Swap a WR250R for a WR450F ?

As the title suggests, I'm considering trading my wrr for a wr450f, They're road legal here - but i'm not sure how well they'll hold up on the road though.
I'm guessing it'll need a cush hub and higher gearing at a minimum, for any road time (to work/uni and back).
But at only 5kg lighter then the wrr would it be worth the trade?
flame away!

What are the maintenance intervals for the 450?

I'm pretty sure if we could easily "road title" them in the US most here would have one instead of the 250.... unless the maintenance intervals are hideous.

Is the F a 5 speed or 6 speed gearbox?
Carb or fuel injected?

Post pictures.....

Probably best to check on the motard boards for what breaks first.............

Not a motard X, it's the offroad F.

motokid wrote:

What are the maintenance intervals for the 450?

I'm pretty sure if we could easily "road title" them in the US most here would have one instead of the 250.... unless the maintenance intervals are hideous.

Is the F a 5 speed or 6 speed gearbox?
Carb or fuel injected?

Post pictures.....

The 2012 WR450F is fuel injected world wide... sadly still a 5 speed.

If they had put a 6 speed in it this revision I'd probably get one for a street tard. The price is nuts though... for a few grand more I could buy and FJR and ride in speed and comfort.

If you think you want to commute or do a lot of on road, I think you're better off with the WRR with its 6-speed transmission. If you want to do a lot of off-road then maybe the 450F would be a good trade.

Coop wrote:

If you want to do a lot of wheelies then maybe the 450F would be a good trade.

Fixed that for you.

Haha good work.

motokid wrote:

What are the maintenance intervals for the 450?

I'm pretty sure if we could easily "road title" them in the US most here would have one instead of the 250.... unless the maintenance intervals are hideous.

Is the F a 5 speed or 6 speed gearbox?
Carb or fuel injected?

Post pictures.....

Well the sales guy suggested that with the sort of riding i do (and if i bought new), 1000km (600mile) oil changes and yearly valve checks.
Though if riding them hard the suggested interval drops considerably to 300km (200mile) oil change and 3 monthly valve checks.
So its worse than the wrr for sure for maintenance. But considering how much more performance you get it's not too bad.
I probably won't be motarding it, not that it wouldn't be fun, but it'll be mostly for dirt use with short commuter work during the week. Maybe 100km (60mile) road use per week?

Current model in FI, but the older models are carb and have problems running at constant speed. Apparently they stutter and miss.

I wonder if Yamaha will make WR450X or WR450R with weight equival to 250. It will be ideal bike for me :)

One of the guys i ride with has one converted to sumo,friggin thing is over the top fun. Lot of the guys who plate 450s like the yamaha as they dont tend to break,not bad on maintenance as well.
Little searching on the net will get some build threads on them,supermotojunki and thumpertalk ect.. Had one in my sites this spring,just didnt jump fast enough and got sold.

You can install the clutch basket and drive gear from the YZF four wheeler, which serves the same function as a cush hub. I believe there is a larger volume clutch cover that will increase oil capacity as well.

The only reason to get one is if you must do 4th gear wheelies

The service manager, who has many years of wrenching on motorcycles, says there is no way you want to drive a dirt bike like the WRR. You'll burn up the engine in no time going down the highway all the time.

Prairieparson wrote:

The service manager, who has many years of wrenching on motorcycles, says there is no way you want to drive a dirt bike like the WRR. You'll burn up the engine in no time going down the highway all the time.

He is full of crap, the WRR is meant to be road ridden as well as off road. The WRR is not a dirtbike it's a dual sport.

Coop. I think he's saying you can't ride a pure dirt bike, such as a WRF, on the highway all the time like you can ride a WRR.

"The service manager, who has many years of wrenching on motorcycles, says there is no way you want to drive a dirt bike like the WRR. You'll burn up the engine in no time going down the highway all the time."

How many miles a year will you put on it, and will you be depending on it for transportation?

For real dirt riding, I only put 1-2000 miles a year on the bike. And more often than not, I put it in the back of my truck to get there. A couple 30 minute oil changes is no big deal, and valves once yearly is not the end of the world if you can give up a Saturday afternoon once and a while. If that is similar to your usage then, yes the 450 would be worth it, if starting from scratch. I ride with someone who has a 450, and he only pulls a away a little bit on the more open fire roads and may even be slower once it gets tight. I do envy his ability to loft the front wheel over logs/ruts etc. but I manage ok. If I was starting from scratch right now I would go the 450 route, but instead I found a used, very well setup 250 and got the suspension revalved, so it will be a long time before my skills truly need a better bike.

Going with a stock 250 and going through the exhaust/programmer/gearing/tire/suspension process yourself gets pricey and yields moderate results.....you can never make it a 450 that is 275 pounds and better suspended out of the box. Oh and the stock 450 remains plenty quiet while making huge power.....that right there is probably the biggest advantage in my book. If you ride a few thousand miles of street a year, then obviously the equation changes......

