Yamaha WR250R Mega Thread

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by AdvPax

Great thread with a TON of helpful info.

I've been riding a KTM 990Adventure for a couple years. I love that bike and have no intention of getting rid of it. My Dad and I have been talking about doing some riding together that is a little different such as the TAT and some woods riding.

For him the WR sounds like a great fit as he is 5'8" 160 lbs or so. My only concern for me is loading it up to riding something like the TAT (I'm 6', 190lbs and figure I'd have about 30-45 lbs of gear). I read the effective capacity of the bike is something like 400 lbs!

Nonetheless, I am wondering, have any of you guys done any longer touring where you are loaded up with gear?

Thanks!
Pax

Hiya Pax,

I've only done weekend trips so far with about 50lbs of crap on the back, and it does fine. I'm the same size as you (6', 190lbs....more like 210 with gear), and I think the bike is set up for folks our size more than your Dad's size. I think he'll find the suspension a bit firm, but it's got a lot of adjustment range, so he should be fine. I'm hearing that folks that add a couple teeth to the rear sprocket are much happier off-road, with very little impact to top speed (how fast do you want to go with 50lbs of crap strapped to your bike?), so you may want to consider doing that if you're primarily riding off-road (and specifically off-highway).

Have fun!

-NoVector

[Pax]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, I can't imagine needing much more than 50lbs of junk on the bike when riding something like the TAT. Great info on the suspension too. I bet we could get it loosened up a little for him and maybe even stick a couple lowering links on it to make it easier for him to handle.

Yamaha really should send you at least a thank you for this thread. Again, thanks.

-Pax

Originally Posted by NoVector

Hiya Pax,

I've only done weekend trips so far with about 50lbs of crap on the back, and it does fine. I'm the same size as you (6', 190lbs....more like 210 with gear), and I think the bike is set up for folks our size more than your Dad's size. I think he'll find the suspension a bit firm, but it's got a lot of adjustment range, so he should be fine. I'm hearing that folks that add a couple teeth to the rear sprocket are much happier off-road, with very little impact to top speed (how fast do you want to go with 50lbs of crap strapped to your bike?), so you may want to consider doing that if you're primarily riding off-road (and specifically off-highway).

Have fun!

-NoVector

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by AdvPax

Yamaha really should send you at least a thank you for this thread. Again, thanks.

-Pax

I'm just glad some folks are finding the info useful. When I started looking at this bike I found very few "real world" impressions of the little beast, so I was taking a bit of a chance and bought it based on what little I was able to find. Hopefully with the help of the collective input here, others will be more informed and can decide if this bike is for them based on a whole lot more than what I had to go on.

-NoVector

[XRR]

Awsome thread. I am seriously thinking about getting a WRR to compliment my XR650R. I was surprised at the weight of the WRR though, but I keep reading that the bike feels less then it actually is... Anyone have any input on how the WRR handles in the tight trails?

[derangedhermit]

Originally Posted by XRR

Awsome thread. I am seriously thinking about getting a WRR to compliment my XR650R. I was surprised at the weight of the WRR though, but I keep reading that the bike feels less then it actually is...

I can understand why manufacturers have in the past, and some still today, tended to lie on how much their products weigh. Prospective purchasers can't really bring scales to the showroom, the sales guys are going to go along with any absurdity, and the industry press isn't about to bite the hand...

I think the WR250R/X were two of the first bikes where Yamaha seems to have implemented a corporate "honest weights in advertising" decision, and I really appreciate it.

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by XRR

Awsome thread. I am seriously thinking about getting a WRR to compliment my XR650R. I was surprised at the weight of the WRR though, but I keep reading that the bike feels less then it actually is... Anyone have any input on how the WRR handles in the tight trails?

Hi XRR,

I've done some pretty rocky, rutted, up-the-side-of-a-mountain single track with mine (I'll admit, it wasn't by design....the GPS showed it was a road!), and it did just great. In fact, it did better than I expected (mainly because I expected to not make it up this particular piece of real estate ). I still have the stock tires on it, and haven't done anything regarding changing the final gearing, and I was still able to crawl up some ugly stuff. I think the lack of "hit" like you'd get with a big bore thumper can actually help in cases like this because when you're scratching for all the traction you can get, a sloppy throttle hand can get things going in the wrong direction in a hurry (like, for instance, with my old KTM 520....it would climb anything, but if you totally f'd up, you could also loop the bloody thing and have to crawl out from under it....not that I ever did that...nooooo, not me.... ). The WRR also has really light steering, so it's easy to hop out of a rut, or even better, pop around one. For truly gnarly off-road, folks are adding a couple teeth to the rear sprocket (or take one off the front) to get a bit more low end, and of course switching to "real" off-road tires. Not much needs to change to go have fun! Just keep in mind that it's a 250 4-st, and not your stump pulling, loads of torque from idle on up XRR, and you'll be fine.

