Yamaha 2-Trac: It Works!
YAMAHA 2-TRAC: IT WORKS!
ROUNDUP
YAMAHA, ALONG WITH its suspension subsidiary Ohlins, has been working on a two-wheeldrive motorcycle for years. In current form, mated to a WR450F, a chain-driven hydraulic pump located atop the gearbox pushes fluid through a hose to a custom front hub. When the rear wheel breaks traction, a freewheel located in the front hub engages and the wheel is set in motion.
Yamaha France flew a handful of journalists to Laayoune, in southern Morocco, to test the 2-Trac on the course for the Shamrock Rally, in which David Frétigné and desertracing icon JeanClaude Olivier finished first and second on works 2WD machines.
We didn’t have far to go to find a challenge for the patented system. Less than half a mile from our hotel and only 200 yards from the pavement, we were confronted with a 30-foot wall of sand. There was no avoiding it, but the 2-Trac didn’t let us down, motoring up the near-vertical dune as if it were a grassy knoll.
Conversely, it didn’t take long to establish that twowheel drive is not a substitute for riding ability. I, for one, struggled to keep up with our leader, Alexandre Kowalski from Yamaha France, who led us, Pied Piper-like, on a merry dance across the dunes on a standard WR, hopping and skipping across all sorts of treacherous obstacles.
Despite falling twice in the first five minutes, I discovered that the innovative system does inspire confidence, especially in soft sand. In the huge dunes, less run-up was necessary, and even when I did get stuck, the 2-Trac pulled itself out by the front wheel. The driven front wheel works as an aid when riding down a dune, too, by stopping the front hoop from knifing into the soft stuff.
Standing or sitting down, I could turn tighter and get the power on more quickly without the front wheel washing out, as it would have with a conventional bike. The 2-Trac also enhances stability. When frequent changes of direction were required, often across deep ruts, I could actually feel the front wheel towing me along.
The advantages were less clear cut in slower, more difficult terrain. The additional 16 pounds of weight, much of it unsprung in the front hub, increases steering effort. As such, it’s difficult to loft the front wheel to avoid rocks and other obstacles. Also, a standard WR revs more quickly, although this fact may not get you to your destination any sooner, as the point of twowheel drive is to prevent power being wasted in useless rear-wheel spin.
Two-wheel drive is a real boon in soft sand and probably at least as much
help in the mud. It’s the only bike on which I would contemplate returning to the masochistic madness of the Le Touquet beach race. It will be interesting to see what a rider of David Frétigné’s skill can achieve in Dakar as he competes on a 2-Tracequipped WR in the new 450cc class. Whatever the outcome, it will certainly be a good durability test.
Where from here? According to Olivier, who is now
president of Yamaha Motor France, the options are wideopen. “I can imagine such a system fitted to any kind of off-road bike, or even a scooter or streetbike,” he said. “Two-wheel drive could be beneficial on a large tourer or a scooter, for example, since you could combine high power in an integral transmission with coupled braking to offer the ultimate safety for experts and, in particular, novices.” -Paul Blezard
