Best Yamaha Motor Learner Approved Bikes

Great dirtbike for fun times – Chose this for my first dirt bike. I was a moderate level street rider and never had ridden on dirt, this bike made it easy and fun I loved my… Read more

CRF230. The handling as you would hope from this bike is great as is the suspension which I did aggressively and it performs very well.

King Commuter – I purchased this bike new and it was my first bike. In the year I owned it I found it was more than capable of the suburban commute. Pretty quick at… Read more

the lights and as it's a motorbike not many cars tried to race me. But on that front, if you're unfamiliar with bikes, the R15 is as fast as a Toyota Hilux Ute. 80km:hr was the bikes sweet spot.

Highway was doable, but you're pushing your luck. There's no overtaking ability to speak of. I have heard that 130km:hr was achieved on a closed track, in full tuck going down a slight decline but I can't speak to that other than to say I'd believe it.

Fuel economy is incredible. Just a tad over 2ltr:100km. The most I got from the 11 liter tank was 530km but I was sweating bullets on the ride into the Petrol Station.

Lane filtering to get to the front of the queue at the lights was easy peasy. And as stated earlier. Give it the beans at the lights and you're up to the speed limit and ahead of most cars pretty easily.

Mechanically I had ZERO problems but I bought it from new and it was serviced on time. The only "issue" I had was I seemed to be checking tyre pressure regularly. I asked on a forum how often people checked their tyre pressure I was told *maybe* once a week, I was checking / inflating it every second day.

Lack of ABS wasn't a *real* issue.

If you drop it :-( it's a light bike to put upright. Note to self. Don't apply front brake on gravel

Sitting position was fine. I tried the R7 recently and that was to aggressive for me (I'm currently on a naked).

After a year and 10k I traded it in for a MT-03. I looked at the new R15 V4 and it looks very nice and has ABS which is welcome

If don't plan on riding over 100km:hr for extended periods the R15 is definitely a viable option. You just have to plan your lane position and over taking moves. It's one heck of a fun machine that loves to corner and you can give it the beans whilst keeping your licence (or not lose it in one hit).

Definitely consider it

Photo 1 - bike with the L plate Photo 2 - odometer when it was delivered photo 3 - First commute solo proof of life for my wife photo 4 & 5 full tank with trip meter from previous fill

Great Bike, but still very heavy – I sold my KTM300 after six years and went over to a Four Stroke. The WR and Yamaha for that fact need no introduction and have a reputation for… Read more

amazing build quality and reliability. A trademark of Japanese companies. The 300 is a powerfull bike and very fast but its lightweight handling and low tip weight it never felt like it was a handfull in the Bush. The WR trumps the 300 for power and for a big bore four stroke revs to the moon. This thing has serious mumbo and puts it down to the ground as well, making it deceptively fast. The WR is at home on more open tracks as it has a tendency to flame out(Stall) at low speeds and you need to over the clutch to avoid this hapening when tackling technical terrain. I love the WR the build quality, the power. the looks, the brakes but it is a handfull and very heavy when compared to the 300. On paper it is only about 17kgs heavier than the 300 but it feels like 30kgs. Overall a wicked bike but Yamaha still needs to shave some weight of this beast. If i was to go again i would go the WR250 as TBH the 450 is way too much bike for all but the Experts among us.

Needs to be reved – Small bikes are fun. But I always want a bit more power. The Duke 390 was the most powerful bike out of the two, (MT03). I sold the Duke because the… Read more

suspension was set up for the road only. Could not do dirt roads. So I got an MT 07. The suspension on the MT03 is terrible like the MT07, but they both can go on dirt roads. I have seen others take the Duke on dirt online. Perhaps I was too precious with it. I bought the Duke new. I bought the MT03 second hand. The plastics are cheap on the MT03. Thin, and screw tabs break easily.

Brilliant – Owner of over 30 motorcycles! Should have bought one of these years ago . It will take you anywhere you point, it will do legal highway speeds all… Read more

day , super light agile deceptively quick of the mark very frugal on fuel, cheap to maintain , anyone can ride the xt 250 from learners to world champions and have fun all day simple and low demanding of either skill or fitness! Only fault is could be a slightly larger capacity by no means a deal breaker

Perfect – The handling and cornering of this bike is better than any bike I have ever had over many years. Very predictable and smooth. I wish I could afford the 300 for highway riding with pillion The 155 is perfect for commute and town and local roads Show details

Excellent after some tuning – I pulled the lucky card and got the IronMax model, the one that’s way better and aggressive styling than the new techy stuff. Advantages of the… Read more

limited edition included Akrapovitch exhaust which was super low-sounding. I had to sell Akra as if was not to my taste. Got sc-project instead which sound right as i like it. It also improved roll-on, surprisingly after Akra... Other upgardes included full-metal footplates, as it was a shame to see rubbers down below; only the forward plates were metal in the Ironmax. They should have come full metal off the factory for the limited edition. I love the color scheme, liquid darkness. This is the only bile I copped many compliments from passers-by in the months before lockdowns. Also had to move the mirrors onto the steering bar as i hated the ant whisker look of the stock ones. Shall also mention i did some simple upgrades in the variator and the thing flies properly now. I tried the chip tuning but it has got a proprietary connector and the local specialist could not do it. This is the last bastion that i must somehow resolve, the dyno tuning. Overall very impressed, will never sell. Highly recommended, if you can source one and not shy of some extra spend on reasonable tuning.

Great bike for shorter and not as strong ladies! – Great bike, easy to throw around - and reach the ground! Love the electric start. Would be good to have a kick start for a backup (new ones do),… Read more

although after 3 years have never had a problem with electrics. Was ready to give up riding until I bought this bike. Price is great! Low seat height and controllable power, but can still (almost!) keep up with the boys.... Suspension is not crash not, but for the price shouldn't complain. Does get put over some pretty rough stuff though.

WR250F 2006 Model – I had a WR250F for about two years, it was used for trail bike riding, I found it very reliable, power was adequate for a 250. The four stroke motor… Read more

never missed a beat. Electric start was a great feature. Servicing was easy , Yamaha quality was great. Seemed to be very economical. I cannot really fault this bike. It performed just as I expected. It did not feel large and heavy. I could easily pick it up when I fell off. I only sold it as I am now 67 years old and falling off it, hurt too much, basically I always went too fast in the wrong places, thinking I was 25 again. Always make sure you have a nice new sharp front tyre for off road stuff. Just saying....:)

Excellent – I decided to step up from my other bike. I spent a lot of time researching 250cc bikes that were not full enduro bikes. End of the day the 250r was… Read more

the best. Got it, put bark busters on, bash plate, dropped a tooth on the front, put offroad tyres on and put a FMF powercore on it.

Use it at our farm, and to date it has been flawless. I was pleasantly surprised recently when it out climbed a KX250 on a hill climb to the point where the guy on the KX gave up, turned around and went back. Although only 20cc more than the TTR230 we have (also a good bike) the power is vastly higher. It will whip up to 100km quite easily and catches the 230 without trying.

The reviews are correct, its not a beginner bike, especially as it it bogs down at low revs and likes to be revved, thus the few times i have come off are normally when im trying to be careful at low revs and stalls when i go for power. Simple answer is to drop a gear and keep them up.

If you don't have the money for a 250r, id personally look at the current KLX250.