YZ250F | Tom Buxton
The 2020 YZ250F has remained relatively
untouched after the 2019 bike received a host
of changes. With many good things being said
about those updates, I was eager to see if it
was worth all the hype. Last year the upgrades
included a new engine, with increased mid- to
top-end power, as well as a new frame and
bodywork. My big question was could this
small bore MX bike leave me with a smile on
my dial, unlike some of the others I’ve tried?
The design team at Yamaha must’ve thought
why change an engine that proved itself
to be a championship winning motor. And
within a couple of hundred metres I couldn’t
argue with that logic. Test conditions were
in deep soft sand, so ideal to make a small-
capacity bike struggle in the power sapping
conditions. The little YZ coped well! Initially I
was in the torque map, which had a very soft
hit, but some nice, grunty pull off the bottom.
But that isn’t where this bike was made to
be. After increasing the compression ratio
last year, top end power has been made very
strong. A map switch comes standard, giving
you access to the power map which is a big
52 KIWI RIDER
plus. For a bike that already seemed to have
a lot of power, things get turned up a notch
when the blue light is lit up on the map switch.
Bottom end power is increased and gives it
a lot more punch, which really helps get it
revving a lot quicker coming out of corners.
Even though a cable clutch is still used by
Yamaha, I was pleased with the light the
clutch action. I was worried that this might
mean it was going to fade quickly and a lot of
adjustments would be needed to take up the
free-play. I needed have worried, it seemed
to cope well without needing adjustments.
Handling is another positive of this bike.
For a completely standard bike it seemed
pretty good, perhaps on the firmer side, but
it absorbed the big sandy whoops well. I did
feel the shock was too hard and that it slightly
unbalanced the bike. It felt it was low in the
front causing it to tuck in corners, and this
could also attribute to the forks feeling harsh
due to their being a lot more weight on the
front. Changing the amount of sag and possibly
the rate of the shock spring would cure this
problem, making it better suited to me.