Yamaha GYTR Competition Kit For WR250F

Company: Yamaha

Price: 107.05

Roost
  • Low price and easily the single best mod for a WR250F.
  • Makes your WR a race bike, yet still reliable.
  • Plug and play or play with it more through the GYTR Power Tuner.
Endo
  • Careful with the wiring connections.
  • You need the Power Tuner to really take advantage of this ECU.

Credits

  • Writer: Jimmy Lewis
  • Photographer: Jimmy Lewis

What it is

  • The easy way to make the Yamaha WR250F a competition bike.

A competition ECU and throttle stop screw that replaces the standard ECU and metered throttle stop screw on the Yamaha WR250F to allow it to allow full competition setting. This is a plug and play and replaces the mapping that is EPA emissions and sound compliant with one that is tuned to run as a closed course competition race setting. It also allows the use of the GYTR Power Tuner (sold separately $279.95) to make tuning adjustments to fuel and ignition timing.

"A competition ECU and throttle stop screw."

How it works

  • Just a little black box and a screw is all it takes.
  • Gets rid of the 1/3-throttle stumble of the stock ECU.
  • Allows nearly limitless tuning with the GYTR Power Tuner.

The low cost of the kit shows Yamaha is serious about letting you get the most out of your WR. A standard replacement ECU runs in the $500-plus range, so the kit is really a deal. It comes with very basic instructions and the toughest part is figuring out where they hid the ECU in the first place. (It is between the gas tank and the air box and is difficult to see till you remove the tank.) The other part included is a different throttle stop screw for the throttle body to allow the bike to be operated at full throttle. Standard the bike only allows about 1/3-opening.

The instillation takes about a solid hour and you have to be careful with the locking clips on the electrical connectors. They can be tricky to disconnect and we even snapped one of the retaining clips on reassembly. We weren't worried as the fit of the connector was beyond snug and we fastened it so it could not come loose. Adding a little bit of dielectric grease when installing the ECU is also a good idea.

If you are going straight from the restricted throttle, you will be blown away with the huge increase in power and how far the bike will now pull and rev. If you are going from a fully opening throttle with just the ECU swap, the power and pull will not be as impressive, but you will notice the bike no longer has the low-end stumble at about 1/3-throttle. If you plan on changing the muffler, this ECU is a must.

We rode the bike with the stock muffler (smallest restrictor removed) and with the standard mapping (all zeros) for a little bit and it was OK, maybe a little rich in spots and seeming like it was set up to be run with a more open muffler. We wanted to keep the WR quiet so we started playing with the mapping through the GYTR Power Tuner. We leaned out the fuel and this woke the bike up but mostly it stalled a lot less. What the WR really liked was bumping the ignition to give it a little to a lot more throttle response depending on the traction conditions. Our WR, with a stock muffler now runs nearly as hard as our YZ250FX with its spark arrestor and FMF Q4 Muffler.

Just getting rid of the WR’s stumble was easily worth the $107.05 price. But having the ability to use the Power Tuner to get the bike to run perfect was even more impressive and the key to getting the most out of your WR.

Help support this site by purchasing through this link:


"Having the ability to use the Power Tuner to get the bike to run perfect was even more impressive and the key to getting the most out of your Yamaha WR."


35 Responses to “Yamaha GYTR Competition Kit For WR250F”

  1. mjgiandalia

    What year(s) WR250F’s does this work with?

    Reply
  2. Bryon Enns

    My tuner & GYTR EFI kit arrives this week. Can wait to play with it! Thanks for the article.

    Reply
  3. Ran Amitay

    Thanks for the article , racing kit+stock unrestricted muffler-what will be your recommended values in the power tuner?

    Reply
    • Jimmy Lewis

      After you have the unrestricted ECU there isn’t a better performance for dollar mod you could have than the tuner. It is like buying 20 different pipes and if you do change something on the bike you can “jet” it accordingly.

      Reply
  4. john radle

    This was a good read. So it sounds like even after the ECU kit and a pipe and some tuning, the WR will still have slightly less power than the FX. Is this true or will they be virtually the same on power?

    Reply
  5. burlybilt

    what a shame you have to spend almost $400 to get a new bike to run properly….

    Reply
  6. JenniferandJason Dorsett

    Will this work on the 2015 wr250r?

