VOL. 53 ISSUE 28 JULY 19, 2016 P85
R
oosting into the 2017 model year, the Ya-
maha YZ250F had won the 2014, 2015 and
2016 250F Cycle News shootouts. (And
rather easily, we might add.) Yes, it is that good.
So it is always interesting when a manufacturer
makes changes to a bike that is already great,
like the YZ250F. When you make changes, you
risk messing with the bike's chemistry, which in
this case, obviously works extremely well. But
you don't want to give the competitors an op-
portunity to catch up, either, so you have to keep
tinkering in hopes of moving forward, not back-
ward. It's a tough situation to be in but one that
all of the manufactures want to be in. So we don't
feel to sorry for Yamaha for their predicament.
With the YZ250F, Yamaha felt that certain ar-
eas could be improved ever so slightly and made
tweaks to the bike's suspension, frame, engine,
intake and transmission. As you can see, Yamaha
didn't just focus in one area.
