250R / YFZ450

Carburetor: Keihin 34mm PJ oval slide / 39MM FCR
Horse Power: 31 at the wheels / ?
Transmission: six-speed no reverse / 5 speed no reverse
Front Suspension: 7.9" / 9.1"
Rear Suspension: 9.1" / 10.1"
Front Brakes: dual hydraulic disc Twin Piston Caliper / dual hydraulic disc Twin Piston Caliper
Rear Brakes: single hydraulic disk Twin Piston Caliper / single hydraulic disk
Length: 71.9" / 70.4"
Width: 44.5" / 46.1"
Ground Clearance: 4.3" / 4.4"
Seat Height: 30.0" / 31.5"
Wheelbase: 51" / 50.4"
Dry Weight: 328 lbs. / 350 lbs. 330lbs with kickstarter
Fuel Capacity: 2.6 gal. / 2.6 gal.


Nocando

 

It looks like we finally have a 250r replacement. The numbers are very impressive. Don't get me wrong I love my R but I'm happy to finally see a real race machine that the average person could own, is easy to get parts for and who's manufacturer will be around 4 years from now.

Yamaha did their homework (I hope).

 

I didn't know the R was that light, was there any frame issues at all over the years?

 

If there was an R frame that hasnt cracked, it wasnt ridden. Mine is tore up all over the place

 

Its funny we don't hear about stories about the R frames cracking but they have, people don't get upset. Then we hear about frames on newer quads cracking and people get upset.

 

The R is not that light. The last test between the Tecate-4, LT250, and the R was the heaviest at 350 and some odd pounds. This has been posted before......a couple guys do claim their owners manual states 320 something though.

 

The 250R at minimum is 14 years old, of course there are going to be cracked and broken frames. You hear people making a big deal about it on LTZ400's because they are less than a year old and numerous people have broken and/or bent them.

Personally, I have already seen a very alarming amount of broken and/or bent LTZ frames. In fact, the last race I was at (I was working the barcode check) the overall was won by a 400EX because the leader's subframe on his LTZ broke at both mounting points at the bottom - this particular guy is on his 2nd or 3rd frame.

As far as quad weights go, none of the published figures are accurate. The 250R was published at 328 lbs, the YFZ450 is published at 350 - both will be heavier. Same goes for practically all the other production quads.

 

I weighed my Honda 250R after I rebuilt it and it was around 345lbs with coolant and oil -- no gas.

 

When you really look at it, probably no machine in history has been ridden as hard as the 250r, after 15 plus years of course you are going to have cracked frames.

I've taken my out to the track about 6 times and have has some hard landings and still no cracks. I got it about 3 years ago so I don't know where it's history before that. But for a 17 year old bike it has held up well, you can't say that for alot of the new bikes coming out today.

The bottom line is that the 250r was a very well made machine, but it's time for someone to step up and challenge it. Being that the 450 is being touted as an mx racer, I hope yamaha put some thought into it's durability.

I definitly wouldn't mind having one.

 

Don't forget the GasGas 300 2-stroke. This machine made the Honda 250R obsolete.