Transmoto Tested: 2020 Yamaha WR250F

[Music] well it was quite a bit of hype about this new 2020 yeah my WR 250f it's got a huge history in Australia and for the best part of 20 years I'll G's you know guys like Jeff Ballard Julie Morgan Ben grab em leave Glenn Kearney you know got involved with Peter Pan that yeah my Australia so Moses love those guys actually tested in Japan and developed this you know this particular model in which first came out in 2001 did a lot in Japan but a lot of it was sort of you know like customized Australian conditions so the things been an incredible seller throughout and it's been interesting because you know I guess what we're looking at now is you know when you look at the bike that evolved and sold particularly well 2015 I guess is the first time that they really based the thing on the on the motocross bike I think the marketing gaff went along the lines have had you know why is it F blood running through its veins or DNA then the 2018 a little bit more they improved the brakes I did a little go the engine a little bit more bottom and mid and then on the the 2020 a new generation again largely because I've chassis have changed his pension bodywork and engine so let's just have a bit of a look at what what this thing is was interesting also the mi didn't actually have an immediate launch for the bike so what they did this gave all the media the bike for a couple of weeks so we've had the opportunity to do a bunch of grass track and then a whole lot of you know tie up trail and typical Bush sort of trails as well we give the bike back and we'll have it back for a couple of months after that as a project bike so we'll you know will evolve and develop the thing but I guess today's about you know just the first impressions like I said we have we had the bike for a couple of weeks so the last few days we've been up here Jeff Ballard's farm up on you know in the western slopes of the Blue Mountains we've got really amazing tight and we had some snotty you know pine forest yesterday and then and then some enduro loops and tight gnarly stuff today the things been a lot of fun I think you know the the standout change is what they've done vo goes there made the thing a lot slimmer they brought the headlight back that collectively has made the bike feel a lot more agile and in compact I think everyone jumped off it and said it was compact and agility so that in fact they've gone to a 7.9 litre tank I think they've got another half a litre out of that cleverly doing it in the middle and keeping that weight low so that tip weight is something that's it's a real standout for this machine it has been for the predecessors but probably more so for this one probably feels more like a motocross bike than any of those predecessors you know along with that they've done some other clever little things you know you look at the best plate and there's much better protection there for the radiator hoses you know they've they've tucked the the sidestand in so it doesn't stick out it doesn't get jagged in ruts you know they've improved they're taking that silly garden hose that they used to have off there for them for the front speedo so now there's a nice little digi pick up and that's all nice and neat so that just sort of streamlined the thing and and you know really what they tried to do is sort of put up against the the European bikes that are sort of lightweight hard-nosed very much enduro focused not like a trail bike that you can also convert yeah you know into a race bike and I think they've done a really good job with that in terms of clay up a suspension that's you know I think that's well proven there's a few mods that are supposed to make a little bit pleasure in the front didn't really notice that what we did notice is is that you know a little bit lively and in the tail on the ass end on the downhills we've got the forks about five mil through and ran them flush which actually just creates a really beautiful chassis balance you know without really compromising how quickly the thing turns we've found that also with a with a recent model the 2019 2019 model WR 450 F on the engine front there's quite a few changes I think the most obvious thing is it converting to more top end the thing revs out a lot and harder we did muck around with the mapping a bit - just - we had a little dirtier a little bit uneven off the bottom but once you're on the thing and as you know the 250 you know you rev the things pretty hard so if you're dialing along on rough ground it's just a little bit I think it needs a little bit of refinement on that front in terms of riding thing fuelling was fantastic yeah so they've actually bolted I think if you in the clutch they've all said a few fibers to make a little bit more robust not that they ever had a problem in the past a little bit different field so a longer take-up and then you know most of the European bikes that have got a hydraulic clutch but I think you know this thing it's it's cut some Mambo like for a 250 you know there's not a lot of difference we had a couple 350s out here today ensure those things that got more but you know it's pretty impressive how you can like the thing off the bottom sure you gotta have to use a little bit more clutch you know to get the thing Rocking but I think really the probably the standout things or two standout things from the engine department is you've now got the you got the switch so you can you know you switch maps on the fly which is really cool and also you know I think yeah my really got a jump on the competition by putting the power tuner app together it's good sitting there on your smartphone it's bluetooth you can download maps you can exchange them with mates so we've been mucking around with the mapping sort of we learned off they're getting a little bit off the bottom just got a little bit cleaner the fuelling that is but also the good thing about that app if you're a nerd you can log everything every practice every setting every piece of maintenance on the bike so you know I think there's a there's a lot of value in that so we're really looking forward to getting a thing back for it to have for a couple months to develop it full of put a few bits and pieces on it really impressed with a stock bike I think even just looking at the thing it probably looks closer to a motocross er than ever before but it's not a motocross bike in the bush and you know it's not just a wide ratio six Cade speed gearbox and an 18-inch rear that's adapted it to the bush you know the the engine hangers the frame flex the suspension settings all those things have done a really good job of translating a motocross bike to the bush so anyway we've we've had a bunch of guys out here testing and we're gonna give each of those guys a bit of an opportunity to right now to you know tell you about what standard things they found about the bike over the past couple of weeks testing to find anyway we've had three days testing a few bikes and I've been lucky enough to get a ride on especially on this spot behind me