Calling all "X" owners that ride some trails.

I am going to buy a WR250 R/X during the first week of april. I can get a great price on either. I love the looks of the X model. Although I live in a very rural area, to get anywhere I need to go by paved road. I'll be using my bike for adventure and camping.
So the question. Anyone using their X bike on trails? How is it? I can't buy new dirt wheels this year so my choice needs to be careful. I think that the WR250 Series is the smartest choice for what I'll be doing, but I'm still up as to the X or R model. Anyone that has trail experience on the X bike, I'd gladly hear your input.

There's a few guys on here who ride the trails on their X's. From what I've seen, as long as you don't tackle aggressive stuff, you should be ok. There is one guy though who I give kudos to who owns an X and rips thru the mud on it. 1moreroad really looks like he gives' er out there!

I own an X and tear trails to shreds. Deep mud, water....no problem. I put knobbies on my 17" wheels and never looked back. Been camping on 5 different occasions, all with the bike. I'm actually going camping again next week and I'll take pictures of the stuff I'm riding through. I haven't had a single problem. Now granted, my street performance took a hit. I'm not blazing up the twisties like the X is capable of doing with the right tires. But I can ride both street and dirt very effectively. I, like you, really liked the X's look, black frame, forks, etc. I bought it with the intentions of "dirtying" it up, just haven't had the funds to buy the dirt wheel set.

But, unless you are willing to try the knobby route or dirt wheel set, or at the very least Distanzias, I would really think about how much dirt you plan on riding. The stock tires completely blow in anything loose or wet. If it's hard packed dirt, the stockers will "get by".

Here is a pic of my bike:

I have 4K miles on my '08 WRR. Use it 80% paved, tight twisties; 15% groomed dirt roads; 5% "true" off-road (Mud, rocks, loose dirt).

I cannot believe how well it handles on the street with stock trailwing tires. I like them so much (for my mix of riding) that I replaced the rear with stock again when it wore out at 3500 miles. I can't compare the performance with a WRX as I haven't ridden one.

The downside of the trailwings is that the rear has only fair traction in straight-line braking on the pavement and accelleration in mud or loose dirt. If you want the best pavement performance, I suspect that the X is the better bike. If you will be riding a mix like me, the R is probably better.

In any case, I don't think you can go wrong with either - and changing tires is no biggie. This bike is so much fun to ride it should be called the WR-C (for Crack).

On a dirt, gravel, or rocky road, I'm about as happy on my WRX as I am on anything with full knobbies. It's only mud ad ice that concern me with the X.

There are other differences between the X and the R too. The X has a bigger front brake which means better modulation on pavement, but some say that may be a liability in some extreme cases. The X also seems to have a stiffer front end which means less brake dive and better handling on pavement, but it doesn't float along with the bumps as well as it could on dirt roads.

Choose the bike with works best for the bulk of your riding yet can still handle the rest in a pinch.
I chose the X because I use mine mostly for paved commuting (and hopefully motard track in spring) and only occasionally use it in dirt and rocks. (I avoid mud when possible)

Good luck! Have fun!

i ride a x and its slick as snot offroad!! terrifying even... wet grass.... omg. but you can do it, just gotta know your tires suck offroad. i dont see how the racers tear around berms so fast?
im willing to sacrifice a bit of onroad for a bit more off, im thinkin the scorpion sync.

I second Zed's comment on the X having a stiff front end for offroad, what I have heard, I have never ridden an R. I took my X offroading, the front did seem stiff for soaking up ruts and bumbs, and I weigh 230 lbs. To me, the R is the better all arounder, as long as your not looking for great performance on road to go carving paved corners and stopping fast. Both will do what you want, just have to decide where your priority is.

PQRS... wrote:

i ride a x and its slick as snot offroad!! terrifying even... wet grass.... omg. but you can do it, just gotta know your tires suck offroad. i dont see how the racers tear around berms so fast?
im willing to sacrifice a bit of onroad for a bit more off, im thinkin the scorpion sync.

Everything sucks on wet grass. Wet grass and mud alone do not constitute off-road.

Hey if that's as close as you can get, you take it and run with it...hopefully not on your ass tho. But if you do, make sure someone is under you.

< I've ridden both on road. Mines the R and i love it. I've taken some turns at high speed scapin the pegs on the pavement with the stock tires. my new tires aren't as good onroad but offroad there great. I ride 70% on road commuteing and such. I havn't had any trouble on road, it rides great. the knobby tires seem to be better in the rain.

The X is awesome onroad. i'd love to get a set of slicks for the R but i don't have the money. My dad takes the X off road all the time. he doesn't seem to have alot of trouble he's just slower

bocaj wrote:

< I've ridden both on road. Mines the R and i love it. I've taken some turns at high speed scapin the pegs on the pavement with the stock tires. my new tires aren't as good onroad but offroad there great. I ride 70% on road commuteing and such. I havn't had any trouble on road, it rides great. the knobby tires seem to be better in the rain.

The X is awesome onroad. i'd love to get a set of slicks for the R but i don't have the money. My dad takes the X off road all the time. he doesn't seem to have alot of trouble he's just slower

Do you think you can find an afternoon without your dad around and try to do the wheel-swap?

