The Worst Race Bike Ever? Yamaha TMAX 500 Scooter Track Build | Common Tread XP
Thanks to Progressive for sponsoring this episode of CTXP. Learn more about America’s #1 motorcycle insurer at rvz.la/3T3DXu9
Scooters are practical and all, but could one ever hold its own with sport bikes on a racetrack? In the latest harebrained CTXP adventure, Ari and Zack modify a 2009 Yamaha TMAX scooter to compete in a local race against Ninja 400s, KTM RC390s, and the rest of the small sport-bike kingdom.
Click here to see behind the scenes! rvz.la/42K20Bn
Shop the entire CTXP Scooter Superbike Collection rvz.la/49DciFG
Zack’s Gear:
Bell Race Star Flex DLX Helmet: rvz.la/3SZiwKv
REV'IT! Quantum 2 Gloves: rvz.la/3OJGabs
Sedici Corsa One-Piece Race Suit: rvz.la/3UDuGdv
TCX RT-Race Pro Air Boots: rvz.la/49duPJ9
Ari’s Gear:
Bell Race Star Flex DLX Helmet: rvz.la/3SZiwKv
Alpinestars GP Tech v2 Gloves: rvz.la/4bGfwKE
Sedici Corsa One-Piece Race Suit: rvz.la/3UDuGdv
Alpinestars Supertech R Vented Boots: rvz.la/49n2kZC
Scooter Superbike Build List:
Akrapovic Exhaust System Yamaha TMax 2008-2016: rvz.la/4bFycdh
BMC Air Filter Yamaha R3 / SR400 / TMAX 500: rvz.la/4bI3foL
Duraboost DBL14 Lithium Ion Battery: rvz.la/3wjh8d7
Woodcraft Riser Clip-Ons with 7/8" Bars: rvz.la/3HYRGvQ
Dynojet Power Commander: rvz.la/49KqFbx
0:00 - Intro
1:06 - Test ride
2:59 - Teardown
4:58 - Dyno
7:49 - Mad dash
11:16 - Practice Day
19:12 - Race 1
23:38 - Race 2
27:18 - If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying
29:35 - Race 3
34:55 - Race 4
40:09 - Fessing up
Shop the entire CTXP Scooter Superbike Collection rvz.la/3T0K6aj Thanks to Progressive for sponsoring this episode of CTXP. Learn more about America’s #1 motorcycle insurer at rvz.la/3usdrBh Click here to see behind the scenes! rvz.la/3T1fRjE
Having just listened to the latest Highside/Lowside, I really think Ari and Zack need to make the turbo Bruce dream come true. TurboMAX!
Awesome episode! I used to have a Tmax!!!
It just needs a tank :)
Super happy with my most recent Revzilla experience....My Versys X plopped over on its own, at a party bending its clutch lever. We tweeked it back 70%. At home I ordered a new OEM Kwacker part, $6.83 plus about $10 shipping and tax and what a deal...Came in a couple of days and as the Anti-crastinator that I am, got cracking immediately. Thanks Revzilla!
PLEASE do a short video on balancing beads! there's not much info on yt about it
Revzilla please never stop funding them. They have such great chemistry together. I only buy stuff from you guys because of them.
same
Same 2.0
Great chemistry 👍
Same here
RevZilla, I'm gonna buy something from u because of these guys 😂
That scooter had no business looking that badass glowing the pipe on the dyno
even just the nosecone makes it look badass. what a machine!
I was NOT expecting it to spit flames lmao.
It had no business hauling two grown ass men on 1 cylinder to begin with
could i do this in Ohio or Azerbaijan
@@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing When he pulled the head, it was obviously a 2 cylinder.
„I got passed by a f@cking scooter!“ I felt that dude 😂
Dude went home and sold all his equipment!😂
@@charlesmorris8491and bought a tmax💀💀
My mate did the same when i had my tmax, with lots more swearing, these scoots are great on the twisties especially when modded.
Track-built scooters are actually pretty common in Asia. Specifically in Thailand and the Philippines. And thank you for adding some clips to your video on our scooter races here in the Philippines.
