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Yamaha Raptor 250 ATV Links |
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| 2008
Yamaha Raptor 250 |
West Virginia -When Yamaha released
the Raptor 250 Sport ATV in late 2007, it quickly
became the leader among the class of its sub 300cc
counterparts with features that are typically
only found in larger displacement ATV models,
so we decided it would be the perfect machine
for competing among the youth ranks in cross county
and motocross racing for our young rider.
Whether the new Yamaha Raptor 250 would live
up to the hype was yet to be seen. After visiting
our local dealership and inspecting the new
machine in 2007, we felt the Raptor would allow
us a platform to begin a build on this machine
that could pull duty in the XC and MX world
for our young rider. Being that our rider is
short in stature, the lightweight (313 LBS dry)
and overall smaller size provided a perfect
fit for our rider.
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Yamaha Raptor
250 ATV Side View
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Keeping the machine basically stock for the first
few months would not be hard as very few aftermarket
companies had yet to embrace the new machine,
but Yamaha's GYTR team had just about everything
covered, from bumpers to exhaust if one wanted
to immediately start adding on the goodies they
had to offer. We chose to sit back and watch as
slowly companies started making more and more
products for the ATV. It wasn't long before suspension,
exhaust systems, graphics kits, control arms/swing
arms were on the market allowing one to really
start building on what Yamaha had given us in
stock form. Still, we chose to ride the machine
stock and see what issues we felt would need to
be attended to, as we started planning our eventual
build.
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Front, The Raptor 250 comes with double
wishbone A-arm front suspension with five-way
adjustable preload and offers 7.5"
of wheel travel |
In
the rear, the Raptor 250 is chain driven
and has a class leading 7.9" of wheel
travel. Also, it has the same hydraulic
rear brake system found on the YFZ450 |
The machine itself has a lot to offer and stock
for stock would get my vote for best 300cc or
below ATV model in its class. The stock suspension
is adequate for its target market, it handles
decent for being a fairly narrow platform and
the power is more than enough to keep it right
beside any other model in this range. For a
price tag just under $3,700 it could well be
the perfect starting platform for a young rider
that is ready to step up to a manual clutch
and more power. If your rider is above 5'8",
I still feel the Honda 300ex may be a better
fit, but this is subjective and up to what the
rider feels comfortable with. With all the typical
model info long since released, we got the opportunity
to really dig into this machine and see if what
it offered out-weighed any drawbacks we would
find.
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stock form, the raptor 250 is nimble and
has a smooth power delivery |
The
layout of the controls will fit a wide
variety of riders, both big and small |
Riding and learning took up the better part
of late summer and early fall as the Raptor
250 just kept chugging along. We also had a
Honda 300EX here that was set up with the typical
modifications to offer us a side-by-side comparison.
Our rider was able to put laps in on both machines
and literally had his pick of which machine
to either keep or sell. When it was all said
and done, for our rider the Raptor 250 suited
him best, and the 300ex was sold to help fund
the build up of the new machine.
