WE RIDE DAVID O’CONNOR’S VET MXDN 2002 YAMAHA YZ250
10/21/2022 03:10 PM
When David O’Connor decided that he wanted to race the Vet Motocross Des Nations at the Foxhill track in England, he needed a 2002-or-older race bike. This 20-year-old renovated 2002 Yamaha YZ250 came to him as a worn-out heap. We like to say that David O’Connor is everyone’s favorite Irishman; however, “everyone” is a relative term. We actually mean everyone in the American motocross community. Why do we like him so much? Because David has two very important qualities that guarantee success in the sport of motocross. What are we talking about? David O’Connor can talk the talk and walk the walk. No, we don’t mean “talk the talk” like a charismatic public speaker, and we don’t mean “walk the walk” like he’s a Pro-level racer. What we mean is that he’s a people person who is extremely friendly, outgoing and knowledgeable. He makes everyone he talks to feel important, and he has the mechanical skills, work ethic and riding skills to fully understand how a motorcycle works. TEAM IRELAND HAD A BLAST AND FINISHED 14TH OUT OF THE 21 INTERNATIONAL TEAMS (OF THREE RIDERS EACH). NOW, IT’S DAVID’S TURN TO DO SOME SERIOUS TRAVELING AND HEAD TO ENGLAND FOR THE VET MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS. Anyone who wants to work in the motocross industry should take notes from David. (1) Be personable. Be honest and make friends with everyone. (2) Work hard at whatever you do. This is the formula for success in many aspects of life but especially motocross. David has worked as a mechanic for an extensive list of riders and teams, but MXA really came to appreciate him through his time spent in the press relations department at KTM. We were always thankful for his willingness to help in any circumstance, even though we still complained to him about closed-off airbox covers, not enough of a difference between maps 1 and 2, and how the spoke next to the rim lock kept coming loose. As the PR guy for KTM, it was David’s job to listen to our complaints about KTM and KTM’s complaints about us. Because of its long uninterrupted production run, the YZ250 two-stroke is the easiest bike to get parts for during the rebuild process. Plus, they run great. THE GEAR: Jersey: Leatt 5.5 Ultraweld, Pants: Leatt 5.5 Ultraweld, Helmet: 6D ATR-2, Goggles: Leatt Velocity 6.5 Enduro, Boots: Leatt 5.5 Flexlock. David doesn’t work for KTM anymore because he opened his own shop, closed it and worked as a hired gun for the KTM test department, helped Dunlop with its new tire intros and started racing more. This is our second-ever test of a David O’Connor motorcycle. The first one was in 2019 when we tested David’s “Extreme 2019 KTM 250SXF build.” David’s KTM 250SXF was a showcase for KTM Factory parts. MXA’s YouTube video on that bike had 435,000 views. This test, the second one that MXA has done on one of his race bikes, came about because David signed up to race the British-held Vet Motocross Des Nations at the Foxhill track in England. Before he crated his bike to ship it to England, he had MXA run his 20-year-old Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke for him. David’s adventure started way back in 2019 when the Vet World Cup was introduced at the Dubya World Vet Championship at Glen Helen. David convinced his Irish buddies to come represent Team Ireland for the weekend. Of course, Team Ireland had a blast and finished 14th out of the 21 international teams (of three riders each). Now, it’s David’s turn to do some serious traveling and head to England for the Vet Motocross des Nations. The major difference between these two races is that at Glen Helen, Vets are encouraged to race the latest and great motorcycles made, while at the Foxhill’s Vet MXDN, the newest bike you can run in the VMXDN class is a bike built in 2002. David’s choice of a 20-year-old YZ250 was a no-brainer, because YZ250 two-stroke parts are easy to find, largely because the bike is still in production today.
