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INTERVIEWS

Zach Osborne | Importance Of Testing & Setting Changes

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INSTAGRAM | @zacho_16

Little changes make a big difference. That’s what we learned during our recent conversation with Zach Osborne about the process he and the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team go through when developing a setting for his motorcycle. Osborne’s experience goes back to his minibike days, when he was one of the key test riders for KTM’s first 85 in the early 2000s, and he’s learned a lot during his decade-plus career with multiple teams. 

One look at Osborne’s bike makes it clear that his preferences are far different than teammates Jason Anderson and Dean Wilson, changes that are made out of necessity for his stature and riding style. A cut-down seat with a pleated cover and a hump keeps him locked in place, his ProTaper handlebars are slightly smaller at the grips for a better grip, and various parts and pieces on the FC 450 make the chassis and engine perform to his liking. As you read in the interview, Osborne is aware that the materials and even the torque spec can alter the entire feel of the bike, and you’ll understand what riders are talking about when they mention setting changes in post-race interviews…

Were you a good test rider as a kid? I mean, obviously so, because you helped develop the KTM 85 package…

For sure that was a huge jumpstart to my testing skills. One thing that really helped me was that I worked in my parent’s KTM shop for a long time and understanding how things worked, what I’m feeling in my mind, and knowing the process of what’s going on underneath me really helped me a lot. The better that I can have stuff explained to me about what we’re looking for, obviously makes my job a little easier as a rider. Sometimes we get stuff and they say, “Just tell us what you think.” Having those skills from a young age, that at the first official test I did I was 12 years old in Germany, and it was pretty high pressure. They were giving me all of this stuff that was basically going to be or change the way the production 85 was at the time. So I needed to be pretty spot on and I think that helped me realize at a young age how critical each piece is to every part of the bike, how much things can change with taking a bolt out or changing a bolt from steel to titanium. There are some many things that people don’t understand we talk about bike set up on the podium and interviews, how critical every little move is. With the WP stuff right now, the clickers are really sensitive so with one or two clicks we can tell a big difference. We have to be very conscious of what we’re doing. I don’t have a written graph or paper, even though I’d like to have one by now, but I almost have a written graph in my head of what each click I do or each change will feel like, that it will stiffen something here or soften something there, that I could be tighter in the corners, and that my chassis feel could be more in the pegs or in the handlebars. Just knowing how things work is the biggest benefit to me.

You being a “numbers guy,” but also making decisions off feel and emotion, do you double-check everything with LitPro data and lap times? Or do you know already when things feel a certain way?

Lap times play a big part in it, but at the same time, I’m riding a track and going through the code in my head, “Okay, if I take this to a certain trying, what will it feel like? If it’s harder packed than this or softer than this?” It’s not just feeling what I’m feeling right then and there; it’s planning the next six months for my base setting. It’s a lot more than spinning laps and picking parts. For me, lap time is key, and comfort is key. If we are riding Supercross, the whoops are key. If I can get through the whoops three-tenths better but lose a tenth or two in the corners, it’s a balancing act as far as time goes and my comfort and overall feel.


“I almost have a written graph in my head of what each click I do or each change will feel like, that it will stiffen something here or soften something there, that I could be tighter in the corners, and that my chassis feel could be more in the pegs or in the handlebars. Just knowing how things work is the biggest benefit to me.”


When you came into the 450 Class after an injury last year, you openly said that you were missing the mark after what you had done in the preseason and that there needed to be some changes to the bike. Is it hard to do that after working so hard (to develop a setting) or are you open to change?

I was pretty closed-minded to change before I started in the 450 Class. With the 450, the setting and the bike is so much more sensitive with the weight, the chain torque, and all of that. With every change you have to be on the fly a little bit more, which is something I’m working on getting better at. With the 250, I rode basically the same setting from 2016 until I was done at Thunder Valley in 2018, so for the better part of three seasons I rode the same settings, it was just clicks here or there or, “We have a new engine hanger, will you try it?” By more or less, it was the same setting.

With the 450 I have changed tons. And you have to. You have to be more lenient on feeling exactly what you want all the time. Sometimes have to make some sacrifices in some spots that you felt good so that you can take it to other spots where you were bad, that way you’re good around the whole track. It’s been a bit of a learning curve as far as that goes with the 450.

One big thing that we’ve seen in the last year is the engine hanger aftermarket accessories boom. Can you explain how important that part is, what each material does, and things the small holes that are in the middle? How much does that impact the whole feel of the chassis?

