Launch: 2016 Yamaha YZ250X

Riders and racers have for eons been modifying MX machines to take them into the bush, reveling in their light weight, no-fuss features and race-bred go-fast heritage to dodge trees at a higher speed than the relatively lardy enduro-spec bikes can.

When a factory does it, however, it’s possible to take the idea further than a private rider has the capacity to do. In this case, Yamaha bins the MX-spec gearbox, suspension, CDI, expansion chamber, MX-spec knobbies, 19-inch rear rim (replacing it with a 18-inch item) and MX-spec chain, adds a sidestand and fuel tank pet cock (to allow for reserve, MXers don’t need or want such things) and pushes them into riders' hands.

The above may sound logical and perhaps even easy, but if in doing all the above the balance and feel of a bike is too drastically mucked around with, it can be a disaster.Happily, Yamaha has done a great job of this bike.

It’s kickstart-only (like all dirtbikes used to be, remember?), but being a 250 two-smoker it only takes one or two kicks to get going. The rampant aggression at the throttle of the MX version is muted on this bike because whisky-throttling yourself up a tree is a pretty ordinary experience in the bush.

The engine still picks up beautifully, though, driving off the bottom well for a 250 across the rocky creek bed of our Gum Valley (FNQ) test loop, before singing its own praises down the numerous fifth gear straights cutting through the sugar cane fields.

It power-wheelies out of the grass track corners, but not in a flippy, crap-your-pants way – it just comes up to meet you before fading away and then doing it again with another gear change. The power delivery is exciting, but manageable.

The new gearbox is a wide-ratio number and while it was difficult to really assess it on the test track we had on hand, the spaces between each cog worked well from muddy creek crossings, through to those top-gear straights.

It’s in the snotty stuff that bike’s two-stroke heritage proves a real winner. We had a bright yellow WR250F on hand as well, and as good as that bike is – it too, is based on a YZ250, the four-stroke this time – it feels positively lethargic compared to the 250X.

One section peeling down off a fast straight and across a tight, tricky-ish riverbed, before erupting out the other side, was just a matter of flicking the 250X through. It was effortless, as long as the speed was wiped off before landing in the sandy creek bottom. Twisting its way through some rocks and tree roots is as simple as standing on the footpegs and dancing your way through, then suddenly it’s time to get on the gas again!

The WR250F is still great in that situation, but definitely relatively ponderous and harder to get back on the cam on the way out, than it is to get the 250X back on the pipe.

Of course, there’s two reasons the X feels lighter and they also happen to be the bike’s main detractions: it’s not ADR compliant (which means it can’t be registered outside recreational rego schemes) and it doesn’t carry much fuel, Yamaha claims just eight litres of pre-mix fills her up (the four-stroke WR takes 7.5, but it’s fuel injected).

The upside of the lack of lights (as standard) and that small tank is a claimed wet weight of 104kg, ready to ride. The downside is that the amount of riders that can access the fun of this bike is restricted to Victorians, with their excellent rec rego scheme, riders who ride only on private property and racers who don’t need a number plate (you can’t race the A4DE on this bike, for instance).

There is an optional light kit (price not confirmed as yet, however expect to pay around the $500 mark), however there’s no other mods to suit the ADRs this country requires of a bike that spends most of its life in the bush, and that’s a shame.

As for the fuel tank, a trailrider will most likely need a bigger tank or to carry fuel to survive a 100km ride, but that’s an educated guess as I didn’t do that many kilometers in a row during this ride. I would have liked to, however with only two units to be shared amongst the many journos at this product launch, time was tight!

One aspect of the bike I am particularly happy with is the suspension. It’s hard to get the settings for such a light bike right in the bush. Other attempts over the years have yielded bikes that are too harsh and too hard to keep in a straight line, but the YZ250X is remarkably stable for such a whippet of a bike.

Again, the test loop was limited in variety, but a long rocky creekbed and third-fourth gear proved it stays relatively straight in gnarly stuff, and yet still turns well and stays stable at higher speed.

The lightness is a delight in fast or slow conditions – the reason racers have been running motocrossers in the bush for years – but it retains a plushness trailriders need to complete a day without feeling like they have been kicked around the bush all day.

Even in couple of drop-offs into creek beds, there weren’t any teeth-gnashing metal-on-metal sounds erupting out of the fork or shock internals, so the springs worked well in this terrain for my 87kg.

The kick-start only didn’t bother me, as it’s more about having to kick a bike on the side of a hill that makes it a tough chore four hours into a trailride – and there weren’t any steep hills on this test loop.

The bike fires up easily, partly because Yamaha spanner spinner Darren Thompson keeps the things so crisp in the jetting department, and partly because two-strokes are just easier to start!

The grin factor is an important consideration in laying down your bucks for a bike, and the $10,499 Yamaha wants for this bike wins at grin factor time.

It’s light and agile, without being hairy and on-the-edge, and the way the engine lights up on the fast stuff and can be tractored on the tough bits means it is more versatile than I had expected it to be.

If you live in a state without recreational rego – most of us, unfortunately – then the use of this bike will be limited, much as it is with the Yamaha YZ250FX four-stroke, and for this reason KTM and Husqvarna dealers won’t be too worried about losing sales to this new Yamaha. The road-legal Euros also boast more features, such as electric start and trick speedos.

If you are Victorian, however, or only ever ride on private property, then this fun pocket-rocket should be on your list of bikes to ride before you pay anyone anything.

It has retained the essence of what a MXer for the bush should be, while adding in the suspension compliance and overall versatility needed for the variety of conditions the Aussie bush can throw at a rider.

The lack of ADR, relatively small fuel tank, and lack of electric start will turn off some two-stroke lovers, but for those who don’t need rego, just add the lights and hand guard kit, carry some fuel or add a larger tank and enjoy a bike more refined than its heritage may suggest, as well as being fast and lively in the bush.

The Yamaha event at Gum Valley was principally about launching its 2016 range of 250 motocrossers and enduro bikes, but there was another underlying current at the event.

While the YZ250X was the only truly new bike there – though the 60th Anniversary colours of the WR250F (Australia being the only country to receive that version) looked great – it was the bike that wasn’t there that tells another story.

Expect to see a heavily re-vamped WR450F for 2016, along with an FX version, announced later this year. It’s likely to be based on the YZ450F, as last year’s new WR250F was on its YZ counterpart, and Aussies being Aussies, it’s also likely the 450 will be more popular than the quarter-litre equivalent. We will bet your house on it!

SPECS: 2016 YAMAHA YZ250X
ENGINE
Type: Two-stroke, liquid-cooled, reed-valve single-cylinder
Capacity: 249cc
Bore x stroke: 66.4mm x 72.0mm
Compression ratio: 7.9:1
Fuel system: Keihin PWK38S

TRANSMISSION
Type: Five-speed
Clutch: Wet multi disc
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Front suspension: 48mm upside-down fork, fully adjustable, 300mm travel
Rear suspension: Monocross shock, full adjustable, 315mm travel
Front brakes: 250mm floating disc  with twin-piston caliper
Rear brake: 245mm disc with single-piston caliper
Tyres: 80/100-21 front, 110/100-18 rear

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed wet weight: 104kg
Seat height: 971mm
Wheelbase: 1483mm
Ground clearance: 367mm
Fuel capacity: 8 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $10,499
Colours: Yamaha Blue
Warranty: NA