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It has been about a year since I raced motocross when I heard rumblings of Matthes and Keefer racing the Glen Helen Vet Nationals in early November. If you know Kris, it only takes about one phone call that can involve some verbal motivation and next thing I knew I was on the Glen Helen website submitting my entry for the 40th edition of the Dubya USA World Vets. With that part taken care of Kris and I discussed a potential bike for me to race and the Yamaha YZ250F came up. Initially I was going to race a Yamaha 450FX and although I don’t really like 450s on a motocross track I was ok with it since it was an off-road model that was slightly tamer than the YZ 450F. After some thought we decided to get on that new 2025 Yamaha YZ 250F which I was much more comfortable riding on a moto track seeing as how I’m a Vet intermediate rider at best. The Friday before race day I headed to Kris’ house, picked up the bike and met Matthes and some other friends at Glen Helen for practice.
Yamaha changed the YZ250F in 2024 but I had yet to ride newer version of the bike so I was excited to experience the changes compared to the 2023 model that I had last ridden. I knew that Glen Helen was going to be rough and one thing I don’t like in a bike is a nervous or twitchy feeling chassis, so when I checked the sag and it was at 108mm I decided to try it and see how it felt. I rolled out into my practice and boy was I right about the track being rough, it was probably the roughest Glen Helen I had ever ridden. The power delivery to me felt like Yamaha had blended the previous years together to make a very fun and ridable combination of power. What I mean by this is that when Yamaha tilted the engine backward in 2014 the bottom end power delivery was the strongest in class but lacked a little top end pulling power. Slowly over the years following Yamaha kept that class leading bottom end but they slowly started shifting that awesome feeling low end torque more towards stretching out each gear (or top end pulling power). The 2025 YZ250F still has the most excitement/low end pulling power but it isn’t as strong as I remember it being back in 2022. However, with that being said, the top end is better and even though the YZ250F spools up quick/through the RPM more than other 250F’s I have ridden, the Yamaha still suits my Vet B ass the best, especially at a race like GH where I need some of that excitement to pull me up the hills!
I opted to use the “Keefer Torquey Free Feel” map throughout the entire weekend which I was very happy with. During each of my three motos I was able to get a great jump out of the gate and until about half way down the start straight, I had no problem staying bar to bar with all 40 bikes (even though most of them were 450s). About the time I was shifting into 4th gear the 450s would start to slowly inch away but to me that was still quite impressive. Everyone knows Glen Helen is known for its steep long climbs and again to my surprise the 250 never felt like I was at a huge disadvantage against 450s. What I found that worked is that if I was able to catch a 450 going down the first downhill and force them to take the inside, the momentum I could carry through the outside of the 180° turn at the bottom would let me just pull the other bigger CC’d bike by the top of the hill. Another benefit to riding the Yamaha YZ250F was that the light nimble feeling of the bike let me easily maneuver the bike from side to side and dodge the large chuck holes that surfaced on the long Glen Helen uphills.
After the Friday practice day I had zero complaints about the engine performance of the YZ250F. In fact, the entire weekend I only changed one thing and that was with the suspension. I added (stiffer) three clicks of compression to the forks, which helped with hold up. The reasoning for this was that I felt that the bike was slightly unbalanced with the front end being slightly softer than the rear. There was one place on the track that this was apparent and that was on the high speed table top in the back section of the track. I noticed that if I didn’t clear it all the way I ended up landing in a hole which would make the forks bottom with a faint metal to metal sensation. This wasn’t every lap but it was something that I thought could benefit from a slight improvement and after my change I never experienced that sensation again. Where the bike really shined for me was the long downhills that were filled with staggered braking bumps that varied in size. It didn’t seem to matter what line you chose, it was inevitable that there would be at least two or three large bumps that made you hold on for dear life. I found that if you rode the downhills a gear high and really let the bike roll through the bumps the chassis didn’t get as upset. Not once did I ever get kicked either vertically or sideways when riding a gear high and that allowed the most comfort out of the YZ250F. I have raced the Honda CRF250R in years past and that wasn’t quite as comfortable as the Yamaha coming down the hills. The Honda still seemed to track better inside the shallow GH ruts but everywhere else on the track the Yamaha was just more planted and comfortable. I was happy I left the sag at 108 (even though Kris advised against this) because in the sand section just before the finish where large sand whoops formed, the bike felt stable/planted and never gave me a front end push/knife sensation. I think I did suffer a little on lean angle in slower corners but I need a little more safety with straight line stability at GH.
Admittedly I’ve always been a Yamaha fan, so whenever I get on a Yamaha I always feel comfortable with the ergonomics. I like the more rounded seat as I feel it makes transitioning from left to right while sitting more fluid feeling. Although I by no means drag bar when turning in rutted corners, the YZ seemed to easily tip into corners (and probably would be more so if I raised the rear up a bit). At times I did have trouble keeping the bike leaned in corners but I believe that has to do with the lower sag measurement. I did feel like the pegs were a bit high compared to the Honda which gave me a slightly more hunched over feeling when standing, although I don’t think this hampered my ability to ride the Yamaha. The one thing that is not great is the exhaust note on the YZ250F. To me the exhaust combined with the loud intake can be annoying loud and only get louder with more hours put on the bike. That being said it does come in handy when revving at someone when trying to get them to get out of the way.
After three days of riding and racing the 2025 YZ250F I came away pleasantly surprised at how well it performs in stock form. Seeing as how I don’t ride every weekend and am a plus 35 B rider at best, I tend to lean toward enjoying a 250F bike more when it comes to motocross. I feel like it doesn’t wear me out as much, I can put the bike where I want it and I can ride the bike much closer to its potential much more so than if I was on a 450F. In my opinion, although the other manufacturers have gotten much better, Yamaha still is slightly better for me in the 250F moto market segment.
Thumbs Up:
- Power to haul my lazy 180 pound Vet B rider ass around
- Suspension comfort on square edge/braking bumps
- Easy to hop on machine with minimal set up and ride decently fast
Thumbs Down:
- Loud Exhaust
- Cornering ability once inside rut
- Slightly stiffer chassis feel than older YZ250F I have ridden (2022-2023)
If you have any questions about the YZ250F, please email me at michael@keeferinctesting.com
