TM 250EFS

Name: TM 250EFS
Brand: TM

Dr Dan from Dirt Bike Trader mag reckons this could be the toughest 250 on the planet

THE LOOKS

This year's TM250FES has a revised linkage, rear brake master cylinder and hub. At a claimed 112kg it's also two kilos lighter than last year's.

The TM's a lovely looking thing and I can see why any owner might spend hours in the garage admiring it. It's slim, sleek, aggressive, finished off with striking graphics and stunning blue anodised rims. We usually hate coloured rims but on this bike they look great. In our book this baby comes very, very close to toppling the beautiful Gas Gas for the title of "Best Looking Dirty Bike Ever." Well that's what we reckon.

The usual top-shelf gadgetry that we expect from European manufacturers adorns the TM. Things like quality alloy bars, a stainless exhaust system and an O-ring chain. Sick. Awesome. And very cool.

THE FEEL

The TM is one of the slimmest bikes we've seen. It's like a suitcase with handlebars. It's billiard table flat all the way from the seat to the headstock. And it feels light, very light! Getting up the front is effortless and even makes us bozos at DBT look graceful.

The pegs-seat-bars relation ship is spot on. Something we like, and all shorter riders will too, is that unlike many dirt bikes these days, this one doesn't feel tall. Seat height is 970mm but we could comfortably put both feet flat on the ground while sitting on it.

THE ENGINE

The engine is surprising quiet when idling. It's strange when you get on it because it sounds louder when you're riding it than when you're off it. The Gianelli muffler does a great job of keeping the engine civil while delivering the performance we all want. You have to wonder why the Europeans can do this but the Japanese can't. This is what a high performance exhaust system should be.

The TM surprised us with its power delivery, in fact we'd go as far as to say that it's the strongest 250 four-stroke we've ridden. Pull off the bottom is nothing to get excited about but get it into the midrange and things happen quickly. Power in this part of the rev range is strong and useable. It's the only 250 four-stroke we've ridden, other than the Honda CRF250, that's strong enough to competently powerslide in this part of the speed range.

Get into the open and the top end really honks. It revs like hell the whole time, churning out what we reckon is class-winning power. And every bit of it gets to the ground. Not even the Yamaha stacks up to this thing.

It's not all champers and caviar however. The TM splutters off the bottom when you hit the throttle hard but doesn't do this when you're taking it easy. It's not in the part of the rev range that trail riders would use much. but still this hesitation shouldn't be there. The owner was still adjusting the jetting in an attempt to clear it up and we'll let you know if he comes up with an answer.

THE HANDLING

The suspension is handled by Ohlins, front and rear. There's no doubt this is the best suspension in the world at the moment. Anyone who hasn't ridden an Ohlins kitted dirt bike should do themselves a favour and go find one. The TM setup was plush and suspension travel felt bottomless. And it holds a line like a rat on rails. Confidence inspiring you might call it, although that's probably not doing it justice. The TM invites you to throw it into a corner, faster and faster each time until you scare yourself, not because the TM does anything bizarre but because you've never cornered that fast before. The light feel of the bike and the ease with which you can move around on it combine with the superb suspension to make this thing king of the twisty stuff.

Old farts like us are experienced enough to know that all this is fine and dandy, but occasionally you have to stop, and this thing does it brilliantly. The rear had great feel - all light bikes do, it's a mass thing - and the front brake was strong with plenty of feel, once we got used to the owner's setup with LOTS of freeplay.

One point that should be mentioned here is that it's common for the Ohlins USD forks to take a while to bed when new and until then it can have "stiction issues." Fortunately for us we got to ride the TM after the owner had been riding it for eight weeks so we got it at its best.

THE HORN FACTOR

Four and a half stars from the DBT crew. It's a bike equipped with the best componentry, superb handling and a tough engine. Bring on the 250 shootout!

PLEASE EXPLAIN

New TMs seem to come too rich on the pilot and don't run well because of it. The owner of this 250 dropped his pilot jet from a 35 to a 30 and that helped clean up the power delivery.

* The angle on the carb's pumper actuator needs tweaking to make throttle response smoother. About 1mm should do it.

* Like many bikes, this one suffers poor access to the air filter because of the battery placement. Side entry would be nice.

* This is a high performance engine. Don't run it on anything less than 98 octane, and use a good engine oil. If you don't know which one, we suggest you try Belray Thumper. A shot of Motorex Valve-Guard wouldn't hurt either.

TM 250EFS

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