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This past Friday night I finished installing a Rekluse z-Start on my 2000 YZ426f.  I got it used off of ebay a couple of months ago and finally got off my butt and installed it.  Well, its not due to laziness its just that the 426 has been sitting idle while I have been enjoying my YZ250 two-smoke.  (Is it self-indulging to link to yourself…kind of like using your proper name in the third person?)

The installation was not too bad.  Its a little intimidating since there are a lot of parts in total, but the instructions are online and they are straight forward.  The only trouble I had was the number of times I had to exchange the plates to get the right gap.  Rekluse notes that it is very important to have 0.030″-0.037″ gap between the first friction plate and the first steel plate in the clutch pack.  Then you have to ride it for twenty minutes and check it again since the pack ’settles’. 

FWIW, I chose the medium spring that has low RPM and quick engagement (minimal slipping).

Going into the ride. I had two concerns:

1. An inability to stay locked up, thinking the clutch would slip at WFO.
2. Me.  My ability to not grab for and rely on the lever that was no longer there.

Anyway, I got out to the trails on Saturday to try it out.  Immediately I noticed that I was absolutely hauling ass through the washes.  In the past, I have struggled in the washes to carry speed, especially through the 90 degree turns with berms.  I have also had an inability to simply hang it out - almost  dirt track style - coming out of the turns.  Nonsense!  I can’t really answer why I did so well, but I hung right with the other guy I ride with and he usually loses me within half of a minute.  Heh - he looked back once a couple miles down the wash and had to do a double take after seeing I was right there.

I also noticed that in the berms, I could lock the rear brake to get the back end moving and the engine would simply go to idle without any effort or thought.  It is possible that I simply ride the 4-stroke better in the washes than a two-stroke, but not likely.  I truly did not expect that kind of difference in the fast stuff.

We then rode some tight enduro type single track trails…or goat trails as I call them.  The 426 is usually pretty bitchy on these type of trails in terms of stalling with no forgiveness for the wrong gear selection.  Again, I rode these trails faster than I ever have in the past.  The other guy had me take the lead so he could see the rear wheel workings.  He normally loses me quickly in these sections and commented “that’s as fast as I was comfortable riding through there”.  It really helped on the tight, steep, rocky uphills where fanning the clutch was removed from the thought process, allowing me to focus more on other things. 

I was actually giddy.  I would consider myself a good rider with a lot of off-road experiece, but not incredibly fast.  I’m more reliable, in that it may take me a while, but I’ll eventually show up.  To the contrary, I rode the best I ever have with confidence and speed.

Now that I’ve covered the good, I discovered an area that need improvement - hill climbs.  Specifically, the two track ones that are steep, rocky and require lots of momentum.  When this clutch locks, IT LOCKS.  I found myself trying to manage low-speed wheelies as I was trying to climb up steep grades.  If I was able to keep momentum, no problem.  But if I lost momentum, I was fighting loopng the bike.  Hills that I got up on the YZ250 without too much problems by fanning the clutch, I could not make up with the 426.  Its not the bike, but rather inexperience of me trying to get the technique sorted.

That said, I am wanting a higher RPM engagement and more clutch slip.  Fortunately, the kit came with the optional clutch override kit that supposedly has these exact adjustments.  It is in the process of being installed at the moment and I have yet to test it out.  The physical installation was pretty easy.  All that is left is the adjustments.

In summary, I rode the best I ever had in the high speed washes (pleasant surprise) and the single track tight stuff (somewhat expected, but still did better than I thought).  I also struggled with hill climbs where I could carry speed (unpleasant surprise).  If, in fact, the clutch override kit works as stated, this will take my riding to new levels.  I just wonder if somehow I’m cheating.  Nah - its called riding smart, not hard (as I age, these labor saving devices are vital).