Help first time buyer

Well I rode dirt bikes when I was a kid for 10 years .i know own a cbr 1000 as a street bike been looking into supermotos . Really want a bike for trail riding some light jumps and just plain fun . When I go to trails I will prob load it in truck . But a bike to play with around me town and mess around with would be fun .
Found a 08 wr250x for 3500 with 12k miles or a 08 250r for 3k wok miles any advice ? I'm 5'11 220

Are you asking which of the two bikes you should buy, or whether or not you should buy one at all?

If you want a fun bike that will feel extremely light compared to a 1,000cc Supersport, either one will do that.
You will have to spend some seat time recalibrating your internal guidance system to the new 25-or-so horsepower output, of course, so get ready for that.
For example, you will suddenly feel the need to shift through the gears more frequently.

To me, the fun of riding these bikes on the road is taking advantage of their main strength (light weight and extreme flickability) while making time on a curvy road by simply not slowing down as much for sharp corners (while using common sense as not to cause an accident, of course) as you can't do it with horsepower, alone - that's Supersport riding.

As far as which of the two bikes you should buy, assuming they are in good condition and one isn't a lot better than the other, the answer is whether or not you want to stay on the street or do a lot of off-road riding.
The prices you listed are OK by me (without seeing the bikes, that is).
Of course, for an additional outlay of dough, the R or X wheels and front caliper assembly can be bought to switch one to the other if that's your bag.

Will still have the street bike so more off roading and maybe putting bike in truck and taking to trails

In my experience, off-road = WR250R.
It has the wheels made to accept real off-road tires.

And then around town can I use the stock knobbys that are on it ?

If you want a bike to ride trails, jump, and trailer, why not get a real dirt bike? Maybe jap 2 stroke. Now that would be some REAL fun! and would only cost about $2,000. They are about 70 lb lighter than the WRR and maybe 2x the hp. You would give up the street riding, but much better on the dirt.

Worried about maintaine and really just want to use pump has no mixing . Any recommendatiins ? Really might pick up the r and just have it to go around town then hit trails on weekend

The WR250R would be a hoot for what you described & holds it resale very well if you decided you wanted something more aggressive later.

Sounds the the WR250R is the one for you. Either would work but the R will handle trails much better.

Just remember that even though the WR250R ain't a race bike, if you ride it off-road, you still have to do the same basic maintenance things like air filter servicing (that's a biggie) and changing the engine oil more than once in a blue moon.

A race bike has to have more maintance then I do lol I want a bike I can beat on at the trail and not have to go home and change the damn oil that weekend lol

dhally wrote:

If you want a bike to ride trails, jump, and trailer, why not get a real dirt bike?  

Agreed. Take a look at the WR250F, CRF250X or a KTM and do it right.

Ok are they 4 strokes? I owned a old yz450 and it was to much for me off roading and I got into atvs. Maybe a 250 4 stroke for trail riding would be better. I mean I still own 08 cbr 1000 for street . realiabilty wise what's best

Moto111 wrote:

Ok are they 4 strokes?

The WR250F and CRF250X are 4 strokes. They are nearly identical bikes. KTM makes a large selection of 2 and 4 stroke trail bikes. The metric trail bikes are all 4t.

Reliability? A source of huge debate. Honda and Yamaha are generally considered more reliable than KTM though you will get an argument from KTM owners. The advantage of a KTM is they come "race ready" as their moto says. Meaning they are "closed course" off the floor, you don't need to mod them (pull all the emissions crap off, upgrade components etc.) to get them to run. But if you're looking used you will likely find a Yami or Honda that has already been modded and running well.

2t vs 4t? You should read a few of the 9 million pages of debate on the web. It will come down to the way the power bands behave differently and maintenace/cost of ownership issues which will depend on your wrenching skills.

