First week impressions fo the WRr

Sold the DR650 and picked up a WR250r

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed my time with the DR. It was my first off-road oriented bike, and after some easy and inexpensive mods, I reached for the keys often and rode over all types of terrain. I would still recommend one as a great adventure bike. However, I spend most of my off-road time in the desert, riding with guys on lighter bikes on 100ish mile rides. Great fun, but I often found myself at the back of the line, and getting dusted as I covered ground at a more Jeep like pace, wrestling the bike through softer/deeper sand. With my limited skills I wanted something lighter, that was still a factory dual sport, and not high maintenance.

Enter the WR250r





After selling the DR650 the empty space in the garage lasted about 40 hours. A 2008 WR250r now occupies that space. First impressions were pretty good overall. Light (check), plated (check), easy maintenance (check). The bike is lightly farkled with a slip on, “extra parts” removal, skid plate, rear rack, and a stiffer set of fork springs.

I spent the weekdays commuting to work and getting acquainted with my new to me mount. The step down in power is noticeable, but I’m pretty impressed with the little 250. Once its up in the revs it is pretty fun to run through the gears and gets up to speed no problems. The Transmission feels good, not the smoothest clicks, but solid and with appropriate spacing between gears for general riding on the road. The FI is very nice once the bike warms up. It seems to be a pretty cold blooded bike in the mornings and can have heavy hesitation after start up. The clutch took some getting used to. There is a very small window for engagement/disengagement, but I adjusted the cable slack and shift lever and I’m getting a better feel for it now. The seat height has me on my toes, but I can deal with it on the pavement. I was a little concerned how it would be off-road, more on that later. Fit and finish are very good. Nice looking welds, tight fit on all of the panels, with many common fasteners requiring less tools for removal and install. Seems like a very well thought out machine.

Today was the first chance I had to put it through a variety of riding conditions, and I couldn’t be happier with the newest addition. The ride consisted of surface streets, highways, and a mix of hard pack, sand, rock, and gravel two track through Joshua Tree NP. The WR handled it all incredibly well and in many regards better than the DR it has replaced.

Time for a few comparisons.

In town the DR and WR are about equally matched. The DR has a bit more power, but at speeds <50mph I don’t really miss the extra grunt. On extended Highway travel, I’d have to give the nod to the DR with its extra power and top end cruising abilities. The WR is no slouch on the slab though. I was cruising with traffic at 65-70 mph, but passing at those speeds is pretty much a thing of the past now.

Now for the scenario that put these two in my garage. On the two track, the WR is a revelation for my limited dirt skills. I never knew how hard I was working when I was riding the DR. The lighter weight and more dirt oriented suspension and wheels let it just glide over stuff that had me wagging the DR all over the place. I was rolling over sections faster and with less effort then I ever covered them on the DR. The seat height was not a problem either, as I rarely felt the need to dab a foot on the ground while moving. Keeping the revs up in 2nd and 3rd kept the WR on line and stable in the soft sand where I had the most difficulty on the DR. This bike is nimble too. I was easily dancing around larger rocks and swinging through the tighter turns. These are the areas of improvement I was hoping to see in a smaller, lighter weight bike and it delivered.

The areas of improvement I will address asap are the limited fuel range and the seat. At 1.9 gallons, even at 60mpg average, the range is not enough. It came with a 2 gal. Rotopax gas can and mount on the rear rack, but I think a IMS tank is in order. I’d rather use the rear rack to carry my stuff , not gas. The seat is not the worst, good for about 100 miles or so. Since I’d rather be closer to the ground, I’ll likely do a seat job similar to the widening job I did on the DR with some lowering as well.

Overall, I’m really impressed after today’s ride. Less fatigue, more fun, and capable road manners. I’ll remember the DR well, but I don’t think I’ll be missing it in most cases :bigok:.

Do the mods and hang on. The bike will take you a long way.

Air box glue down
AIS
Pipe
Programmer
13/47 sprockets

IMS 3.1 gallon tank... or 4.6

The first 4 suggestions are done already. I ordered the 3 gal. IMS today. I'll likely get further into the airbox, later after I'm done with the seat. I'm ok with the gearing as it sits for now. My bikes need to be good for a variety of road speeds and less technical trail work.

Sounds like you're good to go then. I have a 13/47 (local dualsport) and a 14/47(long distance stuff)... both will swap out nicely with 112 link chain.

I didn't like the seat... but after a couple 10 hour ride days, it seems like my butt got a bit used to it.
I think I'll upgrade it this winter though... more width, maybe a little lower height.

Any suspension mods yet ?

The previous owner put in stiffer fork springs. He is 10lbs lighter then me, but said he was a fairly aggressive rider on the trails. I haven't even check the sag yet. I'll get to that this week and probably start with HiFive's damping setting and do some on the trail tweeking. It felt pretty good on Sat. I only lost a little extra rear wheel traction when getting on the gas in the soft stuff.

I'll post up some pics when I do the seat. I did on for my DR and it was pretty simple and workout great. Total cost was probably $50 in materials and my time. Shape and foam selection make all the difference.

I'm running 13/46 gearing right now and it will do 80+ easily without feeling overly strained. The slightly lower gearing will not adversely affect the bike for any road riding and will help a lot with accelerating in traffic and offroad.

Just a thought. Even 12/48 (what my bike came with from the previous owner) the bike was still useable on the highway, just felt very close to redline at speeds nearing 75. Might be good to 80mph, I'm not sure.

Tomar, your post is almost identical to what I could write. I also rode a DR650, and liked it...but wanted to try something lighter and more dirt oriented. I hadn't realized just how hard I was working with the DR till I spent a few miles on the WR.

You were smart...sold the DR first. Mine is on Craigslist...and we got about 4 inches of snow last night. Got a feeling it'll be sitting in the shop till spring

If the rear shock has not been rebuilt, that is one of the best places you can spend your money on. It makes the bike handle so much better. Look up Go-Race on this site, I had him do my shock and send me the parts for the forks.