Considering a WR250R

Hello everybody, I've seriously have been considering a dual sport bike. I currently have a cbr250r. Anyway I have a few questions. I will be mainly using this bike on the road but I'm sure I will also be using it a bunch off road or just messing around where it would be nice to have dual sport capabilities. I am also really interested in the flexibility in a bike that I don't have to worry about taking off the road.

So one of my main concerns is on road handling. How will this bike handle in the twistys? I want to get a 2014 model but I'd like to keep the stock tires. That being said I have no clue how that will handle. If someone could help me figure this out I'd be happy. I love hitting the mountains and taking nice turns and I seem to see plenty of dual sports here.

My next concern is maintenance. I used to have a dirt bike when I was younger and remember doing very little maintenance. Either that or my dad took care of it. So, I was wondering what maintenance is on these bikes. In terms of both cost and intervals. Also do you lube and clean the chain like a normal bike? Or is it more often?

I am not worried about having a super fast bike and I love how dual sports look. I also figure that insurance is very cheap. Also I'd really like having the off-road capabilities; I really miss my old dirt bike lol.

Thanks in advance for any info you guys can give me. Sorry if I sound a little inexperienced but that is the case.

When I first bought my 2008 WR250R, I rode it both on the street and off-road for trail riding.
After a few months of that, I bought another bike for my off-road riding and assigned the WR250R for street-only use for the rest of the time I owned it.

The WR250R is actually very good when used as a street sport bike, if that's what you're wondering.
The main differences between the WR250R and a bona-fide street sport bike like a CBR250R are that you sit up a bit higher off the ground, sit in a more upright posture, and you don't need to lean the bike over quite as far while taking the typical corner, which probably has something to do with you sitting higher up off the ground.
I had many sport rides on the street railing through many twisty corners with high confidence in the bike as it felt good while doing so.
This was with the stock Bridgestone Trail Wing tires, too.
My only real gripe is that the small-diameter front brake rotor (compared to a sport bike) left me wanting more front brake power.

In summary, the bike worked very well for street-only use, and to say that you truly needed more performance out of a 250cc single-cylindered sport bike in cornering ability, well, you'd probably be a good candidate for riding on a track at a track day.
I believe that the No. 1 thing preventing a rider from using the WR250R for this type of use is that it doesn't look like a sport bike.

How often you have to perform maintenance is dependent on where and how often and how hard the bike is ridden.
For a bike that is on the street 100% of the time, changing the engine oil at the recommended intervals, lubing the chain occasionally, and servicing the air filter once a month or two or a year is about all that's required for most riders unless something unexpected comes up.
Other parts like the chassis bearings, brake pads, brake fluid, and suspension fluid require grease or need to be changed from time-to-time just like any other bike, but when a bike is used only on the street, those parts can go so long without being tended to yet the bike can still function that many riders ride the bike for years and eventually sell the bike without yet having serviced those parts.

Off-road riding is what really ups the maintenance schedule because the surrounding environment is much more dirty and much more rough.
Air filters get dirty enough to need to be serviced after one ride.
Dirt gets munched between the chain rollers and sprocket teeth.
The engine oil gets dirty more quickly.
The suspension components and fluid get a vigorous workout.
Dirt and water is always trying to get to the parts that need to be kept free of contaminants.
Any motorcycle that spends a lot of time off-road is subjected to this.
Period.
It doesn't matter if the bike is sold with a license plate holder.

Thank you for the good info. I'm glad to hear it does well on the street. I'm not able to get another bike until spring but I'm allowed to get something new :) That being said, I am torn between a couple bikes. I want this for the fun factor and to bring me back go the whole dirt bike thing that I miss so much. I also love the way these dual purpose bikes look with their knobby tires and the rims. Just the whole styling has me interested.

My other option is the Yamaha FZ-07. This seems more practical and also like a very fun bike. I won't be able to take it into the dirt though. I also want the WR250R since it has the nice suspension. Does it work very well on road too? Also Do you guys keep two sets of tires?

Anyway, when it comes down to it I think I'll want the WR250R. While it might be lacking in speed, I know it'll be so much fun. Even though it's expensive, the cost after buying it is cheap. And there's just something about being able to check out any road and be capable. Man I miss my dirt bike more than I ever thought I would haha.

