"It's simply the best out of the field. The
balance is perfect right out of the box
and it works well everywhere."
That overall balance Metcalfe refers to
is probably the most impressive aspect;
the top of the fork's stroke is extremely
plush, enabling you to glide over small
bumps instead of chattering off of them,
while the rest of the travel offers plenty
of support to handle any big hits.
The Yamaha holds its own in the cor-
ners, even if the Bridgestone M403 and
M404 tires don't offer the best feel and
traction. The YZ pushes wide as soon
as the throttle is opened, but feels very
planted at corner entry. Chalk the former
complaint up to a combination of the
fork extending too soon and rear squat-
ting too much under acceleration; either
way, through a little time spent at the
clickers, you can find a setting that helps
overcome some of these weak points.
Our test riders were also fans of the
YZ's powerplant, despite agreeing that
the Husky and KTM had the best all-
around engine packages. The YZ250F of-
fers usable power at any point in the rev
range, meaning you don't have to ride at
full tilt to build momentum. The Yamaha
comes on strong at the bottom end,
revving quickly through the middle of
the powerband before hitting its redline.
It doesn't rev out as far as some of the
competitors, but finding another bike with
a powerband as broad as the Yamaha's
would be next to impossible. And that's
no easy engineering feat.
It's the small details and nuisances
that lost Yamaha the title this year, near-
ly every test rider agreeing that the YZ is
beginning to show its age. The first gripe
on the list was the lack of an electric
starter, a feature that is seemingly be-
2018 250F MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
P88
SHOOTOUT
YAMAHA YZ250F
NOTABLE FEATURES
•KYB Speed Sensitive
System (SSS) Fork
•Reverse Cylinder Design
•Rearward-Inclined Cylinder
•Tapered Aluminum
Handlebars
•Two Color Options
(blue, white)
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
Weight: 235 lbs. (wet)
MSRP: $7699
coming a standard for modern motocross
bikes and could pay big dividends in race
situations. The additional cost of the
GYTR Power Tuner ($298.99) required
to make mapping changes doesn't help
the YZ's case. Tuning the Yamaha must
be done with the engine shut off, unlike
the on-the-fly configuration found on the
KTM and Husqvarna. And noise is cool,
but does it really need to be that loud,
Yamaha? Air intake noise was also a
nuisance for some.
While dethroned by the latest and
greatest, the YZ250F is still a very
capable motorcycle. Like one tester said
come test's end, "It's the best bike Ya-
maha could squeeze out of this current
package."
GEAR ID'd
GEARSET: LEATT GPX 4.5
HELMET: SHOEI VFX-EVO
GOGGLES: VON ZIPPER SIZZLE MX
BOOTS: SIDI CROSSFIRE 3 SR
