test ride yamahas viper snocross racer

The Ride
With the tech briefing at an end, we suited up for a little seat time to better understand what all this technology means. It means a lot!

Though it runs the stock primary and secondary clutches, the calibration was way different from what we're all used to running on the trails. A slight flick of the throttle sent man and machine up and over the jumps on our test track. If you've ever been to a snocross race, you've seen the pro open guys lining up or scouting the track, seemingly going 10 mph, only to crack the gas and get airborne. That's a function of the sled's clutching and gearing setup. It's a cool thing to do.

We were a bit tentative at first to hit the juice over the jumps (it's not our machine afterall). But as we gained some confidence, it was interesting to feel the differences between a stock sled and this one. As we already mentioned, the throttle response was instantaneous on the racer. The Viper we had on hand was a lot more hesitant. Over the humps, the racer was totally subject to body inputs. When we got fatigued, it found creative ways to fly. You have to stay on top of something that light and nimble. By comparison, the Viper seemed more predictable and less interested in body English.

The racer's cornering agility was amazing. Our test track came standard equipped with a hairpin switchback on the back of a small mogul. Flip the racer in, tap the brake and turn the bars. Bang, you're out of the corner. The stock sled, by comparison, needed extra room to make the turn, sometimes, finding the top ridge of the berm.

But the real fun of the race sled is still its tremendous power coupled with its light weight. By our math, if the engine really did crank out 170 hp and the sled really did weigh 430 pounds, that means each pony is only carrying 2.53 pounds. We'd suspect the modded mill is actually closer to the 185 range. Regardless, if you're sitting on the back of the seat, you should expect to see the clouds, then the handlebars coming over on top of you. On a good hookup, the sled can carry a nearly vertical wheelie for as long as you care to ride it. "One time this winter, when the snow was frozen solid, I had to step off the sled and help it come back down," said Brown. "The traction was that solid."

Putting the sleds away was tough, but by the end of our test session, we had gained a new appreciation for how demanding snocross really is on a driver, as well as the technology that has to go into it. We'd like to extend our deepest thanks to Team Yamaha for its gracious invitation. Stay tuned as action photos from the event become available. You can still see David Brown and Yuji Nakazawa in action on their mod sleds this weekend at the Fargo indoor race.