Enduro21 welcomes a new long term test bike into the fold, a 2026 Yamaha WR250F and we’ve already pulled it apart.

To say we’d been trying to get a WR as a long-term test bike for a few years would be massive understatement. When Yamaha announced big updates to the 2025 model, we did our best to test one as soon as they landed and though it was a cold day out riding in the depths of Wales, it left an impression and made us try again for that long termer.

You can read more about that 2025 WR250F first test here or watch our YouTube video.  

Finally we have one in our own workshop for Enduro21 testing duties and we couldn’t wait to get to grips with it. Long term test bikes are important because they are a chance to live with a bike for months, rather than the few hours we usually can on a bike test.

That means all the things you’d expect from anyone running and riding their bike: get used to it as a bike to ride but also in the workshop, go through all the usual baby steps getting to know and set-up the bike to our liking and then begin ticking offf the hours finding out what works and what doesn’t as we ride and race.

Wasted no time

We’ve wasted no time getting the bike to the woods and track – and by the time you read this it’ll have done its first race also. We threw down a few laps on the local track to run the bike in and brought it home for an oil and filter change.

Get a new bike and go for a ride, sure but most people quickly start unbolting stuff and finding out how it’s put together, right? Admittedly we had a little less to do thanks to this bike coming from Yamaha via the good people at the Yamaha Off Road Experience.

Wyn Hughes and Dylan Jones did the hand-over having been through the bike doing things like greasing headstock and suspension bearings and putting dialectric grease in the electrical connectors. “These are the things we do to our own bikes”, Wyn explained.

First thing you do? Take it apart of course!

There’s nothing like getting a new bike home and in the workshop and, though it’s obviously not our bike, the feeling is still not lost – we don’t treat test bikes any differently to one of our own BTW.

First thing you do? Take it apart because the bikes we’ve had on test over the last few years have included our own YZ250 but also Austrian bikes and a Triumph enduro models which are all put together differently. The WR is a different beast and because of that we set about learning which tools you need, how panels comes off, how to get to the air filter, spark plug and things like this.

The second thing you do is start to set-up suspension and bars and levers to your liking. We’re still exploring things at the moment and so simply set everything to recommendations in the manual (what a manual by the way! Jeez, they don’t all make ‘em like this do they?!).

Suspension settings at the moment are: 40mm sag, are six clicks off compression front (standard is 11), five rebound (std is seven) on the forks, six rebound (std is 11), six low-speed comp (std is 10 and 1+1/2 turns high speed. We’ll try and work on this and see where we end up so stay tuned but please do get in touch with recommendations (email address below).

A short list of parts have literally been waiting for their moment to shine and already are on the WR. They are: Apico hand levers, Astra handlebars, Parts by Sweden clutch cover with our logo on, an Acerbis chain guide/rear sprocket protector, plus an old set of tyres while we bed the bike in.

And not without least…this awesome set of graphics from Amped has stuck itself on.

Getting the sticker kit on good and early while the plastics were all new is always a good idea because it keeps them like new underneath. But Amped, who sponsor Enduro21 and help pay the bills, helped us out with a sweet set new to their range. This the “Ambush” set, more details here: https://thisisamped.com/collections/yamaha-enduro-graphics

Also arrived and waiting to be fitted are a Twin Air Power Flow Air filter kit, Boyesen Hydra Flow water pump, and an AXP Xtrem sump guard with linkage protector. The standard bash plate is great, but the linkage really does need protecting – not just from hitting logs or rocks but we’ve discovered already this is a collection point for dirt on the WR more so than some other bikes.

Remove the cable or not?

Other modifications we’ve already undertaken are moving the standard fork gators and the speedometer cable. Why? Because that extra cable is another thing to get snagged and the whole things weighs more than you’d think.

We’re still not sure about this because it disconnects the speedo (of course) and that also means no hours are being ticked off while we ride.

If anyone has a better solution then let us know, we’ve love to keep the speedo and odometer working but without the extra weight and cabling.

What’s going on with the rear axle blocks?

Taking the standard Dunlops off to fit a used set of tyres and mouses for practising and we came across an odd thing about the WR already. The rear wheel axle blocks are next to useless in terms of counting the marks to get the wheel straight.

There are three marks each side on the swingarm which help but the actual marks on the blocks on the left side are in completely the wrong place. It’s an odd one from Yamaha, that’s for sure.

Events and riding planned

As ever the Enduro21 long termer has to take life as it comes and suck up all kinds of riding that we’ll throw at it. First up is a Sprint Enduro but we’ve got plans for some extreme riding to dig into the current trend for more four-strokes in Hard Enduro races, and find some of the reasons why (or why not).

It’s not yet road registered but we’ll need to for some of the events we have planned including, we hope, with a fair wind, the EnduroGP of Wales in August. Hold tight.

Own a WR250F and have something to say? Feel free, we’d love to hear from owners: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Parts contacts:

Amped Graphics https://thisisamped.com

Acerbis https://www.acerbis.com

Apico https://apicob2b.co.uk

Polisport https://www.polisport.com

AXP Racing https://www.axp-racing.com

Yamaha Off Road Experience https://www.yamaha-offroad-experience.co.uk

Astra Handlebars https://astra-offroad.com

Parts by Sweden https://www.partsbysweden.se

Mitas Tyres https://www.mitas-moto.com  

Photo Credit: Enduro21