday night ended with a GPS unit that took us almost an hour in the opposite direction of our hotel room.

But all in all the weekend was worth it. We saw some great racing action. The team Monster Energy Kawasaki riders were tearing it up all weekend, with Josh Creamer taking the overall win and Chad Wienen finishing in second overall for the weekend.

In Pro-am production, Kawasaki rider Cody Gibson finished first overall. And prodigal racer Joel Hetrick made his pro debut this weekend in the Pro-am unlimited class on a Kawasaki KFX450 by putting on a clinic and finishing 1-1 in both motos to take the overall for the weekend.

Witnessing some incredible racing action was just a bonus for our trip. The real purpose was to get our project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross quad to ATP Racing Engines so they can spend the next three weeks building and fine-tuning our engine.

The Kawasaki rig didn't have all the hot shots this weekend. In Pro-am production, ATP riders Josh Williams finished second overall, Devin Heimes finished in fourth and Cody Grant took seventh overall.

All three riders looked great on the track and rode strong from the holeshot to the checkered flag.

We get our project YFZ450R back from ATP at the Unadilla national June 13. Then we'll be ready to bolt on our ATV Four Play MGC long-travel MX a-arms, Soft Bars, RPM Dominator II axle, TPR Race Safer nerfs and front bumper and all our other performance parts.

We're getting anxious as we get closer to the launch date with ATVOnDemand. Check back Wednesday for some more news about our project YFZ450R.

Live from Steel City

It's almost midnight, and we're relaxing in our hotel room after spending the day at Steel City watching the pros shakedown their quads for Sunday's motos while the amateurs battled back and forth on this extremely technical track.

Thomas Brown is shown here pitching the front end of his YFZ450R in for a landing on one of the massive tabletops.

We had a crazy delay Saturday morning when the Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed in both directions due to a tanker truck turned over just east of the Ohio border.

Our night Saturday ended with a GPS system sending us an hour in the opposite direction of our hotel.

In the end, we made it to the track with our project YFZ450R to deliver it into the hands of ATP Racing Engines. Here's hoping for a better Sunday and more fantastic weather for the remainder of the Memorial Day weekend.

We'll check in with a full report from the weekend Monday and some more news about our project YFZ450R.

If you build it...

After much debate, we've decided to tear into the engine of our project motocross quad - Yamaha's all new 2009 YFZ450R.

Many riders' likely response to that statement would be, 'You debated?' We did. Stock engines typically last much longer than fire-breathing horsepower monsters, even with meticulous maintenance and proper care.

And for this TPR project quad, we wanted to put reliability above all else. But we've spent a lot of time talking with Florida-based ATP Racing Engines about cranking some extra ponies out of our new fuel-injected 450 while maintaining the engine's longevity. Our conclusion was to place the quad's motor in the capable hands of ATP's builders.

ATP's engines perform without question. Several of the ATP riders racing in the ITP Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship series have been trading podium finishes throughout the season in the Pro-Am class. And, for an engine builder, ATP has quite a presence at the track.

This partnership happens to work in conjunction with another. Motoworks is sponsoring our build and also sponsors the Team ATP riders. So ATP has the perfect blend of knowledge, tools and experience with Motoworks products to dial in our full SR4 Motoworks exhaust with our Motoworks FMI and Twin-Air Pro Flow set up.

ATP will dyno our project quad in order to optimize the fuel ratio. We'll provide a parts list and explain the work ATP did for our quad when the build is complete.

We're meeting up with ATP at the Steel City national this Memorial Day weekend. We'll get our project YFZ450R back at the Unadilla national June 13. Between then, we'll keep you posted as other aspects of the build progress.

Early arrivals

It feels like Christmas here at TPR, as parts continue coming in for our project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R. The only difference is 'Santa' wears a brown suit and rides in a big brown 'box sleigh.'

Motoworks is one of the build's primary sponsors and hooked us up with a brand new SR-4 complete aluminum and stainless exhaust.

Motoworks also contributed one of their FMI controllers...

...to help dial in the YFZ450R's fuel ratio to match our Pro-Flow air filter set up from Twin-Air.

Quadtech also makes the early arrivals list by shipping their gripper seat cover out to us early. Quadtech had several designs and color options to choose from, but we went with the black and blue pattern pictured on their Web site (click here: http://www.quadtech-atv.com/pages/products/qt-yfz-450r-scs9-y0.html ) because we felt it best matched the blue and black plastic of our project quad.

And what build from Tarantula Performance Racing would be complete without a set of Spider Grips?

Spider Grips sent us a whole box of grips, including their SLT grips (pictured) and the original A3 grips. We've run the A3 grips in the past and loved them, but we want to try out the SLT models and see what improvements Spider has made to the industry's stickiest grips.

Obviously we're still waiting on a few key components. We can't wait to get our wheels and tires from Maxxis and DWT, our ATV Four Play a-arms, RPM Dominator axle, Cycra handguards and other go-fast goodies.

We heard 'Santa' merely forgot the rest of our parts and is making a second trip...

Stocker - before the build

Here are two quick pics of our stock YFZ450R in the garage.

The tires and rims are NOT what we will be using on this build. Those wheels are an old practice set from my last quad, and we threw them on for some quick measurements. But they do give you an idea of the stance our project quad will have when it's done.

Aside from the wheels and tires, the quad in these photos is completely stock.

For our build, we will be using Douglas Wheel Technologies standard beadlock wheels with a combination of front and rear Razr Cross and Razr MX tires from Maxxis.

Both DWT and Maxxis have a history of winning MX races, as last year's AMA champ Dustin Wimmer ran a DWT/Maxxis combination on his winning quad.

Yamaha's given the ATV world a great base in the YFZ450R, but by the time we're done this quad will be perform even better on the track.

Sponsor parts continue rolling off the UPS truck here at TPR, so stay tuned! This quad is going to start looking very different...

Countdown to Launch - project YFZ450R

Tarantula Performance Racing is getting ready to release its latest project quad.

Aftermarket parts are rolling in for our project 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross build. Sponsors so far include Motoworks, ATV Four Play, Cycra, RPM, Douglas Wheel Technologies, Maxxis, Twin-Air, Spider Grips and Quadtech.

You've seen TPR's work before - like the 2008 Suzuki LTR450 "Spyder Quad" - at the Indy Dealer Expo, in Dirtwheels and on the e-zines like ATVScene.com and ATVRiders.com. The custom LTR450 pictured above, however, featured more show than go.

TPR will unveil its project YFZ450R motocross build early this summer with ATVOnDemand.com providing a full ride review and video of the build in-progress. The project YFZ450R also will debut TPR's line of 'Race Safer' bumpers, nerf bars and grab bars.

'Race Safer' heelguard/nerf bar combo

You can look for our new project at a race near you. We will also track the progress of this quad right here as it competes in the Competition Riders of America sanctioned motocross races in the Ohio region this summer.

So check back here for updates as we count down to launch!