Is the WR to small for a big guy?

I have been doing some searching on this forum as well as SMJ and for that matter any other forum I could find. I weight about 230ish on a good day and was wondering if the WRX would be underpowered for me. I have been going back and forth with the X vs DRZ but the DRZ just doesn't do it for me. I searched on here and found some earlier posts about bigger people and the bike being fine for them. I just want to see if that still is the case or if they wish they had something a bit bigger. Thanks for any help and this is a great forum for the WR by the way.

Can you explain why the DRZ doesn't do it for you? It may be important information to fully help you decide.

I have a WRR, not an X, but it's the same engine. I'm 215 naked, about 220-230 in gear, depending on how much I'm wearing. I would say that fully stock, the WRR is fine, but a little bit underwhelming if you're used to powerful bikes. Fully modded, I am 100% satisfied with the power, especially given my somewhat novice skills in the dirt.

The ONLY time I wish I was on my V-Strom is when doing 70mph on the highway and trying to pass someone. You have to wring the little 250 a bit, but it's not a deal breaker by any means.

With stock gearing, the WRR gets me up any dirt hill and anything else I want. With modified gearing, even better.

I would say take one for a test ride if you can. I think you'll quickly know if you're happy with that power level or not. You'll either jump on a DRZ after that, or bring a WRX home

Edit: I don't think 230 really qualifies as BIG... I think we have some 300+ members on here

The thing about the DRZ is it just looks dated and very uninspiring. I like the lines and updatedness(if thats a word) on the WR's. I realize that the WR is not going to jerk my arms out of my sockets and I am not looking for that. I am just looking for something that can get up to speed quickly, if needed, with me on it. I used to have a motarded XR650L and that thing was a pig but it always put a smile on my face. I am looking for the same with the WR. I would love to take one of these things for a test drive but the dealerships don't seem to like that very much and there are not any used ones around here.

I was in a similar situation back when I was looking for a bike. It was a toss up between the DRZ and the WRX. I thought the little 250 wouldn't be enough power, but I loved the fuel injection, styling, and updated components. I am not disappointed in the decision I made. I was 215 lbs when I bought the bike, and dropped over 20 lbs since. I go by the saying "It is funner to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow." I have more fun on this machine than I have on my GSX-R600. The GSXR now gets a lot less seat time and I'm thinking about selling it.

Passing on the highway doing about 70, you do have to give it a decent amount of gas. I did mod my bike pretty fast, so I'm not sure how my stock bike reacted. The bike by no means has arm pulling power at high speeds, but will pull you past a big truck quickly when needed.

Merging onto highways is always fun, you just have to give it a good amount of gas to get it up to speed quickly.

At 230ish I believe the bike should have enough power for you.

Well, I can tell you that once I did the power mods, the bike definitely gets up to speed with me on it.. and quickly. Ripping down side streets, I'm always smiling. It honestly has a LOT of oomph for a 250. It is kinda hard to say if you would think the same, though... I mean, opinions are just that, right? You may love it, you may hate it. I would venture to guess you'd at least like it, especially if you rode a modded bike.

What is your location? Perhaps there are R or X owners in your area that'd be willing to let you go for a spin?

I am located in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia but will be moving to Charleston, SC in the next 2 weeks. Thanks for your replies guys, those answers confirm what I have researched. I am just looking for this to scoot me around town with the occasion ride on the freeway. I have several off road bikes and a tracked out SV. I do track days and hare scrambles so that really feeds my need to go fast. I just want the WR to make riding on the street fun again. As an aside these seem to be kinda hard to come by. I have emailed about 10 dealers from here to Alabama and only 2 have responded and they both had new 08's and they both wanted 5299 plus tax for them, I mean really that seems a bit high.

Dealers should be giving out insane deals if they still have 08's around, but it doesn't seem that way around here either. The dealers in NJ were asking for the same amount for an 08 when I was looking in March. I ended up getting my 09 for $5,800 OTD.

I'm 230+ myself (just big boned ). The only problem I've had with the WR250R is front end dive compared to street bikes. the long suspension travel and small front brake make street stopping exciting at times, but it works very well offroad. It's difficult for me to get off my FZ1 and flog the WR250R to get it to go relative to my liter bike, but it pays off in the curves or when I run across grass, gravel or a nice drit/gravel road.

i was in the exact situation as you just like a month ago... just debating between the drz400s and the WRR (instead of drz SM vs WRX).... i loved the looks, narrow feel, FI, the fact it's a yamaha, aluminum frame etc about the WRR.... the drz is a great sized bike at 400cc and that was THE only factor that kept me coming back to the DRZ and even including it in my search.... well the more i read, the more i realized that the little bit of extra power is not REALLY worth it to me and having the high tech 250 was the way to go..... i am 100% happy also i am about the same size as you ... close to 250 with all the gear on!

as said above, when the itch hits you to start modding the WRR if you get one, the mods do add some significant power to this "little" monster

good luck finding what you're looking for!

