Yamaha WR250R Mega Thread

I googled Go-race and google gives me this message page:
http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http://go-race.com/wordpress/%3Fpage_id%3D162&hl=en

That's a malware warning with the last date tested of 2012-6-15. But since I'm on a iMac I tried to continue to the page but it appears to be down. Anyone have any other way of contacting Go-Race?



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540-392-0696

Have been to Ganny. Also Haliburton, and Simcoe County. All seem to have sandy areas. Trackmaster rear looks good too, but reading suggests short life on the pavement.

I got 6-7000 kms from a $60 tire. I can get 8-9 k from a $110 tire. Price/km the kenda won in my books. My Mitas rear that I expect to get 10-15 kms from cost me $150. Again the math doesn't add up to not run the trackmasters

Did you tell them who sent ya??

I'd be thrilled with 6 or 7k kilometers.

Thanks!

P.S.

I was thinking of you Sewerat when I snapped this cell-phone pic the other day:

FWIW, I am fairly certain the technical term for the scalloping is cupping. The tread develops a curved wear on the surface, a cupping effect.

It is a characteristic where the knobs wear on the trailing edge as the knob rolls under. It shows up on the front so badly because the front only has forces acting in one direction, braking and rolling forces are in the same direction. It happens on ALL motorcycle front tires that have tread, even street tires. It just isn't as noticable on the street type unless they're like the old small block tires aka K70 or F11 Dunlop type. Rub your hand over a street tire with some miles on it. You will feel the same tread wear characteristic where the trailing edges wear more than the leading edges on the front tire.

Believe it or not the same phenomenon occurs on the back, but is radial in nature rather than circumfrencial. The circumfrencial wear is mostly the same due to acceleration and deceleration counteracting the cupping that direction, but when leaning into turns the knobs roll under and the edge of the knob wears the edge toward the center more than othe outside edge. You rub your hand from outside to center you feel the cup. On the front you feel it when you rub your hand back over the top.

I had to put some new tires on the WR. I think that I wore this one out. It was after a total of about 5000 miles and trying to get home from a 2000 mile trip without buying a new tire. I did the lower TETs loop solo camping. I may make a ride report but I do not feel that I have enough pictures to do so.



Here is the front. I have at least 3000 miles on it. I definitely shows signs of cupping. I like the Scorpion Pro but it kind of squirms on the highway when new. I think that I like the MT-16 front tire better. It handles better on the street and almost as good on the dirt. I think that it might last longer too but requires flipping halfway through due to cupping.



Here is the new Rear. It is a Shinko SR241. I could not find much info about people's experience with them. The only one I found was a guy with a XT225 that get about 4000 miles out of it running 16-20 psi. It was pretty cheap at $53.99. It looks a little smaller than the MT-43 but is taller than the 120 sized T63 that I had. I will have to check out the difference next time I see someone who has one. The rubber is also pretty soft as you would expect with a DOT trials tire. I plan on running 12 psi with a rim lock like most people do with the MT-43 and see what happens.

Markk53 and Pantah, Thanks for the replies. I'm mounting up a new one today.

Still at it...

I've got a WR250X with an extra set of dirt wheels. Progressive actually bills this bike as a street sport versus a dual sport, to the tune of $400 more/year for me. I think it's time to switch to another insurance provider. This one bike costs more than my BMW K1200LT, R100GS w/ sidecar, KLR650 and CT90 combined.

:eek1 What?! wow that seems high. There must be one heck of a difference between a R and X :huh.

I had a Cheng Shin DOT trials tire on my KDX and it looked exactly like your tire does. It worked great but was wearing pretty fast. I sold that bike before I could wear it out for mileage check. I have an MT-43 on my WRR now and love it.

I also think this front is kinda sexy, but I don't read much about them, and the IRC TR8 Battle Rally Front Tire isn't cheap. http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/19572/ITEM/IRC-TR8-Battle-Rally-Front-Tire.aspx

As you noted, I didn't have great luck with the MT43 in terms of longevity. I thought it did ok on the sandy dirt roads on the eastern shore of MD, and had fantastic traction in rocks and in most snot slick conditions so long as you were aired down enough.

I like the D606 a bunch as its the only tire I ever had on the rear that flat out worked everywhere in any kind of conditions right down till the knobs became nubs. A D606 with a MT21 or MT16 front were what I was going to run on my bike next before I swapped to supermoto wheels. The Scorp Pro was also on my radar.

Also keep in mind that if you go with 13/48 gearing that your effective final drive ratio will change depending on the tire you decide to run. The MT43 is taller than the D606, the 120/90-18 D606 is taller than stock, and typically most people end up with the 120/80-18 T63 which is stock. 13/48 on the T63 is closer to 13/50 on the MT43. Also, keep in mind to run your chain 2 links longer if you go with an MT43 for swingarm clearance i.e. if you were running 13/47 with a D606 or stock sized tire you'd run a 110L chain, but with the taller MT43 you'd need a 112L.

That is a great tire, I will be putting that on again and I will be trying the same for the back.

Half Done:





If I take my hands off the bars, the bike will pull to the right... But I don't notice it at all if my hands are on the bars. Its about the same effect as sticking one hand out straight at 50mph.

Bike is more flickable, Brakes are improved. Stoppies are possible if you grab a handful.

I know this is probably old news to most, but just today I realized that since replacing my D606's with Shinko 244's (i.e. slightly smaller overall size) my 6th gear actually has some pull to it, and I find myself comfortably cruising in 6th when I used to leave it in 5th...pleasant surprise

However, my next set of tires I might get something a little knobbier for the front since it felt pretty floaty on a hardpack dirt/sandy road I was riding this past weekend. Rarely had that problem with the D606 front...but on the other hand I feel more comfortable leaning the bike over on pavement with the Shinko 244 front.

Indeed.

That sucks! I have an R and Progressive charges about $75 a year for full coverage. It's the cheapest bike on my policy and interestingly enough has the highest blue book value. Makes you wonder how they come up with their numbers