WR250 2008 SM 120 tire too wide to fit

HI,
I have a WR250F (2008) and I bought two complete wheels to make it Super Motard. The Hub of the front wheel is a Yamaha original, but the spokes and the rim are not Yamaha original.
The front wheel is 3.5x17 and the tire is one 120/70, like most SM’s are.

The problem is that the tire is scraping the left suspension (when it is down enough) and the fork guards. The smallest distance between both suspension arms is around 123mm and between both fork guards is less than 120mm.

How do you guys put a 120 tire without scraping the fork guards?

Best regards.

Well for one thing, 99.9% of us here are NOT on an F model.

We are mostly either X or R model owners. I do know a few people here also have F's though.....

If I remember correctly there are two different sized spacers on the front axle. (I think)

Make sure you have the spacers in their proper positions.

If that does not solve your problem then there's something else going on.

My 120 wide Distanzia fit with no clearance issues at all on my totally stock X wheel.

Either the F has a slightly narrower gap between the forks, your spacers are mixed up, or ..........

1) wr205x stock tire from yamaha - 110
2) wr250f stock tire from yamaha - 100

I measured between my fork guards on my X - 140mm

I'd have to guess the F model has a narrower distance between the forks than the X.

Is your tire only making contact with fork guard, or is it actually hitting the fork someplace too?

a 120/70-17 on a 3.5 rim will not fit in the front of a wrf without rubbing the fork guards. 2 options, leave it be and it'll wear enough clearance, or get your hair dryer out and heat and twist.

also unbolt your front brake hose clamp, and only use 1 bolt through the top clamp hole into the bottom fork guard hole. it will give you more room to route the brake hose away from the wider tyre. and slide your forks through the clamps 5mm to get some steering speed back.

which tyre will make a huge difference too. a street type tyre will be narrower than a race type (but will still rub).

did you get a 4.5, 4.75 or 5" rear? which ever one you will need to offset the rim to the hub and remove or hack at the chain guard, depending on the tyre you put on there you might even need to run the wheel out of square to stop chain rub. (i'm assuming your using a 160/60-17)

Thanks for your replies.

I’m using the original hub and break disk, so there is no problem with the spacers.
I had to remove the fork protectors because they both touch the tire. The forks gap without these protectors is more or less 125mm (see pictures below).

I’m using the UFO fork guards because I want to keep the original undamaged, and the problem is not so bad with this one but it is still rubbing the tire. Polisport don’t make fork guards for this model, only up to 2007 (it is different), and I couldn’t find any model (brand) that fits exactly like the original. Even the UFO ones have the fix holes in different place and don’t have the speedometer cable guide (left guard) neither the holes to install the original front brake hose clamp (right guard).
Do you know any fork guard that fits in the WR250F(08)?

For now I’m going to cut a piece of the fork guard with a saw.
The brake hose is ok because it passes on the left side of the fork.
The front tire is a Michelin 2CT 120/70 ZR17.

millert85 wrote:

and slide your forks through the clamps 5mm to get some steering speed back.

What do you mean with this? I’m sorry but English is not my mother language.

The rear wheel is a 4.25x17 with a 150/60 tire. I had to replace the chain with one without o-rings but also 520 in order to prevent it from rubbing the tire.

sorry, been tied up with work stuff lately.

with the 120 being a much bigger/heavier tyre, it doesn't want to turn as easily/responsively. if you loosen the triple clamp bolts and slide the forks up (effectively lowering the front end) you make the steering angle steeper and it will steer a bit quicker/easier.