When Yamaha released the Raptor 250, many felt it would fit along side its sub 300cc counterparts and just be another starter atv for young adults and beginner riders. Once the machine actually hit the showroom, that opinion changed rapidly as it broke away from other 250cc models and set it's sights on being at the top of the class.
Sport oriented, race inspired design, custom colors/graphics and shown in may an advertising photograph ripping berms and shredding dirt. That's dandy from a marketing stand point, however in the real world being top dog requires proving yourself in farm fields and race tracks all across the globe. Whether the new Raptor 250 would live up to the hype was yet to be seen.
After visiting our local dealership and inspecting the new machine in 2007, we felt the Raptor would allow us a platform to begin a build on this machine that could pull duty on the XC and MX world for our 14 year old rider. Being that our rider is short in stature, the lightweight (313 LBS dry) and overall smaller size would be just the machine to allow him to compete with.
Keeping the machine basically stock for the first few months would not be hard as very few aftermarket companies had yet to embrace the new machine. Yamaha's GYTR team had just about everything covered however from bumpers to exhaust if one wanted to immediatley start adding on the goodies they had to offer. We chose to sit back and watch as slowly companies started making more and more products for the atv. It wasn't long before suspension, exhaust systems, graphics kits, control arms/swing arms were on the market allowing one to really start building on what Yamaha had given us in stock form. Still we chose to ride the machine stock and see what issues we felt would need to be attended to as we started planning our eventual build. The machine itself has alot to offer and stock for stock would get my vote for best 300cc or below atv model in it's class. The stock suspension is adequate for it's target market, it handles decent for being a fairly narrow platform and the power is more then enough to keep it right beside any other model in this range. For a price tag just under $3700 it could well be the perfect starting platform for a young rider that is ready to step up to a manual clutch and more power. If your rider is above 5'8", I still feel the Honda 300ex may be a better fit, but this is subjective and up to what the rider feels comfortable with. With all the typical model info long since released, we got the ioppertunity to really dig into this machine and see if what it offered out weighed any drawbacks we would find.
Riding and learning took up the better part of late summer and early fall as the Raptor just kept chugging along. We also had a Honda 300EX here that was set up with the typical modifications to offer us a side by side comparison. Our rider was able to put laps in on both machines and literally had his pick of which machine to either keep or sell. When it was all said and done, for our rider the Raptor suited him best and the 300ex was sold to help fund the build up of the new machine.
Due to a few injuries, we were unable to race the Raptor until round #12 of the GNCC series. A kill switch and Maxxis tires were added for the race to help stave off flat tires and give us a bit more ground clearence. After almost 3 months of not racing, our rider was soon off the line as we put the machine to the ultimate test.
With our rider admittedly not being at 100%, he was still able to work his way from the last row to mid pack out of almost 380 riders. His feedback from this race allowed us to zero in on a few areas that he felt needed attention, the biggest being suspension. The Raptor is nimble, and can dart in between tree's or avoid large rocks, but at race speeds and under real world conditions, the stock suspension was being riden way over what it was designed for. Other then that, power again was reported to be great and no other issues were found during the two hour race.
As fall turned to winter, planning was at full speed as products were ordered in for the build. GYTR got the nod for almost every component they offered. Knowing that we should not have fitment issues with GYTR products, we decided on running one more local race to get one last feel for where we were headed with our planning for the build up. I reckon this was a good thing, because I was almost ready to cancel my order to Lonestar Racing for wider arms and axle as we felt we could be fairly competitive aboard the stock parts and only have to splurge for shocks. This local race really brought out the short-comings of the stock suspension as it was brutally rough and incredibly wet providing us with another area of testing to see how waterproof the machine was. The two hour race only reaffirmed our thoughts on upgrading the entire suspension and the rest of the atv never missed a beat. We did have the stock chain stretch and gave our rider fits as each lap it would force him to get the chain back on and run until it derailed once again. Other then a loose change, the Raptor had given us flawless performance for well over 5 months.
I know of no other torture test an atv could be put through then to be the daily ride of a 14 year old not to mention the addition of adding the abuse of racing. The Raptor may not be perfect, but it was holding it's own as it took everything we were throwing at it. With the year coming to an end, the New Years Eve race would be the final task of the machine in stock trim as the follwoing week tear down would begin.
With the machine 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 expierence I saw a few areas that I felt needed beefing up, first of which was near the steering stem. 11 gussets in all 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 to cheap on the chassis. That lightweight and lightest in it's 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 with the motocross riders out there. Hey, I also know that we push these machines a heck of alot further then 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 manufacture, you will need to pay attention to the chassis if you intend to race this machine.
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 aggresive trails, more is needed.
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