Sold the Ducati, bought a WRx!

Reluctantly sold my VERY rare, Euro-spec '02 Ducati Monster 900ie, as my body could no longer take the beating I received from the MN roads through the Euro suspension.



so I took the cash and bought this...

'08 Yamaha WR250X.





















Never even got the bike leaned over

Only mod is a fender delete (hack job) and the baffle/spark arrestor were pulled from the muffler (which I got from the guy). I noticed a bit of bog when I snapped the throttle open. Threw the baffle back in the pipe, and it nearly disappeared. When I get some time I will get into the diagnostic mode, change the fuel trim for the can without the baffle and get rid of the bog. That and do the other free mods to yank out all the emissions crap and air valve on the airbox.

Thus far I am VERY impressed with this little guy, and happy I chose it over the DRZ400SM I was looking at. VERY easy to get low in a corner, either leg or elbow out. I have put 11mi on the clock since I brought it home, and already removed front and rear chicken-strips and all the curb feelers on the tread section

And here are some shots of the unloading process, and why I believe EVERY home should have an integrated loading dock in the landscaping.... way cooler than a ramp.

Welcome! Although that was a very nice duc you sold, you seem like a perfect fit for the WR250X.
Are you sure that trailer was heavy duty enough for the massive X?

Welcome to the pack! Nothing like unloading your bike into the front garden.

Hi Corprin:

Very nice and clean!!! What's next, some bars, guards, grips and a tank bag :)

What did you pay by the way?

Wayne

deerHater wrote:

Welcome! Although that was a very nice duc you sold, you seem like a perfect fit for the WR250X.
Are you sure that trailer was heavy duty enough for the massive X?

Yeah, I am going to miss my Duc, but it just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I bought the bike in Japan where I was living, and able to play in the mountains. Beautiful pavement, long expanses of low traffic mountain roads... it was heaven. Moved back to MN, and lost almost all of that. My body has been beat and broken, and just can't take the abuse anymore out here. Plus, there is NO reason to have a bike like the Duc, when all I do is commute on it. Needed something a bit more fun at lower speeds. I started out on my XR50R which I had street legal in Japan, then a Honda Hornet 250, and finally the Duc. I missed the agility of the Hornet, and felt the excess suspension travel with the WRx would suit the roads and my body well.

As for the trailer... it is a bit heavy duty for the WRx, but it is built to have the crap kicked out of it, and still keep going. We (my wife and I) are going to affix a rooftop-tent to it, as it will be our camping trailer. The axle is rated at 3500#, and has uses the same lug-space, tire OD, and wheel offset as the tow vehicle ('05 Jeep Liberty CRD), so whe have two extra spares in an "oh $h17 situation. We are planning on circum-navagating Lake Superior next summer, and a two week trip to the tip of the Canadian Shield this summer. I felt the heavy duty nature of the surplus trailer would suit the abuse it may, or may not, receive up there.

First mod will be to fix the controls. I am not a big fan of the levers, grips, or bars. The mirrors are just about as worthless as can be... I have very pretty elbows by the way.

I snagged it up for $4k.

Welcome, HI!

Welcome to the site!

I'm totally diggin' that trailer dude!

That's badass.

Dunno if you're aware, but wheelingcyclesupply.com has a lot of parts for the WR-X/WR² and they are one of the best places to do business with. Forrest and Amy have always treated me like a member of the family (maybe because I hail from the same neck of the woods as they do?)

I just bought a couple TwinAir Air Filters and a Zeta handlebar riser today so I can re-use the YZ Hi-Bend bars from my YZ250 on my WRX (with the height of the YZ Hi-Bend, I needed a riser that was just about 1". This one's at 4/5ths so it should work great)


Hope to see a nice ride report this summer from your upcoming trip around the lake.

Welcome ! Looks like a logical transition...

...until you decide to start jumping it off of loading docks and local landscaping on the way home ! * chuckle *

clint wrote:

Welcome to the site!

I'm totally diggin' that trailer dude!

That's badass.

Hope to see a nice ride report this summer from your upcoming trip around the lake.

The trailers are available from time to time in the form of the US M416, and Canadian M101. If you find one with a tailgate, they have been modified from the factory configuration. Mine is a Japanese Type-73 light trailer, which was a licensed copy of the Willies Overland/Bantam M100, built by Mitsubishi, to be towed behind the, licensed by Willies/Jeep, built by Mitsubishi, Type-73 (Kyu) light truck, which was nothing more than a reproduction of the Willies/Jeep CJ-3b. The Japanese were the only nation to install a tail-gate and required reinforcements into the beds of their light trailers from the factory. I found mine atop a scrap pile near the small base I was stationed at near Tokyo. Brought her home as scrap, restored her, and have been using her since.

