'12 WR250R in Hutto, TX

I am back with a brand new 2012 WR250R!

In 2011 I had to sell my '10 WR250R and my '10 Versys because of extended unemployment.

I picked up a vintage '78 Yamaha DT175E to keep me busy and finally got a job in November 2011. And today I bought a brand new 2012 WR250R.

Since this is my second WRR, I already know what mods I want AND how to do them. On my list are:

Adjust front and rear shocks to lower seat by 1 inch
YamaLink
Speedo DRD
Seat Concepts
Tail Rack

I'm sure there will be more later.


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My first post back in 2010:

I just got her yesterday. Found out about this bike about a month ago. Had no idea they were making fuel injected dual sports. My last bike was an '08 DR650SE but it was too heavy offroad and the carb got messed up (my fault) so I traded her in for a '10 Kawasaki Versys. Been having a blast on it but missed having a dual sport. I haven't had a 250 since 1987 and forgot how light they were but this one feels like it has some power just waiting to be unleashed. I did an easy 50 miles on her day 1 and look forward to breaking her in. I'll be in here lurking around looking for mod ideas and can't wait to get started.

Mods I have planned:

Lower the seat.
Make the seat softer.
Regear for highway use. Is it easier to increase the front sprocket or decrease the rear one?
Fix speedometer error. (SpeedoDRD ordered lastnight)
Bigger gas tank.
Tail rack.

- David

It's cheaper to change out the front one, but why would you want to go faster than what you can get on the stock 13? This bike goes plenty fast on the stock gearing on the highway. It's up to you, no worries there, just wondered. Welcome to the pack!

I'm used to the bigger engine of my Versys and feel like the gears are too close on the WR. My Versys was the same way but a sprocket change fixed that AND the speedometer error as well.

SheWolf wrote:

It's cheaper to change out the front one, but why would you want to go faster than what you can get on the stock 13? This bike goes plenty fast on the stock gearing on the highway. It's up to you, no worries there, just wondered. Welcome to the pack!

That'll be interesting. If you go with the 14 and have a GPS, please post up your findings on speedo accuracy as well.

Welcome, Hi!

Hi, Where is hutto, Tx.? I am near Ft Worth in the mid cities. Having a 08 R2 I to have done some gearing up. After doing most of standard mods I think that a 14/45 for general use (around town) will be my choice. On the trails I plan to drop a tooth on the front to a 13 (stock). The twelve tooth on the front just winds the chain too tight, it takes power to do that. With my gear choice I am a hair higher with the 14 and a hair lower with the 13. Note that I have a 45 on the rear to replace the 43. Will be riding Colorado TAT in a couple of weeks so will see how this works. I did try the 14/43 with the engine stock and after mods, it was to high for stock but did well after mods, (no big bore kit yet anyway). As far as the speedo is concerned, it was right on with my GPS when geared 14/43, hope this helps, got to get a map and find you, there is getting to be a few r2 owners in Texas now. Berwyn

Hutto is southeast of Georgetown and east of Round Rock. I rode my Versys to Godley, TX for a pie run with Two Wheeled Texans Saturday so was in your neck of the woods. No way my WR could make that trip. I did 320 miles round trip and think I need a new seat now, both me and the bike. On the WR I dropped the rear to a 40t from the stock 43t and it feels a little better on the freeway but 250ccs just ain't enough to be doing that all day. I talked to a guy from Smithville (Thumper_TX) who has a 2009 WR and he has done several mods so I will check those out and see what it does for mine. I bought a 14t along with the new 40t so may put the stock 43t back on with the new 14t on the front. Before any gear changes my speedometer showed 67MPH at 60MPH on my GPS. After dropping the rear to a 40t it went to 63MPH on the speedometer with 60MPH on the GPS. I checked the gearing calculator on the www.12oclocklabs.com website and 13t 40t is almost the same as 14t 43t. The SpeedoDRD works great too. Took me a while to find the connector to plug it in but their website cleared that up. Programming was a bit off too since they sent me v3.3M version but instructions online are for a different one. I tried their quick method for entering a ZERO but it didn't work so my input caused the speedometer to show 60MPH when I was only going 30MPH. I then used 10 blinks for ZERO to fix that and now it's almost perfect. I was on the SH130 toll road out here in Hutto just now and at 70MPH on the speedometer, it shows 72MPH on the GPS so I need to tweak it a bit to get it right. I'll probably swap sprockets first then I can dial in the SpeedoDRD to get it perfect. I also need to look at those performance mods Thumper_TX told me about. I kinda wanted to break it in first and get the 600 mile checkup out of the way so the dealer won't cry foul and say I messed up and voided my warranty. Overall, the bike runs great and is the best 250 I have ever owned. My last one was in 1986 so it's been awhile since having such a little bike. The fuel injection is what sold me. Now, if only Yamaha would make a WR400R or WR450R it would blow away the DRZ400S. I even looked at getting another one of those but really wanted 6 gears and something new so the WR was it. If you are looking for other Texans to ride with, check out Two Wheeled Texans. I have met all kinds of nice people with all types of bikes and they also have a special dirt section for dual sports.

