How-To Tip: Battery Life

SAVE YOUR BATTERY
FROM WINTER'S
ICY DEATH GRIP


Here in Ohio, winter temperatures can drop well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's optimal battery killing temperature for most sport and utility ATVs. By late October, the temperatures are getting cold enough frequently enough to start draining the sealed acid batteries common in today's quads. If you don't already own one, now is the time of year to go buy a battery tender or low-voltage battery charger for your ATV.

At TPR, we're pretty anal about our quad maintenance. Sport quads with highly modified internal engine parts - even just a high-compression piston - like the TPR project YFZ450R put an added strain on the starter every time you crank over the engine to fire up the quad. That added strain is shifted to the battery by drawing a little extra juice than a stock quad with no modifications, and that means your battery will start to lose its charge quicker. So we hook up our project Yamaha to the battery tender about every other ride, or during long periods in between rides, to make sure our battery has an optimal charge.

You don't have to get extremely technical and monitor your battery's exact charge with a volt meter. Most low-voltage battery tenders, like the Optimate 3 we use and purchased at a local Yamaha dealer, will charge the low-voltage battery of an ATV to the optimal 12 to 14 volt range without over charging it and damaging a wet battery's internal cells. Such chargers plug into a standard wall socket, have positive and negative clamps for your battery terminals and are available at Wal-Mart or a local dealer for about $50.

During the cold winter months, our charger is almost never disconnected from the YFZR battery. We also typically remove the battery from the quad during the winter just as an added precaution, so if there is an immense charge or overload to our shop system that the breaker doesn't catch we won't fry our expensive Dynojet PCV or other electronic components on the new Yamaha.

On a precautionary note, don't expect to use your dad's rolling charger/starter to maintain your quad battery. Those big rolling chargers are designed for truck and car batteries, not the small unit on your ATV. Using one of those chargers could seriously damage your battery by melting the lead terminals, and that would put you out some big bucks. Today's ATV batteries can cost more than $80 to replace, so spending $50 on a trickle charger or battery tender can keep your battery breathing life into your quad for years.

For more How-To tips, check out the link at the top of the page. Next, we'll be showing you how to change the oil in Yamaha's new YFZR models, a tip that applies to the YFZX and most other sport quads. Stay tuned for a product review of Motoworks SR4 full exhaust system.

Sneak Peak - Long-term Evaluation

Here's a sneak peek at an upcoming story on ATV.com that will examine the TPR project YFZ450R after riding the quad and testing it for a year. In case you missed our full-on 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R motocross build, click on the link above.We'll let you know when the story on ATV.com goes live. In the mean time, stay tuned here as we evaluate products tested on this quad.

For Sale - TPR Project YFZ450R MX Quad

FOR SALE is a 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R ATV. Fully MX race ready!

This quad has never been raced. It has about 3 hours total on the entire build, with the exception of a Power Commander V that was just installed.

This is a National Pro-Am caliber quad. You don't have to do anything to this quad but put your numbers on it! Asking $14,000 or best offer.

Transferrable, full 5-year warrantee. Serious inquiries only, please. Quad is in Ohio. Call 330-569-4324.

Parts list:

ENGINE
JE Piston Pro Series 3-ring
YFZ450 camshaft exhaust
ATP Racing Engines R&R top end including valve adjustment; Port and polish cylinder head; Competition Serdi valve job; Custom dyno map
Motoworks SR4 full exhaust system, stainless head pipe
with aluminum muffler
DynoJet Power Commander V
Hinson Racing clutch pack plate and spring kit
Hinson Racing billet aluminum clutch cover
Twin-Air PowerFlow air filter mounting kit with filter
CV4 blue silicone coolant hoses

SUSPENSION, TIRES AND WHEELS
ATV Four-Play Maximum Ground Clearance (MGC) Gen II Long Travel A-Arms (camber, caster adjustable)
ATV Four-Play Soft Bars Gen II
Fox Shox Float X Evol front shocks
Fox Shox Podium X rear shock
RPM Dominator II rear axle

Maxxis RAZR MX M931 19 x 6-10 front tires
Maxxis RAZR MX M932 18 x 10-9 soft compound rear tires
Douglas Wheel Technologies (DWT) Alumilite Ultimate Champion In A Box Kit
Featuring Rok'n Lock front wheels and G2 rear wheels

