YAMAHA Fazer 250 - a bike with great potential

The Yamaha Phaser is an average motorcycle model, which at the same time is a universal option for any town and road, because it copes well with off-road conditions. Its main advantage is excellent road grip. According to the mechanics themselves, the model is not an innovative breakthrough in either design or technical components, but it will definitely find its fans even among experienced riders. In this case, everything depends on the intended use of the vehicle, because for some, excellent dynamics even on city roads are quite enough. However, why then did the motorcycle become so popular, despite the fact that it was developed almost 10 years ago? Let's figure it out further.

Design component

Like all models above the designated line, this variation combines a sporty design and a classic fit. Therefore, this appearance is approved by both the audience with exotic views on vehicles and people with strict preferences. Without thinking twice, you can also notice other equally prominent advantages of the motorcycle. The engine volumes, which start from 300 cubic meters, immediately catch your eye.

All this diversity is complemented by a headlight made in the Japanese style, somewhat similar to a naked one, which also meets the parameters of minimalism and is not inferior in technical characteristics to even more serious models. In addition, the voluminous front body kit with chopped lines should also be highlighted. At the same time, the appearance of the bike also highlights some of its shortcomings. The most visible of them is the not at all muscular wheels, which indicate the relatively low power of the vehicle. It is also unlikely that you will be able to become a racer on it, as evidenced by the rear-view mirrors, which are located too high for increased visibility and driver safety.

Speaking about the color component, it all depends on the preferences of the owner of the motorcycle. The original version is only available in a limited number of colors, the main one being “space violet”. Often people like to call it more simply, namely “eggplant”. At the same time, no one forbids the rider to tune the purchase later, because it is open to various kinds of modifications.

Yamaha YZ250 price

(taken from the US market for reference)

In 2006, the new, amazing and very cool Yamaha YZ250 was $6,199 and the 2006 KTM 250SX was $6,299. Sixteen years later, the 2021 Yamaha YZ250 costs $7,499 and the 2021 KTM 250SX costs $8,399—a difference of nine hundred dollars rather than a hundred. And the Yamaha YZ250 is so much cheaper mainly because in those 16 years Yamaha spent almost nothing but new graphics. For an additional $900 spent in favor of the Austrian manufacturer, you get a state-of-the-art fuel-injected motorcycle that is lighter, better handles and has more powerful brakes, a reliable hydraulic clutch, switchable engine maps, an adjustable power valve, a convenient airbox, a balancer shaft and racing origins. If you decide to spend the same $900 on modifications to the Yamaha, then you won’t even be able to buy a Hinson clutch with it, let alone anything else.

So is it worth buying? Motocross motorcycles are inherently a hot commodity - serious guys buy them new, invest some more money in them, and soon sell them to less serious guys. By the way, many competitions simply don't allow you to ride anything older than five years, and even the best models of all time, like the great 2008 Honda CRF450, quickly become forgotten and obsolete.

But the planned obsolescence that economists talk about so much is not about the Yamaha YZ250. She was just as good 16 years ago and still is. This model is currently ridden by more Crossmen than any other, and to be honest, as soon as Yamaha makes even one major modification to this model, the magic will be destroyed.

Buying a new Yamaha YZ250 2021 is like buying an old Java in a factory frame: yes, it is not a rival to the MT-09, but it is unlikely that the MT-09 will give so many emotions.

The good thing about the Yamaha YZ250 is that it doesn’t depreciate too much after purchase. For a two-year-old cross-country bike, there will always be a buyer who really wants to save money out of the blue.

However, allusions to Java arose for a reason: seriously speaking, the model could be updated. What exactly?

