Product review (Applied 24mm Rubber Clamps + ENZO Subtanks)

[Mighty_Whitey]

Hi,

In true Thumpertalk spirit I am going to pass on my opinions on two products for my 2006 YZ450f.

1. Applied 24mm offset Rubber Mount Clamps

2. ENZO Racing Sub-Tanks

Bike / My stats:

5’ 11” / 205 Pounds - Intermediate Vet Level Racer

Forks = ENZO Re-Spring (.48) Oil Level (350cc) and Valved for Elsinore/Motocross style tracks with Intermediate/Expert terrain. Rebound and Compression = 10 clicks out

Shock = Stock Ti Spring (5.5) Gas = 150 psi – Rebound = 8 clicks out / Low Comp = 8 Clicks out / High Comp = 1 ½ clicks out

With that out of the way here are my thoughts and opinions:

Enzo Subtanks:

I put 40 hours on the bike with suspension work done and WITHOUT the Sub-Tanks. I now have about 4 hours on the bike with the Sub-Tanks. The Sub-Tanks are definitely noticeable. I feel I tested them well by over shooting some smaller tables on the vet track at Competitve Edge today and didn’t notice any harsh bottoming. The small choppy stuff on the Main track is where they were most prevalent. Going into the sweepers where everyone had chopped it up with small braking bumps the Subs really sucked it up well. That’s good news for a Vet Racer like me whose hand’s like to go numb at about lap 5 with 3 to go. My conclusion on the Sub-Tanks might surprise you…for $350.00 I would say spend your money on some lessons and some rubber mounted clamps. I feel this is justified by the fact that I had these Sub-Tanks on my 2004 YZ450f race bike and with the older style forks they made a very, very big difference. On a scale of 1- 10 if they were a 10 on my 2004 forks…they are about a 6 on the 2006. Even Will at Enzo can tell you like he did me, they just don’t have the same effect on the 06-07’ forks. I’m just glad I only paid $50.00 for Enzo to do the valve mods and drill/tap the forks for the tanks.

Applied 24mm offset rubber mounted clamps:

Perception is reality in life…and I may just be perceiving that 1mm makes the bike turn better but I gotta tell you…I was ripping through turns better, NO, more consistently than ever before. I don’t think it’s the “placebo” effect either. You know how you will go into a turn hot and the bike will just stick…rail the turn and you come out going “Wow, how the hell did I do that? If I could do that all the time I would be doing all right.” Well, with the new clamps I felt I was doing just that all the time. Even times when my weight crossed over the bike to the outside she still stuck in the rut. Very pleased.

This bike does not push through corners.

And on flat track stuff I was pleasantly surprised to feel both front and rear ends giving way at the same time with a neutral riding position.

Applied 24mm Triple Clamps = 2 Big Thumbs Up

On a side note I am also very pleased with the TM Designs chain slider. No chain slap noise and it fit perfectly.

That’s it, Merry Christmas TT’ers and I hope Santa Brings you faster lap times and flexible knees for a long long time.

MW

[kxman]

I thought the stock clamps were 24mm. If this is not so, what are the stock clamps?

[Mighty_Whitey]

Stock clamps = 25mm

[ethan]

MW,

Thanks for the review, that is all good info. Who did your suspension work before you had the Enzo tanks put on? I've considered doing the same with the Applied offset clamps and appreciate your input. I just moved from SoCal this past summer and miss all the great Vet series they have out there. Good luck with your bike.

[racerxx276]

I'm wondering if this is an 06 or an 07??

[Baron Von Beard]

That is a beautiful scooter! ?

Thanks for the reviews. I'm particularly interested in the clamps. My front end does have a tendency to wash and push unexpectedly and I'm glad to here that the clamps made that big of a difference. I was interested to see Yamaha moved the headtube back in the frame 3mm for 07 and was wondering if clamps would accomplish the same thing.

[grayracer513]

I was interested to see Yamaha moved the headtube back in the frame 3mm for 07 and was wondering if clamps would accomplish the same thing.

Moving the head tube back, absent any other change, shifts the weight bias slightly forward and that's all. If the head angle and clamp/axle offsets are unchanged, then the steering geometry is identical to an '06, including trail.

