Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) The WR has a narrow, MX-Iike layout, though some riders complained of the semlwide, 3.4-gallon tank. (Right) Out trail riding, the WR Is pure fun. Good power and suspension will do that. (Below) The heart of the matter. A new ignition produces a longer.duratlon spark, which means less plug-fouling. , between the third and fourth checks.. Now completely out of plugs and patience, Mark's next objective was to get back to the pits. To add insult to injury, so to speak, Mark was towed back to the pits. "By a quad," Mark still says vehemently. Needless to say he did not have a good time that day (er, weekend), and it was a long drive back l\ome. That was two years ago. Surely, Yamaha would correct its plug-fouling problem the following year, but they didn't. In fact, it seemed to get worse in '96, so we were quite happy to hear that Yamaha finally changed the ignition in the '97 WR to remedy the WR's plugfouling woes. A more powerful and enduring spark would do the trick, Yamaha claimed. We would soon find out. We had big plans for the new WR. The Elsinore Grand Prix was coming up and the WR would be the ideal ride. After all, it has a large 3.4-gallon gas tank that would eliminate even the slightest possibility of having to pit for fuel; it has a wide-ratio transmission, which canceled my worries about having to gear up for the long straights; and the WR makes motocross-type power, with handling and suspension to match. And you wouldn:t have to carry a fanny pack full of spark plugs anymore. The only problem was that we picked up the bike the day before the race. The WR was brand new and, as far as I could tell, had never even been started before. The first time I would ride this bike would be when the green flag dropped for the start of the Elsinore race. Breakin? Yeah, right. Just to be on the safe side, though, I went up one size on the main jet and raised the needle one notch. A bit more lubrication couldn't hurt. I also adjusted the handlebars, which are, by the way, far more comfortable than before now that Yamaha has raised them 10mm. Everything else was left as it comes right out of the crate. The WR performed flawlessly. My concerns about the WR fouling a plug on the start line were all for naught. So far, so good. The WR got me through my first race in good shal?'! and proved to me that the WR is, in fact, race-ready right out of the box. .. Earlier that morning, I decided to enter a second class which would take to the track immediately following my first race. Between races, I had just enough time to refill the tank and change my numbers, which created a small problem. After hitting up all my friends in the pits, all I could scavenge were black numbers. Normally that would be okay, but with the WR you also need a set of white numbers for the dark blue-colored front number plate. All I could do was slap black numbers on the dark background and hope that the scorers had 20/20 vision. My second race went just as well as the first and again the WR had performed excellently. Choosing the WR was indeed the right thing to do - I couldn't have asked for a better motorcycle for this event, and a lot of this has to do with the WR's strong yet flexible motor. The bike is simply fast and power is right there every time you open up the throttle, making it a breeze to pass slower traffic in a limited amount of space. Usually this means having to hold the throttle open a bit longer and deeper into the turns than you normally would, and this is where I really came to appreciate the WR's outstanding brakes, which are identical to those found on the YZ250. The WR hooks up nicely coming out of the turns, too, and pulls hard down the straights. I had no one to blame but myseU if somebody passed me down the high-speed sections, because the Yamaha has plenty of juice. There was always power left over, even after I ran out of nerve. I had total confidence in the WR's suspension, as well. The bike is extremely stable at speed, and I never experienced any big swaps or kicks all day - just the normal stuff. Despite not making any adjustments to the WR's suspension prior to the Elsinore GP, I never felt the immediate need during the race, or between races to make any shock or fork changes for my 160 pounds. So far, so good. Next on the WR's agenda was the Christmas Grand Prix at Carlsbad Raceway. Another brutally fun race. Here, the WR fouled its first plug just prior to practice. Once changed, the bike ran fine the rest of the day. Okay, any bike can foul a plug. Then it was time to go trail riding and, again, the WR fouled its plug the first thing in the morning. Aargh! We replaced it and the bike ran fine all day. Sound familiar? We spoke with the folks at Yamaha about our WR and they were quite surprised to hear that we were having problems again. A Yamaha technician reminded us not to use resistor plugs, which are only to be used in bikes with digital ignitions, and since the Yamaha has an analog ignition, "R" plugs are not good. Looking back, there is a chance we did install an R plug at Carlsbad, which might've explained our second foul. We replaced that plug with a used, non-R plug and it's still in the bike after a couple of long rides, though it has threatened to die on a couple of occasions. We're not entirely convinced that Yamaha has solved the plug-fouling problem yet, but we do know that it's far less prone to fouling than before. Plugs aside, the WR is a pure joy to ride. Not only is the WR fast but the motor dishes out a fair amount of torque, too. You can crawl up nasty lillls by simply letting the WR's versatile motor do all the work. It's a chugger that doubles as a rocket down the straights. The WR is just plain comfortable, too, but some riders complained of the. semi- bulky gas ·tank. Even those who mentioned the wide tank said it was just a minor inconvenience and they were glad to have the -extra capacity on those long rides. As far as details go, the blue-colored tank is much better protected now that there is a thick decal covering most it. This helps prevent the WR from turning ugly after its first ride. Last year's tank 'turned white with scratches from the rider's knees rubbing on the bare plastic and made the WR look like an old thrasher after just a couple of rides. Despite Yamaha making only a few changes to the '97 WR, the bike is a big improvement over the previous model. It's now jetted right on the money, the handlebars are more comfortable, plugfouling seems to be greatly reduced, and it looks far better and stays that way longer. As far as Mark and the WR, he loves it now. A much-improved off-roader, Mark stakes out the WR as his bike whenever we go riding. After all, it has yet to foul a plug while he's been on top of it, and he has yet to snap off the WR's rear fender. But that's a whole 'nother story. I.'X 1997 Yamaha WR250Z SpecifICations Engine type ..... Uquid-cooled. two-stroke Single Displacement. . .249cc Bo.. x stroke 68 x 68.8mm COm......sIon tlo .. . .. 9.0-10.9:1 Carburetlon VM38SS Mikuni Ignition sysgm COl Clutch . Wet·type. multiple disc T ....n.ml•• ion .. Constant mesh. 5-speed Cha. .", type ..... :Semi double cradle Rak./trall ... .27.7°/122mm Su ion Front Telescopic fork. 11.8 in. travel Reer Aluminum swingarm w/ Single shock and rising-rate linkage. 12.4 in. travel B....k. . Front Single disc. 245 x 3mm Rear. . .Single disc. 220 x 4.5mm TI... Front .. . .80/100-21 in. Rear 110/100-18 in. O/A length ....•. ," 86.1 in. 0/A width. . . . . •. . . . . . . .. 33.5 in. 0/A height . . . . . . .48.8 in. Seet h.ight . .39.1 in. Wheelbase .58.7 in. Ground cl.a nc. . . .15.0 in. Dry weight (claim.el) .. . .. 227 Ibs. MSRP......... .. .55599 19

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