Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1227783
2020 YAMAHA XT250 R I D E R E V I E W P72 will slow down rapidly and predict- ably. The back brake works just fine. No complaints there. Yamaha found a good compro- mise when it comes to the XT's suspension. Yes, it's a little on the soft side overall but for the type of riders this motorcycle is intended for, I'd say Yamaha nailed it. For casual romps in the hills, the sus- pension is quite good for a wide variety of weight and there is some room for tuning via the shock's spring preload and rebound damping adjustments. At 32 inches, seat height seems a little high on paper for a motorcycle such as this, but the XT is so narrow at the seat/tank junction that it is easy to firmly plant both feet on the ground. My wife is 5'4" and could touch the ground with both feet, no problem. Some people might question why Yamaha didn't give the XT water cooling, but the lack of radiators helps keep the width (weight and center of gravity) of the bike down, which results in a dual-sport bike that is extremely easy to maneuver and move around on. The XT250 is not exactly light on the scales at a claimed 291 pounds but feels light and agile on the trail. It has a short 53.5-inch wheelbase and an extremely tight turning radius, which can come in real handy on extremely tight and technical trails. Another nice but often over- looked attribute of the XT is ground clearance—it has a gen- erous 11-plus inches, which is a good thing considering the skid plate is invisible. Consider shop- ping for an aftermarket skid plate (and handguards while you're at it) as one of your first purchases for the XT250. The XT250 comes fitted from the factory with Bridgestone Trail Wing tires, which are a good compromise between street and dirt. They work well on the pave- ment and are aggressive enough to provide decent and confident- inspiring grip off-road. Probably the best thing about the XT250 is that license plate on the back. It opens the door to many more legal areas to ride than dirt-only motorcycles. Even though the XT250 is technically a full-size motorcycle, it doesn't feel that way between your legs (it feels small in overall size) and is one of only a few bikes like this that caters to newbies and shorter inseamed riders that is both (Left) With a generous 2.6-gallon (2.4 CA) fuel capacity and a motor that sips fuel, the XT250 provides a lot of hours of good cheap fun. (Right) The XT250 is one of the lighter dual-sport bikes in its class and just plain fun to ride, as long as you're not in a big hurry to get anywhere.