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/126825
...... Right out of the crate. the YZ 's suspension is too soft for most riders . Front disc brake is sana . ma king m an eu vera bil it y di fficu lt. Now th e sea t is 30m m ta ller a nd has a flatter surface. In th e pas t, pl ast ic on th e Yama ha YZ was too th in a n d brittl e a nd would easi ly crack. T his year the w hite p las tic is 0.7mm thicker a nd more pliable. T h e gas ta nk ho ld s 2.4 gallons and h as decals o n it, vs. the d ecal s o n ra d iator shrouds like the rest of th e Japa nese 2s0s. It will be on lya ma tter of tim e before the decals peel off wh en th e ri de r's kn ees rubs agains t th em . The Yamaha weighs 231.5 pou nds wet. T he short a nd stu bby kicksta rter is a little a wkward to use, beca use there isn ' t en o ugh room between the lever a nd th e foot peg a t th e bottom o f th e stroke. We often smash ed o ur ri ght foot aga ins t th e bottom of the footpeg; unfortunatel y, th e Yamah a doesn 't a lways start on th e first kick. At id le, th e Yamaha is very qui et , but o nce th e throttl e is twisted, it p roduces a loud and throat y note - a litte bit louder th an m ost 250s. By far the most impressive feature is t h~ Yam aha's engi ne , because it has gobs of torque off the bottom and p lenty o f p ow er from m id-range on up. Last year's YZ made good power down lo w but cou ldn ' t m a tch that performance on to p - no longer is thi s th e case. From first gea r to six th , the Yamaha pulls a n d pulls and pulls withou t losin g a beat througho u t its wide and strong powerban d. Even though the Yamah a 's engi ne puts out an abu nda nce of horsepower , it is easy to manage in j us t a bo u t eve ry si tua tion, because th ere is n o su dde n blast of hor sepow er an vw he re in th e powerb and. The Yamaha hooks up qu ite well o n dr y a n d sli p pery s u rf aces a n d m a intain s s moot h accel eration on loamy grou n d witho u t th e front en d shooti ng up in th e air radicall y. Sin ce it ha s suc h a wide, smooth a n d gutsy pow er delivery, th e Yama h a is very forgivin g. If th e rid er finds himself a gear too hi gh in a turn , one quick fan o f th e clutch usuall y brings th e Yamaha back up to speed, o r if he get s out of shape o n a hill a nd loses momentum, th ere is enough power to bail h im o u t. The transmission has th e right gea r rat io to m at ch th e p ower band, and th e right gear for every situation. The shiftlever, though, is a little tough to find for large feet; it is short and is tu ck ed in ver y close to th e engine. Luckily the throw is very quick so a slight nudge on the shifter is usually all that 's needed. Because of the placement of the sh ift lever, though. missed shifts do happen now and then. The clutch does have a lighter pull this year, but after a few hours on.the . bik e, it became gra bby a t slow speeds an d dr agged a bit when hot. It 's best to put th e bik e in gear seco nd before th e ga te dro ps a t th e start of a rnoto . Thanks to th e exce lle nt low end a nd smooth powerba nd, th e Ya maha is easy to get off th e lin e quickl y. In stock trim , th e Yamah a's suspension is not outstandi ng, bu t it does get th e job done. It ha ndles small, squared-off bu mps smoot h ly an d holds a straig h t line for a 160pou n d rider, but bottoms ha rshl y an d see-saws down straigh ts filled with la rger wh oop-do-doo s. And when th e thrott le is twi sted o n when exiti n g a turn , th e back end sq ua ts an d the front end raises noticeably, then does th e opposite wh en th e throttle is back ed off. The culprit ; The stock fork sprin gs are too sof t a nd should be replaced by op ti ona l stiffer Yamaha fork sp rin gs. We replaced th e fork springs an d the result was 100% better ove r th e roll ing w h o o ps a n d squared-off bumps, and the see-saw action di sapeared . Yamaha Wrench Reports suggest using th e stiffer fork sp ri n gs, ISw oil a t th e 140 - 190mm level, with th e compression damping set at 12 clicks out for riders ov er 170 pounds. We feel , for hard riding, a 160 pound rider will benefit at these settin gs, also. We followed Yamaha 's rear suspen sion tun in g suggestio n. setti ng th e co m p ress io n damping 18 cl icks o u t, rebound nine o u t a nd adj usti ng th e rid e h eight 100m m , an d th ere