2019 Sherco 250/300 SE Factory review

It's official – the uber-popular 300cc two-stroke's hold on the title of Australia's most popular oil-burner is over; 250s are now nicer to ride in every area and besides, virtually nobody is going to miss the few extra top-end horses unless their prime objective is buzzing fire trails.

I've been thinking this way for a while, but the recent launch of the 2019 Sherco 250 and 300 SE Factory machines has confirmed this sentiment.

Not that there's anything wrong with the 300. Like the 250, for 2019 Sherco has replaced the cylinder in the search for a more linear power curve and saved weight in the process. Part of the power delivery massage includes a new exhaust valve actuation system and new ignition management.

There’s a lighter ignition rotor, a more powerful ignition coil and, importantly, improved fuelling in the bottom-end. Collectively these adjustments represent a proper move towards easier-to-ride motorcycles and the ploy has worked. It's just that it also makes the lighter, less-brutal 250 an even sweeter, faster ride, so it has diminished the impetus to buy above it.

Then there's the fact the 250 is cheaper – $13,890 versus $14,290 in the higher-spec Factory version I tested. The SE-R 'Racing' versions are $11,990 and $12,390 respectively.

For the 250, this new-found rideability pushes its trail cred further up the tree, because its light weight and close-to-mountainbike-spec steering speed is now backed up with a linear power delivery and an engine that no longer needs to be ridden 'on the pipe' to get through the bush quickly.

The 300 is still the king down low, and can carry whichever gear allows you to keep momentum in tight bush, without inadvertently launching you up a tree because you are revving it too hard. But it is easy to still venture into that mental mid-range and top-end, and any 300 is a handful through the trees in that mode.

For grass-track and open fire-trail riding, you'd be cheering. In second and third gear single-track, the 250 starts to raise its head as the pick for me, simply because it's easier to ride, but gives away little when being torqued along.

Both bikes in Factory spec feature the new KYB suspension, and this lets you push both bikes harder, and with better feedback, than before. Both are scalpels through the bush or on quick fire trails, and the chassis is a delight. They are true two-stroke whippets, requiring little effort to haul up on the brakes and steering side to side, rut to berm to flat corner, like, well, a two-stroke should.

The 300 is marginally more reluctant to dive into a corner compared to the 250, but both Shercos have long been good at this, and nothing has changed.

There is nothing wrong with the suspenders on the lower-spec Racing models, the WP XPLOR fork and WP shock well versed in handling the snot us trail riders piff at them. The Factory versions, however, are a complete machine, ready to ride hard out of the crate.

Almost $2000 gets you those amazing adjustable KYB units at each end, plus extras including blue Excel rims, Galfer brake discs, a dual-material sprocket, a skid plate, a handlebar pad, new graphics, seat and Domino grips, and a 1300g-lighter lithium-ion battery.

Both bikes look amazing in Factory spec, but you can't see a bike while you are riding it, but thankfully the sum of those parts is just as impressive.

If you haven't ridden a two-stroke in a while, these Shercos will impress the hell out of you. The electric-start fizzes things into life with a wipe of the thumb; the throttle feel as you pull away for the first time is crisp, yet controlled; the riding position is excellent and you can select a soft or hard ignition map on the fly with the switch by your right thumb.

They sound and smell like a two-stroke but the incessant vibrations just aren't there; the fuelling from the Keihin PWK 36 is thoroughly consistent and the bikes are both typically refined as modern, 2019-spec two-strokes.

The test track had an excellent section dedicated to the strokers, with long ruts leading into sandy berms and out again, and here both two-bangers were breathtakingly fast.

Shercos have always been excellent in terms of steering, and with the lighter weight and chassis revisions – on top of the refined power delivery – I was getting through that section as fast as I would on almost anything else.

Importantly, I was doing it without the fear – well, no more than usual – because what I can feel is exactly what is happening on these bikes.

It's difficult to quantify the benefits of the lighter triple clamps and revised chassis flexibility, but the whole bike feels so totally planted, I'm sure these two across-the-range additions have made their mark.