The wrr/x deals with weight better then the vertical height thing as they are small motorcycles. A tall person may get a cramped feeling from them ! not good, right?

im not real tall, but at 6'2" i feel very comfortable on this bike, actually more so than my buddy's 08 KLR

I was very concerned about having just a 250 for my size. I am #325 in a swim suit and I bought my X without having ridden one first. I have been more than pleased. Around town and in the twisties my friends have a hard time keeping up. On the freeway, no problemo. I rode with a couple 650s and another WR about a month ago and was asked by the rider on the DR650 how these little 250s did on the highway as it would save us about an hour heading back to camp. I told him I didn't think it would be a problem. I lost them by the end of the on ramp. I waited about 5 minutes at the off ramp about 10 miles later. That right there answered any questions I had about this bike.
Mine is nowhere near stock. It has all the emission stuff removed, FMF pipe and programmer and a K&M filter... and more.

I love riding the slow bike fast. When I tell my friends I'll try to keep up they just laugh. I haven't ridden my other bikes more than a time or two since bringing this one home. I have a dirt set of wheels in addition to the Morard set... fun fun fun.

I am customizing the seat tomorrow and with any luck my fairing and HID lights will be here tomorrow... Yea, I'm loving it. There ARE times I wished I had just a little more power, but I sure am using a lot more of what is there than I have with other bikes, especially off road. I make up for anything lacking on a pass road or hill in the corners. Try it... Someone will let you try one. I let people ride mine often. I tell them if they don't hit the rev limiter in the first 3 or 4 gears they are riding it wrong. It likes to scream. It will put a smile on your face if there is one to be had.

Although I don't care to see Mr. Fisherman in a swim suit ( or from behind on the trail in it ), he said about all there is to say.

I took the WRR setup for the girl up (lowered Frnt&Bck) and back on a 20 mile back-and-forth 50-70MPH fireroad romp and while I was panting, she wasn't.

Granted that if I were to set the bike up for me I'd have to eventually do F&B spring rates, but even stock this bike did everything my CRF does (on road work - big bumps and other obstacles would be a different comparison), just at a higher RPM ( it was more like riding a 125 to me since I've done nothing but ride big bores for 15 years).

I never shifter to 6th gear until I was doing 70 WFO across the open desert. At that point the bike's capability exceed mine ( or at least my reservation of potential danger).

I've got way bigger and faster bikes but this lil scooter has my heart.

Thanks for everone's input. I am really glad that people my size and bigger don't have any regrets. I am going to look at an 08 X today. I couldn't sleep a wink at all last night. I have wanted a motard for as long as I can remember, ever since seeing the DRZSM. Welll wish me luck today and that the bike is everything the owner says it is.

Just rode home on the new seat my friend and I made. much much better.

Looks like Mr Fisherman just entered "The Giggle Zone" .

Another satisfied Customer. He's so giddy he can't even type !

I'm 6'1" and weigh about 290 lbs. Yes, I make being big and beautiful look easy, but the WRR carries my fat ass around on gnarly dirt trails with no issues. It's hella fun.

michael21: So what did you decide? :)

Just got back from Alabama with my new bike. I haven't had a chance to really ride it yet but for the 10 miles that I did get to ride it the bike was awesome. I have to unpack and unload but I will post up in the newbie section tommorrow sometime with a formal introduction. Thanks for all the replies. So far I agree the bike is not underpowered for a big guy.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. The more time on it the better it gets.

michael21 wrote:

Just got back from Alabama with my new bike. I haven't had a chance to really ride it yet but for the 10 miles that I did get to ride it the bike was awesome. I have to unpack and unload but I will post up in the newbie section tommorrow sometime with a formal introduction. Thanks for all the replies. So far I agree the bike is not underpowered for a big guy.

Where and what dealer did you buy it from? Just curious because I had one hell of a time finding one in state. Ended up getting mine from a dealer in Atlanta.