Yamaha YZ250 power. It’s quite easy to overclock a 46-horsepower YZ250 to 49 horses: all you need to do is buy a new exhaust, a reed valve, bore the ports - this has already been done thousands of times by owners of YZ250s of previous years, turning to talented mechanics. I would like to hope that Yamaha designers will also show talent and be able to accelerate the 2022 YZ250 to at least 50 horsepower. And it’s not that she’s sluggish, it’s just that she has room to improve.
Yamaha YZ250 rear suspension. Even a cursory glance reveals archaism in it: firstly, a small 22 mm rear axle instead of a modern 25 mm one. Second, the rear shock arm axle bolt goes through the swingarm instead of underneath it. There's nothing stopping Yamaha from using exactly the same suspension as on the YZ450F, along with the hub, 25mm axle, wheel spacers, and caliper mounts (though you'll need a 2009 swingarm to connect the YZ450F's arm to the YZ250's upper shock mounts). The new YZ450F swingarm is 4 percent less vertically stiff, 5 percent less torsionally stiff, and 8 percent less horizontally stiff, and is 340 grams lighter than the YZ250's beefy swingarm. The YZ450F rear hub is another 270 grams lighter than the stock YZ250 - a nice weight saving.
Yamaha YZ250 inertia. Many YZ250 riders add flywheel weights to widen the torque curve, improve grip, and add some high-rpm thrust after peak. Many, including the factory team riders! And Yamaha should listen to their experience and simply make the crankshaft or the stock flywheel heavier.
Yamaha YZ250 star. It's time to stock the YZ250 with a 51-tooth sprocket. Literally everyone installs it, and by the way, Yamaha has already replaced the chainring on the 2021 YZ450F at the request of the owners. So, after 16 years, we might as well listen to the YZ250 owners.
Yamaha YZ250 transmission. It has a large gap between second and third gears, which has long been asked to be closed by bringing them closer together. Yamaha designers have long argued that this is impossible, and then they made a cross-country model, the YZ250X, the transmission of which had identical first and second gears to the YZ250, and the third was lower than on it - that is, closer to the second. Hence the conclusion is that the YZ250 can be equipped with such a gearbox, but for some reason they don’t want to.
Yamaha YZ250 shock absorbers. The YZ250 should be equipped with the latest versions of the fork and shock absorber found on the YZ250F and YZ450F. It’s even easier to do this if you convert the YZ250 to a modern chassis in general, axle, swingarm, and so on. Every year Yamaha updates the components on their four-stroke motocross models, and for some reason they don't use them on the YZ250 two-stroke.

Technical component

Before thinking about vehicle modifications, we recommend paying attention to the initially available technical characteristics. We will analyze exclusively the most important details and give each of them our objective assessment:

Engine. Perhaps the most important part, to which the mechanics paid the most attention. Of course, it cannot be called the most powerful, because now there are many higher-level models. However, it is still worth paying tribute to, the power unit has a volume of 249 cubic centimeters and one overhead camshaft, as well as two valves. For its size, the engine has very good performance, and the designers were able to achieve such successes mainly due to high-tech coatings made of anti-friction wear-resistant material on the cylinder walls.
Chassis. The basis of the vehicle is a duplex steel frame that covers the engine with two curved pipes at the front. On the lower side, the gearbox housing serves as cover.
Brake system. It is equipped here in a very interesting way, because the front brakes are made in an aggressive manner, referring us to the sporty component of the motorcycle. They are made in the form of a perforated disc with a diameter of 282 millimeters with a two-cylinder caliper. The rear brakes are a little more modest and are equipped with a 130 mm drum mechanism with a traction drive.

History of the Yamaha YZ250

It all started with the 2006 model year, when Kayaba SSS suspensions appeared and brought the Yamaha YZ250 to the forefront of the two-stroke army. A year earlier, Yamaha introduced a new aluminum frame, and the YZ250 engine was developed in 2003. In general, the chronology of the YZ250 is as follows:

