EP#74 - 2026 Yamaha WR300F Tested!

Check out what we thought of Chris Watson's Yamaha WR300F which is a 2026 Yamaha WR250F with the Athena kit in it. We grabbed ADB Editor Mitch Lees and ADB's Chief Tester Jeff Briggs to see what they thought after hooping off the bike and still at the track. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the ADB podcast where we talk all things dirt with your host, Mitch Lee. Okay, we have finished testing the Yamaha WR300F. This is with the Athenic in it from Chris Watson's motorcycles here in Newcastle. He's built the bike and given it to us. Now, this is arguably the most kind of asked about sword after every Yamaha diehard wants to see Yamaha Japan build something more like a mid-capacity four-stroke. This is essentially it uh with an Athena kit in it. Briggsy, what did you think of the WR300F Athena kit?

SPEAKER_01 0:41

I like it. Yeah, it's it's a pretty fun upgrade actually, and it so when we rode the 250, I did find it lacked a little bit of bottom. Yeah, this sorts that right out. You can pull a gear higher, which is really good for a 250. I really like that. Uh the exhaust sort of helps as well. They've got the YZ exhaust on here. You said you can use an Acro or an FMF and they'll tune it to whatever. Um, but the thing barks for a 250, it's it's a quick bike, it sounds pretty mean, and once you get up it, she um yeah, you've got to hang on. Like yeah, for a 250 it's really good, really fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Uh okay, so it's got more bottom end than the WR250F. Yeah. Uh and what about mid and top? Does it kind of pretty similar to the WR250?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I'd say it just adds a little bit to both of them, but it it's not as noticeable as the bottom itself. Okay. So that's the thing that I really found where I want to come out of a corner and hold third where you can with the Euros, this thing you can now. And even with the wider gearbox, it still pulls it really nice and allows that tractability in the rear to really drive forward.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

So uh if you were to race this thing, you'd have to race it in E2, you've given up 150cc still. Um, it's obviously not 450 power, you're still gonna be like every other mid-capacity on the market, you're still gonna be slightly down on power. Does that make a difference to how fast you can go?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Uh I don't think so. Like when you look at test times and that, you might see like Will and the top guys four or five seconds ahead on maybe some deeper tracks, but generally the 250 guys like Kyron was winning outright tests on a 250. So I think you won't notice it in a sense if you want to be competitive, it's still going to be a very competitive bike in whatever class you ride it. Um, I think it'd be a good bike for the Vets class, to be honest. I think it's it's aggressive enough that it'll really suit a lot of older guys, but still smooth enough that it's like a 250 and it doesn't beat you up kind of like a 450, still, with that inertia and just that little bit of turning ability. But yeah, I think it's very it could be very competitive in the E2 with the right rider.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Okay. Uh now obviously the rest of the bike is the standard Yamaha Fair. We haven't done anything with the fork or the shock or anything else. So, what you've already heard us talk about for our WR250F review, yeah, same for the across the board. Uh Briggsy was yeah, obviously the 300 gives it uh 300 kit, gives it a bit more bottom end, a bit more punch. Can you be lazier than you can be with the 250F?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Yeah, I'd say a tiny bit. Yeah, you can you can ride it up a gear and just sort of lug it a little bit more. Yeah, uh, but then when you want to ride it, you kind of have to be less lazy than the normal 250 because it just is that little bit more aggressive.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

So that's probably good for trail riders to hear that if they'd want to stay on a Yamaha, they don't want the scariness of the torque, because they're maybe bigger blokes you want a little bit more than the 250, especially for say long hill climbs. Think of guys who sit down a lot, they're tired, they're exhausted. That little bit of extra torque will help on long trail rides and long hill climbs in the Vicky country.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think and it like the kit itself is they use them in the fan ticks in Europe, it's a big thing apparently. Yeah, and it's a it's very capable kit, like you can feel it. I think we could probably tune it a bit like a bit better. It needs, I don't know, it's just running a little rough at times, but then when it's going, it's going. So um Boydy said he's had one of these too, and and he's done a bit of tuning with them and got an another four or five horsepower out of them, so which is really impressive. But that was with a GET ignition and a few other things, so that'd be a bit more uh cost to the consumer, but I think the GET would suit the Athena as Athena and get a partner, so they you could really make it work pretty well.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Yeah, that's our tech ed Matt Boyd. He was talking about getting one of these in his workshop um a couple of weeks ago, and he put a GET ignition in it and got another four to six horsepower out of it, and he just said Which is massive. Yeah, yeah, he said the the mapping that Athena gives you for this is just a little bit lean sometimes, so he just reachens it up a bit and it makes a huge difference.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

But it feels fine today, like it's been a pleasure to ride, yeah. Like I've really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

We could definitely hear when someone was on this bike because through the whole book, it sounds freaking unreal. It does not sound like a 250f for the kit. It sounds like a big bike. Um it does sound sound really good. There you go. So the Athena kit makes a difference. This is the bike that Yamaha we've wanted Yamaha to make for so long, and they're not making it, but Chris Watson is. Uh, so yeah, go and have a look at it. Uh, and if you think that what Brizzy explained kind of suits the riding that you'd want to do, bit more torque, bit more pep than the 250F, uh yeah, think about buying one.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Yeah, massive thanks to Chris Watson's too for for lending us a bike and um yeah, getting it ready to go. So brand new bike with a kit, and it's been really good. So thanks.