What a terrible review

http://www.dirtrider.com/tests/2013-yamaha-wr250r-real-world-test/

Speaks for itself.

Generally speaking I wouldn't say the review was far off.

Not sure what the third gear thing was about. I never had any issues with gear box.

The bike is VERY tall.
The seat is a literal pain in the ass.
The gearing is too tall.
The instrument cluster is kinda weak and how the speedo works is just stupid.

Surprised there was no mention of the peanut sized gas tank.

It is dirt rider - so they are more focused towards dirt bikes and not dual sport I assume.

I don't expect everybody to get how much fun these bikes can be. That's part of their charm.

They're kind of a hidden gem.

Wasn't that bad of a review.

--Maybe the reviewer got a bad bike with the third gear troubles? The gearbox on mine is solid.

--Complaining about the light/horn/etc. switches looking like they were slapped on seems a bit nit-picky. They look just about the same as what's on 90% of other bikes...?

--I never noticed a top heavy feel. Compared to the bigger bikes I'm used to riding, the WR has always seemed light as a feather to me. I do need to get around to lowering mine though...

--Never had any problem with the bike starting when hot.

I do agree with the last part, that says that with a few mods the WR makes a great on/off roader.

I read the review as mostly positive, remember these guys are comparing it to dirt only bikes. The top heavy comments I do not really understand. I recently sold a KTM 450 that weighed almost exactly the same total, but the WRR rides feels much lighter.
At the end of a 100 mile day, I'm not nearly as tired as I was on the orange bike.

4play wrote:

At the end of a 100 mile day, I'm not nearly as tired as I was on the orange bike.

That's likely because the WR doesn't rip your arms out their sockets.
It's got 100% usable power pretty much 100% of the time..

Not bad at all. They should have mentioned the bike can be lowered an inch without buying any aftermarket parts.

"Doesn't start well when warmed up" .... huh?

Torontorocko wrote:

4play wrote:

At the end of a 100 mile day, I'm not nearly as tired as I was on the orange bike.

That's likely because the WR doesn't rip your arms out their sockets.  
It's got 100% usable power pretty much 100% of the time..

The bike is much more willing to turn, but I believe a lot of the difference is less vibration. I did 950 miles exploring trails in Death Valley over 5 consecutive days & never once wished I was on a different bike. I've had 990's, various 650's & under. This is the only bike I'm aware of you can actually have fun on technical single track with & then jump on the Freeway cruising a legitimate 70 plus comfortably for hours without hurting it or you.

4play wrote:

Torontorocko wrote:

4play wrote:

At the end of a 100 mile day, I'm not nearly as tired as I was on the orange bike.

That's likely because the WR doesn't rip your arms out their sockets.  
It's got 100% usable power pretty much 100% of the time..

The bike is much more willing to turn, but I believe a lot of the difference is less vibration. I did 950 miles exploring trails in Death Valley over 5 consecutive days & never once wished I was on a different bike. I've had 990's, various 650's & under. This is the only bike I'm aware of you can actually have fun on technical single track with & then jump on the Freeway cruising a legitimate 70 plus comfortably for hours without hurting it or you.

I would agree with this.  My KTM 450 EXC had some advantage in power and was smooth but did not like to turn as well as the WRR.  However when I would hit those long sugar sand roads in FL the KTM seemed to be less tiring to ride than the WRR.  I suspect that the geometry that gave the edge in to the WRR in turning worked against it in sand.  That was until the I put the steering damper on the WRR - the KTM had one on it when I bought it.

I am still getting my Beta dialed in but it definitely turns better and is a better woods bike than the KTM, has more usable power through the rev range, and cruises very well on the highway.  However it can get twitchy in deep sand.  That being said the WRR is a better pack mule for my ride and camp trips.

Thumbs Up:

• Aggressive 250F-like power and great exhaust note.......umm no not really

• Aluminum frame lowers the weight and gives a more modern feel......this contradicts the top heavy comment below

• Tall gearing makes freeways and long straights not a problem.......i find it even better on the highway with lower gearing

• Bright headlight for after-hours riding...agree

Thumbs Down:

• As tall as a normal dirt bike.....no its lower IMHO

• Skinny, hard seat – after two hours the butt needs a break.....fark off he needs to ride a standard DR650 for real seat pain....i prefer the standard seat to the seat concepts seat i have

• Unbalanced, top-heavy feel....compared to what?

• Notchy gear box – missed 3rd gear repeatedly.....got me there its a great box imho

Oh Noz..I own a 2013!

(lolz)

I didn't think the review was accurate at all. I don't think Yamaha spends nearly as much on advertising as KTM, and I believe that greatly influences the test results/opinions the major mags put out. If you like riding and dirt bikes how could you not LOVE the wr250r? It's not perfect, but it IS a great bike.

It's a miserable dirt bike. It's a great dual sport (maybe the best, considering it's literal do it all ability and extreme reliability and low maintenance). The review is obviously coming from a biased source, not necessarily bad, just looking at it from a different perspective.