2005. Instead of the previous steel frame, an aluminum frame of an unusual design was introduced, weighing almost 2 kilograms less than the steel one. Overall, the 2005 YZ250 was 3.4 kilograms lighter than the 2004 version. Additionally, the 2005 YZ250 featured a Honda-style front brake line and was equipped with Renthal 22mm aluminum handlebars.
2006. New SSS suspension, Ti rear spring, new rear caliper, on-the-fly clutch adjustment, yokes spaced 2mm further apart. But the main thing is Kayaba SSS suspensions.
2007. The main thing is the change to the N3EW carburetor needle, which most serious racers used back in 2006. It significantly improved the response at low and mid-range speeds. Back in the 2007 model year, the 22nd steering wheel was replaced with a 28mm Renthal Fatbar.
2008. Almost nothing interesting. The front caliper was made smaller, petal discs were installed, and the crossbars were made with removable steering spacers.
2009. Removed the large steel brake line mount and replaced it with a small, lightweight aluminum one.
2010. New bright graphics.
2011. The new muffler is 75mm longer, the compression ratio is reduced from 10.9:1 to 10.6:1 by increasing the volume of the combustion chamber by 0.5cc (this was done to be able to refuel with lower octane fuel). Plus - neutral sensor, used to change the ignition map when operating without load (to meet the requirements of econorms regarding exhaust volume).
2012. New bright graphics.
2013. The blue rear fender was replaced with white.
2014. The white rear fender has been replaced with a blue one.
2015. New plastic design in the spirit of the four-stroke YZ-F, except for the gas tank and front plate.
2016. Silver rims replaced with black ones.
2017. The front brake disc has been increased - from 250 to 270mm.
2018. Instead of black, there are now blue rims. And, as with every new model year since 2006, there are flashy new graphics.
2019. New bright graphics.
2020. New bright graphics.
2021. The number plates went from white to blue, and the fork guards went from white to black. And new bright graphics.

Comparison of original spare parts and fakes

The YAMAHA Fazer 250 must be purchased exclusively from the original manufacturer. This is the only way you can get a full guarantee, free service, and confidence in the quality of the purchased product. If the purchase of a product item occurs through an official dealer, then he must have all supporting documents and, if necessary, be ready to provide them to the consumer. For example, this includes the company https://www.yamaha-dealer.ru/.

However, not only the motorcycle itself should be purchased from used manufacturers, but we also recommend purchasing spare parts from them. Of course, you can always buy a cheaper analogue, but the quality of its creation remains in question. Moreover, such manufacturers often take goods from China, where hardly anyone will agree to guarantee the replacement of a spare part or repair it for free. Even if the buyer is not involved in the breakdown, he will not be able to prove anything.

That is why, to summarize the above, we recommend that you contact exclusively time-tested and documented companies. As for the motorcycle itself, it is an average representative of the motorcycle market and copes well with its tasks. As such, no shortcomings were identified. Thus, we recommend the vehicle for purchase.

Pros of the Yamaha YZ250

Traction characteristics. Of course, it would be nice to add traction at medium speeds, and everywhere else too. But now she is a classic cross-country horse, and that’s good.
Pendants. The Kayaba SSS fork and shock are race-ready straight from stock.
Yamaha YZ250 Service. You don't need to be a mechanical genius to keep your YZ250 in good mechanical condition. Even a beginner can replace the CPG, and this makes the motorcycle more accessible, because many of the jobs can be done independently.
Reliability of Yamaha YZ250. There is simply nothing to break in it - timely completion of routine maintenance allows the YZ250 to always remain in service.

YBR 125th

This is a small bike for moving through city streets with heavy traffic. It is recommended for purchase by beginners in order to master the principles of driving.

The mechanism is convenient and unpretentious. It is characterized by the following technical features:

four-stroke engine, with a camshaft on top, power - 10 horsepower, at 124 cc. cm volume;
maximum speed - 110 km/h;
transmission - manual, 5 gears;
compression ratio - 10:1;
gasoline supply through the carburetor;
electric starter plant;
tank volume - 13 liters;
consumption per 100 km - 3 l.

The design is extremely simple and reliable, all faults are detected quickly and eliminated effectively. Spare parts can be easily purchased from dealers at reasonable prices.

Diagonal frame, steel wheels, low weight, compactness (length 1985 mm, width 745 mm, height 1080 mm) increase handling. The driver has a wide seat upholstered in leather. The instrument panel is clearly visible thanks to LED backlighting. It is called safe and reliable. The stopping process occurs using a hydraulic disc brake. If necessary, the steering rack is locked with a key.

For off-road driving, the rear wheels are equipped with shock absorbers to improve traction. If you install tires with a stronger tread, this will also improve its performance. An economical urban option in terms of fuel and lubricant costs. For example, a full tank can last up to 350 km. A relatively inexpensive sample is used as a training model for beginners to master control of a bike. Those who already feel confident behind the wheel will appreciate the calm, smooth movement.