2008 Yamaha Raptor 250

Test Riders: Allen Knowles, Joe Tolle

Ask the legends of our sport what machine they cut their teeth on and they might mention the old Honda 200x three wheeler. Ask the next generation and they might tell you any number of machines, the Suzuki 230 Quad Sport, the Honda 250X but perhaps more people got their start in ATVing aboard Yamaha’s sporty little 200cc Blaster than any other ATV in history. Unfortunately, EPA regulations have ended the Blaster’s legendary 20-year run. With the demise of this very popular model, Yamaha knew that it needed a replacement for its economical entry-level sport machine. Yamaha’s target, the heart of the current 250cc four stroke sport class, was the prime area that they focused their attention.

The 250cc four stroke sport machines of the 80s were true sport ATVs with manual clutches, chain drives, sporty handling and reasonable weight for the time. Since the death of the last old school 250cc four stroke sport quad, the Kawasaki Mojave 250, the 250 sport ranks have been taken over by several different types of machines. A few are high quality while others are super cheap with reliability issues to match. All of them are heavy for their displacement numbers and all are targeted at less aggressive novice type riders.

Back in 1988, Yamaha introduced the Blaster which remained popular for its entire 18 years of production. The Blaster is gone but boy did Yamaha replace its place in their line up well! Today’s four strokes are full of features like CVT transmissions or auto clutches, shaft drives which don’t allow for gearing changed should the rider decide to change his tires, and as we mentioned before plenty of unwanted poundage.

With the Blaster out of Yamaha’s lineup, aggressive young riders could either choose between one of the other 250cc machines available, which their skills may outgrow quite quickly, or make the move up to the 300/350cc class where the machines are larger and heavier. What the sport market needs more than anything right now is an affordable lightweight pure sport performance quad to give the next generation of ATVers a machine to cut their teeth on. Yamaha thinks they have what those riders need with their all new 2008 Raptor 250.

 

The Motor

“I think it makes a few horsepower less than Honda’s 300EX, but at 313 pounds versus 372, it may actually be just as fast if not faster than the 300EX,” says our test rider Allen Knowles. To power the Raptor 250, Yamaha borrowed the motor from their Tricker stunt motorcycle sold in Japan. Yamaha chose that motor for the machine due to its lightweight, simple and economical design. Some changes were made to the motor’s internals in its transition from two to four wheels mainly focusing on extracting more low-end torque.

The 249cc four stroke motor features a single overhead two valve design. While the motor is air cooled it does feature an oil cooler to help with heat issues. The motor features a compression ratio of 9.5:1 and measure in with a 74 x 85mm bore and stroke. Those bore and stroke numbers are indicative of a motor that should rev well. Fuel is fed to the 250’s engine through a 29mm Mikuni BSR carburetor and starting is handled by a push button electric starter with no backup.

The Raptor 250 borrows its engine from a stunt motorcycle sold in Japan. With a bore and stroke of 74 millimeters by 58 millimeters, the little 250 is a quick revver. What’s more, with its five speed manual-clutch and chain drive, the Raptor is a true sport machine.The lower end of the motor features a 5 speed transmission without reverse. The Honda 250EX features an auto clutch with a manual clutch override. Yamaha felt that younger riders looking to move up in their sport lineup would rather have the pure sport setup of a full manual clutch. Why no reverse? No reverse means less weight, less cost and most up and coming future racer heads will most likely be willing to push their light weight machine a bit to save a few bucks, like we did when we were 16.

An O ring chain handles the final drive duties. By using a chain drive instead of a drive shaft like those found on other popular Japanese models, Raptor owners have the ability to change their gearing should they switch to a different tire size. Also shaft drives put a lot more drag on a motor than chain drives do, so the Raptor is more efficient at transferring its power to the ground. Less power loss in the drive train equals harder acceleration and a higher top speed.

Chassis and Suspension

If you ask us, sliding an ATV is a big part of why ATVing is so much fun. You’ll be glad to know that we were able to confidently slide the Raptor at will. The Raptor 250 features an all-new tubular steel frame and a list of class leading specifications. Up front the Raptor features dual A-arms with preload adjustable shocks yielding 7.5 inches of travel. The machine’s swingarm and preload adjustable rear shock delivers 7.9 inches of travel. These numbers not only beat out the Blaster’s, they are better than any other machine currently offered in its class.

