End of production for the WR250R - No 2018 model

I haven't seen a thread discussing this yet so thought I'd share what I've read elsewhere so far.

10 days ago this Japanese website reported "On the Yamaha Motor homepage, the production end of the off road model "WR 250 R" and the motard model "WR 250 X" was announced."

Today I noticed that the WR250R is notably missing from the "2018 Lineup" on the Yamaha USA dual-sport web page. The 2017 model is included in the "Current Lineup" along with 2018 XT250 and 2018 TW200.  It appears that after 10 great years the end is near for these great little bikes.

I'd love to be wrong in this case.  Feel free to pile on if you have info to support that.

I'm not convinced. There are number of other bikes on yamaha's website that are still showing 2017 as the most recent model including the super tenere and fj-09. It is the only one on the dual sport page though.

Hard to say for certain though. At a dual sport ride in WI last weekend there was by far more WRRs there than anything else other than the orange bikes. But then when I was looking for my WRR last year, I talked to dealers without much enthusiasm for them. One said he doesn't order them cause he can't sell them and another said they tend to sit on the sales floor for a year.

A very nice hypothetical question is: what could have happened if the WRR would have had better sales figures?

If the WRR would have been more successful model (in terms of sales) e.g such as the Honda CRF250L/M - would Yamaha still terminate production?
or would they have just cease to produce for the European & for the local Japanese market BUT they would continue to produce and to sell the wrr/x in U.S.A & Australia ect. (same as Suzuki are doing with the drz: you can't buy the DRZ in Japan or in Europe, but Suzuki still produce it and you can buy a DRZ in the U.S or in Australia).

IMO the secret of success of Honda's CRF250L/M is that the CRF250L/M wasn't designed for the U.S market or for the western world... it was was designed primarily for the huge markets of east Asia.
just to make it clear: in the U.S (the largest motorcycle market in the western world) around 0.5 million motorcycles (include scooters) are being sold every year.
in all of the European countries together - we are talking about another 0.5 million motorcycles (include scooters) sales every year.
in Indonesia alone - 6 million motorcycles sales every year.
in Thailand: 2-3 million motorcycles sales every year.
(and in addition you have the republic of the Philippines and other huge markets in east Asia)

the problem with with the WR250R/X "from day-one" was the decision made by Yamaha corporation:
A- to build it in Japan (therefore consequently it will have a relatively high retail Price).
B- to build it as 250CC thumper.

Unfortunately we (and Yamaha) learned over the past 10 years that those two elements are incompatible.
regrettably, for the WRR/X the writing was on the wall from day-one.

Once you are building a dual sport bike in Japan -> unavoidably you designate it for the western world. you designate it for western customers that are able & can afford to spend 6-7 grands on a bike.
BUT those western world customers are not interested in a 250CC thumper... sure they can afford to spend 7000 USD on a bike, but they are looking for bikes with bigger displacement. at least 400CC.

And vice versa: once you are building a 250CC dual sport -> you designate it mainly for the east Asia markets... you designate it for Asian consumers that wants & need a just 250CC thumper. they have nothing to do with a 400CC or a 600CC motorcycle.
BUT those Asian consumers are not interested in a paying a 7000USD price tag.

in conclusion: The WR250R/X just fell between two stools.

(some say that the wr250r/x motor is basically just one cylinder off a 2007 R1 engine - so maybe Yamaha were obliged to builid the WRR in Japan & were obliged to build it as a 250CC thumper... be that as it may: building a dual sport bike in Japan AND building it as a 250CC thumper -> just isn't a good recipe (from a business POV).


IMO if Yamaha will ever learn its lesson & indeed will build us a new WRR in the future (I'm not sure that it will happen at all... BUT if it will happen) my guess is that Yamaha will follow the path of Honda - and will build us a matching CRF-L simple dual sport, in blue color.
they will build it in some third world country (just like the CRF-L) - probably in their Yamaha factory in Indonesia where they already produce the R3 and the MT-03.
this new WRR will be based on their R3/MT03 model (just like the CRF-L).
it will be heavy (just like the CRF-L)
It will have simpleminded components and low specifications (just like the CRF-L)
it will be inexpensive to purchase (just like the CRF-L)
and it will sale tons in east Asia (just like the CRF-L) and also it will show some very nice annual-sales figures in the western world - for the ever growing bunch of western customers that don't really care about the specifications of their stock dual-sport bike as long as it's cheap to buy, and also the phrase "MADE IN JAPAN" doesn't say anything special for them... & all they care about is that the word YAMAHA or HONDA is written in big capital letters on their bike's seat (just like in the CRF-L).

