Still the same and better too.
Photos by Scott Hoffman.
Words by Jimmy Lewis and Preston Campbell
Yamaha has had incredible success with the reinvented YZ250F. Since changing the side of the engine the exhaust comes out the bike has been on a winning streak that includes Motocross and Supercross championships as well as a multitude of victories in comparison tests. Not to mention the sales floor success that has followed. Needless to say Yamaha did not need to do much to improve the YZ250F for 2016. But it focused on some areas they felt could be improved and Dirt Bike Test was at the press introduction to tell you about the changes.
The chassis is largely unchanged save for some minor suspension adjustments. Yamaha was strong to point out that they do not feel the air spring fork is ready for prime time on their bike. If or when it is ready they would or will be using it. So they’ve stuck with the KYB SSS fork and altered its valving ever so slightly with less low speed compression and more high-speed to match the valving change in the rear shock–the big change to a lighter rear spring. The bike is set for a 155 lb. rider standard and it works like a charm for a wide weight range. For our lighter rider at 125-pounds the suspension wasn’t bad after slowing the front fork down 2 clicks on rebound and opening up the shock’s high-speed compression a quarter turn to settle the bike. This helped stability on high speed straightaways then still stuck in the ruts in the turns. For our heavier 180-pound rider the standard setup with no changes was fine from the get go. We ran the ride height right at 100mm for both and the shock spring had the range of adjustability for that. A big plus was the bottoming resistance and big impacts on the jump landings, both front and rear.
In the engine department some small refinements are smart changes. The largest is inside the combustion chamber where the piston shape and some parts strengthening features are aimed first at better pick-up and then for further durability. Some parts are lighter and with less friction like the piston pin with a DLC coating.Some parts are heavier like the crank. The rod has a new heat treatment and thrust washers like a two-stroke for increased protection from the crank flexing. Additionally the crank inertia has been altered in a very interesting re-timing of the vibration through crank and counterbalance weights. The vibration is actually tuned to go more forward and back not up and down in relation to the piston’s weight.
What that all turns into is a motor that pulls strong from the bottom to the top. This is one of the barkiest 250F motors on the market with a powerband that is aggressively smooth. The Yamaha engine will let you know when to shift with a new rev-cut character that is improved as well. The throttle response is always crisp and though the power never feels like it has a ton of torque, it just pulls and moves the bike forward with authority. There is no faking here in sound or feel. You get plenty of pull out of each gear and you know the YZ is fast from the speed you are moving more than anything. We sampled a more aggressive map (Through the GYTR Power Tuner and the plug-n-play hookup on the side of the frame) that made the bike more fun to ride but it also lost some of the smooth stock character. We’ll be playing with the Power Tuner for more tips on getting the most from this excellent tool. From what we could tell in our short time the shifting is improved as well from the new components on the shift drum and index wheel.
The YZ has a wider look too it from the rider’s perspective and for some riders more critical of this they felt the bike was a little wider up near the top of the radiator shrouds. The new larger front rotor has a much improved braking power coming with less lever effort. This bike, unlike our YZ450F, really was a “hop on it and just go” kinda ride. It seemed like there was much less tinkering from all of the press on settings and most seemed very happy with the YZ.
We are impressed with the YZ250F again and it will take more time on the bike before we can get a full test out, but we are working on it right now. Testing through more track days and conditions to see if the Yamaha can keep the competition at bay. The bikes should be in dealers very soon if not already with the Blue version selling for $7590 and the Yellow for $100 more.
