Soberpete's YBR 250

[Fred]

Diggin' up this thread from under the rocks !

Pete, what about an update on the bike ? Are you still riding it ? What's the mileage now, any problems, issues ?

[soberpete]

Fred! Alright there mate? Sorry about the late reply. I've been hanging out with the wife and baby (7 weeks old now) since last week.
I was just thinking to myself - on my way back home from the wife's hometown today - how long it's been since I had someone post something on my YBR thread: I got home, sat down, logged into hotmail and 'Bam!' there was an alert from MCM. Haha. This thread feels like an incense stick that, somehow, still burns despite the fact it's pretty much just a pile of ash by now.

The bike is still riding a well as it did to begin with. It's taken me a little over 8000km so far. I'd been riding it every day until the spring festival, which I spent in Mengyin with the family. That meant I had to leave the bike at home, under the dormitory stairwell; the weather was just too cold so I couldn't ride it down to Mengyin like I do during the summer. I returned to Zibo three weeks later worried that I'd have to have a friend help me jump start the YBR, however, the key went in, the engine turned about 6-8 times and she started up nicely. I was overjoyed.

I used to ride the YBR every day of the week but I bought myself a bicycle now so I'm only riding the YBR 2 or 3 times a week now. The bicycle will save me a little money on petrol but more importantly keep me in shape. I get depressed if I don't get enough exercise.
-I check the tire pressure every week and barely ever have to add pressure.
-It's still really conservative with the fuel, even when I 'gun it'.
-There still aren't any rattling sounds or vibrations... and I love it that way.

There's been only one thing, recently, that stirred me. I put the key last week, turned it to 'on' but nothing happened. I turned it 'off' then 'on' again and it came to life. I thought there might be some sort of connection problem with the battery but after consulting ZMC888 I heard it's most likely a result of dust getting into the ignition key slot and blocking the connection there. I had the same thing happen again last week and once more today. We'll see if it gets any worse. I may squirt some WD40 in there at some point.
How fair the other YBR250 riders?
Any new buyers since Marco?
You got your red one yet Fred?

[soberpete]

Fred,
I just found your YBR250 post... and I'm reading it now .

[Fred]

Yeah, I got a red one as you probably saw by now.
No problem whatsoever, I'm commuting daily with it and it's got more than 3,500km now.

I'm babying it right now, as it will carry us with my GF and all the luggages for our 10,000km tour around China, the start is in less than 2 months now.

[soberpete]

3,500km already? A 10K tour around China? You had a crash???

I just read about your crash and it sounded so... fateful. The bike was damaged before arrival at the bike shop; you had a crash; you're fine; it was his fault; he paid for everything; now it runs better than ever... right? You got your mudguard yet?

I wanna know more about your tour! It'd be a cool to think I could meet with you if you're swinging by Shandong. I just found your thread about it. Reading now.

[soberpete]

***YBR 250 Update (a.k.a. Y2U)***

I dropped the bike on it's left hand side this morning at 0kph. I failed to place the kick stand down properly while on a sloped driveway. I walked over to a gate to close it and heard the bike drop behind me. A third of the clutch handle broke off and there are some visible scratches on the port-aft (rear-left). With enough space on the clutch lever for two fingers I rode to Papa Smurf's and had the clutch handle replaced within a few minutes. The scratches on the back are purely cosmetic.

About the dirt in the ignition key slot; I think that a little oil has sorted that right out.
I've had the same problem several times daily since the last update and so I asked a friend for some oil (looked like WD40 but he had it in a little container...
- like so -

R0672138-25.jpg

...so it could've been anything). Anyway, I think it worked. I stuck the key in and out a few dozen times, turned it on and off a few more times and all is good so far.

Wheelies:
I wouldn't call them wheelies but on a few occasions I've been doing my best to get the front wheel off the ground. I don't know exactly when a wheelie will come in handy but it boosts my riding confidence just to know that the bike is capable of them. I donned my knee pads, elbow pads, cold weather gear and went to a quiet road this afternoon after dropping the bike and getting my new clutch handle. There I rode for about fifteen minutes. I made about 20+ attempts and I think I got the wheel about 50cm off the ground (at best). Although I'm confident the YBR 250 is capable of a full-blown wheelie I was too chicken to be able to get it higher or even hold it for more than a second during today's fun. Dumping the clutch like that, over and over, can cause the wrist to ache a little so I'll try again next time.

Cornering:
On the same road this afternoon, I used a little square of road with two 90 degree corners and two 120 degree corners to practice my leans. I think I'm down at about a 45 degree lean most of the time. I'm trying to see if I can get the peg to grind or even touch the road with the side of my knee pad but I haven't been able to accomplish either; I just haven't pushed myself that far yet.
I took each corner between 30 - 50kph and the tires held really well (it was a relatively clean road). I get a decent amount of turn at that speed and angle of lean. I'd like to find some more road with larger turns so that I can get some more speed up and maybe some more lean too.

In the past, after some encouragement from ZMC888 when I first taught myself how to lean, I would always keep my body in the center of the bike. Recently, I've found it more comfortable and more effective to lean my body over to the lower side of the bike while taking large corners at speed. So, basically, my left arse-cheek is off the left-hand side of the seat on a left corner and the right cheek is off the right-hand side on a right corner. I've seen them doing it on TV before during world-championships and so now I understand why.

Fred! I'm sure you already have ready some but - just in case - make sure you don't forget your WD40 on your trip next month.

[soberpete]

Basically I'm still very, very happy with this bike. It's given me 0% grief despite what I do to it.
I've my eyes on the tread depth of the tires but they still look nice deep. At what depth, exactly, should each one be changed?

Fred. I recently reread your YBR's thread and noticed that post about your engine making a strange scraping noise in the higher rev band. Has anything improved? Do you still have the same problem? Have you found a cause and a solution?
As ZMC888 said about my bike, everything sounds smooth right up to the red line. The last time I tried, revving in neutral, it wouldn't even get all the way up to 10,000rpm; it just hovers between 9,600 and 9,800 with my the throttle all the way open.

[DipStick]

Hello Pete and all,

First post. New to China, new to the forum, and new rider (i.e. new licence and no bike yet). Learned on a 250 and I liked it, not too big, not too small. A Goldilocks bike. :-) I had already made up my mind to get a YBR 250 thanks to another thread on the forum, and just found Soberpete's review/thread today. Read the whole thing at once. Thanks for a great read! Comforted me in my decision.

After sorting out whether I can get plates or not, I had one of the staff at work place a call to the Yamaha dealership in Shanghai (I guess there is only one as far as I could tell through searching the web). Price quoted was 24,000 RMB taxes included. I have to go there, check the bikes out, and select one. I will try to do it this week-end or next (I hope they have silver, I have only read you guys talking about red or black, no mention of silver?).

Most important of all, I got my wife's OK :-) Been talking about it for years! Not too concerned about driving in China, I have been driving a car here for a few months and drove a moped in my youth in some crazy traffic. But I'm not taking anything for granted, it will still be a learning process and hopefully a safe one.

Only concern is that I cannot bring the bike back home (Canada) when we leave China. But if I get a few good years out of it here, it is still worth it to me.

Thanks again for a great thread, will let you know what happens.

DipStick

[DipStick]

Hey everyone,

I went to the Yamaha dealer today with wife and kids to check out the YBR. Such a pity they don't have silver ones here! Just red and dark grey, which look good but I really had my heart set on a silver one seen online. In the end, I opted for the lava red one. The other one looks cooler but at the end of the day, I went for visibility. Besides, didn't I read in a post here somewhere that the red ones are always faster? ;)

One of the things I looked at was the quality of the tube welding, prompted by Pete's early post in this thread (thanks). I am happy to report that the seams look better than in the picture posted by Pete. Maybe there was a batch in production where the line welder was less experienced? I imagine that that kind of welding is probably still made by hand?


So the dealer gave me a spec sheet with VIN and engine number included. With that document in hand, I can get the process rolling to get my plates. It's a little complicated and not your regular plating process, but once I get the formal confirmation that I am allowed to have the plates, I can go back to the dealer and pay for the beast.

I call it the beast because it is bulkier than I expected: I learned on a 250, but it was a Kawa SuperSherpa, lighter, higher and narrower. So the YBR seemed and felt fatter and heavier. But I was happy to find out that the seating position and seat height are quite comfortable. I was a little worried about being cramped because I'm 5"11 with long legs, and the YBR sits a whole 8cm lower that the Super Sherpa.

There was a scratch with yellow paint on the exhaust outer cover plate. I don't think the bike was dropped (no sign of other damage or scratches to the peg, handle, mirror or brake lever on the right side). Might have been a door frame or something... The dealer said they could switch the cover plate with that of one of the other 2 YBRs in the store (black/grey ones). I prefer that than getting another bike with a different VIN which would delay my whole process. Other than that, everything looked in order. Sakura tires as well.

All in all, pretty excited about the whole thing. I have been dreaming about a proper motorcycle since I was a teenager, and I haven't been this excited about something in many many years. For goodness' sake, I have even already downloaded the user manual (I need an English one) and read the whole document in one shot last night!

Bummer, I just realized that May 1st is coming up and that I will probably not be able to get anything done administratively this week... I would hate for the bike to be sold to someone else in the meantime, but it sounds like with the plate situation in Shanghai as it is, buyers are not really lining up for it.

Oh one more thing: the sidewalk in front of the dealership was lined with police motorcycles. Seemed used, maybe awaiting or coming out of repair. All Yamahas 250 of course, but one odd BMW in the lot, looking newer, a 600 or 800cc maybe (never seen one of those on the road). And inside, a brand new police version of the YBR 250 was also available for sale. I jokingly asked the employee if I could buy that one, but she didn't get it. She looked all concerned and started explaining to me that I couldn't, etc. I quickly put her out of her misery, the poor girl. Often a bad idea to try humour in a language you do not master.

A question for Pete: I noticed on your pictures that there is a blue faceplate around the fuel/clock display. The model I saw today also had one. I forgot to ask the dealer, but maybe you can tell me if that is the real color or some peel-off plastic protection on the brand new bikes? If that blue is there for good, I find it quite a clash with the rest of the bike.

Btw, if you notice I am talking mostly about esthetics, it's because 1) I have not driven the YBR250 yet, and 2) the posts in this forum already told me a lot of what I wanted to know about how that particular model handles :-))

To be continued...

Pete: not trying to hijack your thread! I do not intend to write a review of the bike, but since your posts were instrumental in my decision to get that particular bike (thanks for all the pictures!), I feel like my posts might belong here. But me being a noob, let me know if I should take my rantings alsewhere on the forum! LOL

Cheers,

DipStick
(that's DipStick, not Dipsh*t)

[soberpete]

DipStick

Your comments are more than welcome here. If it's about the YBR 250 then it's all good.
I'm excited for you about your decision to get one. I'm sure Fred and Marco would be too.

Do you have the Chinese version? I can send you an English copy of that PDF instruction manual if you need it. PM me about that if you are interested.

The blue rim around the displays:
DSC00835.jpg
I've never tried to peel that stuff off but if you're feeling really crazy...
DSC01398.jpg
...just remove the whole thing like I did; it gives you an incredible feeling of freedom!
Realistically, I'm sure you could paint over it in black if you really wanted to; I've simply never felt that it looked too bad.