Moto111 wrote:

A race bike has to have more maintance then I do lol I want a bike I can beat on at the trail and not have to go home and change the damn oil that weekend lol

The two stroke bikes don't really require any extra maintenance (unless you count mixing oil). But I understand not wanting to mix oil, and there is the smoke and noise to consider.

Another option is the 4 stroke Japanese trail bikes. These aren't made any more, but can be found used in good condition for under $2,000. Oil changes every 1500 miles, valve inspections maybe 3-6,000 miles. Air cooled and simple. Can be licensed depending on your state. They don't have as much maximum power as the WR250R, but have better low rpm torque which actually works better for trails.

Honda XR250R, Honda XR250L (street legal but rare), Honda XR400, Yamaha TTR250, Suzuki DRZ250. These weigh about 20-40 lb less than the WR250R. The Yamaha and Suzuki have electric start.

Two of my riding buddies have DRZ250's. They go everywhere I go on the WR250R.

So would the wr 250r be good as a trail bike I eeigh 200 pounds and I feel 450 is to much just for trails and not needed

Moto111 wrote:

So would the wr 250r be good as a trail bike I eeigh 200 pounds and I feel 450 is to much just for trails and not needed

Yes. It's a very good trail bike given above. I suspect (as did Yzetc above) that you will be disappointed on the road - even if you approach it as a "just for fun, knock around bike".

Given what you are used to on the road, and if you are set on a dual sport for the reasons you said in your original post, you should consider a DRZ400. It's a very solid trail bike. Won't be quite as nimble as the WRR on real technical stuff. But when you're looking for a playful street ride at least you'll have some raw grunt.

Since you mentioned reliability it should be noted the WRR has legendary reliability. I can't comment on the DRZ re; reliability.

IMHO, if you're set on a dual sport with good trail ability it comes down to the DRZ or WRR. WRR for nimbleness and reliability. DRZ for the pure grunt you will likely be missing on the road (given what you're used to).

Can the wrr handle small jumps and what not , not doing tabletops but I do like to fly sometimes just a little lol I also weigh about 210 . I was looking into 250 4 strokes as well for like 1500-2k but the wrr by me has like 7k miles and they want 3k it's a 08

Moto111 wrote:

Can the wrr handle small jumps and what not ,

Absolutely yes.  I took my WRR to the motocross track! The stock suspension is fully adjustable. You can add fork oil if you're bottoming out but I doubt very much you will be. You're may be a bit heavy for the stock shock (I forget) but nothing to be concerned about unless you plan on pushing her real hard.

Sounds like you're set on a WRR. Good luck.

dhally wrote:

Another option is the 4 stroke Japanese trail bikes.  These aren't made any more, but can be found used in good condition ...

What the hell are you talking about? Yamaha WR250F (fully updated this year with EFI) , Yamaha YZ250FX (brand new closed course TRAIL BIKE out this year), Honda CRF250X.

4play wrote:

As the saying goes.

Moto ... at 2:30pm you weigh 200 lbs and at 7:20pm you weigh 210 lbs. I know it's the holiday but what the hell are you eating?

Jus got back from gym haha protein shakes lol it will go back down after my meeting with the bathroom later haha just afraid buying bikes off Craigslist . I want a trail bike for next season supermoto prob not so much while it would be fun. The 250x can't move me probably lol

gatorfan wrote:

dhally wrote:

Another option is the 4 stroke Japanese trail bikes.  These aren't made any more, but can be found used in good condition ...

What the hell are you talking about? Yamaha WR250F (fully updated this year with EFI) , Yamaha YZ250FX (brand new closed course TRAIL BIKE out this year), Honda CRF250X.

The OP said he didn't want to change oil after every ride. I think the modern offroad bikes like CRFx and WRf require oil changes and valve adjustments about the same as Euro bikes. So I was suggesting the older, lighter, simpler, lower maintenance bikes.

But it sounds like the OP is set on a WRR/X in any case, which should work fine as a compromise between having fun in the dirt and street capability.