Interesting post Two Times, I agree the wrr would have been more desirable as a 350 or 400, it doesn't really have an off road power band being a higher revving engine. I have a 02' XR400 that is dual sported and it is hands down more fun to ride but lacks the 6th gear for pavement. A light weight long living 350 or 400 6 speed would be ideal in my opinion.

From a business POV - producing the WR250R in Japan (and in result slapping a 7000usd/eur price tag on it) - was as stupid as producing the R3 in Japan...

We will never see this kind of terrific mistakes again.
If Yamaha will ever build a new WRR - it will be manufactured in Indonesia on the basis of the R3, it will be heavy, modern, simple, low-spec and cheap to buy.
If Suzuki will ever build a new dr350 - it will be manufactured in china on the basis of the GSXR250, it will be heavy, modern, simple, low-spec and cheap to buy.
If Kawa will ever build a new KLX - it will be manufactured in Thailand on the basis of their "baby ninja", and guess what: it will be heavy, modern, simple, low-spec and cheap to buy.

IMO the only way for us to see another "made in Japan", top shelf, high-spec dual sport in the future: is only if one of the big-4 will decide to produce a 600cc (at least 600cc) expensive, heavy, aggressive dual sport that will go head to head with the KTM 690enduro.

The current WRR was a beautiful mistake that we will never see again.

Hi,
I bought my '08 WR250R new in 2010. I realized at the time they weren't selling well but thought they were moving off the showroom floors fairly well in subsequent years. Guess not! I might add that maybe as a 300 it might have done better. It would have differentiated from the F model which was probably more appealing and easily made street legal in many states. I saw many F's at last week's Ride for Research and other dual sport rides. I'm still riding my '08 and have 14K miles on the Athena Big Bore which I installed soon after purchase.

I agree with the above. If there was a wr450r I would have bought it in a heart beat over the wr250r. However, the 250r was the highest spec Jap dualsport i could get on the market so i got it. For a 250, its pretty impressive but of course I want more power

Noooooooo!! Crushed!

But I agree with Two Times pretty much completely.

For me? I'd rather have my WRR than not. True, there are some components that let an otherwise quality motorbike down. Namely fuel pumps and stators, which have been upgraded, but are still Chinese-made afaik.

So, I am sorry to see that production has stopped. Imo, our bikes are miles ahead of the opposition in every meaningful way. And I'm not thinking of the idiot trolls who have tried unrealistically to compare them with DRZ400s and KTM690s, but rather as mentioned above with other 250 dual sport bikes. A ds 250 is a ds 250, and can't sensibly be related to much bigger, more powerful weaponry.

Thanks for making the WRR, Yamaha. 36,000 hard, mostly unfair kilometres, and it still rides like a new one. Stators and fuel pumps...

Two times wrote:

IMO the secret of success of Honda's CRF250L/M is that the CRF250L/M wasn't designed for the U.S market or for the western world... it was was designed primarily for the huge markets of east Asia.
[...]
Once you are building a dual sport bike in Japan -> unavoidably you designate it for the western world. you designate it for western customers that are able & can afford to spend 6-7 grands on a bike.
BUT those western world customers are not interested in a 250CC thumper... sure they can afford to spend 7000 USD on a bike, but they are looking for bikes with bigger displacement. at least 400CC.

I don't agree with your analysis. The vast majority of motorcycle buyers in east Asia are looking for basic transportation, not entertainment; they don't need USD forks and liquid cooled engines (that both WRR and CRF have), so neither the WRR nor the CRF seem designed for east Asia. Those high-end features are targeted to western consumers who are willing to pay extra for advanced features.

Do you have any data to support the claim that the CRF is more popular in Asia than the WRR?

Also, the claim that people in the west do not buy 250cc bikes is contradicted by the success of the WRR, which made Honda enter the field with the CFR. If the WRR had not been successful, Yamaha would have terminated its production years ago; from all accounts, its life is ending now because it cannot pass new emission standards in Japan, not because it wasn't selling well.

Someone on advrider pointed out that the article says that with new emissions standards in Japan the evap canister would have to be much bigger so, would would they really stop selling in North America and elsewhere..?

GerGa wrote:

Someone on advrider pointed out that the article says that with new emissions standards in Japan the evap canister would have to be much bigger so, would would they really stop selling in North America and elsewhere..?

Yeah I think that was me..

Google translate made the Japanese article sound like the issue had to do with evaporative emissions. In order to meet the requirement they need a larger carbon can than what is currently packaged on the CA model and id sounds like they are looking to move it to the air box area. However, once you change the airbox you need to start the development process on any FI tuning changes, noise, etc - which would take some time.

