With the machine now a bare skeleton,
I turned my attention first to the frame. 5 months
of racing and riding had shown no cracks to the
frame; however, from experience, I saw a few areas
that I felt needed beefing up, first of which
was near the steering stem. In all, 11 gussets
were welded in to strengthen the chassis for the
racing that lay ahead. The frame, swing arm and
steering stem were then powder coated white to
help our machine stand out.
Now here is where I will draw fire from the
manufacture as I think they went a bit too light
on the chassis. That lightweight and “lightest
in its class” numbers have to come from
somewhere and a light frame is certainly one
way of accomplishing those numbers. The frame
in size is in between a TRX90 and a Blaster.
I do like the round tube construction, but durability
in my opinion will be a major concern especially
with the motocross riders out there. I also
know that we push these machines a heck of a
lot further than what Yamaha designed it for,
and we all know this models is not being touted
as a race machine but face it, this model will
be out in force at tracks all over this country.
So, without bashing the manufacturer, you will
need to pay attention to the chassis if you
intend to race this machine.
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The
Yamaha Raptor 250 comes with standard
plastic skid plates to protect the engine
and rear swing-arm, and these plates are
actually fairly durable, but for racing
applications these skid plates needed
to be replaced with complete coverage
aluminum skid plates |
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Yamaha GYTR
Raptor 250 Aluminum Chassis Skid plate
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Assembly began on the race machine while we started
adding some protection to our practice quad. Just
like most stock machines, the protection included,
is minimal at best. For general riding, the factory
installed plastic skid plates are fine, but for
more aggressive trails, more is needed. With the
factory chassis skid plate removed, you can see
just how vulnerable the engine is. A GYTR chassis
skid plate was added to offer us more protection
and as you can see, it has fended off many a rock
as this skid plate was previously installed on
our machine. The fit was perfect and installation
a snap. Access holes to all drain bolts line up
and are easily reached. The swing arm protection
would be again provided by GYTR and everything
fit like a glove. The GYTR products may be a tad
bit higher priced than other aftermarket products,
but having parts that fit correctly, is a huge
plus in my book.
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Yamaha
GYTR Aluminun Swing Arm Skid Plate |
Yamaha
GYTR Aluminum Nerf Bars |
Next on the list was nerf bars for the Raptor
250, and during our build they were few and
far between, so GYTR was again Johnny on the
spot and again, perfect fit and finish as they
mounted easily. Black or Blue nets are available.
For added protection up front, a GYTR MX bumper
was acquired to replace the small factory unit.
These come either bare aluminum or powder-coated
black.
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The
GYTR Nerf Bars were easy to install and
provide excellent leg protection with
large webbing and thick aluminum tubing |
The
Yamaha GYTR Front Bumper makes it much
easier to the lift the Raptor 250 and
provides added protection |
