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/127691
right changes. And to top things off the stock jetting was spot on and the bike"ran cr ispy clean. No he sitation anywhere, even while landing off large jumps and tabletops. After many laps, we were ready to set the YZ's ride height on the rear suspension. Initially, the preload was too soft, even for my 160 pounds. As a result, the back end sagged to where the bike would ride in the middle of the shock's stroke, resulting in the harsh feeling. "Setting the ride height correctly is the single most important factor when d ialing in the YZ's suspension," said Schiedler. "I can 't stress the importance enough. It should be set at 90rnrn - for everybody. Believe me, you 'll notice the difference." After setting the ride height to exactly 90mm, the YZ felt like a whole new motorcycle - a much better moto rcycle, at that. I couldn't believe the difference. Compared to my first outing on the YZ, the back end sa t much higher which, overall, made th e bike fee l better ba lanced. The bike tracked straighter coming out of the turns and seemed less bothered by acceleration bumps, no matter how squared-off they were. The back wheel st ayed close to th e ground and you could simply leave the throttle pegged and let the suspens ion do the rest. Sweet. We fiddled with the compression and rebound damping se tting s a b it and found that, at least for me, the stock setting was just about right. Mainly because of one particular wh oop secti on on th e track, we bumped up both damp ing adjustments by one click. Even on other tracks, I was contertt with these settings. The Kayaba shock itself features different valving and th e pi st on is 2mm wider for better sealing, and a new Teflon bearing is used at the shock's upper mount. The linkage is unchanged. The new fork also contributes to the Yamaha's good feel The addition of the midspeed valve - basically a new va lve stack - helps keep the fork from sagging · , or dropping into midstroke, so the Yamaha remains at a neutral, or level, attitude. But the valve is designed to let the fork compress significantly, as it should, while knifing through the corners at slower speeds. 'The low-speed valve is more resistant and holds the bike up," said Schiedler of the Yamaha 's fork valve assemb ly. 'The valve opens up mo re for the m idspeed bumps, and then the valve pops wideopen for the high-speed hits." As fa r a slam min g through the whoops and holes, the front end works as good as anything else that we've ridden la tely. Every now and then the bike would tw itch or shake its head slightly but nothing out of the norm. Some of the slightly heavier riders on our staff taIked about perhaps swapping th e stock .41 fo r k springs for o p tional s ti ffer .42 springs. We did slow down the rebound damping by one click. The new YZ is a better turner . 'The offset of the forks has been decreased and the head-pipe coordinate was moved forward, keeping the same wheelbase and handlebar position as before but increasing the trail by 5rnrn," said Schiedler of the YZ's quicker cornering characteristic. On to other things . Another bi g imp rovement this year is the brakes. New stainless-steel discs and brake-pad materials offer excellent feel and brakin g power. At first, the front brake felt a tad on the spongy side, and the lever would just barely bottom out on our fingers that gripped the bars during thos e p anic s tops, but after th e pads brok e in, the fro nt brake felt nearly as good ha s the CR 's e xcellen t s to p pers. O nly a fa ir amount of pr essure on th e fron t br ak e lever is needed to haul in the Yamaha. The YZ is excepti onall y comfortable. Even the handlebars are tolerable, but the grips needed to be modified with a razor blade. The square d- pattern rid ges are qu ite tall whi ch can - and d id - lead to blisters. The only little nagging problem some of us had while riding the yz was getting ou r big feet hung up on the shifter and brake pedal. There seemed to be little room between the footpegs and the shift lever and brake pedal. We ad justed the ride height of the brake pedal and that seeme d to help on the right side, but .there wasn't much we could do with the left side. Unfortunately, Yamaha does no t offer lo nger shift levers. Maybe' someday. Other than that, we had no major, or for that ma tter, minor, complaints during our initial rides on the new YZ. This bike , can be raced right out of the crate with no problems whatsoever. More aggressive or hea vier riders might want to install the op tio nal heavier fork springs, but we don't see any reason why you couldn't drive down to your local Yamaha shop, lay your $5149 (MSRP) on the table, load the YZ into your truck and haul it directly to your local track and race it - as is. It really is that good . L'" WhUe Cycle News believes theforegoing test reliable, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and should not be relied uponin determining theperformance or safety of the vehicle(s). The reader should make his or herown investigation. (Top) An exhaust resonator has been Inco rpo rated Into the Yrs cy linder. The resonator Is des igned to give t he bike . more snap off the bottom. (Above) Last year's Mikunl carburetor was put aside for a PWK38 Keih in . (Bottom) The new yz will set you back over five grand, but at least you won't be required to spend more money on aftermarket goodIes - It's raceready right out of the crate. 1995 Yamaha YZ250 EN GINE Type Disp lacemen t Bore x stro ke Com pression Carb uretor Ig niti on Transmission Liquid-cooled, two-stroke, single 249cc 68mm x 68.8mm 9.0-10.9:1 Keihin PWK38 CD! 5-speed S USPENSIO N Front . ...Inverted telescopic fork, adj. rebound & compression damping Fro nt travel 11.8 in. Rear Single sh ock, rising rate link, adj. compression and rebound damping & spring preload Rear Travel 12.4 in. BRAKES Front Rear 245mm Disc 220rnrn Disc TIRES Front Rear ' , 80/100-21 Dunlop 490 110/90-19 Dunlop 695 CHASSIS OIA Length OIA Width OIA Hei ght Seat Hei ght Wh eel base Ground Clearance Dry Weigh t Fuel Capacity MSRP • 86.1 in. 33.5 in. 47.8 in. .39.9 in. .58.9 in. 15 in . 214lbs. 2.0 gal. $5149