The one quad ever made that's guaranteed to leave you smiling after you're done riding.
Okay... We've already run a few stories in the magazine about the Raptor 250 but it wasn't until about a month ago that i finally threw a leg over this machine myself. I heard from Adam Campbell that this was the funnest little bike he's ever ridden and it's guaranteed to make a good rider better and i really wanted to see if it could live up to the claim.
After the editors race that Yamaha held August 6th round of the ITP Quadcross at Glen Helen Raceway, i brought home one of these tiny titans to finally experience what it could really do.
The machine issued to me was outfitted with a GYTR complete exhaust system, nerf bars and a Pro Armor kill switch. It got most of the oversized editors around the track pretty well so i figured it should move me around half way descent as well. Just to give you a few stats on me: I'm 6'1", tip the scales at 245 and when it comes to motocross racing am usually in the novice class. I'm not the fastest guy in the world, but i can definitely hold my own.
Finally on a tuesday night i grabbed some beadlock wheels with ITP MXR6 MX tires i had laying around, mounted them up and headed out to Milestone MX in Riverside, CA. I geared up, threw a leg over the quad and fired up the potent 250. Now i'm not gonna say that i didn't get a few funny looks from other people at the track. My sheer size made this quad look like one of those 25 cent rides you might find outside of a grocery store that I used to want to ride as a kid.
As I was riding around the track the first thing I had to realize was that I could not ride this like I ride my KFX 450. First it has stock suspension so it's a little tippy and second it doesn't have 1/4 the horsepower of that machine. It still has a good amount of grunt, but you're not going to be clearing any huge jumps without a long run. Because of these reasons I had to fine tune my cornering technique which has since paid off when I ride the big bike. Not only have I improved my riding, but i'm having the time of my life doing it.
I took it to the most recent round of the ITP Quadcross at Competition Park in Hesperia, CA and took a first place in limited mod 250 class, just look past the fact i was the only one in my class to race though. To help boost the popularity of this machine Yamaha is offering a brand new Raptor 250 to the class champion for the Open Mod and Limited Mod as long as you are riding one of these little machines.
Since it's starting to show some wear, I have decided that i'm going to put a graphics kit, GYTR bumper, high flow intake kit and rejet the carb, ROX anti-vibe risers and FASST Flex bars. Pics of the completed bike will be posted on my next blog about this machine. here are a few photos of me at the quadcross. Enjoy!!!