Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 P49 soon discovered that in some turns you could hold third gear when you might've had to drop down a gear with the '15. Top-end performance mimics the previous two YZ250F models—in other words, it's fast when you scream it. We did notice a reduction in vibration but only at higher rpm. Still, even that comes as a welcome relief. Yamaha made some changes to the YZ's clutch and transmission. They made it harder to accidently find a false neutral, and the shift stop lever is now more rigid with a stiffer spring. The clutch hub surface has been machined flatter allowing the removal of the judder spring from the clutch plates, which Yamaha claims provides a more positive engagement. Plus, 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th gears have had their gear dog cor- ners changed from a chamfer to a radius cut. All of these changes were made to give the engine a more solid feel under power. Out on the track, we found that the bike did indeed shift better and had a better feel while under a heavy load, and there was less chatter com- ing from the clutch plates. Overall, the Yamaha's mo- tor is still the best in its class, but we haven't ridden the Yamaha back-to-back with the all-new KTM 250 SX-F, which has a completely re- designed motor for 2016. We have ridden it, though, and it is, like the YZ's motor, also extremely impressive. For the most part, Yamaha didn't mess with the YZ's already impressive suspen- sion, basically going with the old adage; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Up front, Yamaha is sticking with its proven KYB Speed Sensitive System spring/oil fork, rather than jumping onto the air fork bandwagon. And we're just fine with that. These forks are awesome and easy to live with. Yamaha hasn't com- pletely written off air forks, but they won't go springless until they are sure it'll be as good, if not better, than their current SSS fork. Yamaha did give the shock a lighter spring, going from a 56 Nm spring to a 54 Nm spring. The reasoning, they said, was to improve traction under acceleration. From what we can tell so far, the suspension works just as well as before but with a different feel. The new lighter shock spring allows the rear end to lie down a little more in the corners and the updated settings—front and rear—are most noticeable on downward travel. Once we got the balance right—just a few small clicker changes here and there—we were all set and could ride the bike all S P E C I F I C A T I O N S 2016 YAMAHA YZ250F ENGINE TYPE: .........250cc liquid-cooled DOHC 4-stroke; 4 titanium valves BORE X STROKE: ............77.0 x 53.6mm COMPRESSION RATIO: ................... 13.5:1 FUEL DELIVERY: ...Yamaha Fuel Injection (YFI), Keihin 44mm throttle body IGNITION: ......TCI: Transistor Controlled Ignition TRANSMISSION: ............Constant mesh 5-speed, multiplate wet clutch FINAL DRIVE: .................................. Chain FRONT SUSPENSION: ........................KYB Speed-Sensitive System inverted fork; fully adjustable REAR SUSPENSION: ...KYB monoshock; fully adjustable FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: ...............12.2 in. REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: ..................12.4 in. FRONT BRAKE: ......Hydraulic single disc brake, 270mm REAR BRAKE: ........Hydraulic single disc brake, 245mm FRONT TIRE: ..... 80/100-21 Bridgestone M403A REAR TIRE: ....... 100/90-19 Bridgestone M404 SEAT HEIGHT: ..............................38.0 in. WHEELBASE: .................................58.1 in. GROUND CLEARANCE: ..................12.8 in. FUEL CAPACITY: .......................... 2.0 gal. CLAIMED WET WEIGHT: ..............231 lbs. MSRP: ........... $7,590(Blue) and $7,690 (Yellow 60th Anniversary Edition)

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