Is the WRR a good commuter/play bike

I'm looking to get a bike that I can ride to work 3 times a week, and go play with on the trails in North Georgia, was thinking about a KTM but I'm a little worried about the maintainence schedule. What do you guys think?

I haven't owned a car for 2 years, the WRR is my sole transport. I've traveled on it, ridden tight trails with it, commute with it (about to leave now actually), and camped with it. All the maintenance she's needed is adding gas, oil changes, filter cleanings, and chain tension checked.

Thats what I want to hear, I really want a fun bike on and off road, without the headache of constant maintainence. Oil changes and normal stuff like that is fine, I just dont want to be rebuilding the engine every season.

First valve check isn't until 25,000 miles. Pretty much speaks volumes for the longevity of this engine.

I own multiple bikes and the WR2 gets rode a lot more than the others combined. It's a great bike.

unless you have to go really fast on the street you won't be dissapointed with it. I bought this bike as a second bike to my sport bike and I was ready to sell the sportbike within 2 weeks of buying this. I miss the acceleration from time to time but overall I've never come close to having this much fun on any other bike and trail riding is way more fun then breaking speed limits every time I ride.

reqsman: Your questions sounds like a "new to bikes" question. Maybe you ARE, or maybe you are NOT new to NEW bikes. Either way, no offense intended. ...and of course this is also an opinion.

First off, under normal conditions, no modern day bike engine requires rebuilding the engine every season - Especially for what you plan do do with it, and maintenance is never constant on most all bikes that are routinely attended to for pre-op check-out and of course corrections (as required), but rather periodic.

Plain and simple, it's pretty hard to buy a "bad" bike these days.

To be fair, you might expect that when you come to a bike specific forum, that the forum will represent that bike with some bias.

Everything is a trade when it comes to most bikes including cost/longevity (value), performance (specific use), parts availability (and cost), service (local dealer if you need one), HP to weight ratio as well as maintenance and potential obsolescence.

If all of what you profess in wanting from a bike, the WR is an optimal choice (sans obsolescence) in all regards. Bar none, (IMO) it has the "lightweight" (250 cc and under) category won hands down.

However if you are use to having power at your (twist-of-the-wrist) disposal (for whatever reason), there are probably other candidates worthy of consideration.

It would be a lousy bike to own to commute on the Atlanta area interstates. It's just not fast enough. It would be a fun bike in the mountains, but you'll probably want to buy one of the bigger gas tanks.

Everything is lousy to commute with in Atlanta. Thats more because Atlanta traffic is the worst on the planet this side of major cities in India or China than any deficiency in the motorcycle. I'd deal with the DC beltway daily before commuting on 285? that loops atlanta on a regular basis.

I'm not new to bikes, I have been riding my whole life but I have never owned a dual sport. I have seriously been considering a used KTM but I have heard they are very heavy on the maintainence side, and are not good for highway driving, and whatever bike I do get need to be a true dual purpose, getting me to and from work and still being capable when I hit the trails.

I would take a look at something like a XR650L or DR650. Both are Fire trail if not single track capable, good rides to north GA and enough power and speed to deal with interstate traffic. I've had both, currently have a WRR along with a KTM380(plated) and XR650R(plated)--the XRR is the only one of the three that I would consider for regular riding around Atlanta--and it is not optimal for that riding. Would a WRR do it--sure--would I want to do ride Atlanta daily on my WRR--nope.

Let me clarify, I do not live in Atlanta and I will not be riding in Atlanta traffic, I live in a rural area north of Atlanta and will be riding 15 miles to and from work on a two lane highway (55mph speed limit). I dont want a big bike, I'm used to light bikes, My last was a YZ250, I want something I can still throw around, the 650 is too big for that, I'm only 5'10" and 185.

I'm really debating between the WR, DRZ, and a KTM. The KTM seems awesome but I'm not sure it will handle the commute.

Based on that riding I would ride my WRR too.

resqman911 wrote:

Let me clarify, I do not live in Atlanta and I will not be riding in Atlanta traffic, I live in a rural area north of Atlanta and will be riding 15 miles to and from work on a two lane highway (55mph speed limit). I dont want a big bike, I'm used to light bikes, My last was a YZ250, I want something I can still throw around, the 650 is too big for that, I'm only 5'10" and 185.

