This is great news from Yamaha! Even though it is a fairly low tech motor, it still looks to be a tiger in that class. I seem to recall Suzuki taughting the 230 Quadsport as 309 pounds dry when it was first released, hmmm. Oh well, marketing BS aside, This is good for the sport. Perhaps it also leaves room for a YFZ250 should Suzuki make a move in the Hi perf. direction?

 

I could be wrong, but has anyone compared the spec sizes of the new Raptor 250 to the old Blaster specs? Looks to me like the frame might even be the same. Very small. The new Suzuki 250 will be a higher performing race machine, I dont think the new Yamaha will compare, it will be more like a Honda or the older automatic Suzuki 250 but will appeal to riders who want a Manual clutch and will be a little sportier all the way around.

 

I don't think that it will compare really with the Suzuki either .. the Suzuki will probably have a 4-valve head for better performance to start with. I don't think that this unit will really even compare to the old Honda 250X. I'm not sure what de-tuning, if any, was done to the 250X, but the motor was out of the XR/XL250 I believe, both of which are reportedly 24HP at the crank. Not bad for a mid 80's 250 thumper. I'd be surprised if the new raptor is making over 16hp at the crank, but I have been surprised before [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]