Moving the forks back relative to the head tube by changing the clamp offset also shifts the weight bias, and if you were to use a 22.5 or 22mm offset, it would be just about the same in that respect, BUT the trail is changed by a fairly large amount, and IMO, that's not a good move on the '06/7 YZ450.

Yamaha is also supposed to have steepened the head angle, but I haven't heard conclusively whether that was entirely done by lengthening the rear shock, or whether they actually changed the angle of the head tube. Either way, that will help keep pushing and washing to a minimum.

Applied 24mm offset rubber mounted clamps:

Perception is reality in life…and I may just be perceiving that 1mm makes the bike turn better but I gotta tell you…I was ripping through turns better, NO, more consistently than ever before. I don’t think it’s the “placebo” effect either. You know how you will go into a turn hot and the bike will just stick…rail the turn and you come out going “Wow, how the hell did I do that? If I could do that all the time I would be doing all right.” Well, with the new clamps I felt I was doing just that all the time. Even times when my weight crossed over the bike to the outside she still stuck in the rut. Very pleased.

This bike does not push through corners.

And on flat track stuff I was pleasantly surprised to feel both front and rear ends giving way at the same time with a neutral riding position.

Applied 24mm Triple Clamps = 2 Big Thumbs Up

Coming off an '03 YZ450, and having been on enough CRF's to be fairly used to them, what you describe here is what my impression of my '06 YZ450 was after I went through and set it up. Particularly the part about the neutrality of the steering. Another enormous step forward is that the bike hardly ever surprises me. It does exactly what I expect it to almost all the time.

I can see the 24mm offset being a benefit, but certainly no more than that. The bike is just too close to perfect too warrant a huge change in the steering like a set of 22's or 23's.

[ethan]

According to the magazines, the only handling changes made were a steeper head angle by lengthening the rear shock by a mm or so. I have not heard of any changes in actual frame geometry from 06' to 07'. This of course coming from the mags, so take it only for face value.

[Mighty_Whitey]

I'm wondering if this is an 06 or an 07??

She's a 2006. ?

[Mighty_Whitey]

MW,

Thanks for the review, that is all good info. Who did your suspension work before you had the Enzo tanks put on? I've considered doing the same with the Applied offset clamps and appreciate your input. I just moved from SoCal this past summer and miss all the great Vet series they have out there. Good luck with your bike.

ENZO did my suspension after 8 hours on it stock. Then they installed the Sub-Tanks off of my 04' later.

[ethan]

What was involved replacing the clamps as far the bearings being changed over? Big project or easy. I am going to order my clamps in the next week or so. Your bike looks great by the way.

[belongaj]

I called yamaha and they said the frame is the same for the 06 as the 07. So the only difference that I know is the rear shock was lengthed.

[Mighty_Whitey]

What was involved replacing the clamps as far the bearings being changed over? Big project or easy. I am going to order my clamps in the next week or so. Your bike looks great by the way.

Changing the clamps was easy enough. I would recommend either purchasing the Applied clamps with stem and pressed on bearing or buying a new bearing and have someone press your existing stem off your stock clamps and onto the Applied. Im lazy and have two kids that take up 99.9998% of my time so I ordered the complete clampset with stem and bearing pressed on. I just diligently packed the bearing with some Amsoil synthetic water resistant lithium compound grease and bolted her up.

Just make sure you remove the front wheel and fork tubes BEFORE taking the top clamps and castle nut off...things get pretty interesting when you leave the front tire and forks on (I did that one time).

The whole project takes about 2 hours...and that was with the kids running around relocating bolts and stuff.

Doug

[grayracer513]

Just make sure you remove the front wheel and fork tubes BEFORE taking the top clamps and castle nut off...things get pretty interesting when you leave the front tire and forks on (I did that one time).

I do that. BUT, I did learn that you need an assistant whose entire task is to keep the fork where it belongs.?

[Yamahafan]

I do that. BUT, I did learn that you need an assistant whose entire task is to keep the fork where it belongs.?

Yes the forks and wheel wants to run off by itself - kind of like a unicycle. I usually angle my forks and wheel into the corner and use large tools on either side of the wheel as wheel chocks. Even then I warn people to stay away from it.