TRIUMPH MOTORSPORTS
Two different views of
❏ There are two cards that should be
hanging from the handlebar of every
Yamaha Raptor 250 in every showroom across the country. One should
have a list of the things the Raptor is,
and the other should have what the
Raptor isn’t.
Things the Raptor 250 is:
Well-made, reliable, sporty, reasonably
priced, incredibly fun.
Thing the Raptor 250 isn’t: A racer.
That isn’t to say you can’t race the
little Raptor in stock form. People do
it all the time. But if you do, you bet-
ter be matched up against someone
else with a stock Raptor, because
there are guys like Anthony Martin
at Triumph Motorsports out there who
can make them into super Raptors.
In fact, there are two of them sitting
in his Corona, California, shop right
now. Anthony built them for his own
kids—Christian’s is the MX version
and Jerry’s is the cross-country racer.
Both are very fast, very specialized
and very trick.
THE BASICS
Much has been written about the
Yamaha Raptor 250, virtually all of it
sticky sweet. Even though it’s temporarily out of production, it will probably be back very soon because of its
universal appeal. It’s a great machine
for novices because of its light weight,
mellow power and affordability. It’s
also a huge hit with experienced
