When I first started riding the FX it was really
easy to stall, but really hard to start. After plenty
of frustrating moments, I raised the idle speed
a bit which seemed to remedy the problem and
allowed me to get back to happy motoring.
The suspension from KYB was supposedly
meant to have a revised setting to make it more
suited to the trees. However, comparing it to the
forks on the MX version, I would say they were
near identical. This isn’t a negative thing as I did
think the forks worked well. They are quite firm,
which is good for big hits, they are probably
slightly softer than the MX set up in this area.
But the area I would have preferred them to be
softer is for smaller bumps, like roots and rocks
where I felt they were still a bit harsh. If you’ve
ever ridden at the Woodhill bike park you’ll know
there are plenty of these to give any suspension
a hard time. And at the end of it all I felt the
250FX had not been disappointing and handling
out of the box was good.
I feel the FX shares the same problem I found
with the F for the shock. I found it a bit too hard,
which made it feel high in the back end when
cornering, but I think correct sag and maybe
softening the high speed compression would
solve this. Having said that the FX still corners
very well.
To conclude, Yamaha advertises the 250FX as a
cross-country weapon, and I think it probably is.
However, as the trees get closer, there’s less light
and conditions start to deteriorate I think the FX
begins to feel like it’s ventured too far from the
motocross track. This isn’t really surprising as it
was developed from that platform. Taken as a
cross-country race machine I think it works what
its purpose – a bike targeted at a racer of more
open tracks, rather than a beginner or
intermediate riding on slower tracks.
KIWI RIDER 43