high speed cruising questions

i may have a possible "road" trip coming up this next summer, shaping up to be a 8 or 9 day loop from oregon to colorado and back, sort of.

i just got my 250r, and a test run on the interstate showed my "indicated" speed about 78 or 79, basically WFO in sixth.

i am now second guessing this bike for the trip, but have a question:

i haven't gotten around to modding it yet,

those that have,

did you find your top crusing speed increase significantly?

will the "airbox flapper, FMF controller and a cat-less stock exhaust" mod help that at all?

if i can sustain a real 75 for any length of time, i'd be very happy. if not, i'll need something else!

the trip will be mostly secondary back roads, but i'm sure there's going to be some big interstate connectors as well.

Haven't changed the pipe yet, but with new gearing (13/47) she'll do 75ish as long as you want to keep it up there. Gas mileage goes to shit though. If you need to do a lot of 75mph+ road riding, I agree that this (and most dirt-oriented dual sports for that matter) might not be the right bike.

But, why are you taking the interstate? There's always a better way around than the super slab. Always.

You may plan your trip trying to avoid boring highways and replace them with backroads, at least that's what I do.... Also even if you can achieve higher speeds, you will trash your tires....

Once you do the mods that everyone does, power will improve and it will be easier to keep that kind of speed up.

However, reality says that it's a 250cc bike, a single-cylindered 250cc bike that has it's power output spread over a broad range to make riding easy.
It'll do 75mph all day long, as stated above, but it won't have much oomph left in reserve.

My opinion is that if you want more power out on the freeway where you can open the throttle from 75mph and accelerate ahead with what feels like authority, you'll need a bike with more cc.

If you don't mind not having the fastest bike out there and don't mind riding the bike close to it's maximum speed while on the freeway running with other traffic, then go for it.
The bike will do it - it just depends on what you feel is acceptable.

Myself, I avoid long freeway stints on my WR-250R just for the very reasons I stated.
Actually, I'm not sure if I've even ridden it on the freeway since I've had it.

Heck, even when I had my hopped-up DR-Z400SM, I wouldn't ride the freeway for more than an exit or two for the very same reasons - the bike's out of it's element.

I just don't like the seating position at those speeds. I have a 57hp DRZSM and I still hate the highway. . . sitting upright doing 90 mph just isn't fun I actually like the WR because I feel like it tops out around 65 mph (GPS 65, 73 or so on the bike speedo), it actually makes me ride slower, whereas I wear myself out on the DRZ trying to go as fast as the bike will take me.

clapped_r6 wrote:

i may have a possible "road" trip coming up this next summer, shaping up to be a 8 or 9 day loop from oregon to colorado and back, sort of..

I chugged along on pavement for ~80 miles two weeks ago.........I had to drop south out of Vegas........I have the stock gearing (13/43) and normal mods.........the bike handled ~70mph no sweat........but there wasn't much left on top......that's Ok with me, I don't generally ride faster than ~60-70mph on the road so the WR250R suits me.......my suggestion for your trip would be to add another day (or two) and more dirt......it'll be a more enjoyable trip if you slow down and breath in the sights and sounds of the back country......

If your whole trip is paved I'd just take a 600+cc road bike and leave the WRR at home....

Crawdaddy wrote:

clapped_r6 wrote:

i may have a possible "road" trip coming up this next summer, shaping up to be a 8 or 9 day loop from oregon to colorado and back, sort of..

I chugged along on pavement for ~80 miles two weeks ago.........I had to drop south out of Vegas........I have the stock gearing (13/43) and normal mods.........the bike handled ~70mph no sweat........but there wasn't much left on top......that's Ok with me, I don't generally ride faster than ~60-70mph on the road so the WR250R suits me.......my suggestion for your trip would be to add another day (or two) and more dirt......it'll be a more enjoyable trip if you slow down and breath in the sights and sounds of the back country......

If your whole trip is paved I'd just take a 600+cc road bike and leave the WRR at home....

that's the rub. i sold my dr650 with the intention of buying a wr AND an sv650 for a good mix of trips.

all of a sudden my buddies want to do a pretty long "road" trip, and i had been staving off the sv idea,

just really trying to see once the bike has some breathing mods if it'll be even A LITTLE better on the slab!

Also the factory speedo reads about 8 mph too high (at high speeds).

The bike's fine on the slab as fast as you're willing to twist the throttle, and a new exhaust, a programmer, opening up the airbox, and changing the gearing (maybe 13/45 since this is mostly road work, still on stock tires?) would all definitely give the bike more oomph on the freeway no doubt.