It’s an insane amount of change for us. We have three options (at Husqvarna/KTM): steel, aluminum, and carbon. I’m a steel guy because I feel like when I have those, I can make the suspension a little stiffer and still find good comfort. It can change everything. I’ve heard tons of rumors about people back in the day, like I heard that RC would run one of the radiator shroud bolts out or loose because it would change how stiff the bike was. I run a rubber-mounted skid plate because I don’t like the stiffness between the frame rails. Every little thing changes something, whether you are good enough to feel it or not is another thing, but it definitely changes something. Having ridden for 25 years and at a high-level for 15 years, it’s something I enjoy and have a decent feel for, finding different parts and finding that comfort that I can take a little from here and put to there to move the balance around on the bike. There are so many things that you can do to a bike as far as that stuff goes and you can get lost very easily. That’s one of the biggest challenges about this whole thing: not getting lost. You can hit the setting and then keep testing, but then not find your way back there. I think it’s really important for us to find something we are really comfortable with and then saying, “Okay, this is good. So we’re going to mark all of this down and test from here to see how it goes, then come back to here in the end and see if it was better.” In my career, nine times out of 10, I end up back where I started. But this is what we’re here for, trying stuff. You can’t say no and you have to give it a chance because every little piece could make it better.

I’m in the Husqvarna pit all of the time, so I see the way everyone from you to Dave Feeney (Osborne’s mechanic) to Steve Westfall (team crew chief) work together. They are very good about letting you do what you feel is right. As a racer, how important is it to have a group that is understanding and will let you try things, even if they think it might not be the best way, just so you know one way or the other?

That’s key, in my opinion. And it’s key for a rider to build a reputation that they aren’t going to blame the bike or say, “Well, the team said this and it was their call.” You want it to be instantaneous as a young guy, but it comes with age and reputation. For me, it’s an honor. It’s always easier to see from the outside in, so I trust Steve and Dave a lot, plus Todd Brown (team’s WP tech) and Jim Anderson, four or five guys that know even more about the process that’s going on beneath my legs than I do. It’s a smorgasbord of people involved with the whole thing and it’s awesome, because really it was one of the keys to my success with the team, that they trusted me, that I built a good relationship with Dave and Steve, and that we lean on each other to find the good stuff.


“I run a rubber-mounted skid plate because I don’t like the stiffness between the frame rails. Every little thing changes something, whether you are good enough to feel it or not is another thing, but it definitely changes something,” explained Osborne. As for the longer headers that are now favored by some at KTM and Husqvarna, it’s an influence from the European riders but altered for US settings. “It’s a little different because they have crappy fuel and some other stuff so they have to more high-compression and whatnot to make the bike run as good as they want it to, and for us, it could possibly be too much power.”


You have a unique body build and riding style, so there are not a lot of parts that go from Dean Wilson’s bike to yours. Everything that’s on your motorcycle is reflective of your choices, right?

Very much so. Compared to a guy like Dean, it’s very different. I’m a little closer to a guy like Cooper, but that’s maybe because we ride together so much. We bounce ideas off of each other and whatnot. My bars are super special, with the small ends, and my clamps are the lowest clamps of anyone in the company. I’m pretty unique, I would say, but that comes from a little bit of stubbornness and maybe trying to replicate my 250 days or whatever the case may be. It’s to each their own and everything is so custom. I’m not sure if Dean is still doing it, but he runs steel bolts in his clamps and front-end, which makes a big difference as far as stiffness goes.

When the bike is new one thing I like to do is loosen the torque specs off a little bit, two or three Newton meters, just to break the bike in because it feels so stiff in the very beginning. That’s something the average rider would laugh at or write off, but that makes a huge difference in what I’m feeling from the bike.

All that you have explained is information that you can only figure out through first-hand knowledge. A guy like Roger De Coster, who is in tune with what the bike does, does he ever sit down and educate you about this or is it trial by fire that has to be learned through experience?

I would say 90-percent trial by fire because they don’t want to skew your thinking. A lot of what is said before you ride the bike is on your mind, so occasionally if we’re testing something that is really new or they have some preconceived notions like that it has a characteristic, “Hey, the front-end will be kind of low,” they will tell us knowledge like that. But as far as an actual briefing, nothing like that.

The big thing for KTM and Husqvarna is that the European branch of Jeffrey Herlings, Pauls Jonass, and Antonio Cairoli, all of their information is shared back and forth between that division and the American group. One thing that we’ve seen directly come over is their longer header, which changes the engine’s characteristics. Do rely on the information from the MXGP scene or do things like Supercross make it completely different?

A little bit of both. They run a completely different frame and stuff like that. Some of the stuff that we tried when we were there for Des Nations was mind-blowing at how different it was. As far as engine settings and all of that goes, it’s a little different because they have crappy fuel and some other stuff so they have to more high-compression and whatnot to make the bike run as good as they want it to, and for us, it could possibly be too much power. Yeah, I think we get a lot from their knowledge, but the overall endgame is done here.