I agree with some of the stuff, like it being too tall for anyone under 6'. It is top heavy as well, IMO. Actually, it's heavy period. Not in an excessive way, and the weight is a trade off for streetability and reliability. My 2008 sometimes doesn't like to start hot either, but it is a pretty high compression ratio and is designed to run very clean, so that might have something to do with it. It's about the best all rounder out there, so there have to be some compromises. I mean you can camp 2-up on the thing and then singletrack it.
Just don't let it fall over  
I personally feel they should have borrowed the gear ratios and spread found on the xt225. Stock this bike is geared too low.

That being said, it is what it is, and it's good!

Geared too low?

Geared to low ? LOL Must of meant high.

YZEtc wrote:

Geared too low?

I think he meant the final drive ratio was numerically too low... as in 3.31 versus 3.58.  Which would me that the gearing is tall in layman's terms.

There's no doubt the WR is not a race bike, but neither is it supposed to be.

I don't find mine top heavy even with a Safari tank, especially compared with my TTR250. I don't find it all that high, either.

I think the tester should have mentioned the tiny stock fuel capacity, and made more of the typically-Yamaha grossly inaccurate speedo.

And maybe should have questioned the necessity of USD forks on a non-competition bike, and the shite speedo drive arrangement. Kawasaki manage to drive electronic speedos from the front wheel, as do Suzuki.

But I haven't had any real shifting issues as yet, and find the my WR-R to be just what it is designed to be - an above average trail bike.

I think the review was pretty much spot on if you consider the dirtrider guys ride nothing but high end high maintance bikes like ktm 500s as dual sports and they are comparing it to them.

They dont worry about how much a bike cost to buy or maintain, how long it will last or if you can load it up and go camping for the weekend all they worry about is proformance for racing and very fast trail riding, the ktm and other bikes like it are alot better proforming than the wrr.

Biglake wrote:

I think the review was pretty much spot on if you consider the dirtrider guys ride nothing but...bikes like ktm 500s as dual sports and they are comparing it to them.

Exactly.  I too was wondering why the review had a top heavy comment, after years of riding street bikes the WR felt like a mountain bike, just SO SO light on top.

Then yesterday me and a coworker/riding buddy (we both own WRR's) went and sat on 2014 KTM 500 EXC's, and indeed the KTM is MUCH MUCH lighter feeling while rocking the bike side to side.  The difference was simply astounding and undeniable to both of us.  As in think of your WR gas tank as a being filled with 40lbs of lead from the factory, rock side to side, then remove the tank and try it again.

I now totally see the reviewer's point regarding top heavy.  Various other points I still do not see LOL.

Yes, I meant geared too high. lol

Well for me.... At 6' the seat height is perfect for me though sometimes I wish for more ass to peg room. The seat itself is comfortable enough when I actually use it and has a nice pocket  to hold me in during nasty hill climbs. The tank is more than generous and while the suspension could certainly be better (I'm looking at you Mr. Shock) and the bike a bit longer it works great for me in the woods which is were it spends much of it's life. Lighter of course would be better but certainly less top-heavy than my old DRZ00S. It's easier to ride fast than that bike ever was and it's much easier to pick and hold good lines. Point, shoot and you're there.

Confidence enspiring. Rev it and ride it like you stole it and it keeps asking for more. Tires replaced and geared it down after it's first 20 miles and the speedo healer works well enough for navigating with a roll chart. Armored it (and myself) to take a lick'n and on tick'n. Would I take a spin on a KTM EXC350F? You bet, but I'd pass on the small Husky's due to gearbox overly small gearbox spread. On occasion I do go from single track in the mountains to 70 mph on a highway and back in the same day. Yes it is more expensive than other true 250 DS's but it's money well spent if you plan to utilize the platform to it's full potential (and then some).

For some riders the WR250 is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" option. I always hear friends describe their "perfect" bike and it's usually a 250cc four stroke that's street legal and can be taken off road yet ridden to work and be reliable. Sound familiar? Then the seat height or weight or lack of power compared to their weekend MX or desert machine gets factored in and that's the big beef with the bike. Price is great, aftermarket parts galore, etc. but it's not out of the box perfect. Get a more powerful lighter better suspended bike like the KTM 500 then. Nope, too expensive and too much overlap with their 450 MX bike. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

gas_pig70 wrote:

Well for me.... At 6' the seat height is perfect for me though sometimes I wish for more ass to peg room.

6''4" 34" inseam here.  Fastway lowered footpegs and armored shorts (3/8" padding) helped a lot more than I thought they would, amazing what just 1"-1 1/4" more room will do.  Now if I could just find a taller reasonably priced seat somewhere.  Sorry back on topic.

I went and took a look at the KTM EXC 500 today. I mean, amazing machines! 250 pounds and 500 cc engines? Holy wow!

But.