For sure, I live in Taiwan and I’ve seen 50cc 2 stroke scooters that can ride on the back wheel.
proud pinoy🙋♂️
People build crazy fast scooter here in south east asia
As one racer once told me,” there is no winners, only cheaters and losers”😂
If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying... Also... If you can't win, cheat. If you can't cheat, start a fight. If you can't win a fight, don't play.
That's especially correct when it comes to best ball golf tournaments
Sounds like the words of a loser. 😏
That racer is a loser, that's why they commented it
Pretty sure that's also the motto of CS:GO
This is seriously impressive. Machining their own parts, rebuilding an engine, transmission, suspension, and then killing it on track day... Ari and Zack do it all. Your skill set and hard work are appreciated and don't go unnoticed!
would have loved to see more time devoted to the build. make the episode longer? sure! :)
@@tjbz At 41:24 Ari tells you where to find more on the build.
@@SingleTrackMined totally. I read common tread too.. just would have love to see more video on it. I know it's a huge production cost and extends the video (etc) but I think it'd be fun to see! especially the (no spoilers) upgrade
They truly are the motorcycle version of Top Gear but they know way more about bikes than the top gear guys knew about cars and they're wayyy faster.
Scooters are highly underrated in the USA. I’ve daily commuted one for years and it’s spectacular
Without a doubt, the ugliest, yet funnest and easiest to knee drag bike I ever had was a '03 Honda Silverwing 600, dubbed Ron Burgundy for it's hideous color and style. I replaced tires (and drive belts) regularly due to how often it wore chicken strips deep into rear shoe. It dives into melodramatically steep angles on easy curves.
I have had lots of motorcycles, but the one I use in town is a Vespa 250GT
At the end of the day most people buy motorcycles to look cool and be impressive. And, scooters are generally not impressive like a big shiny motorcycle. Even though a scooter is the more practical option for a lot of people.
It should have been a Burgman.
@@johnsumser9743I sold my big cc bike and kept the small cc fun bikes, I have huge respect for scooters and scooter riders
As a motorcycle enthusiast in Philippines, this is pretty much the story of SEA racing scene. Commuter bikes hopped up for racing. Thank you for keeping your radars globaly.
mfw underbone scooters are ridiculously fast in kart tracks its insane
I know a wr155 supermoto build would beat them but for the price of a used quick underbone, they're pretty competitive for the price
The amount of joy I get seeing a new Common tread video is amazing. You guys are the closest thing there is to filling the void left in my life by the fall of Top Gear.
This is amazing, you should also check out car throttle and auto alex, very early top gear vibes
Yep, they should really have their own Netflix series. RevZilla is a great company, but I feel like they're being held back.
@@MrTmax74i would happily pay $10 a month to see these guys get their own show. This is the best motorcycle content since Long Way Round.
27:12 “it needs more power.” “And I think we know what it needs to get there.” MORE STICKERS!
Haha for a second there I thought he was going to break out a turbo! Some people put those on T-Maxes
@@MrTmax74 really? that makes me feel less bad about the thought of putting one on a vintage honda lol. (i am not going to, shes a good commuter)
They removed the red bull body and that made them lose speed.
Some years ago they gathered up the senior writers of a few Sport Bike magazines and entered them in a race with a number of the young Pro Riders. The Seniors did not get to see their bikes until a short time before the race when the limo took them to the parking lot filled with scooters. Scarabeo 500, TMax, Burgman 650, etc, etc which they got to ride for the first time on the way to the track. The heckles and ribbing before the race were nothing compared to the Stink Eye and such after the race when most of the Seniors on Scooters place way to close to the head of the pack for the Pros who ended up behind them. The magazine disappeared one day from my bookcase and I've never been able to fine a reprint or digital copy. Too bad the boys couldn't get their hands on the Aprilia SRV850 Scooter which had the same engine as the Aprilia Mana850 Sport Bike and could potentially be upgraded with the cylinders from a 1200cc Aprilia. On a scooter one thing that can help is upgrading the variator to one with a larger outer diameter using sliders instead of rollers to give it a slightly better top speed while allowing it to kick down for a little better acceleration. You need to be able to pull the belt all the way down into the bottom of the driven sheave and have the drive sheave close up getting the belt out to the rim in order to get the max speed which may require a different contra spring to better allow for that. A drive belt that is too worn or improperly sized will not run the sheaves through the full range from high to low and limit your performance greatly regardless of how perfectly you have otherwise tuned the variator and contra. Variator tuning is a very important aspect that has to be considered and it needs to be done taking the weight of the rider into consideration too and more than weight one has to consider aerodynamics of the front, mid and rear faring along with even the riders, gloves, boots, suite and helmet. Also upgrading to a higher compression cylinder and big valve head without cheating on the CC might have gotten you a bit more performance. Stock compression is only 10.1:1 (medium to me) and boosting it to 12:1 along with a big valve head and a larger injector would have likely made a bigger improvement than just adding a few CC. Best!