You’ve seen all of this stuff in testing forever, but is it still exciting to be the Guinea pig for new designs or materials?

I’m into it! I like that kind of stuff and that side of racing. I would love to someday step into a role like that, maybe. I enjoy how things are made and how things work. I love that kind of stuff and it excites me.

KTM and Husqvarna are starting to cycle in new guys and at Aldon’s, there are a lot of young riders. Have they asked you to educate these kids?

A little bit, yeah. I think that there will be a time for that, but not quite yet because I’m still racing at a high level and I need to focus on what I have going on. As a human, I feel some obligation to help them and I don’t want to ever see anyone go through the things I had to so I could get to where I am. Any advice that I can give, I feel like it’s my civil duty more than anything to help them out. There’s so much to learn when you’re the least moldable age and you need to be at the most moldable, learning the most of your whole career when you’re 17, 18, 19 years old. There is definitely some interest for me to help those guys at the races, which I do as much as I can, but at the same time, they don’t put a job on me.


“Compared to a guy like Dean, it’s very different. I’m a little closer to a guy like Cooper, but that’s maybe because we ride together so much. We bounce ideas off of each other and whatnot. My bars are super special, with the small ends, and my clamps are the lowest clamps of anyone in the company. I’m pretty unique, I would say, but that comes from a little bit of stubbornness and maybe trying to replicate my 250 days or whatever the case may be. It’s to each their own and everything is so custom. I’m not sure if Dean is still doing it, but he runs steel bolts in his clamps and front-end, which makes a big difference as far as stiffness goes.”


For fans, they kind of think it’s white noise when you talk about changes made in a setting, but to hear it come straight from you on how much a bolt’s material or a half-turn or a click, it’s a big deal.

The biggest misconception is when people ride their stock bikes and they click it five times but don’t feel anything. But a lot of that is because they don’t quite know what they’re looking for and because our stuff is hypersensitive. The only way I know how to explain it is if you play golf. Pros want everything to be as stiff as possible on the shaft, they want blades, and everything to be as cut-down so that they have the maximum amount of feedback for what they did on each shot. It’s the same for us. Everything is as stiff as possible and as sensitive as possible to give us the best chance at deciphering the code and to feel every single piece of information we can through our hands and feet.

What has been your coolest experience during testing? Was there a certain part or a bike that they wheeled out and you thought, “Oh, my God. This is sick.”

One of the coolest things for me is my first experience ever, which was the KTM 85. I was 12 years old, it was 2002, and no one had seen the thing at that time. It was a bunch of 125 parts cut down to fit an 85. Up until the last four or five years, it was the same, so for like 15 years the bike I did pre-production testing for was 90-percent the same. Even the engine today is quite the same. That’s one of the coolest things for me to look back on that time, knowing how young and inexperienced I was, and that there some impact, even though it wasn’t all my decision and not that I did everything.

As far as trick pieces go, the bars that I run are really cool and a huge benefit for me. That’s one thing that I’m super grateful for in my career, as far as testing, because ProTaper was looking for someone to try it, some like me with small hands. They were actually considering producing one for people with huge hands. There is tons of cool carbon and titanium stuff that I’ve seen in my day, that stuff you always dream of getting your hands on.

Knowing how intricate the machining process is, how special the materials are, does it make you appreciate it that much more?

Oh, yeah. And something that I feel is really undervalued from an outsider’s standpoint, not by me or 99-percent of the other riders, is that the assembly process of the bike is also huge. Nothing can be in a bind or it changes what I’m feeling. Nothing can be over-torqued or under tightened. All of that stuff makes a huge difference and to have Dave, who has been doing this for 25 years and is always spot-on, makes a huge difference to the rider as well and I think that’s super undervalued. How much the process of bike build can change the finished build, all of the wire ties and zip ties that are in the right spots and cut perfectly make a huge difference for us.

You have complete confidence in him, that he’s going to do it the right way, and that you don’t have to worry about it.

I don’t ever have to move my bars, that’s how good of a system that we have. Even my levers, I don’t have to do a ton with that. I show up, sit down, and it’s ready to go.


“To have Dave (Feeney, Osborne’s mechanic), who has been doing this for 25 years and is always spot-on, makes a huge difference to the rider as well and I think that’s super undervalued. How much the process of bike build can change the finished build, all of the wire ties and zip ties that are in the right spots and cut perfectly make a huge difference for us.”

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Michael Antonovich

Michael Antonovich has a wealth of experience with over 10 years of moto-journalism under his belt. A lifelong racing enthusiast and rider, Anton is the Editor of Swapmoto Live and lives to be at the race track.

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1 Comment

  1. Clintonic April 9, 2020

    Great interview!