As far as the 5 speed goes...a bike that will pull 3rd gear from a dead stop in sand and still top out at 100 mph does not need 6 gears!

Sorry if my post was not clear. The service manager says that bikes like a 250f are not set up for highway riding. He claims the engine might well burn up in a relatively short period of time. He made this point because the engine on the 250F is a different engine than the Wr250R and Wr250x, and is made primiarity for off road riding, while I think we all agree the WRR is a true dual sport.

Regardless, the f series is a competition design, compared to the r series being dualsport...two totaly different beasts.
The 450 or 250 f, is a high maintenance machine...better described in hours, than miles.
I too desire a competition model to play on...but reality dictates the effort I'm willing to continue, to meet that end.
I love my bike mostly because of its "no fuss" nature...I can keep ahead of that.
Where a competition bike would demand more strict attention...not sure how well/long I could keep that up for...certainly every good ride, seems too often for me.
For the second season, I still enjoy ridin the piss/limits out of my wrr...and have never once gotten behind in maintenance.
It continues to be better than I need it to...and I continue to abuse it for the sake of entertainment.
There are many awesome bikes...this one suits me perfectly.

Marioscario wrote:

Coop. I think he's saying you can't ride a pure dirt bike, such as a WRF, on the highway all the time like you can ride a WRR.

"The service manager, who has many years of wrenching on motorcycles, says there is no way you want to drive a dirt bike like the WRR. You'll burn up the engine in no time going down the highway all the time."

Yeah I see that now. With the sentence structure I thought he meant ride a dirtbike such as a WRR, when in fact he meant you can't ride a dirtbike like you can ride a WRR. Dang, I am too literal sometimes haha.

i say if your only gonna be doing 100ish km a week go for it. the '12 is such a beautiful dirt bike to ride. i always recommend no longer than 500km oil changes, 1500-2000km valve clearances (after a initial break-in check @ 1000) and depending on use 5,000-8,000km top end rebuilds (i've seen them go longer, but it ends up dearer in the long run wearing cylinders and such). if your doing road km, gab a set of cush drive motards (even if its just for the fun factor, and from experience run a 150 rear, 160 roads are too tight to the chain unless you offset the spokes).

they can do big km's, just ask the guys from trailzone mag, they just finished the APC rally on a pair. 7,500km in 14 days. they went to the extent of modified clutch covers to run external oil tanks, but the km your gonna do dont worry.

i do recommend fitting radiator guards (i personally love the Force Accessories stuff) cuz the LHS rad sticks out like dogs balls.

any other questions or adv i can offer, more than happy


Tim

2 totally different bikes.

From here: http://blake-world.com/photogallery/2006/200609/Bikes/2007-WR450-ENG-v7.0.pdf see starting page 72

Inspect piston & rings, camshaft, head & cylinder, etc. every 1000 km (600 miles).

Valves inspect / adjust every 500 kms (300 miles).

This is race schedule for a race bike. If ridden as a dual sport, it would require less frequent service, of course.

The WR250F (and other 4 stroke 250s like the CRF250X) reportedly requires more frequent rebuilds than the larger bore 450s.

Compare that to a WRR and then decide.

GlennR on ADVRider has recently acquired a dual-sported WR450F. Might check in with him. He seems please with it.

I went from an F to my X. My F was street legal.
Ride the two bikes back-to-back for the best comparison.

The R/X have been designed to dampen vibration making it so much better for longer distances. I recently rode a bunch of my buddies bikes (they wanted to try my new X!) and was shocked at how uncomfortable the vibrations were.

That said, the main reason I swapped was my F was always needing some work. Something was always broken, some fluid needed changing, some crappy cheap-o light from the street-legal kit wasn't working.

Did it have more power? Yup. Do I really need to use that power? nope. 95% of us don't.

just rode a wr450f that had a bajadesigns kit on it, brand new bike, about 5 hours on it, I was showing this guy some trails I know, after a bit we swapped bikes for a short time. well, the 450 has for sure got way way more torque and it will loft the front tire any time you feel so inclined, the suspension is so much better it's hard to really put into words, it's ridgid yet compliant, confidence inspiring. the vibrations? well, ya ALOT! through the pegs and the grips, I can see how that would suck big time after not too long, And the seat!?!?! WTF!?!?! it's like they just painted a 2x4! I think i would rater sit on the plastics, they are bound to be softer. but i'm sure an after market seat is out there. i cannot speak to the maintence schedule of course, but for me? I'll stick with my R. Oh! and to the price point, this guy had gone to the dealer looking to buy an R and was told "We don't have one at the moment, but we just got done hanging this baja kit on this wr450f, his out the door price was right at $7k

Just noticed my most from awhile ago had an error. The mechanic I referred to said you shouldn't use a WR250F or a 450F like a WRR. My bad.