autoevolution
 

Aluminium, Titanium and Carbon FMX Yamaha Weighs Only 85 Kilos

If you are a Red Bull X-Fighters fan, then the name of Thomas Pages needs no introduction. However, if you only occasionally watch these daredevils fly from one ramp to another, you should know that he is considered one of the riders who have revolutionized the sport and took it to a higher level as far as tricks go. Ahead of the 15th X-Fighters season and the 10th anniversary of the Mexico City round, Pages is ready once more to make history.
Thomas Pages' FMX Yamaha 1 photo
Photo: Red Bull
Thomas Pages will start the 2015 freestyle season aboard a bike which has been heavily customized with only one goal in mind – shaving off as much weight as possible and opening new possibilities in the sport. Pages was closely involved in designing and tweaking the bike and still says it can be furthermore refined and improved.

15% weight reduction sounds amazing

His mechanic Guillaume Davion explains that the Yamaha retains the aluminium frame and swingarm, with multiple titanium elements replacing other materials and the subframe, grab holds and more being now crafted from carbon fiber. This led to a massive weight saving of around 15% and this is amazing.

The former bike tipped the scales at around 100 kg (220 lb), while the current version is somewhere at the 85 kg (187 lb) bar. The reduced weight increased the power-to-weight ratio and makes the bike more nimble, while at the same time favors power deployment in oxygen-poorer environments such as the one at Mexico City, by easing the burden on the engine.

Not the lightest bike of all

However, Thomas Pages’ new Yamaha is still not the lightest machine, being surpassed by the Unit Skycraft FMX carbon fiber motorbike about which we reported some time ago. The Skycraft was 74.5 kg (165 lbs) thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber even for the frame and swingarm.

A prototype whose costs its creators hoped would be able to cut down for mass production, the Unit Skycraft FMX was however a very good weight benchmark for other FMX machines.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories