Anyone have an R and an X?

I bought the R with dirt in mind but the thing handles tarmac so well it reminds me of dragging the pegs on the 550 Seca I had. I think about keeping the Trailwings on it- until I get on the dirt again! Ya they have to go.
So I think if I had an X to play with I could build each one for a more specific use. Gear down the R more than I otherwise would, keep the quiet stock pipe, and get the 606's or MT 21's on there. I could put a louder pipe on the X cuz I wouldn't be out in the desert or woods that much with it. I find the stock power fine for off road, it's on the freeway fighting a headwind uphill that I wish for MORE!
So anyone else have both an R and an X? I was looking at a Ninja or an FZ6R but seeing all the X's on here makes me think the SuMo thing is more my style.

I had both for a while. The Mrs. rode the X and I rode the R. If it were my money I'd only have the R. It's more than nimble enough to be a thread in the twisties. I definitely would not own both to ride myself. I'd get a completely different and more powerful bike for the street. With that said, I rode my R from Columbus, OH to Ashville, NC without any problems. I vote for no X. . .

Last year, I rode a 2008 WR-250R.
This year, I ride a 2008 WR-250X.
My thoughts on comparing the two and how I found them to be:

I bought the WR-250R at the end of June, 2009, wth something like 118 miles on the odometer.
I wasn't even looking to buy a bike at the time, but the price I was told was so cheap, I couldn't resist.
With the WR-250R, I got back into dual-purpose and trail riding, something I hadn't done regularly in years.

My first test ride after getting the bike home was a disappointment because I realized just how plugged-up these bikes are due to EPA regulations.
It felt really weak and slow.
Making that much worse, I also rode a 2009 Suzuki DR-Z400SM at the time, and that bike had a lot of the mods guys typically do to those in an effort to make them able to get out of their own way, including a 440cc big-bore kit.
That probably wasn't a fair comparison to the WR-250R, but, I still wanted to find out how to make it run better.
That's when I joined this message board, read-up on the mods being done, and came out of it with a much better-running WR-250R.

At first, I really enjoyed the WR-250R off-road, but as time and miles passed and I started to ride more like my old self, I realized I needed a better off-road bike to achieve the feel I wanted.
So, I then used the WR-250R as a street-only bike, riding it like a 250cc sport bike and using the stock Bridgestone Trail Wing tires which worked just fine and dandy on the street.
I felt that the bike worked very well like this, and the only thing I really wanted changed was a much stronger front brake.

I eventually sold the bike in September of 2010 with about 7,500 miles on it.
I liked the bike, all-in-all.
My chief gripes were the relatively poor suspension while off-road (and I don't mean that I thought I was riding a YZ or some kind of race bike - it just felt cheap and poorly set-up to me at anything over a slow pace) and a front brake that needed to be much bigger for street sport riding.

I bought the 2008 WR-250X this past December with 3,911 miles on it.
All stock except for a DRC tail light, small LED turn signal lights, and some teenager-spec stickers stuck to the front and rear fenders.
It still had the original Bridgestone BT090 tires.
The rear shock was already leaking oil onto the shaft, but, believe it or not, I wasn't bummed-out to see this.

Since I already knew the rear shock came off the showroom floor as a poor performer, I was actually glad to send it down to Go Race Suspension in Virginia for an overhaul.
This was money well-spent because the rear suspension, the main culprit in the cheap WR-250R and WR-250X stock boingers in my opinion, was now very good. :)
The front fork got an oil change along with a 10mm lower oil level to help balance the bike with the softer rear spring what was put on the shock while it was down at Go Race (I weigh 150 pounds).

Since the bike is identical to the WR-250R except for the obvious differences, I already knew how to rid the bike of the EPA restrictions.
I bought those parts, put them on, and started this season's riding last month.
Beside the much better-feeling suspension compared to the WR-250R I had the year before, I could feel how the wider rims and tires made the steering and general handling feel of the WR-250X noticably heavier.
Not heavier like a Mac truck, but I could feel a difference.
This is probably why manufacturers will often spec tires for a bike at a narrower size than a lot of guys wish they came with:
The wider the tires, the heavier the turning effort can become, everything else being equal.
I quess those bike engineers ain't so dumb, after all. :)

Once I got used to the feel of the WR-250X, the heavier handling feel went away with the miles being racked-up.
A couple of weeks ago, I put on a set of new Michelin Pilot Power tires in 110/70ZR17 and 150/60ZR17 sizes.
Result:
Awesome.
Best sport tires I've ever used.

This bike is a blast on the street, especially with the top-drawer tires and the big, burly front brake that the WR-250R was missing.
I'm often pleasantly surprised when I'll remind myself it's only a 250cc bike.

My opinion on freeway riding with a WR-250R or WR-250X:
Myself, I wouldn't gripe so much.
For a 250cc single, this bike does very well out there where 80mph traffic is common.
If you want to feel something weak on the freeway, try Yamaha's own XT-250 out there. ;)

yeah, Im still not sure...
I sold my sport bike and dirt bike last fall so I am down to only the R for now.

But I gotta say, this bike so dam fun! I love not having to load up the dirt bike in the truck
and drive to the trail. Or be flying down the freeway and see a side road adventure that just
isn't going to happen with street tires and 4 inches of suspension travel. If I could only have
one one bike this would be it.

And I'm thinking if I had the R with knobbies, the rear shock revalved with better
rebound damping, lower gearing (and the other usual mods) -and could pick up a used X
with street tires that could still handle some dirt, with stock gearing and maybe a Lynx fairing-
I think I could be happy as hell with that.

I sold my 600 sportbike to get my R and never regretted it. I get into more trouble on the R, something that surprised me but oh well.

This is just my opinion...

I own the WRX and a set of dirt tires plus a sports bike.

If I had the choice of bikes I would get a bike specifically for each situation.

I like dirt, supermoto and sport riding.
I would get a dedicated dirt, supermoto and sport bike.

But since I'm not that rich I settle for a compromise. I have the WRX and sportbike.

I like the WRX for what it is. Practical in 2 situations. However it does not shine in either dirt or supermoto.
I feel the 250 is a bit under powered.

Finally if what you like doing is street riding and occasional trails then these bikes are great because they are licensed.