Call me crazy but...

What's up everyone. I just bought a brand spanking new WR250R yesterday. This is my second dirt-bike ever. I've owned 4 other on-road motorcycles previously and a quad. I must say that this bike is, by far, the coolest machine that I have ever owned!

When I first bought my first dirt bike, which is a TTR230, it was SOOOO slow, and the gearing was all wacky. I had to uncork and regear it immediately, otherwise I would have went crazy. After doing the basic mods to that bike, she woke up a lot, and I came to fall in love with her.

Well, I was expecting the same with the WR. I spent a years reading forums, reviews, watching videos, etc. and every one was saying that you absolutely have to do the same basic mods (exhaust, fuel programmer, airbox, remove some unnecessary stuff, and regear it) in order to really wake the bike up. However, when I rode it out of the shop yesterday, I was very surprised with the stock setup. It came out of the box having decent power, and the gearing seemed pretty good to me. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have much of a basis of comparison since I've never actually owned or ridden a "real" dirt bike like a yz250f or a 2-stroke or something like that. But I tell ya, this WR in it's fully stock condition SMOKES my TTR230 in it's uncorked, broken-in condition.

I still plan on doing the uncorking stuff to this bike, but it's certainly not an absolute necessity like it was for my other dirt bike. I'm just gonna chuck some better off-road tires on it, handguards, better-looking mirrors, a skid plate, a radiator guard, and a better tail light setup on it and call it a day. I'm gonna save the power mods for later.

I'm VERY happy with this bike in it's stock condition!!

BTW, great forum...I'm on ThumperTalk as well, but great to see that there's a forum dedicated specifically to this bike!

First of all, the WRR is not a dirt bike; it is 40 lbs heavier, and has 30% less power, than Yamaha's own dirt bike, the WR250F. The WRR is a dual-sport, heavier and less powerful in order to be street-legal and have long service intervals. Its reliability is so high actually that is regarded by many as the most advanced lightweight adventure bike.

Secondly, I don't understand why you would ever have believed the TTR230 to be at the same general level as the WRR. The TTR is essentially a bike from the 1980's, air-cooled, SOHC, carburated, its only reason for existence being its low price. The WRR is a thoroughly modern bike, liquid-cooled, DOHC, fuel-injected, so even in stock form one would have expected a much higher performance level.

Keeping the WRR in stock form is a very valid choice; in fact, quite a few members here have gone back to stock form after experimenting with performance upgrades and finding them less than compelling.

Congrats on the new bike, and welcome to the site!

Shows how much I know about dirt bikes .

Point being, I'm super happy with my purchase. In fact, I'm happy to say that I had my first wipe out in some slippery leaves today...I thought that when I dropped the bike that I'd pick it up to find the front brake lever broken (which is why I am anxiously waiting for my handguards to get here). But everything was still in tact.

I can't wait to fall hundreds more times on this thing!

Here's another great hang out place ... general conversation continuously

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/yamaha-wr250r-mega-thread.329337/

take a month or so to read through this one -

ATGATT and you'll be fine

I owned a 2008 WR250R and a 2008 WR250X.

The first ride on my WR250R had me thinking the bike felt slow and gutless, and that was because I was also riding a 2009 Suzuki DR-Z400SM with mods like a 440 big bore kit and other $$ pissed away on it.
However, as I started to ride the DR-Z less and less and the WR250R more and more, the WR250R eventually came around and felt good and respectable to me, and the addition of an FMF Power Programmer helped a lot.
I actually did a ride with the programmer both hooked-up and then disconnected, and I preferred the throttle response with the programmer by a long shot - the bike felt lean on fueling without it, as if it were always feeling like it were about to run out of gas in comparison.

If I were to buy another WR250R or X and were going to buy just one power modification, it would be a fuel programmer.

As far as calling the WR250R a dirt bike, I am willing to let that slide because it is, after all, designed in the likeness of a bona-fide dirt-only motorcycle, just with lots of Federal EPA crap on it as well as added weight and mass to the engine to improve smoothness of the engine and longevity of the engine.
The suspension, too, is unfortunately second-rate compared to Yamaha's off-road-only dirt bikes, but if you only ride your WR250R, I guess you won't miss it.

Compared to the dual-purpose bikes that were current models when I was 16 years old (bikes made for both street riding and off-road riding like the WR250R is), the WR250R is quite superior, actually.
A 1982 Yamaha XT250J, a 1982 Honda XL250R, or a 1982 Suzuki SP250Z (all air-cooled 4-strokes with quiet mufflers and EPA-abiding carburetors and strangled airboxes/air filters) would never be able to keep pace with a WR250R out on the freeway or out on the trails, given riders of equal ability and guts.
In fact, I have to chuckle when I read how a WR250R is called-out for not being fast enough out on an Interstate highway - try it on a XT250J and get back to me.