I ride my bike to work every day . . . then hit singletrack with my KTM buddies on the weekends. They spend all week working on their bikes. I spend all week riding mine to work.

I pretty much have the same commute, 16 miles of 2 lane country highway out a bit west of the minneapolis suburbs and this bike does just fine for that. does great on trails and everything else I've thrown at it. from what you are describing for what you want, I can't imagine you not being happy with it. it's by far not the best commuter and it's by far not the best trail bike, but imho it does pretty good at combining them into one bike. any motorcycle with multiple purposes is not going to be the best at anything, it's a matter of what is comprimised and if those comprimises fit your needs.

I commute daily 40 miles each way in Phoenix freeway traffic. Run 70mph in the commute lane. The pathetic fuel tank is the only issue, have to fill up daily.

I use to commute 30 miles each way to work going 70~80mph(when I had stock sprocket ratios) on the freeway, and I'd hit up the trails on the way home or even during break time at work. Now I have no need to commute since I work from home. I've since changed the rear sprocket to a 47 which gives me a comfortable max cruising speed of 65mph and can do short busts of ~75mph.

As for maintenance, I just change the oil every 3k miles, clean my no-toil air filter after ever couple of dusty/muddy rides or 3k if just clean street riding, wash the bike often to keep the suspension working smoothly and from leaking(I do not use a pressure washer, regular hose pressure does fine for me and is what's recommended.), equalize the front fork bleed screws and lube the chain before every ride, and ride the hell out of it until the 25k miles mark to check the valve clearances. I've been riding my '08 WRR pretty much everyday and have an indicated 16k miles on it so far and have had absolutely no problems with it. It's a great bike!

The only minor complaint about it is the power, after riding a MX bike like a CRF250R the WRR(stock)... well... just doesn't have a race bike feel. I say minor complaint because it still has enough power to keep me satisfied... for now.

Thanks for the input guys, I was pretty much sold on this bike, but just wanted to get a little reassurance that this was the right bike for me and it sound like I have found a match.

WRR, lowering link (why not), retro dual sport seat, standard performance mods. Easy solution. You're "in". Bingo, bango, bongo....

I was at your decision last year. After 15 years away from a bike, I had my heart set on a XR650L, as this is what I had lusted over for years. I loved the KTM's and the Husky's etc, but was always concerned about the horror stories about reliability and the parts chain. In my neck of the woods, there are only 3 dealers that carry KTM, Husky, and Hussaberg, and that are not close to me, so I new this would be a problem.

I ended up with the WR over the XR, and I am happy. My suggestion is to try and get a test drive. I was able to test ride the WR, and this helped make up my mind. I wanted to test ride the XR also, but it was not preped and ready per the dealer. The dealer was also helpful in making the decision and gave the the down side to both bike, which I already new about.

Currently I have about 3K on the bike, and would ride 50 miles round trip to work. My route requires that I run about 4 miles on the four lane highway. This on any bike is scarry for me, but the bike works fine for the commute, and will run 70-75 mph fine. Its a crack-up to see the heads turn and double takes cruising down the hwy on a dirt bike. I have been out of throttle a couple of times when going up hill in a head-wind, the best I could do was 65. I have run on the hwy in the slow lane crusing at 65-70, and it works. The bike is light, so windy days will blow you around the lane at these speeds, but hey, what do you want, a light DS bike or a 400+ lb adventure bike?

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm pretty much sold on the WRR, my only concern is the power. I can get a KTM with plenty of power but there are downsides to those as well.

resqman911 wrote:

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm pretty much sold on the WRR, my only concern is the power. I can get a KTM with plenty of power but there are downsides to those as well.

I'm sort of in the same situation. I'm worried I won't like power of the WRR and don't wanna rebuild a KTM in a few thousand miles.

I have a feeling that the WR is going to leave me wanting in the power department, but I think of all the true dual purpose bikes out it is the best choice.

resqman911 wrote:

I have a feeling that the WR is going to leave me wanting in the power department, but I think of all the true dual purpose bikes out it is the best choice.

Then I guess your other option is a DRZ.

Good Luck