FACTORY RIDE | JED BEATON’S CDR YAMAHA YZ450F

THE RIDER: JED BEATON AND HIS CDR YAMAHA YZ450F
Jed Beaton returned to Australia at the end of the 2022 season after six seasons in Europe contesting the World Motocross Championships. Beaton left Australian shores at the end of the 2016 season as the reigning national MX2 champion and picked up a ride with the F&H Kawasaki team before moving onto the Rockstar Husky team, highlighted with a fifth place-finish in the MX2 champs, and then rounded out his European tour with a MX1 ride back with F&H Kawasaki.

In that time, Beaton not only picked up life skills off the track, he learnt about bike set up and also developed his own personal likings working with the high profile GP teams. He left Australia as a young kid that can ride a dirt bike fast and came back a man with worldly speed and experience capable of mixing with the best.

“I like to ride the bike in the middle of the power, so for me, I like an engine that has a lot of torque so I can run high gears and tractor through turns,” Beaton explains. “Even when I was racing a 250F, I still tried to ride it that way and not over rev the bike or ride high in the rev range. It’s not always the best way to ride a 250 and the reason a 450 suits me well,” he ends.

Beaton has a textbook style, one that has been refined over the years with countless hours on the practice track. It’s a style that often looks relaxed and can lack the intensity of the younger guys he races against, but it allows him to ride the bike and set it up in a very conventional manner with nothing odd or unique about it.

THE TEAM
At the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team, there isn’t just one person that covers all the bases in Jed’s program. Troy Monahan works with CDR’s motor partner, Cisco’s, to develop engine performance. Allister Kent and Gary Benn handle and suspension and chassis changes while Jesse Hamilton is Jed’s race day mechanic. Jesse also handles all the day-to-day duties of his practice bikes and race day activities. Jesse worked with Jed last year and moved to the CDR Yamaha team as they have a tight bond and the trust that is required to race at this level.

“Jed’s a pretty easy- going guy and doesn’t get overly fussy with his bikes in many ways. When he first got on the Yamaha, he gelled with it quickly and felt at home when the bike was completely standard“, Jesse begins.

“We then did a few days testing prior to him going to New Zealand and again he settled on things pretty fast. Within a day he had the bars, grips and suspension that he liked and the CDR base motor package at the time was good enough for him to race.

“Then we did a couple more days of testing leading into round one of the ProMX and the team had come up with a stage 2 motor package. Jed had more time on the bike to fine tune what he wanted and again, when we left that test he was happy and he hasn’t changed the bike since other than a click or two to suit each of the track.”

The standard motor is deceptively powerful and delivered in a very smooth, almost electric way. This is fine with Jed, but a rider of this level simply wants more so the task given to Troy and Cisco’s was to keep the same power curve, just increase it everywhere. The head was flowed and matched to a GYTR piston, the cams were dialled in, a Vortex ECU used, a Pro Circuit T6 exhaust bolted up, some air box modifications for increased airflow all matched with Panta race fuel to produce an engine comfortably over 60HP.

CDR Yamaha have long had a relationship with KYB in Japan and get components directly from them. Gary Benn, despite winding down his workload, is still hands on with suspension development as he passes on knowledge to Allister and together, they work closely with the rider to get the best package they can.  

But it’s not all expensive parts and anodised chrome, the CDR Team are very particular when it comes to the basics of a race bike, especially around suspension and chassis. The right torque settings used on bolts, engine mounts and pinch bolts. Getting the basics like ride heights, with forks in clamps are just some of the things CDR routinely visit in their race bike preparation.

“The bike has been bullet proof,” Jesse continues. “We haven’t experienced any problems at all apart from the general wear and tear stuff like brake pads, chains and chain runner, Jed is pretty easy on a bike. The only thing that changes that is how many laps he does around Wonthaggi as that track can be pretty tough on a bike.”

But maybe the biggest factor in a factory bike is the attention to detail. The way the grips are lock wired on, the plastic mesh on the radiators to keep them clean from mud and roost, the heat tape on the radiator hoses as well as the fresh Dunlop Development tyres and sparkling graphics every time he hits the track.