I bought it from an individual in Knoxville. I live in Virginia Beach and my family is in Huntsville so I was visiting them and KNOX is on the way. I might as well have bought it from a dealer the person I bought it from only put 2200 miles on it and its in great great condition. Has all the aftermarket stuff you could want AND every single piece of the origional stuff including mirrors and all the wires plus a 3 year YES warranty. I feel like I have gotten the deal of the century....thanks Jeff. But I agree trying to get one from a dealer is next to impossible. I emailed 10 dealers, got 3 responses. 2 were for 08's and one was for a DRZSM, I mean really come on.

I know you already got the bike, but here is more confidence for you. I'm rather a goon at 6'7" and around 230# these days (I got back in the gym and the German food has helped me put the lbs. back on) and absolutely LOVE- my wife's- WRR. I have done all sorts of crazy stuff on it and really put it through it's paces including:

- 600+ mile trip including 100+ off road in 36 hours
- chased down sprotbiles (literbikes even) on twisty roads with both the D606s and Death Wings
- rode it off a 10 foot embankment in Death Valley doing nothing more than bending up the tail section
- loaded it a la the below and rode over 100 miles including slab and twisties (and even a stop off at a dirt park on the way home)



Here is the only downside: freeway power. There are times when I have struggled to keep it over 70 mph and even have to put it in 5th to keep up with traffic. I'm sure this is due to my height creating a sail. This is a bone stock bike, so take that with a grain of salt.

The seat is just fine a long as you stay in the "meat" of it up closer to the tank. The bars and controls are not very good for standing up if you are tall, but that is easily rectified (I've not done it yet but plan on Rox risers and the widest, tallest bars I can get).

The suspension is more than up to the task for pretty hard core stuff. My knees are too far gone to be doing triples, but I've jumped the thing plenty of times and am not worried (not big jumps, but enough to test the bike).

Also, I'd like to think I'm in reasonable physical condition, and have literally bunny hopped the bike going down the road. That in and of itself beyond the hilarity factor shows just how man handleable they are.

On my last trip before moving to Germany, I took it to Death Valley with a few significantly more powerful bikes (TE610 SM, 990 Adv, 950 SE, KLR). The last bike was a DRZ SM with dirt tires and we all trailered down. On the trails, I literally ran off and left everyone except the TE610 (he was an instructor for Doug Chandler, so I wasn't too bent over that) and a few time times the SE (I mean shoot, that bike is insane after all). I literally was waiting 15+ minutes toward the end of Titus Canyon for everyone to catch up. However, once we got back to pavement for the ride back to camp, they all left me for dead and I was left to languish enjoying the beautiful view. It is truly a trade off, but the bike has grown on me to the degree that I am planning on getting another one and a tow vehicle to get to trails for my wife and I.

Plans once we get back are to gear it more correctly, do some baggage farkles, and a larger fuel tank.

As a point of reference, my other current bikes are a track prepped 954 and a GS1200 Adventure. I ride the snot out of the GSA off road (a blast at triple digits in the dirt) and have the bent rims to prove it, but it can't do as easily what the WRR can, and the WRR can't do distance/comfort/luggage like the pig. The bikes are a perfect compliment to each other.

Bottom line, you'll giggle like a little girl with the thing even being down on power (I leave nice darkies coming out of some turns if I have it spooled correctly).

michael21 wrote:

Just got back from Alabama with my new bike. I haven't had a chance to really ride it yet but for the 10 miles that I did get to ride it the bike was awesome. I have to unpack and unload but I will post up in the newbie section tommorrow sometime with a formal introduction. Thanks for all the replies. So far I agree the bike is not underpowered for a big guy.

michael21,

Congratulations on the recent bike purchase! I bought my new/used bike just a couple of months ago - similar circumstances. It only had handguards, 2008 WR250X with 2500 miles for 2900 clams. No warranty, though.

I've modded the heck out of it and love it.

BigFeet
formerly Artoo

michael21 wrote:

Just got back from Alabama with my new bike. I haven't had a chance to really ride it yet but for the 10 miles that I did get to ride it the bike was awesome. I have to unpack and unload but I will post up in the newbie section tommorrow sometime with a formal introduction. Thanks for all the replies. So far I agree the bike is not underpowered for a big guy.

Congratulations! You won't regret going with the X. Once you get some of the basic mods done it'll be even better. I too was on the fence between the DRZ & WRX when I was shopping for a new bike last year, glad I went with the X. It is a smaller engine but the EFI & modern engine design puts it only 6-8 HP less than the DRZ. Factor in the 6 speed trans & lighter weight, plus more advanced suspension & it's a no brainer. It is a lot more fun to ride than my old 97 YZF600 just because it's so much lighter & manuverable around town.