But in the end its still a softened dirt bike. That's a lot of wind blast and blatty dirt bike exhaust that's gonna get really really old and flat, soft roads that are going to get really really boring really really quick. Cars and full fairing touring bikes have radios because driving on the highway is b o r i n g and you need something to keep you awake. I try my best to limit slab time to an hour or less because thats all I can take before I start earnestly looking for whoops in the median and trails leading off into the woods on the side of the road.

clapped,

I rode mine to Forida and back over Thanksgiving. A big part of the trip down was freeway because we were pushed for time. The bike will handle those speeds, you just have to twist the throttle and hold it and hang on. Your indicated top speed of 78-79 sounds at least 10 mph to low to me. I'd for sure consider lowering the gearing a bit, regardless of the other mods.

Sarah

First, you have to consider the factory speedometer is not correct. It's off by at least 7% or more.

I bought the speedometer corrector from 12 o'clock labs, and with that, an FmF Q4 slip-on, an Attitude EFI programmer, airbox flapper glued, AIS removed, and one tooth down in front, I top out at about 86mph on a cold clear day.

That's all crouched down on the tank to get as small as possible too.

Get yourself that SV650. You know you want it, and it will open up a whole new world of riding. The WR is great in it's element, but slab touring is not it. I was in the same boat about 3 months ago and picked up an 08 V-Strom. Best decision I ever made. Buttery smooth and a perfect compliment to the WR. Now I can keep the 13/48 and 606's on the WR full time. Each time I ride either one of the bikes I realize how much I love both of them. They're both fantastic bikes but for different purposes.

So I rode with my little harbor freight wind screen for the first time today (Bash3r came up with it I think), boy does it help at highway speeds... Deflects 80% of the wind around or over me. I feel the air stream starting up right below my neck, with a nice stable pocket in front of me. Search the ADV mega thread for "harbor freight" and it'll pop up. I think it'll make slab riding much much more comfortable.

Clapped... I dunno. Just by definition of the subject somewhat excludes the WR being the weapon of choice.

It's not a high-speed cruiser. No matter what you do to it it will never be that. I can't see much pleasure laid-out on the tank mostly WFO for any period of time.

If cruizin' at 55 and stopping to take pics and smell the roses (taking the alternate route) isn't in the team's repertoire then you may need to consider another scoot - No sense burnin' the WR out on one ride.

The SV choice (Ashville's thought) may be an option. Although my girl's feels more like a (forget the brakes, lean it over and simply roll the throttle "On" and "Off") canyon racer than a cruise machine. ...but it'd certainly serve the purpose with additional thrill to boot.

Just my two....

"if i can sustain a real 75 for any length of time, i'd be very happy. if not, i'll need something else!"

The bike will do that. Definitely get yourself a $3 Harbor Freight windshield (that's a BPG creation); see this thread:

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/oh-those-sweet-mods-f5/windshields-t146-20.htm

Sarah

clapped_r6 wrote:

that's the rub. i sold my dr650 with the intention of buying a wr AND an sv650 for a good mix of trips.

all of a sudden my buddies want to do a pretty long "road" trip, and i had been staving off the sv idea,

I'm hanging on to my DR for now. The WR works out great, except for 2up loaded down off road riding (I know it sounds like torture) but we have fun in Baja at a very slow pace.


I ride with a friend that has a GS. I just meet him down the road and let him fly....

Was thinking the Strom would work, but still needed a more dirt oriented road bike.

If I had friends that rode that fast (75MPH)they'd be almost hour ahead of me in two hours.

Needless to say I get honked at, or have to pull over a lot.

I s'pose I could take the short-cut and meet em at the pass !

* thinking.... I need to get out more often *

thanks for the responses.

i've had 27 bikes in the last 15 or so years, and my wife used to have an sv for her track bike. i loved it.

but,

i would probably only really use it for a couple trips and sometimes commuting, maybe. kind of hard to justify another bike just for that.

our camping trips are usually all secondary roads, but at a brisk pace.

if anything, maybe i'll take it on the spring trip (4 days to NorCal usually) and see how i feel about taking it a lot further!

dont know if this helps..... i've taken my wr250x (BONE STOCKish) up and down I-5 from Eugene Or to Seattle Wa....took the round trip 3 times over the summer(sorry no cold weather comparison) cruised a 75-80 the whole way. lil thumper did GREAT. to be honest, I diddnt expect her to do so well. My neck though....thats another story(painful ride for sure...people are bloody unsafe...gotta keep that eye out)......

