New WRR owner (former WRF owner) from Bend, OR

I just picked up a 2013 WRR with 600 miles on it- super stoked! Very happy to have found this site. Looking forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge here.

I am a former '07 WRF owner, so the bike is very familiar to me. Looking forward to working through the free mods. There is a bog at low-mid throttle, which I am assuming is related to it being bone stock. Was planning to leave it basically stock from a motor/ power standpoint, but from the little research I have done so far, it appears I may need to do a programmer since we can't mess with jetting... Correct?

Is it possible to make this bike as trail-worthy as the WRF without significant $$? Guessing the suspension will be the biggest issue? I am going to use the bike as a commuter, but want to be able to trail ride it on the weekends. I know the stock suspension on my WRF went through a miraculous transformation when I had my suspension guy go through it. Will the WRR benefit from the same treatment, or are they less trail-worthy at their core?

Was thinking a spare set of wheels with dirt-specific tires would be a good investment. What bikes would be a direct swap on the wheels? Guessing a 250 WRF- any others? What years are compatible? I'm going to look for a stock set that someone has pulled off.

Thanks in advance for any help/ advice. Looking forward to meeting everyone on the forum.

Travis from Go Race suspension seems to do magical work on the WR's.

As for mods it depends what you want to do. First would be regear it. Most popular is 13/48 that's one of the best changes and new tyres. Some say adjusting the CO setting in the diagnostic mod helps with the bog but for me I added a programmer.  I highly recommend spending a little extra cash on the programmer and getting a PCV with fuel and ignition.. I can go into the differences but there are plenty of threads about the programmers. PCV is well and truely more capable than the FMF but as a cost $$. They can be had for approx $280 from motomummy. Well below the RRP of near $400. Adding an exhaust of your choice and opening up the airbox and a new high flow air filter really wakes the bike up.

I have done the flapper mod, new air filter, I also have installed a FMF Q4 and Megabomb with the PCV. I loaded a map form here someone shared and I can tell you even without regearing which is still on my to do list it has really woken the bike up. I use mine for commuting and have had no issues at all. With a new bub at home the trails are tempting me but time is an issue at the moment. I also did mine over time starting with the programmer and just remapped it as my mods chaged.

If you are thinking of another set of rims you could always look into a set of sumo wheels. Putting street tyres on the bike opens it up to fun on the road. Plenty of people love taking their WR250X through the twisties. Warp 9 make a decent set and if you specify its for the WR250R hub its a straight swap as the X has a larger front rotor. They also do dirt wheels it all comes down to what you want to do and what your budget it.

speersie wrote:

Travis from Go Race suspension seems to do magical work on the WR's.

As for mods it depends what you want to do. First would be regear it. Most popular is 13/48 that's one of the best changes and new tyres. Some say adjusting the CO setting in the diagnostic mod helps with the bog but for me I added a programmer.  I highly recommend spending a little extra cash on the programmer and getting a PCV with fuel and ignition.. I can go into the differences but there are plenty of threads about the programmers. PCV is well and truely more capable than the FMF but as a cost $$. They can be had for approx $280 from motomummy. Well below the RRP of near $400. Adding an exhaust of your choice and opening up the airbox and a new high flow air filter really wakes the bike up.

I have done the flapper mod, new air filter, I also have installed a FMF Q4 and Megabomb with the PCV. I loaded a map form here someone shared and I can tell you even without regearing which is still on my to do list it has really woken the bike up. I use mine for commuting and have had no issues at all. With a new bub at home the trails are tempting me but time is an issue at the moment. I also did mine over time starting with the programmer and just remapped it as my mods chaged.

If you are thinking of another set of rims you could always look into a set of sumo wheels. Putting street tyres on the bike opens it up to fun on the road. Plenty of people love taking their WR250X through the twisties. Warp 9 make a decent set and if you specify its for the WR250R hub its a straight swap as the X has a larger front rotor. They also do dirt wheels it all comes down to what you want to do and what your budget it.

Thank you for the great info. My plan is to do the free mods asap. I haven't decided yet if my next target is suspension or exhaust/ programmer. I'm sure after I have ridden the bike for a bit that decision will become obvious.

Interesting idea to have the 2nd wheel set be a sumo set. I will definitely give that some thought.

I just did a bunch of reading on the CO setting. Maybe I will play with that a bit and see if I can make the bog go away. I read where one guy said that it went away on his at +6, so seems worth giving it a try. I know on the carb WRF, it was a fairly simple jetting fix.

Thanks again for the advice!

tacotory wrote:

There is a bog at low-mid throttle, which I am assuming is related to it being bone stock.  Was planning to leave it basically stock from a motor/ power standpoint, but from the little research I have done so far, it appears I may need to do a programmer since we can't mess with jetting...  Correct?

Yes it is FI and there are few if any adjustments to be made.  I thought my bike had a bog, but since I geared it down and got used to it - now I don't.  If cost is an issue, consider leaving the intake and exhaust stock.  You can spend hundreds for a few percent improvement.

tacotory wrote:

Is it possible to make this bike as trail-worthy as the WRF without significant $$?  ... are they less trail-worthy at their core?

No..Yes..    weight is a big factor that can't be fixed.  

tacotory wrote:

Guessing the suspension will be the biggest issue?

I agree - The stock suspension limits me off-road.  Many have reported great results in having the factory suspension professionally re-valved.

I like the suspension, but im used to big heavy old bikes like xt600, xt350 with poor suspension ect.

So I guess it depends on what you compare it to.

dhally wrote:

tacotory wrote:

There is a bog at low-mid throttle, which I am assuming is related to it being bone stock.  Was planning to leave it basically stock from a motor/ power standpoint, but from the little research I have done so far, it appears I may need to do a programmer since we can't mess with jetting...  Correct?

Yes it is FI and there are few if any adjustments to be made.  I thought my bike had a bog, but since I geared it down and got used to it - now I don't.  If cost is an issue, consider leaving the intake and exhaust stock.  You can spend hundreds for a few percent improvement.

tacotory wrote:

Is it possible to make this bike as trail-worthy as the WRF without significant $$?  ... are they less trail-worthy at their core?

No..Yes..    weight is a big factor that can't be fixed.  

tacotory wrote:

Guessing the suspension will be the biggest issue?

I agree - The stock suspension limits me off-road.  Many have reported great results in having the factory suspension professionally re-valved.

Well, I already broke down and bought an FMF Power bomb/ Q4 set up. Also have the AIS removal on it's way, and a filter. Going to install this stuff and get the airbox mods done this weekend so it can breathe. We'll see what it feels like then. With the EFI, will I need to buy a controller with the intake/ exhaust mods??

Suspension-wise, I'll probably get the sag set properly and see how that feels for a while.

After coming off an off-road bike, I think the challenge for me will be to not try to make it something it's not.