-NoVector

[AdvRasta]

...found it on accident. I was messing with the display on my WRR a couple days ago just pushing buttons at random and accidentally placed it in Km/Hr. Uh oh, how do I revert back to MPH? I could've commenced with the random button pushing (which I ended up doing anyway), but I wanted instruction on it. Since the manual says nothing related, I consulted google. Although I found nothin online as well, I came accross this thread; you know how internet searching works out. Any way what a gold mine: from advice of power mods to suspension tweaks etc, its great. like a lot of other owners, I bought my bike without much real knowledge. I researched it as much as I could online from reviews and comparing different specs I found. I currently live in south Florida and all the yammie dealers around had no WRR/X's and some had no knowledge of the bikes existence (how sad). There were two dealers upstate I found that had one each but one was asking about $400 ABOVE msrp!!! crazy I know so you know the outcome of that, I thought msrp was high! So last month my fam went on vacation near the east coast and I found another dealer that had it listed on sale for $5499: first day up, it was mine. let me tell you, I couldn't be happier with this bike. I need to tweek the suspension a little because currently i cant even flat foot it, which is kind of a pain.

Novector, norshor and all you western/northerers, you make me sick with your woody fire roads and picturesque lake views with fishing poles on your bikes and rocky river runs with talks of ridges and valleys, ugh .

MiamiUly: anywhere to ride around here?

[XRR]

NoVector

Good to hear. I have been toying with the idea of getting a smaller displacement ride for some time now. One of the key things for me was weight of the bike, I was considering a KTM 200 exc-w or maybe a CRF250x. But I am moving and it looks as though I may not be able to transfer my street plated XRR and be able to keep it on the road. I really want to be able to keep a dirt capable bike on the road so that is why the WRR is now in the running. Plus that whole EFI thing had me at 'hello'.

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by AdvRasta

I was messing with the display on my WRR a couple days ago just pushing buttons at random and accidentally placed it in Km/Hr. Uh oh, how do I revert back to MPH? I could've commenced with the random button pushing (which I ended up doing anyway), but I wanted instruction on it. Since the manual says nothing related, I consulted google.

Welcome to the club! It seems our numbers are growing....

Actually, the instructions on how to switch between MPH and KPH are in the manual, but they're buried in an odd spot, so it's easy to miss it. In the US manual, it's on page 3-4, upper right corner. Basically, you turn the ignition to ON, then hold down Select 2 until the display changes.

Originally Posted by AdvRasta

I need to tweek the suspension a little because currently i cant even flat foot it, which is kind of a pain.

A nice "plus" to this bike is it provides you with the ability to lower the suspension by 1". There are a bunch of posts here and over at TT that describe how to do this, complete with pictures!

Originally Posted by AdvRasta

Novector, norshor and all you western/northerers, you make me sick with your woody fire roads and picturesque lake views with fishing poles on your bikes and rocky river runs with talks of ridges and valleys, ugh .

I know, it's a nasty job, but someone has to have it.....

-NoVector

[MiamiMotorcyclist]

Originally Posted by AdvRasta

..

MiamiUly: anywhere to ride around here?

Hey- that's me, almost missed that part.

Yeah, back behind the speedway is fun, off 8th street near the pit bbq would probably be fun on the wr- I'm still on the uly, but have an mx bike now too.

You can also ride along the canal, just past krome on us41.... I still want a wr damnit. Friggin dealers around here, where did you get yours?

[Winterfreak]

I am so depressed that I no longer have to drive my Suburban to work every day now. Today I bought a 2008 WR250R. Got it for $6100 OTD with tax. Couldnt pass up the yami $69 a month deal. Looking forward to posting pics of my Colorado off road rides.

Winterfreak
Edson Pfeiffelman
Grand Junction, CO

[Gargoyle]

Originally Posted by Winterfreak

I am so depressed that I no longer have to drive my Suburban to work every day now. Today I bought a 2008 WR250R. Got it for $6100 OTD with tax. Couldnt pass up the yami $69 a month deal. Looking forward to posting pics of my Colorado off road rides.

Congratulations and post some pics when you can.

Here is the latest shot of mine.

[Reposado1800]

Very nice mods to the tail end. Your bike now looks like a 100% off road model that just happened to have a plate apear on the back.

[Gargoyle]

Originally Posted by Clayjars

Very nice mods to the tail end. Your bike now looks like a 100% off road model that just happened to have a plate apear on the back.

Well, I need to be street legal to get to my local trails, do AMA dual sport events and NETRA turkey runs. Other than that it's pretty much off road riding for me.

[Baja Bull]

Originally Posted by Chadd

I have to say that I wouldn't mind having one of these little beasts. The only thing that I am worried about is the weight. A dry weight of 276 seems pretty heavy for a 250, but after seeing your pics I can see why it is up there. They have that thing packed full of stuff.

Is there any chance you could weigh ready to ride and let us know what it comes in at?

dude you have to uncork that thing immediately! I mean that things probably so choked up that you get get like 15 more HP if you do ure uncorking properly. oh and you should a got an xr650 or 400, ther'yre faster and maintenance is probably even less than that yami.