I've been following fillipino scooter drag racing (Yes, that's a thing) for several years. One common hack they use is to mount the gas tank in front of the front forks. A major issue with the erganomics of the scooty itself is that all of the weight is in the back. Also, due to the frame's shape, there is no way to have the rider hunch over the tank. A front mounted tank would make the bike more balanced, as well as reducing the weight. Which on a scooter is a premuim.
@@kylejohnson423 Some might be surprised at how well the scooters do against similar sized and even larger motorcycles on a tight track with little to no straightaways. I did a few simple upgrades on a very cheap Chinese 150cc GY6 powered Vespa style scooter just for kicks and grins going simple with just a better/slightly larger machined drive face, Hoca Variator with Dr. Pulley Sliders plus an entry level upgrade CDI and the difference was amazing. Also experimented with a hydrogen generator on that bike since there was not much to loose and saw a 10 MPH (68 instead of 58) increase is sustainable top speed since the bike no longer ran lean and lost intake pulse so badly that it would starve out and die along with run hot. Oil stayed cleaner too which was a plus since the GY6 clone engines don't have any oil filtration but just a screen and valves no longer carboned up a second plus however no grand increase in fuel economy just a little boost in performance without any MPG lost and perhaps a minor increase in economy. The Direct Injection 2 stroke 50cc scooters can surprise folks too. Derestricted and set up right you can get well over 65 MPH from them. Greatly prefer the tall rider Piaggio BV and Aprila scooters in the 250cc range over the others. More nimble and quicker off the line in traffic and with a few minor setup improvements will match top end of many 400/500cc scooters while weighing 100 lbs less. Best!
Variator tuning is only gonna get you so much speed. That's when you change the rear gears.
@@ItsDaJax Yes and no. For a gear change you usually need to at least increase the bore size and consider a stroker crank, ported big valve head and a bigger bore carburetor and intake manifold along with need to increase drive case cooling and exhaust flow. Then you've gone closer to 180cc/200cc and in racing have jumped classes plus you've gone beyond the simple NoCost/LowCost mods. Best!
@@neilfromclearwaterfl81 No you don't, just take the wheel off, and change the rear gears, just like a car, it requires no accompanying mods, will they benefit, yeah, needed, no.
I do not care what they make a video about, but these two just can not make a bad video, it's pure joy whenever I see them in a video
Who doesn't love the sound and joy of Zacks giggles on the track!
My partner watched RevZilla with me just to hear Zack giggle.
still amazed on how we are able to watch such awesome content for free. Cheers Zack and Ari. Big thanks to Revzilla for supporting them
They basically are Revzilla's PR firm, same way Ryan is F9s PR firm. Both are Comoto anyway though.
Comoto owns FortNine? I tried to find confirmation on the web ... didn't see it. The concentration of ownership in the biz bugs me. (Comoto owning Rev, Cycle Gear and JP Cycles. Until fairly recently (before looking seeing parallels between websites) I was under the impression that the various stores were competitors. So much for competition.@@Ramonatho
@@Ramonatho I believe you are wrong about Fortnine and Comoto
That was a 40 min smile. This is the best thing I've watched all year.
I had a Honda Metropolitan 50cc scooter to get around to doctor's appointments and physical therapy after a back injury, but it maxed out at 30mph, accelerated like a slug, and struggled up hills. A fuel controller (that also unlocked the rev limiter), a good pipe (in a hospital parking garage, it made a Harley guy jump when I fired it up next to him in the motorcycle parking area. He got a kick out of it and I apologized for spooking him), and a good racing variator with a variety of rollers got it up to 47mph, it held it's speed up hills and easily kept up with cars in city traffic. :)
What generation Metropolitan? I want my 2023 to do that but I know they've made changes over the years
@@esm8m I'm not sure which Gen, but it was a 2012 model year built for the American market.