The Raptor’s dimensions are indicative of a machine that should out-handle the old Blaster. The Raptor is a quarter inch longer than the Blaster with a 43.7 inch wheel base. The Raptor sits 42.1 inches wide (up from the Blaster’s 40.7 inches). The Raptor’s seat sits a quarter of an inch lower with a 28.7 inch seat height.

One thing we are glad to see on the newest addition to the Raptor family is its swingarm with eccentric style chain adjustment. You could burn up half a days riding trying to get the old chain adjuster on the Blaster right. The Raptor’s chain can be adjusted in less than five minutes no matter how mechanically inept you are.

With 7.5 inches of preload adjustable travel up front and 7.9 inches in the rear, the Raptor 250 has some of the longest wheel travel numbers in its class. Even “Big Al” was impressed with the little Raptor’s suspension.

 

No old-school Blaster components found here. Yamaha cut right to the chase includes an eccentric chain adjustment so adjusting your chain will be hassle-free.

Speaking of hassle free maintenance… Easy-access grease fittings on all chassis lubrication points simplify maintenance and help extend the life of the Raptor 250.

Weight
To our astonishment, Yamaha has managed to build a 250cc four stroke that actually weighs less than the old two stroke Blaster. At 313 pounds, the Raptor is 11 pounds lighter than the Blaster, 47 pounds lighter than Honda’s 250EX and 53lbs lighter than the Suzuki Z250. In this displacement category, 50 pounds is like a ton! Nice work Yamaha!

The Brakes
As you should expect on a modern machine aimed directly at the sport enthusiast, Yamaha equipped the Raptor 250 with dual hydraulic disc brakes up front and a single hydraulic brake in the rear. No steel braided lines or anything trick, but at 313 pounds they should be more then adequate to stop the little fellow.

New Tires and Wheels

The Raptor 250 features an all-new compact high-tensile steel frame designed with rigidity in mind for better responsiveness. With everything else on the machine, it was built to be as light as possible. Yamaha knew that most Blaster owners scrapped their stock bubble tires for low profile ones. They must have taken this into consideration when designing the tires for the Raptor 250. The Raptor’s new Dunlop tires stand at 19 inches tall, right between the 18 inch and 20 inch tires used for motocross or cross country. Why this size? Yamaha wanted to get the machine’s center of gravity as low as possible without losing too much ground clearance. The smaller tires leave the Raptor 3.9 inches of ground clearance, which is only a half inch less than their Raptor 700.

Speaking of the 700, the Raptor 250’s tires are very similar in design. The 700’s tires are known for being able to be broken loose, which aids in carving turns and having a good time – ATV style. We’re happy to report that this attribute has been carried over on the 250. A good sliding tire is an asset on a smaller displacement machine when it comes time to break the rear end loose for some spirited riding. Additionally, reducing the size of the tire will also help reduce weight. The lighter the rear tires, the easier it is for the motor to spin them resulting in faster acceleration.

Yamaha also shaved some weight off the machine in the wheel department. No heavy flimsy steel wheels on this bad boy. The Raptor comes equipped with black aluminum wheels. They’re light, durable and look pretty darn good.

Other Stuff
In terms of size the Raptor is very close to the Blaster. The machine should best fit riders between 5’-0” and 5’-8” in height. We’ll talk more on this later, in the test portion of this article.

The Raptor was designed for easy maintenance. The entire body can be removed without removing the handlebars. Grease fittings make lubricating moving points a snap and the Raptor has a well designed air-box requiring no tools to service the air filter.

For night rides the Raptor features dual 30w krypton multi-reflector headlights and a single tail light. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to ride the machine in the dark but we’d guess the lighting should be adequate for casual night riding.

Have you seen a sharper nose piece on an ATV? We score it a ten in the looks department.

On The Track

Yamaha definitely did it right when it comes maneuverability and handling. We feel their new Raptor 250 out handles the best handling entry level sport quad on the market, the Honda 300EX.Yamaha let the media ride their new Raptor 250 at the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, California, where they built us a small fair-style motocross track. The track featured small doubles, table top jumps, bermed corners, several chicanes and a fast sweeper. It was the perfect environment to put the sporty little Raptor to the test.

Rolling out of the pits and around the track for the first time, it is surprising how well the little 250 pulls down low. As we became acquainted with the track we pushed the little Raptor harder and harder. The motor pulls seamlessly into its meaty midrange before going a little flat on top. No doubt at all, with the hammer down the Raptor is a lot of fun to ride. Its motor is peppy and revs out well for its simple two valve design.

