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/128618
Yamaha introduces a race-ready fourstroke 250. By KIT P A LM E R PH OT OS BY SCOTT R OU SSEAU J ust when we're finally getting used to the idea of competitive 400cc plus fou r-strokes competing in the 250cc class , we now hav e a new idea - soon to be a rea lity - to get used to : 2 5 0c c fou r -s t rokes r acing in th e 125cc c la s s , Ya m ah a 2 5 0cc fo urstrokes, to be exact. Yes, Yamaha h a s d one it aga in : The c om pany - which will again sure ly be the center of a lot of attention in th e u pc om ing months - can c ha lk up another first b y becomi ng the first manufacturer to prod uce a truly s erio u s, h ig h -t e c h , full-on 250cc four s t roke production motoc ro s s bik e that aims to rival all of t he 125cc two -strokes a lready on the track. Th e b ik e is the all- new, 2 49cc YZ250F , which m irrors the a lrea dy h ig h ly s uccessful YZ400 /42 6 F. In fact, the YZ250F loo ks so much like th e YZ426 F, that a Cy cl e News e m p loyee , who owns a YZ400 F, didn't catch on that he was s tari ng at the new 250 (which Yam a ha recently h a ul e d over t o o u r office fo r . us to loo k at) until it was b ro u ght to his attention . He thought he was eyei ng th e 2001 426! (To his credit, thoug h, he did poi nt o ut the 250 's smaller h eader p ipes . be fo re t h e t iny "YZ2 5 0 F " d e ca l o n th e re a r fend e r was rev eal ed to h im. Surpris el ) And , ye s , Yamaha fully intends to ra c e t he bi ke in nex t year's 125 c c Sup er cro s s and o ut door Natio nal Serie s . Why? Bec ause it can . Curren t AMA rule s a llow four-stroke motorc ycle s up to 249cc to com pete in the 125cc c lass , a nd with all t he ta lk abo ut fo ur/tw o -s t rok e engines, the e nvironment and the future , Yama ha decide d the timing was right to ' bu ild such a m ot o rcycl e . Whe ther or not the YZ250F s hou ld or s hould not be allowed to race in the 125c c class is worth y of deba te . but on a no ther da y. Fo r now , th ough , we' re g la d to see the bike ' s a rr iva l. Th e b ott o m lin e is th at Yam ah a as sured us th at t he YZ250F is fun , real [u ri , t o rid e - in a ny c lass a nd a nyw here - a nd we d oubt th e re will be a ny debate a bo ut that. Off-roaders , don ' t fee l le ft o ut, beca use the all -new 2001 WR250F is o n the way, too . Th e woods versio n (w ith a skinny fue l ta nk , we m ig ht add) is ba se d closely on the YZ250 F. Unfortun ate ly , the YZ250F and the WR2 5 0F are so new t h a t Ya ma ha The new VZ250F four-stroke ha s its eyes on the 12 5 cc c lass. T he bike is expe cte d t o cost and weigh le ss than t he VZ250 two-st ro k e. does not have officia l spec ificatio ns available yet for eit he r b ike (o r for a ny of thei r 2001 YZs, for tha t m atter ), but Yama ha representatives did say that the 250cc four-stroke motor is all new - not just a m od ifie d 400 motor " and that no pa rts are interc ha ngea b le with the bigger YZF's motors . And how much does the YZ250 F weigh? Yamaha wo uld not g ive us a spe cific number, but it did say t he production YZ2;;O F is expected to wei gh in approx imately two pou nds les s th a n a YZ2 50. We did g et to h e ar th e YZ25 0 F run , thouq h , and it c e rtain ly s ounds ve ry , ve ry serious . Th is is not yo ur wife's IT-R. As far as how m uch the YZ250F will c o s t, Yamaha sa ys that it w ill c o m e in somewher e be twee n the YZ12 5 a nd the YZ250 , but closer to the 250. Perha ps the biggest news fro m th e existing YZ m od el line has to do with th e YZ4 2 6 F 's valves - th e y ' re no w m ad e o u t of lightweight t it an ium , rathe r than steel. (The 250Fs also get th e t ita niu m tre at m e n t.) Ligh ter valves allow the us e of s maller and lighter va lve springs , whic h c ombine to g ive what Yamaha cla ims is gr eatly improved eng ine response . . Al ong with t he VZ250F comes the brand-new WR250F. The potential for fun he re is se rious. 16 JUNE 21 . 2 0 0 0 ยท cue I e n e _ s