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2. Xtrig Rocs clamps with PHDS bar mounts. Everyone crashes and even the smallest tipover made my bars twist with the stock clamps/bar mounts (this is a disaster for anyone that races, even on the lowest level of racing). This set up fixes it. Yes it is expensive but this is absolutely the best money can get and 100% worth it. You can also change the offset but i like the stock offset so i haven't tried the other (24mm). The PHDS bar mounts can be compared to riding on clouds, amazing.
3. GYTR skidplate. Great protection and attatched with 3 bolts. I drilled mine so that it gives more airflow.
Other notables: I have an Öhlins Flow shock on mine. I found one used (7 hours on it when i bought it) and it was a too good of a deal to not take. I like that it is a bit on the softer side, it handles braking bumps in a fantastic manner. But this is nothing that you "have" to get. ARC levers are also nice and throw away the tall stock handlebar.
The only reason why i would get an aftermarket exhaust is if you want to drop weight or if you want something that looks better.
Edit: One thing i forgot. I have noticed this summer when it gets hot that the front brake starts fading mid moto around 10-15 minutes. I haven't done anything to fix it yet (30h on the bike). Anyone with the same experience that has a fix for it?
As for the handlebar mounts bending...they're rubber mounted, so all you have to do is smack them back in place (seems better than spending $700 on clamps). Ride engineering has a 1 piece mount for like 100 bucks that remedies the problem.
Stock valving is great, run sag at 105-108 with forks about 4 mil up.
Only mods I made were a gripper seat cover and lollipop style axle blocks. Front brake will fade after 15 min, might look into buying a KTM MC and 07 yz caliper.
I love this bike, best bike I've owned. I can ride everything from Moto to desert with just small suspension clicker changes.
I’ve got 30 hrs on mine and it’s been flawless. Got the suspension done. Taller or stiffer seat foam are a must have.
Bike is good (not great ) at everything.
I totally agree, and it's pretty typical for Yamaha these days. Not outstanding at anything, but great at everything.
I'm still jaded from my experience with my YZ250 (smoker) and having to replace third gear THREE times, but overall, for us regular folk, it's hard to find a more reliable, stable, predictable motorcycle.
I know that this is a known issue, yet so many seem unaffected.
When you replaced both 3rd gear cogs...did you replace the shift fork? Examine the shift forks and shift drum really closely?
Did the teeth in the cogs break or the dogs round off?
What Im getting at , is that it seems bizarre that you had to do this 3 times, was jt possible that there was a shift fork / shift drum related problem that resulted in insufficient or sloppy movable meshing?
There is a rider who lives near me , rides at our track frequently and he has a yz 250 , he is as hard a rider as it is to imagine ..top professional racer here...dont see him riding that bike now as hes not with Yamaha anymore..
I will ask him how many hours he racked up on that bike and if he had any issues..
Yesterday i collided mid air in a double-double section with an other rider at a Finnish B-class race. It was probably one of the biggest crashes that i have had for years.
There is no way that i would've been able to finish the race without the Xtrig clamps/bar mounts. The ARC brake lever was ruined and the front end was a bit twisted but the bars/bar mounts themselves were straight.
If you race, the Xtrig ROCS clamps is seriously a must-have.
I did examine everything. The dogs were rounded off, and I mean just barely, but it was enough. I still have that damn thing from the last time I changed it. I'll take a picture for you, but I doubt you'll really be able to tell.
I'm an almost 58-year-old vet rider with no chance of me going anywhere near to A class or B class speed. Sometimes I can ride pretty good for an older guy - if it's cool out and I've been taking my Geritol.
After the third failure, I just took the whole transmission apart down to the last piece and sent the whole thing to Evan's Cryorem up in Atlanta. For $350 dollars they dropped it into liquid nitrogen for 24 hours, then tumbled it for three days in ceramic media. Never had a problem after that.
So here's a pic. Not the greatest, but I'm telling you it doesn't take much. What it would do is jump into a false neutral - usually at the worst time. I do shift without letting off the throttle. I fan the clutch and shift. When I was a kid we called that "speed shifting" but that was along time ago.
I would have thought it had to be a shift drum related problem for it to be jumping out of gear into a false neutral...
I have a brand new 17 yz 250 just sitting there...had it a year now and still havent started it or ridden it...its a bucket list project bike...not riding it till I can afford to do all the mods to it that I want..
I also bought a 2015 YZ 125 brand new off the floor. It was so fun, but half the time it wouldn't shift with power applied. More than a few times I figured I had bent the shift lever trying to shift up (of course I didn't). Yamaha, as long as they've been around, you'd think the transmissions would be bullet proof, and for most people they are. Just not for me and a few others.
Anyhow, the route to follow - if you have tranny problems - is cryorem. Plus it adds about another horsepower as the tranny is so slick after treatment that friction power loss is reduced.
Pit Row
All of them take care of their bikes. This is not down to user error.
But i haven't had any issues (knock on wood). 60h on my 2018 and 35 on my 2019 right now.
How many hours are you putting on the top end?
But yet, there are guys around here that have never had an issue with them.
Anyways...this is a 19 forum not an 18 so I won't beat this to death. This was my 8th brand new Yamaha and it will certainly be my last with everything I went through.
I do get asked a lot how I like the Yamaha compared to my 19 CRF450 (my first Honda) and I can say that I do enjoy the Honda more. I'm a taller guy and I found that I fought the Yamaha a lot in the turns (compared to the previous model).
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