If you need more power in the bush than the 2020 Yamaha WR250F cranks out, I’ll eat my nylons. Importantly, how this power is metered out is also impressive and, thanks to smartphone technology, reasonably adjustable thanks to the ability to shift fuelling and ignition timing parameters with your phone.
It’s not this technology that makes the difference four hours into an epic trail ride, though. If the chassis is kicking 12 shades of excrement out of you over every tree root, rock or trail furniture piece, if the engine isn’t trying to climb trees with you hanging off the bars and the bike itself isn’t giving you the confidence to ride over something your mate just pushed his contraption over, then it’s just not as much fun.
As mentioned in our test of the 2019 WR250F (AMCN Vol 69 No 15), the bike was an animal, but also aimed at the fitter variety of trailrider – it took a bit of holding onto, not surprising given its base platform. But I like a mellower ride in the bush, and I wanted to know if the 2020 model could maintain the rage when it came to speed between the trees, but also offer something that could be ridden all day by weekend warriors, who make up the majority of enduro-riding talent in this country.
The 2020 WR250F gives me the versatility I want from an enduro bike, despite its capacity once being thought of as a tiddler, and the adjustability gives me the mellower nature I wanted, compared to the 2019 model. It does feel more refined, too, and from long wheelies, to tight single-track frenzies, the WR250F makes mincemeat of it all.
Check out the full test in the current issue