mlacey56 wrote:

dont know if this helps..... i've taken my wr250x (BONE STOCKish) up and down I-5 from Eugene Or to Seattle Wa....took the round trip 3 times over the summer(sorry no cold weather comparison) cruised a 75-80 the whole way. lil thumper did GREAT. to be honest, I diddnt expect her to do so well. My neck though....thats another story(painful ride for sure...people are bloody unsafe...gotta keep that eye out)......

that's good to hear. my spring ride is shaping up to be a 4 or 5 day, mostly pavement ride.

then there's the possible 8 or 9 day in july. i guess the spring trip will tell what i need to know!

Ive gotta say, at least in my opinion, that the wrr isnt the best choice
for long highway rides. You can do it, but its not that comfortable.
Dont get me wrong, its not as bad as a full on dirt bike but its also
nowhere as nice as say a big XR or KLR. I use mine on the highway but do it as little as possible.

First of all is power, In order to sustain those kinda speeds you have to have the engine really humming along. You could just put a 14 tooth front sprocket on and itd lower the engine rpms but dont expect to be able to use 6th gear for any kind of acceleration. Of course you can just shift down to 5th to accelerate but knowing that I have no roll on acceleration in top gear makes me uncomfortable.

Secondly is the goemetry, this bike doesnt have much trail compared to somthing made for highway use. On the one hand that gives the bike a light feel off road but on the other hand it makes it a bit nervous at speed. Once agian, not as bad as a dirt bike, but not exactly high speed stable either. I found that lowering the rear as much as possible with stock lowering option helps quite a bit though.

I personally think that the bike is best used as a trail bike that allows you to connect trails with short bits of highway without getting in troble for not having a plate. I live in California where you need a plate to legally access 90% of the avialable trails but If I lived in a state that would allow you plate a full on dirt bikes or if I was buying a bike to make long highway trips/adventure rides Im not sure Id pick a WRR.

changing the pipe and adding a fuel programmer made a 'huge' improvement in passing cars on the highway.

I'd have to agree with the wr not being a highway cruiser. It can do it, but it's not that fun. But with any dirt bike it's not that fun to ride over 70mph for long. That's not a liability for me. I don't want to ride long distances on the freeway. I'd get a gold-wing or take a car if i want to do long freeway trips. But if i'm on an adventure ride, i want to take the road less traveled, & the wr fits the bill perfectly.

I went on a ride on christmas eve with a buddy & my daughter & son in law. We got into some steep rocky climbs, snow, several water crossings, & ended up about 40 miles from home. It was getting late, so we jumped on the freeway & were home in less than an hour. I didn't get my wr much above 65, but i still got home ok, & was reasonably comfortable riding on the interstate. A lot of cagers flew by me. Sometimes i get behind a slow truck & just plod along, but this time i was riding by myself on the freeway, as the others went on ahead.

But if i can plan my ride or don't have any time or distance constraints, I prefer to take side roads or even better, dirt roads, to get around.

clapped_r6 wrote:

if i can sustain a real 75 for any length of time, i'd be very happy. if not, i'll need something else!

the trip will be mostly secondary back roads, but i'm sure there's going to be some big interstate connectors as well.

I don't know about big interstate connectors - not too much of that around here although stretches of divided highway are not uncommon.

2.5 - 3 hours on the slab is about all for me, but I don't like high milage riding punching a hole in the wind on any bike. The highways around here in Montana, Idaho, and BC are all pretty scenic, so an hour or two on those at 60 - 65 mph is really no more painful than if the scenery were the same but the road happened to be a gravel FSR instead of paved. In fact, arguably nicer because you can spend more time gawking and less paying attention to ensure a gravel winrow doesn't grab the front tire, or getting dusted out by logging trucks and industrial traffic.

If you want to ride a constant 75 mph, I think the R is short about 5 or 10 mph. Besides, the seat isn't made for long hours of droning along just sitting there. At least, not for me it's not.

thanks for all the input. i'm not going to be droning on interstate for hours and hours or anything, it's mostly secondary roads and mountain passes we're talking about. i was just curious if opening up the intake and a fuel programmer would help any at relatively higher speeds.
kind of a moot point now anyways, like clark griswold my "christmas bonus" didn't really come through, so there won't be a second "road" bike for me this year. the wr will be pulling double duty, whether it likes it or not!