Unusual for a company to be caught in a position like this since usually they know about emission requirements years in advance. Sounds like whatever they were trying to do didn't work.

As far as the US is concerned I think the bike is still legal and if they wanted to make some they certainly could sell them. Not sure if that article has the complete story on what they are going to do.

F.Y.I. - I sent an email inquiry to the sales manager at my local Yamaha dealer and received this reply:

"Glad to hear you are enjoying your WR, they are Great Bikes! We haven’t officially heard anything about the Future of the WR250R. Yamaha has yet to release all the 18’ Product. Yamaha has a Dealer Show this September and we will see the remaining 18’ lineup. We hope they continue the WR but also are hoping for something  a little bigger. I will Keep you posted if I hear anything."

What a bummer, I was going to ride mine another 2 seasons and replace it with a brand new one. I also had a wr450f and ktm 500 exc, but always took the wr250r riding and left the other two in the garage and eventually sold them.

Gotta like it! Nice job on the bike jbwi112, looks like you had fun, fun, fun!

http://www.brm.co.nz/yamaha-wr250r-not-discontinued-in-australasia/

On our end we've been told by 50% of Yamaha dealers "discontinued"....wonder where the other 50% get their info of "nope, still going."

Maybe we will learn something soon

https://www.facebook.com/YamahaMotorCanada/videos/10155755832423921/

and this is where things get really, really, ugly....

Is this really the beginning of the end of dual sports bikes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylEkhrLKgCc

Very contradicting video. Death of dual sports then states manufacturers are still making money off decades old technology. States dual sports aren't sexy.......GTFO!

There is no doubt that manufacturers are STILL making money on bikes that they have not sunk one single dime into R&D, castings, changes since the 1990's or 2000's. I think the current and future issue IS emissions and our EPA, and Japans and Europes. I bought my 2011 WR less than 2 months ago off of craigslist. I was really looking for a drz400s, but there weren't many of them listed, and there were 20+ wr250r's within 200 miles of me. The "no more wr's in 2018" story was just making the rounds, and I decided to snag one while I could. I just checked today, and there are ZERO wr250r's listed on craigslist within 200 miles of me.

I am old enough to remember dozens of riding trails not too far out of town that riding to them on motocross bikes was passe. If the local cops pulled you over, you just said you were headed for the trails, and they would let you go with a scolding. Now all of those places are subdivisions or simply closed off, and you must ride hours away and pay a $ fee to ride somewhere off road, along with 500 other folks, that seems a lot like a freeway at rush hour traffic. When the guys you rode with (and raced with on Sundays) were more likely to be riding a CZ, Husky, Maico, Bultaco, Ossa, AJS, etc, than a Japanese brand. (99% of them all, 2 strokes) If someone had assured me in 1973 that my Kawasaki H2 750 3 cylinder 2 stroke rocket street bike, and my 2 stroke street legal Suzuki 250 were going to go the way of the dinosaurs within 3 years due to emissions regulations, I would not have believed them either. (and if I did, I would still own both of them)

However if you go to any nation that is considered 2nd or 3rd world, 90%+ of all the scooters and motorcycles are still 2 strokes, imagine that, its as if we don't all share the same atmosphere. The "westernized" nations can impose whatever sanctions they want to on their citizenry, but as long as the India's of the wold get a free pass on emissions, we are just spinning our wheels, or doing donuts.

I still have dreams about that 1973 H2 750. ~sighs~

3rdMoto wrote:

I still have dreams about that 1973 H2 750. ~sighs~

the H2 750 is a steaming hot bike.

3rdMoto wrote:

There is no doubt that manufacturers are STILL making money on bikes that they have not sunk one single dime into R&D, castings, changes since the 1990's or 2000's. I think the current and future issue IS emissions and our EPA, and Japans and Europes.

Depending on how the regs are written many times if the companies were to update the bike they would be forced into meeting new emission standards. With many countries having different standards probably the safest legal option is to do nothing.

I believe in the US they may be able to touch things like the body and suspension but the they touch anything related to the engine and then the bike is no longer grandfathered into the old standard and now must pass the current emission standard.

Not sure how the other countries regs work.

I was at a dealership in Illinois this weekend and the salesman said that he had placed an order for a 2018 WR250R. He did not have a delivery date but said he would sell me one. Also said it would be about $400 more than 2017's if I could find one. Fortunately, they are still around. He also said that for a 2017, the $66-6800 price range is good and reasonable. Thoughts?

Jim

I don't think the salesman knows what he's talking about...LOL....

Well, this just happened...

https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/dual-sport/models/wr250r

Looks like maybe the WR250R isn't so dead after all.