Until spring, I will hang out on these forums and learn as much as possible. Thank you guys for any help you can offer me and hopefully one day I'll be on a dual purpose :)

It really depends on what your idea of offroad means...I've done some pretty crazy offroad considering I'm on street tires with my wr250x. You might be surprised what you can do with street tires. Of course you'd have to buy a used wr250x since they aren't made anymore.

For me, off road riding would be mostly on dirt and light trails with the occasional seriously crazy trail. Steep inclines also as I live near mountains. Also just love the ability to kind of mess around. I can take a shortcut to my house and when my drive way is full I can just hop the curb.

I came from a DL1000 to my WRR (and an XT225 and XL600R before that). As far as street ability, the WRR is actually very good, and I lbelieve that's largely due to the suspension. The XL wasn't terrible on the street, but the soft suspension made twisty turns a bouncy experience. The longer wheelbase allows it to be more stable at higher speeds, though. The XT wasn't bad, but I felt like a circus bear riding it. The Vstrom was a great street bike, but I find I'm able to flick around the WRR a lot better, naturally due to the weight.

Even though I went from a 1000cc bike to this, I'm very pleased by the power it puts out and it's strest handling, especially after I stiffened everything up with the factory settings. It gets to highway speeds pretty well (I'm in PA in a urban setting, the highways are windy and the speeds tend to average around 70), and I even have room to pass with stock gearing. Not as much as the big Vee of course, but I like it so far.

I'm also curious as to how far you can lean this thing over with the stock knobby tires before losing traction?

My garage once contained a Kawi GPZ 1100 and a Honda 500cc shaft-drive touring bike, although I'm not a serious road rider.  The WR is pretty nimble but not what I'd call powerful.  I think it handles well on pavement, where the stock tires are surprisingly capable.

I've taken the WR over some rough trails but it is not a hard-core dirt bike and I still have trouble with some loose, rocky climbs.  I am thinking of buying something in the 450-500cc class for those trails and for high-altitude dual sporting (like Colorado).

However, I must say that the WR is very predictable, smooth riding, and reliable.  It has limitations but it's a good bike and I enjoy it.  I'll likely keep it even if I buy something more powerful.

Dave

If you want fun in the twisties you'll want sumo tires. I mean, you can lay the bike over real far with the stock tires....50/50 tires are great for that, but with sumo tires on it's just unreal - you don't really need to slow down for corners......

I guess I could just have two sets of tires. What's the best way to go about this? Would I want to get extra rims and stuff? Or should I just swap out the tires? I know very little about actually putting tires on and off rims etc.

It takes about 15 minutes to swap over - yes, you'll want a complete set of wheels. I bought a set off eBay. I'd get the bike first and ride it if I were you. Do some road riding, some fire roads, get involved in a dual sport club and see where it takes you.

Out here we have everything from tight trail to supermoto racing and everything in between, so you can kit the bike out to go in any direction you want.

I'm all about the off-road riding. I'm setup really well for that, for adventure riding, and supermoto. In the end the supermoto thing wasn't for me and the bike is too small for adventure rides (I mean, it'll do it, but a bigger bike is more comfortable). So now the WR is for trail riding and getting between the trails. But I have all the equipment to spend a day at the sumo track or to ride to Alaska.

LordEndo wrote:

It takes about 15 minutes to swap over - yes, you'll want a complete set of wheels.  I bought a set off eBay.  I'd get the bike first and ride it if I were you.  Do some road riding, some fire roads, get involved in a dual sport club and see where it takes you.  

Out here we have everything from tight trail to supermoto racing and everything in between, so you can kit the bike out to go in any direction you want.

I'm all about the off-road riding.  I'm setup really well for that, for adventure riding, and supermoto.  In the end the supermoto thing wasn't for me and the bike is too small for adventure rides (I mean, it'll do it, but a bigger bike is more comfortable).  So now the WR is for trail riding and getting between the trails.  But I have all the equipment to spend a day at the sumo track or to ride to Alaska.  

Thank you for the good advice. Looks like I won't be getting another bike until March so I'll have plenty of time to do some research. I also feel like if I can find some people to ride dual sport with then I'd probably prefer off road more. Also I haven't done any dirt riding since I was like 13 years old(7 years ago) so I will have to learn a lot.