Berwyn Henderson wrote:

Hi, Where is hutto, Tx.? I am near Ft Worth in the mid cities. Having a 08 R2 I to have done some gearing up. After doing most of standard mods I think that a 14/45 for general use (around town) will be my choice. On the trails I plan to drop a tooth on the front to a 13 (stock). The twelve tooth on the front just winds the chain too tight, it takes power to do that. With my gear choice I am a hair higher with the 14 and a hair lower with the 13. Note that I have a 45 on the rear to replace the 43. Will be riding Colorado TAT in a couple of weeks so will see how this works. I did try the 14/43 with the engine stock and after mods, it was to high for stock but did well after mods, (no big bore kit yet anyway). As far as the speedo is concerned, it was right on with my GPS when geared 14/43, hope this helps, got to get a map and find you, there is getting to be a few r2 owners in Texas now. Berwyn

Thanks for the come back. Strange, but I have an 08 versys. I have nothing bad to say about it since it does most things right. I also have a 09 bmw 800cc 650gs twin. The two are a lot alike so one must go, so i have decided to keep the bmw.
As far as the R2 seat is concerned, I am thinking of a Rick Mayer seat since they are wider in the rite area. I did know of the Pie run at Godley but was unable to go. The R2 sure is a dandy bike and I too am have a ball with it. Stay in touch! Berwyn

With stock gearing, the speedometer error was showing 67MPH while doing 60MPH on the GPS. Swapping the rear 43t with a 40t put my speedometer error to only 63MPH while doing 60MPH on the GPS. I also tried the 14t on the front with the 43t on the rear and it was the same and the bike ran the same as well. Now that I have almost 500 miles on the bike, I can feel the power of the engine and went back to stock (13t 43t) and it feels pretty good but is still straining on the highway. I'll look at the performance mods next and see what I can do to help that little engine. Worst case is that I get the big bore kit and turn it into a 290cc.

SheWolf wrote:

That'll be interesting. If you go with the 14 and have a GPS, please post up your findings on speedo accuracy as well.

welcome! i grew up around the tyler/lindale area and lived around dallas/fort worth (im currently in the north east working on an escape plan back south) .. i had to look on the map for hutto, never heard of it until now.

Hutto is great because it's away from Austin traffic, but still easy to get to via the new SH130 and SH45 toll roads. Houses, land, and taxes are cheap out here too!

cryptomundo wrote:

welcome! i grew up around the tyler/lindale area and lived around dallas/fort worth (im currently in the north east working on an escape plan back south) .. i had to look on the map for hutto, never heard of it until now.

I am back with a brand new 2012 WR250R!

In 2011 I had to sell my '10 WR250R and my '10 Versys because of extended unemployment.

I picked up a vintage '78 Yamaha DT175E to keep me busy and finally got a job in November 2011. And today I bought a brand new 2012 WR250R.

Since this is my second WRR, I already know what mods I want AND how to do them. On my list are:

Adjust front and rear shocks to lower seat by 1 inch
YamaLink
Speedo DRD
Seat Concepts
Tail Rack

I'm sure there will be more later.

I grew up in Hutto (just south on FM1660 in the country). Was a Hutto Hippo for several years then finished HS as a Taylor Duck.

Now I live in the North Austin/RoundRock area.

I too just picked up a 08 WR250R as well (only had 400 miles on it).

I sold my vStrom 650 to "move up" to the R2. Decided I wanted a more offroad oriented DS bike.

After taking the vStrom offroad last yr in the Ozarks it became apparent that I head reached its limitation from an offroad perspective.

I'm headed back to Arkansas over Labor Day to see how the R2 will do riding all over the Ozarks.

PM me sometime. I'm starting to find some DS places to ride in the Lago area.

There's also a group of folks who meet every Sat and ride trails around the Bastrop area.

Overall I'm very very pleased with this bike.

Here's what I've done so far:

Edge rear light w/ integrated blinker via 12 oclock labs
Zeta bark busters w/ integrated front blinkers
Rear rack
Blue Safari Tank - not installed yet
Renthal bars w/ Highway dirtbike clamp and riser
BMW Powerlet - not installed yet
Fork Bleeders

Thanks for the invite. I look forward to doing some DS'ing with this new bike. I did very little with the last WRR.

trailrider77 wrote:

I grew up in Hutto (just south on FM1660 in the country). Was a Hutto Hippo for several years then finished HS as a Taylor Duck.

Now I live in the North Austin/RoundRock area.

I too just picked up a 08 WR250R as well (only had 400 miles on it).

I sold my vStrom 650 to "move up" to the R2. Decided I wanted a more offroad oriented DS bike.

After taking the vStrom offroad last yr in the Ozarks it became apparent that I head reached its limitation from an offroad perspective.

I'm headed back to Arkansas over Labor Day to see how the R2 will do riding all over the Ozarks.

PM me sometime. I'm starting to find some DS places to ride in the Lago area.

There's also a group of folks who meet every Sat and ride trails around the Bastrop area.

Overall I'm very very pleased with this bike.

Here's what I've done so far:

Edge rear light w/ integrated blinker via 12 oclock labs
Zeta bark busters w/ integrated front blinkers
Rear rack
Blue Safari Tank - not installed yet
Renthal bars w/ Highway dirtbike clamp and riser
BMW Powerlet - not installed yet
Fork Bleeders