Race Tested: 2009 Yamaha Raptor 250

Are you too BIG for Yamaha’s Raptor 250?

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words by Ray Larez
photos by Ray Larez and Darrell Foust

Check out our original ride review: Cheap Thrills, Yamaha Raptor 250 for a complete look at this affordable little sport quad.

Is this cool site or what? Yamaha invited nine members of the media to Glen Helen Raceway to race test their Raptor 250. We used the opportunity to find out how big is too big for the mighty little Raptor.

Me? You want me to race test the Raptor 250? Are you serious?
About a month ago Yamaha invited us to race test their Raptor 250 at the Yamaha/ITP QuadCross held at Glen Helen Raceway. Since I have never ridden the little Raptor before and since I weigh-in at 220lbs, it made no sense to me that I was the go-to-guy to race test the machine.

While getting the low-down on the assignment I thought to myself, I’m going to be way too big for this little youth quad. Would it even pull me up the hills at Glen Helen? This could be embarrassing, so I asked ATV Scene’s John Pellan if perhaps there was another utility intro, like my last ride test, the Yamaha Grizzly 550, to send me to. I quickly offered the names of a few fast California kids that could race the Raptor 250 instead of me.

“Trust me,” he answered. He said my being the heaviest guy in the race would end up giving us a really interesting news piece. He said my mission was to find out if a bigger guy like me could take advantage of the Raptor 250’s low cost and ultimately have just as much fun as a small guy, or will he end up disappointed because he’s simply too big for the machine? Okay, fair enough. I was off to the races to find out how big is too big for the hit new sport quad, the Raptor 250.

As you can see here, Ray didn’t go easy on the Raptor Yamaha loaned us for the day. The featherweight quad seems to float through the air. While its best in class preload adjustable shocks yield 7.5 inches of travel up front and 7.9 inches in the rear and perform great, but if you weigh anywhere near 200 pounds or more, you’ll want to get a set of aftermarket shocks or at least rebuild the stockers.

With its lightweight, specifically designed Dunlop tires with stiff sidewalls, its low center of gravity, and a rev-happy engine (especially with the GYTR exhaust) turning and sliding the Raptor sideways is a complete blast. Even with 220 pounds on its back the Raptor 250 is predictable and precise. Ray was able to easily chew up corners and craved more.

Pre Race Inspection
The guys from Yamaha drove all of us media guys out to the track early the morning of the race where we saw a long row of blue Raptor 250’s gleaming in the morning sun prepped and ready for practice.

I got geared up and had a couple pieces of fruit before heading over to my lucky number 7 Raptor 250, which looked really sharp in blue with black wheels, nerfs and number plate backgrounds. I walked over and sat on my machine fully anticipating a cramped feeling. I squirmed around, checked over all the controls and made sure the bars felt good and my boots didn’t interfere with the shifter. To my surprise the little bugger felt spot on. I actually felt very comfortable sitting and moving around on it.

My #7 Raptor was outfitted with some really cool GYTR accessories. It had a set of black powder coated nerfs and a sweet exhaust system, which especially got my attention. I really like the oval shaped muffler that was bolted up to the machine. Unlike other exhaust systems, this canister is tilted horizontally, which made for a unique custom-like look. The craftsmanship was top notch too. I could tell right away they spent some time making this exhaust system and I bet it worked as well as it looked.

Another addition to the machine that I liked was the Pro Amor tether, which is required to race. I really liked how easy it was to reinsert the kill switch cord. The T-shaped handle makes it easier to grasp with gloves on.

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