CosmicCharlie...thanks for the link! I have a lot of reading to do!

YZetc...Considering that the only dirt bike that I ever owned was my TTR, this thing is like night and day difference! I'm extremely happy with every aspect of it including the suspension. The TTR suspension wasn't nearly as good, but again I've never actually riden a "real" dirt bike.

One question for you...did you put the fuel programmer on there without doing the other mods (exhaust, air box, removal of emissions stuff)?

My 2015 WRR is still original - air box, the heavy exhaust, factory computer and settings, (some have said leaving the air box original gives the bike more bottom end torque, but thats just what I've read ... some here are even putting the air box back together ...)
For dual sport (street & dirt) the bike feels real good overall (to me), not a racing bike thats for sure, some have said the re-program can add but (may) take away some other parts of the HP & Torque curve ... depends what your looking for in a tune.
Having the 49 rear sprocket and Dunlop D606's made my bike much more usable in dirt / single track (for me) and still can be driven occasionally 65 mph or more if needed. YRMV - your stock Trailwings (named by others Deathwings / in the dirt +-) may not be great overall so especially watch the bikes footing ...

I installed the programmer with those other mods.

Congratulations on the new bike! I consider the WR250R to be the best dual sport on the market. I've had mine for 4 years and just about 11,000 miles. Aside from the stator going bad (covered under a recall) it has been flawless. I left the engine / intake / exhaust in stock form and played with the gearing. I consider 13/47 to be optimal for all around riding. I also had the suspension set up by a shop because the back end tended to wallow a lot in the whoops. Stiffer valving in the shock took care of that. One of the best mods for this bike is the tires. I'm running Pirelli MT21 tires front and back and I highly recommend them.

One area the WR could be better in is desert riding, especially in deep sand. The heavy weight of the bike combined with its lack of power and suspension is a bad combination. It will go through it and get you where you want to go, but it can be a struggle. So I bought a KTM 500 EXC. I called the WR the best dual sport on the market because that's what I believe it is. The KTM is a proper dirt bike that just so happens to have a license plate on it. The KTM has all the light weight, power, and suspension one would expect from a high performance dirt bike, and it also has all the costs and maintenance that go with it. Not a dual sport. Big time apples and oranges.

The point of my story is a lot of my friends told me I would sell the WR once I started riding the KTM. I've had the KTM since last July, and there is no way I would want to sell the WR. In fact, I PREFER to take the WR on certain rides. It's easier to manage on the street, and it does great in the forest and mountains. The WR is perfect for the fire roads we ride on. I especially like riding the Yamaha all over the place without having to keep one eye on the engine hour meter. Enjoy your new ride!

Lee

Congratulations on grabbing a WR-R. Here's hoping you have years of fun riding it in places that scare you a bit, and get the adrenaline going! This bike is able to do that, no worries. It's just slower than an enduro bike, but can easily be ridden in tough places.

Therefore, I totally disagree with the opinion that the WR-R is not a dirt bike. Mine is mostly stock and has spent almost all of its 36,000km and 2000hrs in the dirt, and a lot of that is cross-country. Mine is a dirt bike, it's just not a performance dirt bike.

What is not stock on mine: The rear shock altered to reduce high-speed compression damping, AIS junk ditched, flapper mod, various defence bits and pieces, tyres and gearing.

This is a very adaptable dirt bike, being a great ride-to-work proposition, travel anywhere bike, or, like mine, a useful and (post recall and fuel pump upgrades) mostly dependable work bike.

Really what I'm saying is that a dirt bike is a bike that's capable off-road, whether it's a trailie like our bikes, or a weapon like its stable-mates. The WR-R goes almost anywhere a performance dirt bike will go, just slower. That makes it a dirt bike - imo.

Ah man I love it. It's a dirt bike in my eyes...that's the main reason I got it, because it's literally a street legal dirt bike. 

So much for keeping it stock too haha. I did all the basic performance mods, plus I added the zeta handguards with the integrated turn signals and the rear fender eliminator kit. 

This thing absolutely RIPS in my opinion. I've never ridden an actual performance dirt bike, but I have ridden my 450 quad a bunch of times...this bike rips just like that thing did before I sold it. I love it!

The main reason that I bought this bike was so that I could legally ride to trails. My focus is 95% off road, and this thing does exactly that. It's nice being able to legally cruise around town too though.

By far, this is the coolest toy I've ever owned!