It just needs a pizza box on the back!
It needs 20 more horsepower and a pizza box
A red pizza box should add 20 hp
Shopee food box would be better
A pizza box...... made from sealed aluminum.......pressurized with nitrous oxide.
@@AbdurrahmanZedSaeed nek di indo kejadian ini
Revzilla trying their best to put scooters back into the lime light. From a very big passionate scooter fan, I thank you for your efforts 👏👏👏👏
From Thailand here, just saying it was a blast to see Zack and Ari having a blast on a scooter. I'm not sure about the rules of modifications that's allowed to be done to be on the track but I just wish you guys had more time to modify the heck out of that thing and test it out beforehand. The amount of modifications that's done in the racing scene here in Thailand and SEA whether its the strip or the track is absurd here depending on the rules of the race. Just wish to see it was more equipped to race with those track machines. Great video guys, really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed that episode alot more than I thought I was going to. Zack and Ari work great together, they can make anything on 2 wheels entertaining. Well done.
here in italy scooter racing is actually a quiet serious thing, the championships range from 70cc two strokes to tmaxs
I think (and correct me if I'm wrong) it's more of a European thing. Xmax's here in the UK are really sought after to the point of theft. They're beasts in and around urban areas. Racing them is a whole other thing.
in southeast asia too mainly thailand and malaysia, they race small displacement scooters and underbones
@@lt1eg6Correct me if I’m wrong. Isn’t the uk Europe?
@@randygravel2057 Not really.
Not anymore 😂😂@@randygravel2057
“We gotta tear into it and see what’s wrong.” I think Zack meant to say Ari is going to be the one to tear into and figure out what’s wrong😂
I'm sure Ari let him hold the flashlight
Little thing like a piece of a valve missing.
I've talked so much about making a race scooter. Love that this is done by you guys!
Another STUPENDOUS adventure with Ari and Zack!! That was awesome and I loved it from start to finish, just like all the other CTXP/Ari/Zack builds and adventures! The support by RevZilla is completely appreciated. Cheers!!
the chemistry between Zack and Ari is so good, love their camaraderie, even better when you know they're childhood friends. great video as always from these CTXP videos, always incredibly entertaining to watch
From age 19 to 75, these guys know how to have fun. I would live to be the third wheel with these guys, but I have no clue on bike mechanics. Great job guys!
Almost every road racing club in the US is volunteer run, there are tons of opportunities to volunteer regardless of experience level
Thanks RevZilla for showcasing the happiness and love riding scooter, 40:02 Philippine race track in Carmona . Keep it up guys 👍
This is by far my favourite video. As an avid maxi-scooter lover. This is amazing.
Having been to this track: 2:02 is super impressive guys. Hats off to you, you had that scooter cookin.
Finally! You two lunatics kept us waiting long enough! Another inspiring video for 'motophiles' worldwide, scooters are now cool...
Scooter always cool... we got scooter races, usually drags in south east asia
Really liked the editing and style of this video. Keep up the great work.
Man, this was delightful to watch. It's my favorite motorcycle thing to watch. Can't wait for the next episode. Thanks guys!!
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen, I absolutely love it, make more frankenbikes!!
Now I have to see them do the rest of the typical changes to brakes, suspension and see what it can really do in the correct class
This is a nice refreshing departure from the typical CTXP I’ve come to expect. Very nice, big enjoyment.
Still making the best motorcycle content on KZhead. Y'all are treasures
Just brilliant. Thanks everyone who puts this together.
These CTXP episodes with Zack and Ari are absolutely fantastic!
"what's this 2:02?" "Cheating.... Cheating..." 😂
in Southeast Asia here we (but not me though) love to race scooters because... well those are now the majority of motorcycle population. Very popular with zoomers who barely get their license. The main classes are the 110 cc, 125 cc, 150 cc, and 250 ccs, discounting the Free for All class. Popular commuters turned racers around here are the Yamaha Mio (fyi, Zack already tried the vintage-look Vino variant a few years ago), the Honda Click (all 110, 125, and 150 cc variant), Honda Icon (it replaced the Click 110), Honda PCX and Yamaha N-Max/Aerox (the prime 150cc picks), and Honda Forza/ Yamaha X-Max for 250s. EDIT: there are some Vespas and Suzukis, but they are rare because, well, the sales are kinda abysmal, and because there are no Kawasaki scooters, the options are kinda... just those. Keep up the good work lads!
