Trial magazine french edition has a test of the first "production" 250 (not the development bike). It has been tested by the Spanish edition journalists ( R.Salles and G.Trapelcou) and translated into french.

Basically they, like the colour scheme, black painted frame and matt grey plastics;
like the carbon fibre exhaust protector, fork protectors and fork brace;
the head light is identical to the Rev3, and the rest looks like a Sherco;
the frame is made from 25CrMo4 steel and has been modified from the development bike to improve the turning lock;
the rear shock is a Paioli, and the forks are 40mm Xispa (of which more later!);
the capacity is 249.7cc and there is a 273 and a 125 to come;
carb is an OKO 28mm;
clutch is hydraulic with six plates , and five speed box;
the exhaust pipe (primary) is a lot longer than the Sherco to improve the torque.

Riding impressions;
seems heavier than a Gas Gas(?)
slight tendency toundersteer in tight turns, and the lower triple clamp touches the frame (apparently like some Sherco's)
Tested on sandy terrain (Spain) it has good traction, the rear suspension is impressive and the bike grips well.
On to some steps and the rear sgrip and suspension is excellent, however the fork is slow to respond and the front feels heavy, coming down off the steps the fork is not very progressive and bottoms out. Despite a few adjustments they could not improve it, coming down the same steps with a 2009 Gas Gas with a Sachs fork was much better.
On bigger steps attacked harder the rear was excellent (better than a Beta!) and the forks improved a bit , but still were not perfect.
The motor was good at low to mid power, but they felt that the carburation was not quite right at the top end.

Overall they liked it, the finish was good, work needed on the fork.

Xispa News...
 
The company Sherco has spread in some Medias a press release in which, without mention it, makes reference to the new Xispa Motorbike X250R 2008 manufactured by our company, making several disqualifying statements about this one and threatening with legal actions against our company.
 
Since Xispa Motorbike announced the launching to the market of its new product, Sherco has made an intensive campaign with the purpose of stopping its apparition, including from intimidating letters to the spread of false information between the professionals and the enthusiasts of the motorbike world. This press release is part of this campaign.
 
Xispa Motorbike manifests its total rejection in face of this way of acting by Sherco which lacks of every fundament and which can only be understood like a desperate attempt to limit the competence, hindering the launching to the market of a new product that, surely, will satisfy the needs of a very large part of the enthusiasts.
 
The Xispa X250 2008 doesn’t pretend to take advantage neither to be confused with any of the existing Trial motorbikes, however it has always been presented like a new motorbike, different from those ones and that it precisely searches expanding the existing offer for the users of this sport offering them a high quality product with a fully competitive price.
 

 David Cobos & Xispa
 
 
The Spanish pilot David Cobos who obtained the fifth place in the Trial outdoor World Championship and who currently has been the responsible of the comparatives of the Trial designs in the prestigious magazine Solo Moto, has signed an agreement with the manufacturer Xispa Motorbike. This pilot’s experience is more than demonstrated with numerous sport successes in the Trial speciality during his periods in Gas Gas, Sherco and Montesa.
 
David Cobos will be the highest responsible, next to Andrés Tuzón, of the new X250R (mass-production) last adjustments, which will be in the market in short and also of the preparation of the motorbike that will take part in the 2009 World Championship.
 
The owners of Xispa Motorbike, Enrique Meseguer and Andrés Tuzón have considered that David Cobos is the best choice for the development and for the image of the new designs X125R, X250R and X280R.  Without any doubts, very good news for the Trial world, a new brand and the involvement of a pilot like is David Cobos.
 

We wish a good race to Miquel Vergel and Andy Mimms.