Yamaha WR250F Vs Honda CRF250X

We came into this test with the preconception that these bikes would be similar. That is, both would be light and nimble but wouldn't pull the skin off the proverbial rice pudding without a squillion revs. And your choice would be limited to whether you liked red or blue. How wrong we were! As you'll find, these bikes couldn't be more different.

And the differences are immediately apparent. The Honda is shorter and wider with a noticeable bulge at the radiator shrouds. You sit in the seat rather than on it, and there's a noticeable climb to the front of the bike. It's not as easy to move around on the CRF.

The Honda also feels the heavier of the two. The spec sheets list the WR as 107kg while Honda says 111kg for the CRF. In theory you'd hardly notice the difference but in reality the Yamaha feels much lighter to ride, and to push away from the bowser. It just goes to show what you can achieve with good (low) weight distribution. The Yamaha feels tall and slim and it's very easy to climb onto the front of this bike, adding to the impression that you're sitting on an agile woods weapon.

Both have good ergonomics too, with all the controls comfortable and easy to reach. Both testers were 180cm (6ft in the old scale) and said they felt comfortable on either bike. These machines are well appointed too. Japanese manufacturers have decided to fit decent bars and pipes as standard equipment at last! Both bikes sported Renthal alloy bars and stainless pipes. The Honda has a slick looking stainless muffler while the Yamaha an alloy unit, a big improvement on the mild steel rubbish both manufacturers have given us in recent years.

The quality of finish on dirt bikes these days has risen to new heights and neither of these is letting the standard slip. The only complaint I have is that both bikes had analogue speedos. Not only are their cables prone to breaking but so are the bodies. You've been able to buy multi-function electronic pushbike speedos for less than $50 for over 10 years. Surely an electronic speedo is easier/cheaper to make, especially in Japan, the world capital of electronic gizmos. 

BARK VERSUS BITE
Both bikes started easily, a task that's all too simple these days with the magic button. Both have back-up kickstarters but these were never pressed into action. Why would you bother?

Rumeble-wise, the CRF engine has a deep throaty engine note that sounds just gorgeous. You could be fooled into thinking it's a much bigger engine than a 250, while the WR produces a sound only slightly louder than someone blowing through a straw. I'm in two minds about this: it's good for the industry to have quiet bikes, but geez that Honda sounded horny.

All this is fine but going fast isn't an option if you can't stop. Both bikes had very nice brakes, Nissins front and rear on both. The fronts were strong and responsive and the rears had plenty of feel. Both were easy to back into corners with the brakes too, something that always makes your day more fun.

The suspensions are set up for trail riders, as they should be. By that we mean they're on the plush side. They soaked up all the little bumps generated by small jittery stuff but handled the bigger hits and jumps at the speeds we were doing. The Yamaha has a Kayaba fork and shock while the Honda has Showa equipment front and rear. Both forks have compression and rebound adjustment, while the shocks have rebound and both high and low speed compression adjustments for genuine finetuning. We were happy with the standard settings and never touched 'em.

Once underway, the CRF shows just how fast it is. This is a strong engine, especially for a 250. The Honda's bottom-end is crisp and strong and develops into a roost city midrange. It howls! It probably signs off a bit earlier than WR but nevertheless has good over-rev. The Yamaha, on the other-hand, is exactly what we were expecting from a 250 four-stroke. Keeping it wound up like a rubber band is the only way to fly. Get off the boil and it's as doughy as Mrs Baker's profiteroles. But even wound flat out it still doesn't produce noticeable horsepower. The CRF was so much stronger in comparison that midway through the test we removed the bung from the WR's muffler to see if that improved things. All it did was make the Yamaha louder without any real effect on horsepower. If we owned a WR the first thing we'd do is fit an aftermarket pipe to whip up a few more ponies

TWISTY STUFF
Hit the swoopy stuff and again the difference between these two becomes apparent. Very apparent. The WR is a rip to tip into turns, in fact the slim feel and easy body English on the Yamaha make it the switchback king. The overall package is confidence inspiring, even when you've done something a stupid like overshoot a corner and aimed yourself at a dirty big drop-off.

In technical terrain where horsepower isn't as important, the Honda isn't as good. It's more physical to manoeuvre and displays unpleasant tendencies in rippled or corrugated turns. If you hit any sort of stutters it twitches noticeably, which meant I couldn't get on the gas as hard as I wanted. Our testers alternated between the two bikes to make sure we weren't getting any false impressions but both riders came up with a repeat performance. In tight single-track the guy on the WR rode away from the guy on the CRF, and the rougher it became the further in front he got. The WR engine might be doughy in comparison but you had the throttle pinned to the stops from the second you exited the corner until you hit your braking mark.

THE FINAL WASH UP
That these two bikes are aimed at the same market but are so different was a surprise to say the least. The four-stroke 250 class is one in which horsepower makes you king, simply because you've got so little to play with. The CRF is a clear winner in the grunt game but for us the WR wins this shootout simply because it handles so well. When it comes down to it, it's going to be easier to get more horsepower out of the WR than it is to get the Honda to handle as well as the Yamaha. The average punter, which includes us at MT, can ride faster on an underpowered bike that handles well than he can on a powerful bike that doesn't handle as well, and anyone who tells you differently is flat out wrong.

Then again, if you put the Honda engine in the Yamaha you'd have the best 250cc four-stroke on the planet.