The spec sheet is impressive and it reads like Yamaha has been doing their homework to place two very significant bikes in the off-road segment. In the 250cc class, Yamaha it has taken its motocross bike and added just what’s needed (or mandated) to transform it into an off-road racer or a trail bike. And after a day in the saddle of each bike we think the boys in Blue have hit a home run.
Starting with the FX, the racer of the two, it is obvious Yamaha saw the need to compete with KTM as well as get the most out of the YZ250f package. And its first win with the addition of electric start. Since the majority of the bike is pure YZ motocrosser, we can even see a lot of track riders choosing the FX over the YZ just for that feature alone. The side-stand, 18-inch rear wheel and slightly altered tuning could be changed to strict motocross settings easier than adding an electric starter to the motocross bike. And from here, the FX just keeps stacking on good points for its intended purpose—to be an off-road racer at GNCC, GPs, or hare scrmbles type racing.
The power is almost like the YZ but is toned down just enough to give it a smooth character while still being snappy and aggressive if needed. It can be too snappy in the lower gears but just upshifting and allowing the torque to take over works wonders. The FI is spot on, crisp with a nice snarl coming out of the forward mounted air box. It works well with a six-speed wide-ratio gear box, yet the spacing does not feel that wide between gears. It has range with the added gear in the transmission. It revs long and likes RPM and rarely hits a hard rev limiter. If there is any complaint in reference to the motor is that the exhaust note can be a bit loud out of the short, motocross-type muffler. In conclusion you are not hurting for power anywhere.
The chassis is very much like a motocross bike in that it acts stiff and holds itself up high in the stroke. Not too stiff, but just right. You feel the ground and have to work to get the bike to push down on the turns. But in big hits, jump landings and G-outs the bike is excellent. It feels best when pushing and has a good amount of safety built into the end of the stroke. Handling-wise, it feels a lot lighter than it’s 247.5 pounds, with the tank full, that the scale weight suggests. Steering is fairly light and the stability is really good as long as the rear ride height it not set too tall. Layout is not the roomiest but we have yet to move the bars to the forward position yet. Everything about the YZ250FX is race oriented but it is far from a just motorcross bike off-road.
Though the WR is basically the same bike, it has a much different fell. Plain and simple, this is a trail bike, not a racer. From the first seconds on the bike you feel the added weight on the handlebar (from the lights and the odometer) and notice the softer and much quieter deliver of the power. We rode the bike in a Green Sticker compliant setup where the snorkel in the airbox was removed, the smallest insert in the muffler was removed and the throttle stop removed allowing full-throttle usage. You get the impression the bike is slow and lacks torque but that is far from reality. It is smoother than the FX and loses a few bike lengths when throttles are gunned but it also gets better traction in compromised situations and is much less intimidating for more novice riders. Yet it never failed to climb any power robbing hill it’s FX brother could and was dead even in top speed (at an indicated 97 MPH though we feel the standard speedo is being a little optimistic, we’ll call it 85 and check it with a GPS later.)
The WR’s suspension is softer, especially in the rear and valued to be plusher and take away a lot of the initial bump feeling. It is a comfortable ride but when pushed it squats in the back and loses some of the precision steering as well as bottoms a bit easier than it should, especially with a heavier rider on board. But if you are not jumping, it is about all you could ask for.
If there are any complaints about these bikes it would be that they have a very wide-looking area where the gas tank should be and that gives the impression of a heavy machine, even though it isn’t. Also, the WR’s ignition/fuel mapping has a funny spot at about 1/3 throttle where it can sputter and feel inconsistent. It was mostly noticeable on downhill where you don’t need the power but use low throttle positions to make the bike dance. We’ll need to try the GYTR competition ECU to see if this will take it away.
Yamaha has really done a good job with these off-road weapons and it for sure warrants a comparison directly with KTM’s 250cc four-stroke offerings. It is nice to have variety and the high-level competition just breeds better bikes. The YZFX is a racer that can be trail ridden and motocrossed without suffering much at either end. The WR is a very good performance trail bike. The target was obvious and Yamaha nailed it.
Look for a full test on each of these bikes after we get some more time on them.
