Edited Date/Time
12/12/2018 6:48am
Update: Article is live, the whole thing. Hit the same link as below or jump on the homepage. We also have a forum QNA going for this thing here - https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Forum-QNA-2019-250-Shoot…
Article and Video - https://www.vitalmx.com/features/2019-Vital-MX-250-Shootout,6335
Article and Video - https://www.vitalmx.com/features/2019-Vital-MX-250-Shootout,6335
At least for myself, corrected spring rates and valving would place it fifth (I rode a test bike with lower spring rates for reference).
But, that's part of the interesting thing with Shootouts. Not everyone is looking for the same thing in their bikes.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Free shipping: VITALMX
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Also wondering what a ignition and exhaust will do for the bike.
Hope Keefer does the same add on test for the 250 as he’s doing for the 450.
It was cool watching you all a Cahullia last weekend during the shootout that day and thanks for taking a minute to talk.
Great video as always ML. I was close on my guess for the results. I'd love to ride a some of the new 250's!
Manny who does some Vital testing did that to the RMZ450 and ravs about it.
I feel the new chassis is a bit more rigid then the outgoing chassis, so suspension setup could be a bit more difficult when looking for comfort. I'd be picky about handlebars and engine mounts on this new bike... On the bright side, the KYB AOS fork is SO much better than the outgoing PSF2 fork.
I think a longer link is going to help, we're running 110-112 sag right now with the forks at 2.5mm height. A complete link arm and bell crank would be ideal for more leverage; but I think lower spring rates, changed valving and a longer link will go a long ways.
The gearing gap from second to third gear is fairly spread but the gearing they're using keeps you in third and above on a track with decent speed. Tighter tracks make things interesting...
450s have so much potential that a map and exhaust can make a huge difference but in this case, it would take a bit more than that to quench my wants on this bike. I think the stock mapping is so so, a good ECU tune could make a big difference...but I'd look at ECU, pipe, fuel and possibly cams.
This was going to be placed in the full article but I'll bring it up in here so people know ahead of time, the Suzuki was only present for one day of riding of our three days. We scheduled our Shootout around a timeline Suzuki gave us which ended up being changed a couple times. Due to a lot of things already being in place, we were unable to modify our testing schedule to keep the Suzuki in all three days. Basically, the bike showed up later than I was told it would be, so it only made our test day at Milestone, while all the others bike were ridden at the sand track in Nuevo, secondly at Cahuilla Creek, then Milestone to finish it off.
I don't mean for this to come across negative, I think Suzuki made some solid moves forward with the new 250 but a few miss-steps as well. I think with some improved settings it could've been off the bottom of the list for most of the riders. But at the same time, it wouldn't sky rocket up the list. I personally think it's competitive now but still towards the bottom of the field when you weigh in all the areas of the bike as it comes off the dealership floor. I think there will be buyers grabbing them this year and with some small tweaks they'll be very happy with their purchase.
Pit Row
Why not arrange a pseudo shootout with existing mod bikes in actual usage
Ask larry brooks for one of their amateur team bikes for the rmz
The yzf from a rockriver type support kid
crf from maybe a privateer effort sx guy
and a kxf that pc supports for their B class kid
ktm from the top ktm finisher at mini o's ... etc
The bikes are already built and it would be a neat feature on what's being done to real race bikes for those aspiring to the top.
Saying that, I was involved with a shoot out years ago that also included Race Tech training so we got to try out all the bikes, disassemble, measure and note everything about them, then modify the suspension for the group of test riders on hand. And that was near impossible to please everyone to say the least. It was more get it raceable for everyone and better than stock was a win.
From the very beginning I thought "please, don't rate the Yammy as the best bike". Well you did.
The problem I have with that is I rode that bike a couple of weeks back and compared it to my old (05) Suzuki 250 smoker. If that YZF is the best that the current 250 class has to offer, I will be staying with my two stroke for life.
Don't get me wrong, it is a great bike, but my old, beat up zook was more fun in every way. Probably not half as competitive but different strokes for different folks, I am all about fun. Btw it felt good to blow past the YZF owner when we did a little race.
I expected to be blown away by the new 250, and faced some fear before swinging a leg over it. I thought my bike will be a total POS after trying that high tech new Yamaha. Not so! I do need some KYBs on it though.
Aaaanyway, cool shootout, I hoped for the suzuki to be a bit higher but it is what it is.
Personally I thought the Honda was the most, "fun", because it was like a 125 2 stroke on steroids, but I agree with the group that the Yamaha was the "best package out of the box".
Post a reply to: 2019 Vital MX 250 Shootout - Article is live!