I guess this is goodbye

I no sooner than thought about selling the WR than someone showed up with cash to buy it. I didn't even advertise, just suggested to friend that it might be for sale. The friend told a friend and the bike is now on its way to Alabama. I wish it was always that easy! LOL

I'm moving on to KTM land. There's a new 500 EXC calling my name. Such great bikes.

Not that I have been a prolific poster here, but I'll still check in. Having been into the WR's motor so often, I may still have something to offer.

The buyer is getting all of the take-offs from the WR, so I won't have much to get rid of, but I still have a complete stock motor with 8k miles if anyone is interested. I think it will go for about $1,200. I'll post up in the for sale section anything that I have left to get rid of.

It's been great here. Members are among the best of any motorcycle forum I have belonged to. I've learned a lot as well. Thank you!

Cheers!

Some lucky rider is getting a very well modded and farkled WR250 !

You will love the power of the KTM 500 EXC.
I owned a 690 Duke for a while, it would absolutely crush my BMW F650 Dakar performance wise...no comparison.

In the meantime, because I am a newbie to the WR250 I have been reading some of your threads on modifications..good info !

KTM does make a great bike...enjoy !

BB, what are your plans for the KTM 500 - dirt or slab?

manybikes wrote:

Some lucky rider is getting a very well modded and farkled WR250 !

You will love the power of the KTM 500 EXC.
I owned a 690 Duke for a while, it would absolutely crush my BMW F650 Dakar performance wise...no comparison.

In the meantime, because I am a newbie to the WR250 I have been reading some of your threads on modifications..good info !

KTM does make a great bike...enjoy !

Thanks. Appreciate the vote of confidence on my WR exploits, but the truth is that I'm just a guy with a few extra dollars to spend and not enough sense to not dig into the motor. Hope there has been something of value to other members.

gatorfan wrote:

BB, what are your plans for the KTM 500 - dirt or slab?

Well, they're so-called "dual sports", but I think they're mainly intended for off-road. That said, Warp 9 does offer excellent Sumo wheelsets for the KTM lineup, so it may get that treatment. I think it would be a lot of fun with 17" wheels on occasion.

That was quick because it was a real good deal. Congrats to you and the new owner both. Ride safe!

I'd love to jump on that complete engine that you'll have for sale to do the 306cc kit, but the current exchange rate and freight to OZ would proberly blow the cost out a little too much.  I've done the 290 kit, which is quite good, but the figures for the full 306 kit look really good   

Anyway stay up-right mate & have fun on your new ride....i'm sure that we will still see you around here every now & then.


Cheers,    

OMG. Put down a deposit on the 500 today. Pick it up on Thursday. I'm stoked!

It's funny that at my age I can still be so excited about a new off-road bike. Stay thirsty my friends!   

BuilderBob wrote:

OMG.  Put down a deposit on the 500 today.  Pick it up on Thursday.  I'm stoked!

It's funny that at my age I can still be so excited about a new off-road bike.  Stay thirsty my friends!    

Jealous. I've coveted the 500 for a long time. Not sure it would be the right bike for me but would love to find out. Supposedly monster power.

That should be the ultimate in dual sport bikes, enjoy

Got her home. Jeezus is this thing tall. Being only 5'8", I'm going to need to explore some lowering options. This beast is 2 to 3 inches taller than my WR.

But dang, she sure is purdy!

I too added a 2013 KTM500xcw to my herd. But I decided to keep my 2 08 WR250R's (my 2 kids son's can now ride with me on DS excursions).

That said, the WR is way smoother on the road then the 500, but the 500 is so good off-road it's amazing.

On the 500 I changed gearing to 14/50 and it'll eat up the slab but will crawl over anything off-road. Add a stabilizer and weights on the wheels and she's fairly balanced on the slab (but still buzzy - to be expected).

Power between the 2 is night and day.

Suspension and handling on the 500 is very good.

The WR is ok off-road. I plan to revalve the suspension and suspect it will improve its off-road behavior.

For long DS runs, the WR is the tool, for pure off-road or shorter DS runs, the KTM is the ticket.

Sort of like different tools in the toolbox, each one has a unique purpose.

BuilderBob wrote:

Got her home.  Jeezus is this thing tall.  Being only 5'8", I'm going to need to explore some lowering options.  This beast is 2 to 3 inches taller than my WR.

But dang, she sure is purdy!

Sweet, very sweet.
You will have uber fun on that.

[quote="BuilderBob"]Got her home.  Jeezus is this thing tall.  Being only 5'8", I'm going to need to explore some lowering options.  This beast is 2 to 3 inches taller than my WR.

But dang, she sure is purdy!
quote]
My 2004 525 was an incredible bike, the best dirt bike I've ever owned.
I can't imagine how nice a new 500 would be. Try to keep yours a little cleaner!

kbike wrote:

BuilderBob wrote:

Got her home.  Jeezus is this thing tall.  Being only 5'8", I'm going to need to explore some lowering options.  This beast is 2 to 3 inches taller than my WR.

But dang, she sure is purdy!
quote]
My 2004 525 was an incredible bike, the best dirt bike I've ever owned.
I can't imagine how nice a new 500 would be. Try to keep yours a little cleaner!

Well, it looks like only the bottom is dirty in that pic.   

Would love to have one of those one day. Congrats on the new machine. The WR is still a sweet bike and I am happy with it for now. Couldn't afford the KTM is I wanted to. I here they require a lot more maintenance than the WR and other Japanese motos. I don't know if that is true or not. That would definitely keep me from buying a new KTM though because I would pretty much have to pay for anybody to do maintenance on it. I like the HUSAs also. They are super sweet too!

I guess they are a bit more to keep up. Frequent valve checks and top end rebuilds are recommended. I have a friend with a 2007 450 EXC that he has had since new. Rides it hard. Pretty finicky about maintenance, he has always checked the valve clearance at the recommended intervals and has so far found them to be within spec. Hoping that the 500 will be the same.

That said, the valves are a lot easier to get to on the KTM than they are on the WR. Less stuff to take off the bike and it's a single overhead cam, so setting the valve timing will be easier if I have to replace shims.

It took me about 1 hour to check my valves on my 500xcw - but I was taking my time and it was my 1st time todo it.  All valves were in spec w/ 23 hours on the bike.

I was amazed at how easy it was to check.

I followed this video and it took all the mystery out of checking the valves on the 500:

That's a great video! Thanks!   

Confirms my suspicion of how much easier it will be to do a valve adjustment on the KTM compared to the WR.

Lots of sumo info here: http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?122714-2012-KTM-500-EXC-Supermoto-Awesomeness-For-the-Streets

These might help too:

Evol wrote:

Lots of sumo info here: http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?122714-2012-KTM-500-EXC-Supermoto-Awesomeness-For-the-Streets

These might help too:

Thank you.

Yes, I already found those on the web.  I've had plenty of time to scour the web for info having screwed up my shoulder that last time I was out on the WR.  No offroad riding until I heal up a little better.

I have been amassing parts, however.  Seat Concepts low version seat already on the bike as well as a Double-Take mirror.  Going to put on the 14/50 sprocket combo and a new chain today.  Shipping off the shock and forks this week to lower the bike about 1.5"

Still have to get a new FMF slip-on, steering damper and hand guards (the stockers are a joke).  Need to replace the stock tail light and rear signals with something less obtrusive.  No plans to de-smog or do anything else to the engine.  The thing runs great and has monster power right out of the box, so I'm leaving it alone.