Yamaha’s Raptor 250 – The EX Killer?
GYTR Raptor 250 Hop Up Part 1

In stock trim the Raptor will outperform all of its 250 class competitors. At $1100 less than the 300EX we wondered how the Raptor would stack up if we invested the difference in price into some GYTR accessories.

Recently, we tested Yamaha’s all new Raptor 250 and were extremely impressed with its all around performance. Click here for this first test. The machine is feather light, has excellent suspension and handling for the lighter smaller rider and offers quite a bit more performance than we expected from its simple engine design. Replacing the recently retired Blaster 200 two stroke, the Raptor 250 exceeds its stock performance in every way.

At the Raptor 250 Intro, Yamaha pointed out the performance advantages of the Raptor 250 compared to the other entry level 250cc sport machines. After riding the machine, we feel there’s no need to even conduct a 250c shootout to prove that the Raptor is the sportiest machine currently available in the 250cc class.  The machine was so good in fact that we found ourselves wondering how it would stack up against slightly larger displacement machines like the Honda 300EX and Yamaha’s Raptor 350.

Yamaha Raptor 250 vs. Honda 300EX

Both the Raptor 250 and 300EX feature smaller ergonomics making them more attractive to younger or smaller riders. Also, both the 300EX and Raptor 250 are eligible choices for the Youth Production class in GNC and WPSA racing, where the 300EX has dominated since the inception of the class.

First off, there’s no getting around it, you’ll need to spend upwards of $12k in order to compete at the front of the pack in the Youth Production class. That’s a lot more money than most young riders can invest in a machine. Most of the Raptor 250s and 300EX sold will instead go head to head on trails and backyard tracks across America where the cost to compete is much more affordable, but the thrill of victory over your buddy is still just as sweet.

For 2008 the Honda 300EX received a few cosmetic and other detail changes, but nothing that really affected the machine’s overall performance. This year the EX retails for $4999 while the Raptor 250 sells for $3899. That’s a whopping $1100 difference in price. This means that the buyer standing in the dealer showroom can either purchase a stock 300EX or buy a Raptor 250 with $1100 worth of accessories for the same price.

If the Raptor performed well enough in stock form to make us wonder how it would compare to a 300EX we felt it would be fun to see of a Raptor 250 with $1100 in modifications could give the Honda a serious run for its money.

The Raptor already weighs 59.5 pounds less than the 300EX. A complete GYTR exhaust was installed to increase power and shaves an additional 2.2 pounds off the Raptor’s feather weight.

Yamaha set us up with a brand new Raptor 250 and all the GYTR accessories the $1100 price difference would buy us. Getting a stock 300EX from American Honda wasn’t as easy so we explored other avenues to round up a new 300EX for this comparison.

Fortunately Nikki Earlywine of Earlywine ATV and Cycle was nice enough to let us borrow a mint condition bone stock 2005 Honda 300EX that she has for sale. Since we could not find a brand new Honda 300EX, a shootout wouldn’t be completely fair, however, we think a series of lap time comparisons could easily answers our questions of whether the Raptor 250 with $1100 worth of GYTR bolt on products could perform (or out-perform) the bigger 300EX.

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