As if Yamaha didn’t have enough to crow about when it unleashed the YZ400F and YZ426F motocross thumpers — when the YZ250F small-bore pleasure machine came along immediately after, the men in blue were crowing about ruling the roost. Hot on the heels of the thundering MX race bikes came the WR-F range of trail/enduro models, which immediately jumped to the top of the Australian dirtbike sales and registration stats. What’s curious, though, is while other brands have fought back hard in the 400cc to 450cc four-stroke trail/enduro category against the WR400F and WR426F, the WR250F stands tall and proud as the Lone Ranger in the 250cc four-stroke ranks.
When it was introduced two seasons ago — as a 2001 model — the WR250F was accompanied by more than a little marketing hype and PR spin doctoring. One ride on the lithe blue thumper was enough to convince even the most hardened critic that the high-revving,
