Soberpete's YBR 250

[soberpete]

Yahmalube is Yamaha's brand of oil, it’s a very good oil.

Thanks. Now I know.
It came with a blue mineral oil which I will use until the bike gets to about 50-100km at which point I'm gonna change it.

[ZMC888]

My first thoughts after a quick dash around the block on Pete's YBR250. Start-up, wow this thing is quiet, super quiet, it seems more like a high-end sewing machine. You're not going to set off car alarms with this bike in stock form. The frame welds are sound and safe but still not as tidy as you would find on a cheap bicycle, or quite as good as the (Sundiro) Honda CBF150, maybe a little annoying, but there shouldn't be any issues. On the bike the pegs are a little further back than neutral, a tad of race feel but probably only a cm or two, and body is put in a nice comfortable dynamic position, dials are sharp and easy to read. Moving away I immediately noticed how quiet the bike was and how there were no rattles or vibrations whatsoever when compared to other China bikes. There were no issues with the throttle response which was smooth all the way through the rev range. The few corners I rode the bike had beautiful handling. The Sakura tires match the bike perfectly and have a really attractive tread pattern.

Overall thoughts so far are that this is going to be a beautiful handling, hassle free and rider friendly machine which over the time of ownership if over three or more years will totally pay for itself, due to less need to buy parts and low fuel consumption. Possibly being so quiet, having euro3 emission standards and being a single-cylinder machine can make it seem a tad sanitized. Although with such a well designed EFI machine careful research should be carried about before altering the muffler or putting a clip-on air filter on it, as you might be tempted to early on with a carburetor bike.

Can't wait to ride it on the twisty mountain roads!

UK YBR250 price is £3,799 = 40,570RMB (but might be Brazilian or Japanese version).
P.S. Yamalube is fairly well thought of in the west, but I'm not convinced about Chinese Yamalube's quality as yet, prefer the Elf and Shell Chinese offerings.

[moilami]

Of course! I will be taking it on plenty of long trips in the future. First step: Wait for the plates.
I'm sorry but I don't quite understand your second sentence... "Would be a pity to break that kind of bike on it"

Well I was just thinking roads in China and your bike. But surely there is many Tarmac only options.

Have fun with your bike and be extra carefull on gravel!

[dewsnap]

You got a great price on your YBR Pete.

I did a fair amount of enquiring in Shanghai and the best price i could find was 24,800rmb for the 2011 model or 23,500rmb for the previous model. That price also wasn't including tax, insurance or registration fees which would have added an extra 3000rmb. I was looking at a little over 27,000rmb to get the bike on the road and then 7000rmb for a Shanghai C plate.

Great start to your review btw. I'll be watching with interest.

[slabo]

How about some frame sliders? Everyone drops their bike, unless you just store it in the living room, you will drop the bike. This will protect the frame and tank from dents and scratches if you drop it. I didn't know about these until I saw them on a Honda CB400 here in Kunming.








I use mineral Yamahalube on my bike. I pay 35rmb per liter.

Sidenote, I tried to take a photo of the bottle of half full lube container I have, and I just found out that my camera is failing to save some photos to SD card(SD stands for secure, oh the irony).

[humanbeing]

...Yamalube anyone?...

Yamalube in China is related to ENEOS. 天津日石
http://202.41.245.2/rs/modules/shop/...ort=20a&page=2

[ZMC888]

All the Yamalube I've seen in China is 10W-40, but the YBR250 manual (and my own opinion too) suggests that a 20W-50 mineral oil would be best suited to our local weather conditions, at least from now until December.

[soberpete]

Many more pictures to come guys. I took a load of photos today and was ready to get them on here this afternoon, however, I waited for my wife to finish streaming her TV shows on the internet until almost 11pm. It's now prime-time for internet bar users and it takes forever for my internet just to download a few of these pics.

Moilami. I shall certainly be careful if I happened to come across any gravel; It once sent me flying off of my old bike twice within ten minutes.

Dewsnap. I wouldn't wish ShangHai prices on anyone. 7000 for a plate? That's daylight robbery that is. One might say that's what you deserve for living in somewhere congested like SH or BJ.
ZMC888 and I will make the most out of this bike and this thread. Thanks for paying interest.

Slabo. I'm keen to get some of those frame sliders asap. I don't plan on dropping it as much as I dropped my last bike (5 times) but one can never be too careful.

[ZMC888]

They (The Sakura tires) handle wonderfully but I wouldn't hesitate to get a set of western tires for this bike when I get the chance.

I wouldn't sweat it, the Sakuras are high end in China, and Sakura are part of Cheng-Shen Rubber, who also produce Maxxis tires. I'm fairly certain that your tires are of a similar quality to Maxxis. Although the Pirelli Sport Demons (on the Brazilian version) may be better, they would certainly be worth the effort to try a set.

[soberpete]

Hey guys. Having some problems here that I hope somebody has some quick answers for. Until now I've had no problems loading photos onto my profile but as of last night it's been next to impossible. Loading just one photo begins very slowly and simply stops at 18% after about ten minutes. The loading screen is still full of old photos, even the first ones I put up there a month or so ago. Do I need to delete them to make room? If so then how? I can't find a way to delete them or anything