Yup, scooter racing is very popular in Taiwan as well, the soul of motor racing really is racing on the moddified day-to-day machines. Scooter is perfect in the sense that there's no need for big and expensive race track, a tiny circuit will do. In Taiwan the big three is Kymco, SYM, and Yamaha.
And Asian did way better at Tuning Scooter to be Faster. Look at them at Dragstrip 🥶
@@jalanihidup6119 main issue? the parts are not exactly reliable... unless you're in Malaysia or Thailand.
@@sx4mania35 ?
I bought a suzuki step when doing my DMT at Koh Tao, Thailand, back in 2018, really cheap old carby scooter. But my favourite is the Honda Click in the city and on small islands. I also made a lot of kms on the PCX, but I like that more on the countryside.
This content is gold! I love when they do stuff together. Great chemistry;.
This makes me feel so much better about tearing down my busted up ZX6R the day before a track day to slap on some Armour Bodies fairings only to get it together and not start. I couldn't believe it, even though it had been mostly sitting for a few months after a crash it just hours earlier it had been running a few hours earlier before stripping off the old body work. After a few hours head scratching and checking various things I realized that my tip over sensor was upside down. I was supposed to be rolling into town to set up camp for the night at Summit Point, a few hours from home, but instead I was frantically reinstalling my body work and getting loaded into the trailer.
This is brilliant! Can't wait to see the full video
Ari and Zack and so rad. What a fun video to watch!! Gets me sooooo pumped for the 2024 riding season up in the PNW!
Fantastic episode and both of you did an amazing job riding. This makes me love my little Honda 50cc scooter even more.
Genius! Favorite Zach and Ari video of all time! Scooter Gang for life.
Another great adventure from CTXP. I have been riding bikes since 1985... GPz, ZX, CBR, GSXR until i switched to cruisers and tourers in my late 40's... I am 6'4" and my lanky body couldn't take the "sit and beg" riding position anymore. However, I agree when you say: " It's a good reminder that there's a racer inside every rider and a Superbike lurking inside every machine..." I have to remind myself that every time i ride my Victory Vision and sparks are flying... It is, after all, somewhat of a very large scooter... Greetings from Montréal, Québec. 🖖 👽
absolutely brilliant! Definitely got one more subscriber! you guys are living the dream!
Thanks, guys, that was way more entertaining than I could have imagined. More, please.
I like the video in the first 10 seconds. 😂 I absolutely love these Frankenstein projects! More please!!!!
you guys remind me of the old school 'top gear' show. Loving it. Awesome job. Always a treat when you guys have a new episode. Cheers!
I think this was the most enjoyable, satisfying and good-vibe bike related video I've seen!!! Great idea! Keep it up guys!!!!
That was a blast!! The most fun entertainment that I have watched in a long time.
Would love to see you guys hack this thing up to reduce weight, maybe optimize gearing, and fix the ergos! Needs a peaky cam, for sure.
Hahahah Zack's manic laughter while passing people on the track
Outstanding! Really outdid yourselves on this one guys. All the best from a TMAX-560 rider.
Awesome job guys on having fun and especially keeping the integrity of racing intact.
this content should not be free on youtube, such high quality this needs to be a discovery tv show. absolute blast to watch! love it!
omg so happy to come across this! more of these please!!! good job guys!
Excellent work as always you two. Keep it up.
Question for the production and purchasing side: how do you walk the fine line between getting a bike with enough issues that content like shop manual and stuff can be made for it, but also not going into dangerous territory where there is genuine chance of loss of life and limb.
Structural components must be solid. Anything else just has to not explode into flames too fast/suddenly.
LMAO…Another great video! Hey when you guys went and fessed up how did the officials take it? Kind of looked like a few fairly stern faces in the short clip.
Yeah, they didn't look too terribly pleased.....
