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/491629
2015 YAMAHA WR250F RIDING IMPRESSION P52 amount of flex. The bike handles like a charm on the trails. It weighs about 20 more pounds than the YZ, but you'd never know it by riding. It hides its weight well. The WR is extremely agile on the trail and turns quickly—almost too quickly. Sometimes the front end felt a little twitchy—more like an over steer—in the tight stuff, so we dropped the forks tubes in the clamps a few millimeters and that helped calm things down a bit without harming its still-responsive steering. Even with its quick handling, the WR is very stable at speed, and Yamaha did a good job find- ing a versatile suspension setting that works well for both high- and low-speed riding. It does a good job soaking up the hits in top gear, while sill absorbing the smaller ripples at slow speeds. Compared to the YZ's suspen- sion, the WR uses softer spring rates (from 4.7 N/mm in the front to 4.4 N/mm, and from 56 N/mm in the rear to 54 N/mm) with mod- ified valving. The springs fit the bike well but heavy or faster riders might want more resistance. We applaud the WR's new cooling fan; it rarely goes on, but when it does, we're glad it's there, keeping the coolant where it belongs. Though we heard it go on only a few times, we never saw any escaping liquid. The heavy-duty skid plate/ engine protector is a nice touch, but we wish Yamaha thought about protecting our knuckles, too—there are no hand guards. Bummer. Another nice touch is the enduro computer that keeps you abreast on speed, mileage and elapsed time, and right next to it is a low fuel light and engine light. Like the YZ250F, the WR holds two gallons of fuel, enough for a fairly lengthy ride. Sure, more capacity would be nice but two gallons for a small-bore fuel-inject- ed four-stroke should be sufficient for most people. However, if you want more, IMS Products makes a 2.5-gallon tank for both the 2015 WR250F and YZ250FX that sells for $274.95. The WR's all-important front brake works well. It uses the same 250mm wave-style rotor and two-piston Nissin caliper as the YZ250F. On the YZ, however, we felt the brake lacked stopping powered compared to some of the other 250Fs in its class, but for off-roading, the WR's front brake works extremely well, of- fering good predictable braking power and feel on both slippery and tacky terrain. ROUND-UP The new WR250F has quickly become one of our favorite off- road bikes of the year. With some minor mods right out of the crate, the WR is ready for some spirited trail riding. Slap on a pair of hand guards and plug in the GYTR Competition black box and you're ready to go GNCC racing and do some winning. It's that good! CN SPECIFICATIONS 2015 YAMAHA WR250F MSRP: ...................................... $7990 ENGINE: ........ Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, 4-valve, DOHC single DISPLACEMENT: ........................ 249cc BORE X STROKE: ....... 77.0 x 53.6mm HORSEPOWER: .............. 33.14 max hp TORQUE: .............................. 15.95 lb-ft COMPRESSION RATIO: ................11.8:1 Fuel System: ............ Keihin EFI, 44m throttle body IGNITION: ........................................ TCI TRANSMISSION: .................. Six-speed FINAL DRIVE: ............................... Chain FRAME TYPE: ...............Bilateral beam aluminum FRONT SUSPENSION: .... Inverted KYB fully adj. fork w/Speed Sensitive System REAR SUSPENSION: .............KYB fully adjustable monoshock w/piggyback reservoir, 50mm piston FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: ............12.2 in. REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: ..............12.4 in. FRONT BRAKE: ........... Nissin, 250mm wave-style disc, two-piston caliper REAR BRAKE: ............. Nissin, 230mm wave-style disc, single-piston caliper FRONT TIRE: . Dunlop Geomax MX52 80/100-21 in. REAR TIRE: .... Dunlop Geomax MX52 12-/80-18 in. WHEELBASE: .............................57.7 in. RAKE: ....................................... 27°08´ TRAIL: .......................................4.64 in. SEAT HEIGHT: ......................... 38.0 in. GROUND CLEARANCE: ............. 12.8 in. WET WEIGHT: ........ 258 lbs. (claimed) FUEL CAPACITY: ......................2.0 gal. COLOR: ...........................Blue w/white