BODY PARTS
Tarantula Performance Racing (TPR) Race Safer Pro nerf bar/heel guard/foot peg combination-black powder coat
Tarantula Performance Racing (TPR) MX front bumper
Powdercoated stock rear grab bar
B-Tek Performance SKID EZ single bolt aluminum full chassis skid plate
HMF Exhausts front headlight block off plates


CONTROLS/MISC.
Spider Grips SLT ATV Grips
Cycra ATV Stealth Handshield Racer Pack hand guards
Quad Tech SCS-H1 gripper seat cover
Galfer braided stainless steel extended front brake lines
Galfer braided stainless steel rear brake line
GYTR Tether kill switch w/TPR kill switch bracket

Tons of extra parts include: oil filters, spark plugs, Twin Air Air Filter, Hinson clutch stack, stock seat cover (immaculate), Fox shocks air pumps, etc....

All powder coating (a-arms, body parts, brackets, etc.) done by Capital Powder Coating in Suffield, Oh.

Pics - Graphic kit on project YFZR

I've been asked to post up more pics of the Danger UK Graphics kit on the TPR project YFZ450R, so scroll down to check out the pics.

It's hard to believe that the picture at the right is where we began with this project about one year ago with ATP Racing Engines. The absolute last piece of the puzzle came together this month with the installation of the graphic kit, which you can read about by clicking on the link or scrolling down the home page.

The TPR project YFZR was a long journey that proved well worth it in the end, as you'll see in the photos. And we've still got one more story to go with ATV.com

Click on the images for a larger picture.

ATVonDemand reviews TPR project YFZ450R

Video: TPR project YFZ450R ride review

ATVonDemand.com finished their review of the Tarantula Performance Racing project YFZ450R. Click the link to watch TPR's latest project quad in action on the big motocross track at Crow Canyon Ride Park in Uhrichsville, Ohio.

This quad featured performance parts from the industry's top aftermarket race companies, but ATVonDemand.com left the video shoot most impressed by TPR's new Race Safer Pro nerf bars. These bars are strong, safe and stylish. What more could you ask for?

There's still more coverage to come of this quad, as ATV.com is planning a third story examining the long-term durability of the quad and all it's go-fast goodies. Stay tuned.

YFZR build tip #1

FMI controller mount

In building the Tarantula Performance Racing project YFZ450R, we encountered several common obstacles in prepping the new Yamaha for pure racing applications. A lot of new Yamaha owners have to find solutions on their own for some of these tasks, so we thought we would alleviate some stress for YFZ-R owners by periodically posting one of the solutions we came up with to prep the YFZ-R for motocross.

In our YFZ-R build tip #1, we'll briefly show you how we addressed mounting our Motoworks electronic Fuel Management Interface.

Every YFZ-R owner who wants to improve performance with an exhaust or airbox modification, and do it the right way, will have to install a fuel management interface. After installing our Motoworks FMI, we took a block of high-density impact foam, sliced it partially open and carved a pocket the depth and width of the FMI box, about 2 inches by 3 inches. We then adhered the velcro to the foam and the quad's plastic beneath the seat. We used the velcro to anchor the foam to the plastic, and the foam provides a secure, protective space for the FMI.

We mounted the TPR project YFZR Motoworks FMI tuner in the pocket where the factory toolkit is located.

Our FMI stays put even during the hard impacts dealt on the motocross track. And we can easily remove the foam during maintenance thanks to the velcro. We did not waterproof our Motoworks FMI because we didn't think we would need to just racing the quad only on motocross tracks, but if we tackle that we'll be sure to post how we did it. With the cost of the foam and a little duct tape for peace of mind, our first tip protects our Motoworks FMI for a cost of about $2.

Stay tuned for more tips on the new Yamaha YFZ450R.

TPR project YFZ450R                             

Killer desktops

I thought I'd share some killer photos I came across while rummaging through shots from our photo shoot with Holly Winchester for an upcoming ATV Scene Girl.

The first shot is of the TPR project YFZ450R at Tarantula Performance Racing's CNC shop in Mentor, Ohio. Not bad for just a Nikon D3000 with a Nikkor 200mm lense.

The second shot is courtesy SEKrell Photography. Either or would make a killer desktop. I'll let you guess which one I'm using. Here's a hint: there's a quad in the photo.

We'll let you know when the remodeled ATVScene.com debuts with Holly as Scene Girl. Until then, you can keep your eyes peeled at www.atvscene.com