Yamaha YZ250X long-term test bike update from ADB issue #438 - March 2016.
Total Hours: 7
Mods this month: Jetting
Mods next month: Tank, flywheel, torque pipe
It’s been hard to choose trailriding over swimming for the last few weeks. Our break at Moggs Creek happened to coincide with a Victorian bushfire down the Great Ocean Road that took out 98 homes at Wye River and another 18 at Separation Creek.
The Otway Ranges behind these towns are part of a popular trailriding area, although many of the tracks are closed in winter and spring. By the time we went riding, a few days after the devastation, the wind had dropped but the temperature was still high and the CFA was worried about a predicted cool change that was expected to bring high wind and possible lightning.
The sight of aircraft flying passed to drop fire retardant on the blaze in the Great Otway National Park did make us a bit nervous, even if the area that was still burning was 20km away. The YZ-X had been in action for a two-stroke enduro comparison but, apart from some scuff marks on the plastics from a few Heel Clickers and associated silliness for the cameras, had come through unscathed.
The test crew had been less than happy about the bike’s jetting, particularly the fact that it wouldn’t idle. A quick call to Yamaha Australia had us hunting for a 42 pilot jet and an N3CG needle to clean up the metering and we were lucky enough to find them not far away at Christensen’s Motorcycles in Warragul and in our hands the next day. Great service.
After a big wind-in on the idle speed screw, the bike was warming up sweetly and we were good to go. Generally, it’s highly unlikely you would have to do any of this if your YZ250X has been through pre-delivery at a dealer. Ours came straight from having the lighting kit installed, that’s it.
With the pre-mix backed off to 40:1 after running-in we figured we’d be making a smaller contribution to the smoky haze over Victoria’s premier tourist attraction. The manual recommends 30:1 but we don’t know anyone who runs their YZ that oily with Yamalube Racing 2-R and, besides that, mixing oil at 3.333 per cent for every litre of fuel makes it probably the hardest percentage for which to measure the oil you need as there are no round numbers (see breakout above).
Every time you climb on the YZ-X you get a fresh reminder of how light it is. Our loop took in bits of Moggs Track, Gentle Annie, Old Coach Road, Loves Track and Iron Bark Spur. Being close to the coast there’s a fair bit of sand and the weather can change quickly.
The YZ loves sand and just skips over the stuff. There’s nothing particularly challenging in the terrain and none of the singletrack you find further west in the Otways. It was a good opportunity to wind the Yamaha out but not have to worry about the fuel range. Next month we should have the bigger GYTR tank.
Wolter Kuiper