Best motorcycle content ever! Always love to watch your CTXP videos! 😁😁😁😁
You guys have been around, you might want to go to Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines and take a gander at the local street scooter scene. They love to race automatics there, and mopeds too.
revzilla the only reason I subscribed was because of these guys video, pls dont cut their show
I'm glad to say I helped fund this video with my purchases!
Big respect to both your guys🙌🏻 "dad" scooter is killing🔥
Scooter racing is actually a pretty big thing in japan and taiwan... small tight circuits really makes short wheelbase low COG machines shine! PS. race gas and ecu tune *might* squeeze it into the 2 min mark imho.
Not sure if you watched the entire video, but they have footage from the tmax series at 40:54
Come on, there is a lot to make more power guys. Air Filter, Throttle Body, Cams, Bigger valve, higher compression or less head gasket layer, final drive, back to stock wheel. Just watch south east Asia boy modify scooter to keep up with bigger bike
oh ya and put less weight rider on it like Herin
Way to go Ari and Zack with the video! Great stuff and so cool to see the transformation and skills on the racetrack
It has been a long time since I enjoyed a video on u-tube as much as this one. Way to go guys. It proves that a low budget scoot can be turned into a real fun machine; cheating aside. The best video ever. I am a 74 year old with only 3 years riding , and you guessed it I ride an 09 TMAX in stock form. Havin the time of my life. You guys are my hero’s. keep us entertained. Yea Haw. Praise God.
Who can't watch these two knuckle heads on another scooter!
The scooter videos are always a great watch
What a great video! These guys are great. I raced with their fathers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. I remember Zack and Ari when they were kids. Ari's Dad on an RD400 in the 1980s and later Zack as monkey on his father's vintage sidecar about 25 years ago. They're both from good families and are obviously very talented and entertaining.
A couple months late seeing this but I gotta say I really enjoyed this scooter video. Ari and Zack are great together. They keep me feeling young after watching them all these years!! Thanks Revzilla and Progressive!
I have many... many good things to say about CT XP videos but this one stood out. Love the steps the guys took to make the scooter competitive and the cracks they took along the way. Also, love seeing the Bell headgear, I have the same model in black and yellow though mine is a different design. Cheers
That opening of the garage door going up was pure gold
Such a fun video, there is nothing better than waling up to a new CTXP video!!!!
These adventure style videos are the best. Revzilla please keep making them ❤
Dude what a blast of an episode!!! Well done Revzilla!!!
Awesome episode, reminded me of my scooter racing days, good times. Thanks Ari and Zack.
Common tread has brought a top gear level of entertainment to the motorcycle world. Absolutely love this channel and these guys🤙🏼
This was awesome! Best content on KZhead. Driving slow machines fast will always be more fun than driving fast machines slow.
👌😎👍 AWESOME JOB, GUYS ! It was VERY entertaining watching you push that thing to the edge ! Thanks you, #Revzilla and production team for enabling Zack and Ari on another adventure. 👍
Zach and Ari never disappoint. What a great, original video.
Finally another episode!!! Can’t wait to watch this madness! Also, develop the 2 stroke race bike further ❤
Very cool stuff, I love the unconventional builds. You guys and Revzilla are killing it with great content.
I can't believe I just watched this and loved it. Well played Zack and Ari, well played.
In France, we LOVE the Tmax, there is a ton of them here in the streets ! We call him "the king of the city" because it's pretty powerful, confortable and practical.
You guys are awesome! I really enjoy this CTXP, 🎉 really everything that RevZilla puts out. Shout out to the shop manual.. Spencer behind the scenes great job👍🍻
The dynamic duo did it again ! 👍
Had full confidence in a 500cc scooter on a race track! Great Rebuild :) Been itching for more small bike -> long distance videos (TVS XL100 for the challenge)
Another insanely good episode!!! Well done!
Another great episode of CTXP! Can’t wait for the next one 🤙🏽
AWESOME video. that was fun for me to watch.. GJ...
What an amazing video! You guys are amazing!! More of this please.
You guys never disappoint, another great feature. Glad you came clean at the end. Still it's a pretty big challenge to do that.
Great episode, great fun to watch.
Please make another video like this. Really like this episode.
Love this! Good job guys!
Not gonna lie, so glad you two are back! Also, I thought after seeing the opening scene, that you had stretched the scooter. I can't believe it's that long stock!!!