Just the front wheel + front brake set (master pump/caliber/brake carrier) will do

SheWolf wrote:

There's a few guys on here who ride the trails on their X's. From what I've seen, as long as you don't tackle aggressive stuff, you should be ok. There is one guy though who I give kudos to who owns an X and rips thru the mud on it. 1moreroad really looks like he gives' er out there!

Aw, shucks.

For hard packed dirt, the WRX is great.

For gravel roads, the WRX is just fine with stock tires. Knobbies will be faster in deep stuff -- my buddy on an old Super Sherpa will put distance on me in deep gravel or sand.

Mud is all about momentum -- if you have it, you can get through it. If you don't (like climbing a hill), you'll get stuck. Fortunately the bike is light enough that it's easy to push. The X is fine in shallow mud puddles. Otherwise, the clutch is light so you can just spin the back tire and duck paddle through the mud. Same thing with sand, although I managed to find some wetter sand and got traction. I still spun the back wheel like I had a limited slip differential.

Grass sucks if you're trying to turn. The front end pushes and you'll lowside easily. It's worse when you slide off the grass, back on to pavement, and turn the lowside into a highside (DAMHIK ). The X crashes extremely well with minimal damage. Invest in barkbusters.

I haven't climbed anything taller than a curb, and I would be hesitant to do so with the 17" wheels (it's sooo much easier with a 21" front), but that's also my lack of off-road experience talking. I did not buy the bike to climb over logs.

My X survived a lap on a MX course, but I was VERY lucky I didn't hurt myself. The tabletops were easy because I could cut the throttle just before I touched down. But I went over the whoops a$$ up and front wheel down. It's a credit to the suspension that I did not hurt myself.

Quote :

I haven't climbed anything taller than a curb, and I would be hesitant to do so with the 17" wheels

I have ridden up a couple set of stairs on our X no problem. The fork just soaks up the initial hit and the bike goes up like it is a bumpy ramp.

CDNSXV wrote:

Quote :

I haven't climbed anything taller than a curb, and I would be hesitant to do so with the 17" wheels

I have ridden up a couple set of stairs on our X no problem. The fork just soaks up the initial hit and the bike goes up like it is a bumpy ramp.

Yes, but if I did what you're showing in your avatar, the next picture would be of my helmet on the pavement with my body weight pushing it down. There's something to be said for skill as well as suspension, and some people have a lot more than me.

Quote :

Yes, but if I did what you're showing in your avatar, the next picture would be of my helmet on the pavement with my body weight pushing it down.

No way. Just swing feet forward and step off. Course the bike crashes to the ground.

CDNSXV wrote:

...
Course the bike crashes to the ground.

Yes, but that's why it's best to ride naked.

Er, well I mean the bike, not the rider.

Shit, count me out then. Guess I'll stick to the bush meadow nudie mud run by myself then.

I got off of work early today

CDNSXV wrote:

Quote :

Yes, but if I did what you're showing in your avatar, the next picture would be of my helmet on the pavement with my body weight pushing it down.

No way. Just swing feet forward and step off. Course the bike crashes to the ground.

Riding mountain bikes many years ago, I landed a jump on the front wheel with the bike and me slowly rotating around the front axle. Somehow (I really have no idea, because if I thought about it, I couldn't do it on purpose) I got my feet out of the toe clips (hey, it was many years ago!) and over the handlebars. I jumped off ahead of the mountain bike.

The bike kept rolling. Now it was chasing me down the trail! It finally finished it's rotation, caught the seat on the ground, and tumbled to a stop.

I have the X and do 90% street and 10% off road. Like many have stated before the stock tires are crap off road. I just installed the distanzas two weeks ago. I went out for a 87 mile loop about 45 miles on the road and the rest was trails bike was great. Again pick the bike for what you are going to ride the most and dont look back!

JasonProspect wrote:

I have the X and do 90% street and 10% off road. Like many have stated before the stock tires are crap off road. I just installed the distanzas two weeks ago. I went out for a 87 mile loop about 45 miles on the road and the rest was trails bike was great. Again pick the bike for what you are going to ride the most and dont look back!

Can you describe what kind of trails ? I know Distanzas can't handle mud but how much better was the traction in general ?

Chrispy1200 wrote:

JasonProspect wrote:

I have the X and do 90% street and 10% off road. Like many have stated before the stock tires are crap off road. I just installed the distanzas two weeks ago. I went out for a 87 mile loop about 45 miles on the road and the rest was trails bike was great. Again pick the bike for what you are going to ride the most and dont look back!

Can you describe what kind of trails ? I know Distanzas can't handle mud but how much better was the traction in general ?

82.564%

I did what I would consider "green" trails -- dirt tracks with ruts and short, steep hills but no boulders, log climbs (well, a few branches), or stuff like that. On stuff like pine needles, traction felt close to pavement at the speeds (~ 20 mph) I would go. No problem climbing dirt or moving in and out of ruts so long as there was not mud in them.

The Distanzias tended to "self clean" much better than the 090s, too -- when mud did pack up, it would fling off in a shorter distance.

SheWolf wrote:

Shit, count me out then. Guess I'll stick to the bush meadow nudie mud run by myself then.

Pix or it didn't happen!

Yeah....not posting full nudies on here. I already scared poor Mark with my suspenders.

Didn't scare me one bit!