Again, though, my hankering for 300 power – something to which I've defaulted since purchasing my first 300 two-stroke back in 1995 – wavered in favour of the 250's sweeter and more forgiving nature, something it achieves without any loss of trail speed.

Particularly in that first crack of the throttle, the 250 just connects you to the rear tyre better, letting you unlock its performance with more confidence and more purposefully.

That said, on the brief fire-trail sections joining the single track, the 300 had the blood pumping harder. That thing hits so hard, it nearly popped a valve in me as it got well and truly on the pipe and wailed forward, front wheel pawing the sky while the rear tyre was complaining about all the work it had to do.

A 300 two-stroke does that better than anything and, if that's how you like to ride, you won't sniff at the 250.

It does all that too, of course, just not as ferociously, and as I get older I want a bike that looks after me as well as I, it. If I'm going to wash it, do the air filter and service the bugger, it had better make my life easy on the trail – the 250 does that for me.

It's also a pretty exciting ride between the trees and whenever I hop back on a two-stroke, I revel in that sound. There really is nothing like it, as the KYB springs look after the rough stuff, the engine looks after the grunty momentum and I try to look like I know what I'm doing.

The brakes on both bikes are worth a mention. In gritty, sandy conditions, they braked the same way all day – a handy trait when you're bolted onto a rampant two-banger. The pad/Galfer disc combination is impressive.

Also new on these bikes is a larger radiator, a wiring harness, some minor other new bits and, importantly, a new FMF exhaust. Both bikes sound proper hard-bugger two-stroke, the note beginning with a low grumble and culminating in a high-end shriek.

The sound begs you to get on the throttle. And the refined chassis and engine manners let you…

Sherco's whole Enduro range and particularly the Factory versions have made significant leaps forward for 2019. There were no quirky irritations with any of them, and the only gripes I had regarding the two-strokes mirrored those of the new 500 – the sidestand needs a wider foot and that ignition switch adjuster on the right handlebar is easy to bump into the wrong position. Though, to be fair, both maps work well.

Other than those minor irritations the Factory two-strokes are awesome bits of kit, making it easier to ride your favourite bush trail fast, with precision, and with a healthy dose of fun.

The 250 is my pick and the Factory versions have almost everything I want from a dirt bike. I'd probably add a tougher bash plate, add some acreage to the sidestand foot, tape the ignition switch onto the Soft map and spend some serious time dialling in the spring preload and damping. Then I'd just ride it.

Competition-wise, the Sherco has some hearts to win over. The KTM and Husqvarna siblings are tough rivals, but I believe the Sherco is right there. The standard KTM 250 EXC stroker is $1595 cheaper than the higher-specced Sherco 250 SE Factory, but the Katoh is still an amazing machine. Then again, there's a lot of value in that Sherco…

Whether you opt for the 250 or the 300, these Sherco two-strokes look hot standing still, go as hard as they look and offer plenty of grunt to anyone wanting to bend time in that way only a two-stroke can. Ride one if you can – neither will disappoint.

ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, two-stroke, four-valve single-cylinder
Capacity: 249/293cc
Starter: Electric
Fuel system: Keihin PWK 36mm carburettor

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Clutch: Hydraulic, wet multi-plate
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Chromoly steel perimeter
Front suspension: 48mm KYB closed-cartridge fork, 300mm travel
Rear suspension: KYB monoshock, 330mm travel
Front brake: Single 260mm Galfer disc, Brembo caliper
Rear brake: Single 220mm Galfer disc, Brembo caliper
Wheels: 1.60 x 21in Blue Excel front; 2.15 x 18in Blue Excel rear
Tyres: Dunlop Geomax (tubed)

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed weight: 105kg (dry)
Wheelbase: 1480mm
Fuel capacity: 10.4 litres
Seat height: 950mm

OTHER STUFF
Price: $13,890/$14,290
Bike supplied by: Sherco Australia
Warranty: Six months parts and labour

Related reading:
2019 Sherco 500 SEF Factory review