I have the cash to get one, that's not the issue.
They are a little tall, but that's not the issue.
No, the real issue is this; The salesperson informed me that both bikes required a lot of maintenance. Like an oil change every 8 hours. And a valve adjustment every 30 hours which takes 2.5 hours of labor. And a lot of other things that needed to be done at very short (to my mind) intervals.
When I asked him why he replied "these are the same motors that are in our hard core motocross race bikes".
He went on to say "if people read through the instruction manuals of our bikes I don't think a lot of them would buy one".

Ok then.

That, and given the dozens of KTM's I know personally that have broken down mid trail, and the two people I know whose round the world trip got killed by both engines on their 690's grenading, and the May issue of Dirt Rider saying how the 350 EXC couldn't be started mid ride because the battery had worn out, and the kickstarter couldn't do anything because the voltage was too low to run the EFI and I guess I walked back out of that place.

So, back to the little 250R. Very rarely, about 6000 feet, on long hillclimbs, I wish it had a little more punch. If Yamaha ever comes out with a WR450R with the same bulletproof reliability of the 250R, and not some temperamental race bike with blinkers, I'll buy one.

Till then, I'll keep my little pack mule.

:)

GusinCA wrote:

I went and took a look at the KTM EXC 500 today. I mean, amazing machines! 250 pounds and 500 cc engines? Holy wow!

But.

I have the cash to get one, that's not the issue.
They are a little tall, but that's not the issue.
No, the real issue is this; The salesperson informed me that both bikes required a lot of maintenance. Like an oil change every 8 hours. And a valve adjustment every 30 hours which takes 2.5 hours of labor. And a lot of other things that needed to be done at very short (to my mind) intervals.
When I asked him why he replied "these are the same motors that are in our hard core motocross race bikes".
He went on to say "if people read through the instruction manuals of our bikes I don't think a lot of them would buy one".

Ok then.

That, and given the dozens of KTM's I know personally that have broken down mid trail, and the two people I know whose round the world trip got killed by both engines on their 690's grenading, and the May issue of Dirt Rider saying how the 350 EXC couldn't be started mid ride because the battery had worn out, and the kickstarter couldn't do anything because the voltage was too low to run the EFI and I guess I walked back out of that place.

So, back to the little 250R. Very rarely, about 6000 feet, on long hillclimbs, I wish it had a little more punch. If Yamaha ever comes out with a WR450R with the same bulletproof reliability of the 250R, and not some temperamental race bike with blinkers, I'll buy one.

Till then, I'll keep my little pack mule.

:)

One needs to understand how those maintenance intervals were developed on those bikes. Most of those intervals are based on racing time. That isn't to say you can get 3000 or 4000 miles between oil changes but if you are using the bike for dual sporting they certainly can be extended.

I have a Beta 520 RR that is similar to a KTM 500 EXC in terms of performance - 246lbs and a 500cc motor. The maintenance intervals are close to the same. Since I use mine for dual sporting I change the engine oil every 1000 miles (0.8L) and the oil filter and transmission oil (0.8L) every 2000 miles. The valve 'adjustment' is not really an adjustment as stated but a valve check - you do the adjustment if you need it. Still not sure how long to let that one go between changes since I have not had to make an adjustment yet so I will keep checking about every 2000 miles. Once I have to do an adjustment I will set a more reasonable check interval.

The biggest issue that I struggle with on the bike is the lack of DC electrical power. These bikes (KTM and Beta) have two electrical circuits. A DC circuit to basically keep the battery charged for the electric start and an AC system to run everything else. I believe the reason they do that is to save weight since you really don't need a large R/R to run everything. They sell kits to convert the bike over to DC but to be honest I have not found a reason to do so yet. I mean I can't run additional LED lights or any heated gear but with the Beta I usually don't ride it at night and if I am riding it I am usually working my ass off and not going very fast due to the type of trails I ride it on - very little pavement.

Are they more maintenance intensive than a WRR - yes they are. Are they a DS bike that everyone would love - no they are not.

However my Beta has one advantage over the WRR and KTM and that is it's FCR carb and kick starter (it also has a magic starter button too). I have seen my buddy get stranded on his WRR when his battery all of a sudden drop a cell and there was not enough juice to run the FI system. Heard of the same issues with the KTMs too. One of the reasons I bought the WRR was because of the FI system and while I still like the way it works I am not convinced it is the best setup if you are in the middle of nowhere - adds a layer of complexity that doesn't need to be there.

For now I use the WRR on trips where I am camping at a different location each night which requires me to pack up the bike each day. The WRR is definitely a pack mule in that respect. Due to the small subframe on the Beta and KTM you really can't load them up as much without running into some sort of issue. However, I am beginning to realize that I carry too much stuff with me on these trips and I am about to the point where I can carry everything on the Beta that I need. Once I am at that point the mileage interval between oil changes becomes the limiting factor. Then again after I took the WRR swimming in CO last year and had to do 4 oil changes to get everything back in order I suspect that may not be as big of an issue as I think it is - I mean I would just need to carry a liter of oil with me and find a place to dispose of the old oil like I did in CO.