was a noticeable impro vement over th e ro ugh stu ff. After we were th ro ugh adj us ting th e Yamaha 's suspens ion , it went from m ar ginall y good to s lig h tly-a bove-average o n ro ug h tracks an d stayed very good o n n ot so-ro ugh track. At first th e Brak e Actuated Sus pension System didn 't impress us. The ba ck would top o u t as the soft fron t forks dived , ca us ing th e rear wheel to unl oad and skim over th e tops of th e bumps under hea vy braking . Braking over large stu tte r bumps, th ough , th e rear en d doesn ' t kick nea rl y as much as it used to . We came across another problem wh en ja mm ing ove r a se r ies of sta di u m -ty pe whoops - sometimes it wo rks to slig h tly drag th e rear br ake to keep th e ba ck en d in co nt ro l; when the rid er tri es that on th e Yamaha , the sh ock 's val ving becomes sp rin gier , causing the back end to hop around. Gen erall y, we like th e B.A.S.S . because the majority of racin g is done outdoors where stadium bumps are less common and bikeswallowing braking bumps usually form. And when the st iffer fork springs are installed, the problem with the rear wheel skimming over ' th e lOp o f the.bumps decreases. . • . (Top) Th e seat is 3 0 m m taller. (Bottom) In st ock t rim . t he rea r suspension is o kay but can easily be made better . Jumping the Yamaha is relatively simple, but the back end likes to cl im b every now a n d then, and since th e en gine pumps out such good low en d, it mak es for a good doubleju m pe r. If there's a double jump immediately follow ing a tight turn. a healthy twist of th e throttle giv es the Yamaha enough bla st to launch it high int o the air to clear th e second jump. The Yamaha is an excellent turner - it can slice through turns with, or without, th e aid of a berm , and once again , th e torquey m otor h elps. The YZ ca n be leaned way over in a turn a nd will h old its lin e without drifting up an d over a berm. The tir es stick to th e grou nd reasonably well , but th e rear tir e wea rs out quickl y. Seat , foopeg an d handleb ar positioning is co m forta ble. but th e h an dlebars hav e a stra nge ben d that ta kes a little time getting u sed to. The seat is much better th is yea r because of th at added height - th ere is no longer that feeling o f "sin king" in th e middl e of th e sea t. mak ing m aneuverability much easier. The new Yam aha is a definite front runner thanks to its excellent motor, decent su spension and good handling. We didn 't have any mechanical problems; if we had. it co mes with a very informative owner's manual with plenty of pictures and diagrams. In stock condition. th e Yamaha will pl ease a wid e range o f rider tal ent: The Beginner and Novice rid er will lo ve it s torquey, forgiving moto r a nd pl uch sus pe nsion, while th e Intermediat e an d Pro rider will like it for its a ll-arou nd powerfull motor an d won 't have to spend a lots of time and m oney di aling in the su spe n sion . Wh at we hav e here is...a winner l • Yamaha YZ250N Engi ne type . . •. . Uquid -cooled. 2 -stroke. single Bore x st roke 86x86m m D isplacement . • . • . . • . . . 246cc Com pressio n ratio 8 .2:1 Ca rburet ion .. . . • 38m m Miku ni Ignition • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .• • COl Lu bri cation ... . ...... • • Pre -mix Gea r ratio s Prima ry • . • . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2 .625 Final • ••. . • . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .571 5th 1 .0 0 0: 1 4th . • •. • • • •.. . .. . .. 1 .200:1 3rd 1 .444:1 2nd 1. 7 5 0 :1 2.143:1 1st Frame • •• • . . . Single downtube. double crad le Raka .• .• ••• .••.••• . . . _• . 2Bo Trail •. .• .. ••••••• • 4 .69 inch es Fron t suspension t ype .. • . Telescopic f ork Fork t ul;le di ame ter •• . . . • 43mm Fron t wheel t ravel . •. • •. 11 .8 in. Rear sus pe nsion type . . .. Single sho ck. swingarm Rear wheel travel 12. 6 in. 9 .4-in. disc Front bra kes Rear brakes .. . .. .. .....• Drum Fron t w hee l • •. •.. . ..... 21 -in . Rear wheel . . • . • . . • • . . . . 1 8- in. 90/90-21 Front t ire Bridgestone Rear tire 130/80-18 Bridgestone Dry weight. 216 1bs. Whee lba" •• .• . • .••. . • 57.9 in. Fuel capacity •. • •.• •. • 2 .25 gal. Ground clearance . ••. •• 13.4 in. Seat hei ght . • • • _• • . • • . 38.0 in. Colors Wh ite Retail price $2499 17,.