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/127178
ratios By Kit Palmer and the clutch pull needs to be lighter. Suspension is first rate in most areas. We liked the way the front end tackles th e slower, high impact bumps, and th e way the rear end soaks up the jolts over the rocks and whoops. Our only gripe is a twitchy front end at high speed in stock condition. We have no complaints about its overall ha ndling. The YZ-WR slices through the turns effortlessly, jumps with precision and has progressive and strong brak es. Yam aha 's j ump back into the offroa d wo rld has been Ions aw aited a nd nothing less than senous. T he YZ250WR will keep th e compe titio n on its toes. B y offering a wide-ratio transmission and a lighting coil with a wiring harness as standard equipment on th e YZ250WR, Yamaha has eliminated two of the bigsest hass les and expenses in building a first-rate offroad motorcycle. Since Yamaha ha s done the hard part for yo u, here are some aft ermarket bolt-on suggestions that will give th e YZ-WR that finishing touch. Most off-road events and riding parks require motorcycles to have U.S. Forestry-approved spark arresters and since th e YZ-WR does not come stock with one, the first thing we did was to install an Answer Prod ucts SA P ro silencer. The alumin um, lightweigh t, one-piece U.S. Forestry-a pproved unit bol ts right on, hass le-free, in place of th e stock silencer. It comes with all th e necessary har dwar e and can be install ed , in just a few minutes. It's a lso rebuildabl e. We didn 't notice any horsepower loss with th e SA Pro silencer, and because of its spiral, cone-shaped internal design of the spark arrester unit itself, it will not plug up with carbon and oi l wh ich can kill engine performance. H a nd , protection was our next concern, so we "installed a pair of Bar k Busters from l e o Racing. They are simple to install and keep tree bra nches, bushes and tree trunks from smashing yo ur fingers and wra p p in g around the handlebar levers. Even th ough you might not think Bark Busters ar e necessary for more wid e open desert-type terrain, they do serve a good purpose by protecting th e handlebars and the levers in a fall. Plus, you can add on inexpen si ve b ut very us eful Acerbis plastic hand guards that bolt right on to th e Bark Bus ters for added brush protection a nd sh ielding fro m cold air. Acerbis a lso offers a sano plastic front number p la te/ headlight unit for the YZ-WR. The YZ-WR needs a larger gas tan k, so we slapped on an In ternational Motorsp o r ts (I MS ) 3.6 gallon gas tank. U nlike some aftermarket tanks we've come across, the IMS tank bolts on effortlessIy and is so sleek th at it's hard to visua lly tell the difference between the stoc k 2.5 gallon tank from the lar ger IMS tank. You can barely feel the added width of the ta nk between your legs. Engine type Liquid-c ooled, two-stroke. single Bore x stroke .. . . 68.0 x 68.0mm Displacement . . • . . .. .. . .. 247cc Compression ratio 10.5 to 8 .4:1 Carburetor ... . . . •. 38mm M ikuni Horsepower N /A Torque " N /A Starting system • ... . Primary kick Ignition .. .. COl with lighting coil and wiring harness Lubrication Premix Primary drive Straight-cut gear Final drive • .•• . •• ; • . . #520 chain Fram'e Single downtube. split double cradle Rake .. .•.... .... ..•.•..... 27 0 Trail .. .. •• ~ • . • . . . . . • . . . 4.72 in. Front suspension . .• . Kayaba cartridge inverted telescopic fork Fork tube diameter .. •... . 41 mm Front wheel travel .• . • • . . • . 12 in. Rear suspension .. •..• . .. Kayaba Monoshock. swingarm Rear wheel travel 12.2 in. Front brakes . .. . . . • . . . .• • . . Disc Rear brakes . . .• . . . . . . . . ... Disc Front tire 80/100 4PR • Bridgestone M51 Rear tire . ... .... . • .. 110/90-19 Bridgestone M59 Claimed wet weight . .. . . 217 Ibs Overalllength . .... . • . .. 85.8 in . Overall width . • • • ....... 33.2 in . Overall height .. •. . • .. .. 44.3 in. Wheelbase . . . .. .. . ..•• . 58.3 in. Fuel capacity 2 .11 gal. Ground clearance 13.8 in. Seat height 37.4 in. Retail price • . . • . • . . . . . . . . $3895 The not'50-stock '89 YZ2S0WR (left). We replaced the stock silencer (right) with an Answer Products SA Pro aluminum silencer with a built· in U.S. Forestry· approved sparkarrester. For hand preteetion (below), we installed a set of Bark Busters. Also shown is the Acerbis head· light assembly. It 's well worth th e $149.95 retail price. If you p la n on riding enduro s the YZ-WR needs an odometer. Again, leo Racing cam e to the rescue. l e o builds electro nic odos for all makes of motorcycles and the YZ-WR ki t bol ts right o n in less tha n half an hour. T he l eO odo me ter fea tures a magnet wh ich attaches to th e Yam aha 's front h ub and a p ick-up sensor wh ic h bolts o n to the Yamaha 's bottom fork leg. The pick-up sensor 's al u mi n um bracket req uires th e 'd ri ll i ng of two small mou nti ng holes. You can a ttach the magne t to th e hub by epoxy glue or by drillAcerbis hand guards • • • •. $18.95 Front disc brake guard • • $22.95 ing an dusAnswer SA Pro silencer • • • $89.95 ing a bolt. Graydon skid plate .•...• $69.95 And th en ICO odometer • • • • • • • • • $159.95 yo u run "Bark Busters • •• • ••••• $39.95 the senso r IMS gas tank • •• • • • • • • $149.95 wire up the MS Products kickstand • • . $42.75 front brake hose to the odo housing wh ich ca n ei ther be attached to the handlebar's cro ss bar, or to the handlebar mo unt . Another good idea is to attach an Acerb is plastic front brake di sc gu ard which will not on ly protect the disc, bu t will also 'guar d th e od ometer magnet and pi ck-up sensor from rocks a nd debris. And to protect th e und ercarriage on th e YZ-WR , such as the frame and engine cases, Graydon Proli ne prod ucts bu ilds a sturdy skid plate made Acerbis Plastics ou t of three-sixteenth-inc h th ick, /0 9// Suite H 6061 T- 6 a luminum. Sant ee, CA 92071 Fin all y, o ne of the most useful 619/562-/440 items we installed was a Malcolm Answer Products Smi th Products bolt-on kicksta nd. 27967 Beale CI. The kickstand is light and made o ut Valen cia, CA ; 91355 of steel and quickl y attaches to th e 805 /257-4411 swingarm. • The two bottom photos show the ICO odometer housing - nestled between an ICO clock and computer - and the arrow points to the odometer pick·up sensor and magnet. The 000 installation is simple. An International Motorsports gastank(bottom left)holds 1.1 gallons more fuel than the stock tank. Graydon Proline 15935 Minnesota Aue ., Paramont, CA 90723 213/531 -7/42 International Motorsports //89 Wesl L aCadena Drive R iverside, CA 92501 ICO Racing P.O . Box 430 Lacombe, LA 70455 800/331 -0470 Malcolm Smith Products 850 Marlborough R iverside, CA 92507 7/4 /686-1006 7/4 / 781-5849