    Reply
  7. Tom

    Hey Jimmy, one question which I know is a generalization on your part: Fuel Mileage. What are you seeing if you are willing to share? One of the main contentions I am having with thinking hard about this particular bike is the fuel tank situation. Any observations with appropriate caveats are appreciated! I race 40A, am easy on throttle but also realize being it is a 250F may not be the case riding this one…so… I like to be able to get 50-60 miles A class off road race pace and 60-90 on the trails. Am seeing this easily with a carb YZ450F and my WR450F but they have 2.8 and 3.2 respectively Clarke tanks. Have you thought about or tested aftermarket tanks yet?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jimmy Lewis

      Fuel consumption does not seem to change much with changes in the mapping but I can’t totally confirm that. We never did a specific testing. And for overall mileage the rider makes all the difference. My guess is that you can expect 40 race miles if you are “easy” on it, maybe a bit more. We have not tested larger tanks just yet. Maybe some others who are racing the bike can help out?

      Reply
  8. Tom Powder

    I bought a 2015 WR250F and then bought the competition ECU with new throttle stop screw. Also bought the power tuner for this bike. My problem is that I can put and store my maps on the power tuner but cannot program the ECU. It comes back with “Failure to connect with the ECU” I have tried everything a million times. Even let my son try it. I have also tried two new power tuners and went through two new ECUs with the same results. I do know that as soon as I plug in the power tuner it comes on by itself and the book says it shouldn’t. Also, I’ve checked the wiring from the connector on the bike that the power tuner plugs into back to the ECU. the green wire and the white wire with the black tracer go directly to the ECU. The red wire I was not able to trace but I believe it goes to a diode and then changes to a red wire with a yellow tracer and then goes to whatever after that. I have used all new batteries and the bike was turned off for all connections. Never running. Has anyone else out there run into the same problem? Does anyone know a fix or something to check. Maybe I need to disconnect the battery on the bike. Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply
  9. Tom Powder

    I just purchased a 2015 Yamaha WR250F along with the competition kit (ECU and throttle stop screw) plus the power tuner. Several of us had trouble loading any maps to the ECU. We would get a (Failure to connect to the ECU) message. All of the literature said not to have the engine running but to save anyone reading this you will need to have the bike turned on but not running. The Power Tuner does not power the ECU like it does on other bike models. Even the Yamaha dealer or Yamaha itself whom they called didn’t know this. We found this out by doing trial and error. So, remember to have the bike turned on but not running. Hope this will help anyone in the future doing this mod. It was well worth it.

    Reply
    • Dave James

      How do you turn the bike on, but not have it running? Do you mean start it, and then press the kill switch so as the taillight is still on, then connect?

      Reply
  10. Jimmy Lewis

    Only if you have the Competition ECU installed. It will not talk to the stock ECU as it is locked.

    Reply
  11. Neal Brooker

    I’m looking at buying this bike, but wondering if you plan on putting these mods on, why not buy the 250fx instead and just add a headlight? It would be cheaper no?

    Reply
    • Jimmy Lewis

      That would be correct. The suspension differences are the biggest change and are better on the WR for slower or more technical riding.

      Reply
    • Rob Webster

      You buy a WR for a green sticker in California where the YZ is a red sticker. Uncork the Wr to the yz and you now have a green sticker race bike…Yea buddy!

      Reply
  12. Jimmy Lewis

    I can not find the photos of the tuner with the map for the FMF Q4. But the tuner is easy to use and quick. Just remember some of the tips here. Fuel, richer is like more traction, leaner spins more, feel it with the rear tire. Ignition is more throttle response. Less advance equals less snappy throttle, more advance equals more snap.

    Reply
  13. Jimmy Lewis

    Connect and start the bike then shut it off.

    Reply
  14. Colby

    great article I was debating between the honda and the yamaha and this def helped me choose the yamaha cant wait to order these parts.

    Reply
  15. Bryon Enns

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba3d237ab47a705de71db14d523f44b3cfa38e81b9de94eb62361aa6720c4202.jpg

    Here is a starting point. I have played with the tuner a bit already.

    Reply
  16. Lachie Bargh

    Does this work on 2013 wr250f

    Reply
  17. Michael Schulz

    Will this work with 2017 WR250R too?

    Reply
  18. Jimmy Lewis

    No updates as that bike has been returned may months ago.

    Reply
  19. Neal Brooker

    I have a 2015 yz 250fx and it needs a new ECU. The FX ECU is $505 Canadian but a WR competition kit ecu is only $200. They are different part numbers and I heard putting the FX ecu into the WR works but doesn’t run the head light. I cant find any info about a WR competition kit in an FX tho. Does anyone know if this will work without losing anything?

    Reply
  20. Jimmy Lewis

    We have not tested this bike yet and we’re not sure if the ECU is still the same.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Protected by WP Anti Spam