which is the the new WR 250 had a lot to do with it back in the day of course but it's been some time since I've ridden to 50s and so yeah but my very first impression was a good one I couldn't believe how strong it felt so that's definitely something that stood out as soon as I took off on the thing I went where this bikes got some path pretty cool so you know just over the three days had plenty of rides the conditions have been pretty good from quite slippery to now being pretty low me and a lot of traction yeah I guess my general impression was that it's it's engine strong and it's pretty easy bike I made a ride I felt comfortable I was put in the deep end straightaway so I just started riding it and felt comfortable Fermi also suspension feels pretty good I don't know a lot of the details about this bike I haven't asked a lot of questions I know it's an all-new thing or pretty much that way the I felt in some ways similar I've got a 19 model WR 450 so in some ways I guess I compared it against that so obviously a big engine and a lot of power in that one and that this one is surprising a lot lighter feel a lot more fun and yeah like the 450 I felt more comfortable with they dropped the forks and certainly the bike stays incredibly fast so in some ways you could say maybe a bit faster it makes it a little bit nervous it doesn't do any head shake or anything at all like that but it just gives you a little bit more confidence in some corners and you can certainly make it steer I mean it doesn't seem to affect it being a good steer it's fantastic so that was one of the big biggest improvements I guess but basically we rode it quite stock and just enjoyed it it was a good bike so yeah it's kind of be a little bit involved in the 250 again and it gets you thinking you know I've been riding bigger bikes and I'm going well maybe I should give it to 50 ago so yeah it's been fun few days and really enjoyed this bike so after riding Yamaha 2019 WI 450 there was at 450 and there was at 250 I've been really excited to jump on this WI 250 as someone that really likes a small capacity bike I've been really excited because I really like the chassis changes and everything that came with a 450 but it's just a bit too much power for me so after riding this bike for two days we got to ride this bike at some real fast grass track and then around Geoff Ballard's place today where we got pines bit of motocross II staff and a bit more tight technical stuff overall I'm really really impressed with this bike I haven't been able to adapt to Yamaha is that fast in the past but straightaway jumping on this thing it felt really good we dropped the fork down about five mil and that just made the bike a hell of a lot more balanced and just awesome because like the bike turns on a dime so I'd almost turn to tie it so when you could break that fork out slightly more you could hold the corners really really nicely and it held up really well it's got a hell of a lot of balls for a 250 it's great around all this bush stuff you have to work clutch a little bit to get it going but it performed really well especially compared to other bikes have been riding today a really big stand out on grass track stuff where we were grabbing third fourth gear down the straights it did top out it did run out a bit of juice up the top but when we get this bike back as a project bike maybe fitting an exhaust or at least to slip onto it will really open that bike up more and I reckon we'll get more power out of that so yeah can't wait spend some more time on this bike it's been really really good so after a big day here out of Jeff Ballard's place Ron the the new 20 2250 or WR 250 I've got to say first impressions are definitely really up there for me I'm not a massive I wouldn't class myself as an experienced rider I like to just get out there on weekends and have a putt and enjoy riding for what it is and the big thing that made me feel comfortable on this bike is just the way it handles I'm always a bit well I'm not as confident in tipping a bike in hard into ruts and I always feel like I need to stand it up this is the first bike where I felt like I could track into some corners and the bike would just go with it and then we came back and dropped the forks by about 5 mil and that even helped even more so a great little bike with handling and stuff I personally write a 450 and over the years of being actually kind of out ridden by the thing and leaning more towards these smaller bikes I feel like it's just you it's got usable power on a 450 year kind of snapping around and it's wanted to jump away from you this thing you feel in control but that's not to say that it doesn't have a lot of power you can use every gear and right around 2nd and 3rd and it's just it's it's very easy and comfortable to ride also another great thing about this compared to its predecessor or the 2018 model is the blue button on it as I said before I kind of like run a little bit more slower and not as aggressive so in that more tight stuff where I feel like the bikes a bit snappy to get away I can flick on that blue blue button and it just tracks really well and it doesn't feel like it's barky and getting out of my hands same thing with having the power tuner up when we got it it was a little bit funky bit barky so we messed around with the ignition a little bit and tamed it down a lot and it was a really good bike to ride and that's the great thing about it you can just make it your own thing you don't get this bike and then you're forced to write it how it is having that is a really good thing and for me maybe made the difference on this block overall it's just a really fun bike to ride I enjoyed every minute on it going over some little jumps here at the track and through some rats it was just awesome fun and I never felt like it was out of my limits to ride and I could just push it how I want it to go so my overall thoughts is awesome bike looks good rides well and yeah that's interesting getting that feedback from all the guys you know all the testers are varying sort of Heights weights riding abilities and setup preferences but I think it's probably fair to say that you know it was overwhelmingly positive you know about this new 2020 bike so we have to give this back to a Yamaha Motor Australia tomorrow sadly but we do get it back again a few weeks we're going to have it for a couple of months and I think you know the important thing too is that it's you know motorcycle ownership is not just about the performance of the thing it's about living with it's about all those maintenance issues where durability all that kind of stuff so having the bike for a few months after that will give us an opportunity to do that muck around the suspension setup put a few bits and pieces on it so you know stay tuned for some of those follow up stories we're going to do you

Channel: Transmoto

Views: 130,547

Rating: 4.9079647 out of 5

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Id: HFzVyEJ3hkw

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 22 2020