Long Time listener... first time caller! x to r question

Hey Everybody, stoked to be here!
Been looking at the wr's since I first saw them come out, but cut my teeth on an XT225 to see if Dual Sports were for me. 11,000 km's and 13 months later, the answer is YES! I needed something that could handle altitude better (I'm in BC Canada) and would have enough power to take me across the country next summer. (There'll be many rack questions posted soon!)
Since I'm a man who likes to have my tools perform as many functions as possible ( I pretty much sleep with my Swiss army knife, and was aBoy Scout for Years), I chose a dual sport, but after lurking Craigslist for a LONG time, I found a smokin' deal on an "x". Now I was intent on an "R", and getting a second set of 18 and 21's, but I thought "What the Heck!" I'll try out these 17's, and maybe try out a track day or something. So I am in the process of selling my 2000 xt 225, and looking for big wheel options for the X. I've researched the #$% outta this subject, and have come to the following solutions:
1. Warp 9 wheels- Cheap'n easy, but do I need spacers and will the speedo work at all (I know it will read wrong). Also, are these going to taco on me?
Anyone have experience on them? I'm not doing 4 foot drops, or motoX Cost: app$750

2. Wheeling Cycle supply. Looks great, but then throw in the extra cash for the front rotor, and it just seems like a $1200 set of wheels. Seriously, what is with this rotor, I know it is partial floating, but appears to cost at least $160

3. Buy a set of R wheels and a front rotor from Brembo QTM 270 mm rotor adaptor sold through Yamaha. Is this adaptor rotor all I need? This'll cost app. $800 bucks. Again, are the axle spacers different between the x and the r? This would give me Yamaha DID (I think) quality wheels. Are these better than the Wheeling /SM wheels, do you think?

So Give me your input! I plan to ride the bike 50/50, and do some pretty technical stuff, as well as load it up and tour with it (I'm looking at my rack options now)
I find it so odd how people in Europe say that the X outsells the r there 5 to 1 where here they are the much harder bike to sell

PS- If you listen carefully, you can hear money draining from my pockets

Hi Woofer ~

I have a similar story to you and purchased an X back in the spring with the hopes of converting it to an R. After lots of consideration, I swapped out my OEM Bridgestone tires for Shinko 244 tires. I purchased the set for about a hundred bucks online and had them professionally mounted and balanced for another $75. I figured I would give this a go as other members on the forum seem to have had great results with them.

They definitely take a little getting used to after running the OEM Bridgestones, but after 400KM on these new tires I couldn't be happier.

I spent the better part of a week adjusting the suspension settings, tweaking air pressures and even raising the forks. After all that playing around, here is what I've learned.

1) Due to the increased height of the Shinko front tire, I have effectively increased the trail. This means that I have to use a little bit more effort to make the bike steer as it did before. This was annoying at first, but now is a non issue.

2) Adjusting the front forks up did indeed very slightly reduce the trail making the steering effort a tiny bit easier. The only problem is that it does so at the expense of high speed stability. This was something I did not want to compromise. After much experimenting, my forks are now back in the original position and I'm happiest with it there.

3) Tire pressure is critical in these tires. I am currently running 24 psi in the rear and 18 psi in the front. I found that the front end is so light on the WR that anything more than this pressure makes the front end feel twitchy and makes the bike wander. At 18 psi, the front end is very planted, stable and conforms well to different road surfaces.

4) I re-calibrated my suspension settings to match those of the R from the factory as a base. I found the factory settings for the X to be way to stiff for anything but the smoothest pavement. I live in the lower mainland in BC and we have all different types of qualities of surfaces to ride on. I am happiest with the modified R settings.

5) Gearing will definitely be something you'll need to get used to after swapping out to the Shinkos. At first, I hated what the Shinko did to the handling and overall feel of the bike, but after the above changes were made I am enjoying the bike even more now. I find that I ride the bike a little differently than I did before, but I enjoy it just the same.

6) Noise. These tires do emit a slight hum as they build speed. Again, this is something that I've gotten used to. I am not happy about it, but it doesn't really bother me too much.

The best piece of advice I found regarding these tires is that you need to put a couple of hundred KMs on them to really break them in. I agree 110%!

In closing, the bike now corners just as hard as it did before on the pavement, rides as smooth, but has this new ability to get me off the beaten path with confidence. I am glad I took the chance on these tires and have been pleasantly surprised with the results.

Good Luck on your decision. I hope this helps...

Mark

Wow! Thanks for the Info SKDmark, Whereabouts in the lower Mainland are you? I'm in East Van.
I actually am running the 244's on my XT, and may consider doing the same as you. I think they are a great tire for the price What size did you go with?
I'll PM you for your settings, but would love to meet up and shoot the breeze. I haven't licensed the wr until I sell the XT.
Did you change your gearing? If so, what to?
I may give the 17's a try, or just buy a 21" front wheel, we'll see. I kinda want a set of wheels with really aggressive tires for dirtbiking (Kenda Trackmaster 760 rear and Mitas Rock eater front)

...and later suzki bolts right in you will need to change brake caliper and spacers if you only want to use a 21in

http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?95982-cheep-21-inch-wheel