FXR Presents The Mid-Week Report With Andy White

The calendar has flipped yet another page and sadly summer is fading. Days are shorter and fall is here. With the kids back to school and traffic back to its normal chaos, this also means it’s the best time of the year for riding your dirt bike on the track or hitting the trails. I was fortunate enough to be handed a 2015 Yamaha YZ250 FX by the marketing department of Yamaha Motor Canada to test ride. I have been asked to write up a report on what I think of this dirt bike. I thought about it and decided that it would be cool to see what the average, every day rider thinks about it. I asked a few riders to come on over and check it out. My guinea pigs were all moto guys and girls. The first thing they said was that it has a side stand and an 18 inch tire. I said, “Yes, it’s a trail bike that Yamaha has introduced to the market.” It also has electric start and a little softer suspension than their YZ250 motocross unit. The reaction I received was fairly biased and strange, which leads me to my weekly report.

The 2015 Yamaha YZ250FX is the perfect all around bike for riders of all abilities.

Being open minded is something we probably all need to work on more. I ran into this with our group of moto people when I asked them to critique this particular bike. I think it is pretty funny how some riders are so set in their ways and not interested in trying or testing something different. If it’s not a certain colour or has that model of tire or that bend of bars or grips, they turn their noses up at it. I could go on for another 30 minutes or so, you get the idea. I remember a quote that Andrew McLean from fast-company.ca had said one day while testing with Colton and Dusty a few years ago. He said, “If you don’t do the testing, all you are doing is guessing. Not a good way to be successful in racing!”

I have been at this game for a very long time and sometimes the simplest things make huge a difference. Suspension has to be one of the most important items on the dirt bike that will help you save seconds on the track or in the woods. I have mentioned this a few times and I still get asked the same question over and over. Remember when you are reading a shootout of a test report on any motocross bike, the suspension is set up for the AVERAGE RIDER! What is an average rider? Well that’s a person that weighs approximately 170 lbs and is about 5’10 and can ride at the speed of an amateur. That’s the average size, height and speed of people that buy dirt bikes. Did you know that only 15% of the motocross bikes are actually raced on weekends? So that’s means 85% are trail ridden or bought to ride on local MX tracks across the country. It’s fairly difficult to guess what bar bend everyone will like, what grips and tires and all that stuff. This is why motocross bikes are typically sold with pretty low grade bars, chains and sprockets, because they know you are going to change them the minute you get your new unit home.

Top teams like Redemption Racing KTM spend countless hours testing during the off-season. photo by Dave Snider

Here are my thoughts. If you have a chance, you should throw your leg over your friend’s new dirt bike and see how it feels. Yes, I have heard this a million times, “Don’t do this because it will feel way better than your old piece of junk.” Well if it’s a piece of junk, any new unit will feel better! Honestly, put a few laps in and see how it handles in the corners. Next item on the list is feel how the throttle response is like. Is it hard hitting or is it nice and smooth? Please ride within your riding ability. If you cartwheel your buddy’s new bike, it will be the last time anyone will lend you their bike and the word will get out! If you don’t have friends, call your local dealer and ask if any of the manufacturers are offering demo rides in your area. This is the best way to try all the models. The best news is, if you crash it’s not your bike.

Take what you read with a grain of salt when the test reports are written up by pro riders and try to remember, they are not you. They are probably much faster than you and they also ride on different tracks than us as well. Face the facts, today’s bikes are all pretty damn good. Do you want a two-stroke or a four-stroke? Do you want HP or something with a little less power so it doesn’t beat you up. There are so many decisions. I would recommend trying to figure out if that size of bike is right first and then hunt down a dealer. Next step is to determine if your dealer in town is any good. Do they know anything about dirt bikes? I would buy from the dealer that knows today’s bikes and is involved in the local motocross track, if possible. That’s my two cents for you if you are planning on buying a new dirt bike this fall. See you at the races.

Sometimes Fall can produce the most perfect riding conditions of the season. photo by James Lissimore