2017 YZ250FX Long Term Update

After receiving Yamaha’s YZ250FX and proceeding to race it at the 24 Hours of Glen Helen late last year, we have continued to race it quite a bit and ride it in a variety of conditions. From 7000’ up in the mountains to the desert, we have ridden it in just about every terrain you will see. During that time, we have put just over 60 hours on the bike.

We haven’t had to do much maintenance wise other than oil changes utilizing Maxima’s Pro Plus 10w40 blend every 6-7 hours along with an OEM Yamaha oil filter for every oil change. Additionally, we’ve replaced a couple sets of OEM Yamaha brake pads and swapped out the stock chain and sprockets for a DDC rear sprocket and RK MXZ4 chain. Lastly, we’ve gone through several Maxxis Maxxcross SI tires and a pair of grips A’ME grips in that time. Even with 60 hours on the bike, it still runs great and we haven’t had any problems come up. We’re even on the original clutch which was a concern when we first received the bike since it features such a light pull.

Following the 24 hour race, we needed a spark arrestor to make some trips up into the mountains and desert legally so we received a Pro Circuit T-6 Stainless Steel exhaust system to fulfill our needs. It comes with a removable spark arrestor and provided a much needed quieter ride for the 250FX. With the exhaust, it changed the power character and for racing/aggressive riding we used our GYTR Power Tuner to alter the mapping to make it hit a little harder and rev slightly faster than it did with the stock mapping. Stay tuned for a full test on the site in the near future.

Likewise, after struggling to find a good suspension setting for the west coast riding and racing, we enlisted Pro Circuit to assist us in a fix. They left no stone unturned when it came to revamping our forks and shock and a week later, we bolted everything back on and headed for the track. After a few test sessions in various conditions, we couldn’t get the feel we wanted with the shock. It would never settle down or allow us to feel completely in control and wouldn’t track straight no matter what we changed. We eventually ran out of adjustment trying to slow down the rebound and Pro Circuit believes they have the fix. So after having PC change some settings, our limited first impressions on the new setting is it is much improved. We will continue to do some testing and eventually we’ll provide a full test on the site.

After several off-road races, track days, and trips to the local SoCal deserts and mountains, the YZ250FX continues to impress us with its versatility. It adapts to every condition we throw at it and is a blast to ride. The durability is what we expect from Yamaha and our previous experiences with getting just over 100 hours out of our 2015 YZ250FX in our wrap up HERE.

For the full test on the Yamaha YZ250FX click here

Help support this site by clicking through the link below: