One thing is for certain: we South Africans love enduro, and in particular, hard enduro. In my opinion, the Roof of Africa has been the main catalyst for the ever-growing enduro landscape in SA. With more weekend warriors taking to the mountains every year thanks to well-organised and technical enduro events, we are beginning to see more local talent rise through the ranks and earn both gold and silverware overseas in the world of hard enduro, because it’s on our doorstep.
Yamaha South Africa knows this all too well and, for the past few years, has been developing a ‘bespoke’ enduro motorcycle, which has been tailored for the local hard enduro scene. Well, the wait has finally come to an end for a Japanese “pukka” enduro bike, with Yamaha South Africa unveiling their very own creation, the Yamaha YZ250X-HE.
While the YZ250X is a decent enduro and seriously attractive at just 130k, it leaves you compromised in seriously challenging terrain. No electric start, no crash protection, no radiator fan, no headlight and no hour meter, just to name a few. But what the ‘Yam’ does have from stock is a brute of a motor, top-shelf KYB suspension, decent ergonomics, a light weight of 100 odd kg and renowned reliability.
So, what is so “HE” about the YZ250X-HE? Well, from a visual perspective, we see an OEM WR/FX radiator fan, PSP radiator braces, Fisch Moto electric start, hour meter, a Teflon 69 design bashplate, GYTR Teflon chain guide, reinforcing on the tail section of the swingarm (around the chain guide) and a limited edition plaque on the headstock. Adam Bac, one of Yamaha’s test riders, had a WR headlamp on his race bike, which looked the part.
Internally, there are also a few hidden gems, but the main standout is the Fisch Moto electric start. Hard enduro with a kick starter is like fighting a war, an already lost war, just go home and forget it ever happened because the trauma is going to be unbearable. The Fisch Moto electric start is obviously an aftermarket product, but it helps get the job done. For now, the only quirk—which isn’t a biggy—is that the current model starter doesn’t charge the battery, but they are busy developing a stator plate with a lighting coil that provides the magneto to charge the battery.
What Yamaha has done to make sure the starter and radiator fan have enough charge for a full enduro is run them off of two separate batteries. The starter runs off of an antigravity lithium battery with a charging tail already plugged in, and the fan runs off of a small RC car-looking battery. Adam’s bike runs a single battery, as he isn’t a staller like the rest of us weekend warriors, so battery life lasted him two full enduros. So, in theory, two batteries for the average Joe should be sufficient and easy to quickly charge up at home. (Yamaha does throw in a battery charger for the RC battery.)
The crown jewel of the HE has to be the altered gearbox and gearing. Yamaha has changed the first and second gears, which took them quite a bit of engineering work to get right, as these lower gears are larger than what the standard crankcase would allow. In a nutshell, it’s two gears and a shelf that is changed within the gearbox. Yamaha has also moved from the standard 14-50 sprocket set to a 13-51. The flywheel on this bike is the standard flywheel, but Yamaha has added four ounces to it and has had it stringently tested to make sure the weight is correct and stable.
Adam Bac: I’ve been helping out with development on this project since 2017, running many different hybrid versions of what we see today. Compared to the standard bike, the ‘HE’ has a lot more lug torque, is very responsive, but not overly aggressive, with a linear feed of power. For example, some of the same climbs we did today, on the stock bike, I would either have to ride the clutch in second or run the bike super high in the rpms in first. On the other hand, the HE has instant and linear power straight through in second gear and tracks up every climb at Titans with ease.
Adrian Bac: What we call the Yamaha YZ250X-HE is a hard enduro. This motorcycle is developed here locally and put together in-house at our technical workshop at World of Yamaha. After years of understanding the requirements of the South African enduro environment, we’ve brought the YZ250X-HE to the niche but still relevant hard enduro market. We’ve made it our goal to bring the bike in at a decent price by squeezing pricing and subsidising labour; there really is no margin worth justifying. We are doing this because we are passionate about our brand, and to also showcase how competitive we can be.
The HE is a tailored hard enduro that has room for alteration. What I mean by this is, Yamaha South Africa has left a few things off the table as riders have their own preferences when it comes to parts, and others are just subjective, like front disc guards, handguards and tyres. Focus is the direction in which the HE is pointed toward. Yamaha even does optimum jetting depending on where you ride, rather than a do-it-all setup.
Retail price is R210K, which is quite a bit more over the 130K stock price, but if you look at the European competition, they are all sitting at roughly the same price, and for what the YZ250X-HE offers, being a unique, limited-run model and proudly South African made, I think Yamaha won’t struggle to sell to the Yamaha faithful. So, if your blood runs blue and you are in the market for a hard enduro and don’t want to parts bin your own creation, Yamaha South Africa is building a limited run of these YZ250X-HE models. Make a turn past your local Yamaha dealer and have a look for yourself.