We will be driving around the lake, not riding. If there is room I may bring the WRx with some dirt rubber for exploring, but it will mostly be a Jeep trip this time.

X-Racer wrote:

Welcome ! Looks like a logical transition...

...until you decide to start jumping it off of loading docks and local landscaping on the way home ! * chuckle *

The hooligan stuff is what the stumpy is for;

Welcome. Your reasoning for the purchase of the X sounds very familiar. Come to think of it, my X looked just like that (tires & all) when I picked it up.

Hello, I hope you enjoy this forum as much as I do

That trailer is AWSOME
Also, I just love the loading dock - seems a bit light duty compared to the trailer, but for moving about a bike, its perfect
BTW: surely local roads can't be as bad as UK?? We see Ducatis & pretty much every type of sportsbike using the roads potholed dirt track around here as a racetrack every Sunday - so much for the 60mph speed limit....................

mash100 wrote:

That trailer is AWSOME
Also, I just love the loading dock - seems a bit light duty compared to the trailer, but for moving about a bike, its perfect
BTW: surely local roads can't be as bad as UK?? We see Ducatis & pretty much every type of sportsbike using the roads potholed dirt track around here as a racetrack every Sunday - so much for the 60mph speed limit....................

The dock is just a retaining wall, and as you can see I have to jack-knife the trailer to get into it. There is a tree... and neighbor's lawn preventing me from backing straight in. We are doing some landscape work later this year, and with the help of our landscape architect, I am building in a "proper" dock for this trailer, and my US Army surplus M101a2. It's epically handy when loading/unloading heavy gear, heavy yard equipment, and the like.

As for the Ducati and Minneapolis/St. Paul metro roads, it could take them. But I am a bit of a Prima Donna with the roads, as I learned to ride and bought the Duc while living in Japan. The roads are beautiful, smooth, and twisty for kms and kms. The cagers there were also a bit more aware of their surroundings, so it wasn't so bad on the Duc. Here I was finding myself dodging pot-holes, and being nearly bounced from the seat each time I hit a pressure ridge going across the pavement. I have seen much worse, but as my friend described his St. Paul, MN street "it looks like it is the victim of an artillery barrage." I honestly remember the streets of Baghdad being smoother than some of the ones here.

Corprin wrote:

I have seen much worse, but as my friend described his St. Paul, MN street "it looks like it is the victim of an artillery barrage." I honestly remember the streets of Baghdad being smoother than some of the ones here.

You should see the roads around here after the coldest winter in 30 years!! I did a bike trip in India a while back, & the roads there are better!!!!!!!!!!!!! The minor roads here are like a cratered moonscape - totally unacceptable for a (supposedly) 1st World country.

Congrats on the WR.

Couldn't imagine giving up a Ducati for it though.
My wife has a monster and I don't think she would trade it.

Hard to imagine life without both.

ZED wrote:

Congrats on the WR.

Couldn't imagine giving up a Ducati for it though.
My wife has a monster and I don't think she would trade it.

Hard to imagine life without both.

The ducati was a blast, and a real enjoyment to ride... once I got out of the metro area. Sadly, MN/WI just don't offer the quality of riding I had in Japan... nor will they ever. I also needed something to slow me down, and the WRx does that just fine!

Yeah, true. A Ducati in the city is rather un-used. Shift to 3rd and you're beyond speeding, your at take-me-to-jail-now speed.
My city riding frequency of the WR is about 50:1 compared with the Ducati. I typically use the Ducati out of town.

The WR is definitely hard to beat. Still the most fun you can have on a moving bike under 55pmh.

ZED wrote:

Yeah, true. A Ducati in the city is rather un-used. Shift to 3rd and you're beyond speeding, your at take-me-to-jail-now speed.
My city riding frequency of the WR is about 50:1 compared with the Ducati. I typically use the Ducati out of town.

The WR is definitely hard to beat. Still the most fun you can have on a moving bike under 55pmh.

Let's not forget the chugging under low load while at 25mph against the dry clutch, and the fact the bikes really don't handle well at low speeds. I have no doubt the Duc will be missed, but times and needs have changed drastically since I bought it.

Your comment about most fun >55mph is beyond truth, evidenced by my removal of both front and rear chicken strips .

I have new bars/clamps, and front fender on the way..let the modding begin!

WR's are plainly STUPID FUN, period.