The fastest way around the track required a few shifts to stay in the meat of its midrange power. For riders just learning the ropes, low end torque was adequate to allow us to ride the entire track in third gear without touching the clutch. The Raptor’s engine provides good torque and will definitely make learning how to use a manual clutch easy for beginners. But at the same time we must mention that there wasn’t one experienced rider at the machine’s press launch that became bored with the Raptor’s fun-to-ride-power. In fact, even though none of us are beginners, we can’t wait to get our hands on one to see how Yamaha’s accessory GYT-R or other brand exhaust wakes up the top end.

The engineering team at Yamaha could have easily created a simple fourstroke Blaster and called it a day. We’re happy they didn’t go that route. The stock Blaster isn’t even in the Raptor 250’s league!The Raptor only gets better from there. The machine has a light “flickable” feel as you would expect from its 313 pound dry weight. Thanks to all of the subtle dimension changes and its lower profile tires the Raptor 250 out-handles the Blaster and should do the same with all of the other machines in its class. On our scaled down motocross test track the Raptor’s suspension worked well on the small bumps and took repeated landings from about four to five feet of air. As long as a lighter rider was on board the shocks worked well. Heavier riders were finding the limits of the suspension on imperfect landings but nothing harsh. We felt that the suspension would work best for riders in the 100 to 160 pound range and could handle anything from aggressive trail riding to casual track riding similar to what we put the Raptor through at the fairgrounds.

In terms of cornering the Raptor rules! It can square off bowled turns, rail the outside or quickly square off and make a sharp turn with surprising stability. On a tight track or trail the Raptor 250 is king! The area we tested the quad didn’t allow us the chance to evaluate the machine in a high speed environment. We would expect as long as the whoops don’t get too gnarly, the Raptor would handle pretty predictably. But it is in the tight stuff where this machine excels.

Although the Raptor is still sized for smaller riders, even our giant six foot four inch test rider, CT Racing owner Allen Knowles, thought that the Raptor was easier to move around on than the Blaster thanks to its better shaped rear fenders. “I’m really surprised,” said Allen “Knowles it all” Knowles. “ This little baby is way better than I thought it would be. Yamaha did their homework. Don’t let the air cooled thing throw you. It’s truly a fun little machine.”

Lastly we found that the Raptor’s brakes were a perfect match for the rest of the machine. They offer plenty of stopping power for its weight and power output. The brakes are progressive and easy to use without a lot of pressure.

Can It Be Raced?

Due to its extreme lightweight and impressive handling characteristics we feel the Raptor 250 could be a competitive entry level sport class machine, especially in the cross country racing ranks.While this question may only affect a minority of the people who buy this machine, it is a viable one. The Raptor 250 is eligible for the Youth Production class in GNC and WPSA racing. It can also be raced in the sub 350cc four stroke / 200 two stroke class in GNCC racing.

While mentioning the above classes it’s worth noting that no other 250cc four stroke sport quad currently available can compete in any of these classes. They are currently being dominated by built Blasters and modded 300EXs. You see a few Raptor 350s at some GNCC events as well.

If you’re thinking of modifying the new Raptor to compete, compared to the 300EX, the Raptor 250 has a disadvantage. Its two valve head limits the amount of air that can be flowed through the motor. Most motor builders we have spoken to feel that this will keep the Raptor from achieving the same horsepower levels as a built 300EX. However, weighing nearly 60 pounds less than the Honda, the Raptor can produce the same power to weight ratio while making considerably less power. With this said, Allen Knowles felt that smaller riders could have a real advantage, especially at GNCC events, due to the Raptor’s good handling and lightweight feel.

The Bottom Line
Most of the features that set the other machines in this class apart from the Raptor are features that also make them more beginner-friendly but not so sporty. We can’t say that Yamaha has redefined the 250 four stroke ranks with the new Raptor 250, but we can say Yamaha’s keep-it-simple approach has taken them back to where they began. The Raptor is a lightweight, fun-to-ride, affordably-priced machine that has foregone beginner friendly frills for pure sport performance.

For those looking to stand out, Yamaha offers plenty of options including their standard Yamaha Blue, red/gray and their limited editions orange/black and all black with customizable graphics kit. Both limited-edition models come with various GYTR goodies

 

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