THE FIRECRACKER

I have finally come to terms with the fact that the WR250F trailbike is but a memory of an era that has now passed. The bike that was once so soft it felt like you were riding a fresh hot dog bun is gone. Trail is uncool. Enduro is where it’s at, apparently. I so want to hate on this fact and I’ve complained about it ever since the WR250F stopped being Tom Hanks and became Conor McGregor, but I can’t muster the energy to hurl abuse at the Yamaha engineers because I’ve been riding all day. I’ve been riding a bike with the manic energy of a kelpie, razor-sharp steering and the most up-to-date electronics suite in the business. I’ve been having way too much fun to miss the clunky old WR-F.

Whenever a Japanese manufacturer makes an enduro bike out of a motocross bike, I get a little pissed off. Are we not special enough to warrant our own motorcycle? Does our style of fun, amongst the warm embrace of the majesty of nature, bother you in a way it never used to when you sold me an IT200?

I don’t think the