Start of the next (1st?) major upgrade.

Great post lordendo! Enjoying it. Your soooo close, we should do a ride when your back up and running. I'm 2 blocks from the Vedder grill ;)

Off the shock goes to Racetech and in come new fork springs and gold valves. Since my last update here I'm on Scorpion XCMS tires (incredible) and 12/47 gearing. Love everything about the bike but the suspension really blows. Looking forward to this upgrade!!

So I figure I'll clean and grease everything in the back end. I've only got 2500km (all off road) on it so there's no swing arm wear or damage from the chain and all the bolts look pretty good. The swing arm is definitely do for a repack though, there's a bit of mud and water in there.....

must have missed my post back may :( hope you got her all fixed up!

Suspension upgrade done -

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t10154-ghetto-racetech-upgrade#85821

I don't know if there's much left for me to do to the WR2. I mean.....I've got a tubliss system sitting in the garage to install tomorrow night, and here's the latest purchase - http://www.ebay.com/itm/330780181130

So now this bike is setup for;

- long distance adventure riding where I put on a giant loop coyote, haul a hennessy hammock and a pile of camping gear and a rotopax 1gal to supplement the 3.7gal Safari tank.
- sunday weekend dirt biking in the super tight single track with my dirt wheels, scorpion xcms tires and half a tank of gas.
- supermoto riding with these new Warp 9 wheels during the week.

There just isn't much of anything left to farkle, other than perhaps finding a set of original rad shrouds so I can switch back and forth from the stock tank to the Safari.

I think I'll be switching back to the 13t front for a happy medium on gearing (13/47).

The tubliss system off road is going to let me stop using the GiantLoop Mojavi and carrying tire irons and a tube - saves about 10lbs.

I still have a bit of trouble with the weight. With everything I've done, sitting ready to go for the weekend without the Mojavi on board (and 1/2 tank of gas - maybe more) it's 300lbs. There's nothing significant left for me to shave weight with. I can't tell how much is in the tank 'cause I went with the solid blue and filled it with foam. The weight only bothers me when I get it stuck (not that often) or when I have to pick it up (far too often).

I find myself sneaking out to the garage for obscure reasons during the week just so I can look at it sitting on it's stand. I think I may need help...... I really do enjoy it and think it's the best all around bike that money can buy.....

Wow, you've done some sweet upgrades recently. You've pretty much built my dream WR. Nice  

And now on went the SUMO wheels.  The installation went pretty smooth.  I had to trim the fork guards (tires are too wide), use a Zeta brake line clip, and remove the brake line clip off of the calliper (could leave on but I didn't like the angles).  When I switch back to dirt I'll reroute the brake line to the inside to avoid damage.  My dirt setup is 12t / 47t with the chain adjusters at the 2nd mark. My chain is a 120 link with about 4 or five links removed. The Sumo wheel came with a 42t sprocket, which just fits with the adjusters all the way back. I might be able to pull a couple more links out of the chain, but will have to see when the dirt wheels go back on.

Wow....what fun on the street.  It's got a lot of pep with these little 17's on there and I can't get over how fast it'll corner.  

A track racer friend of mine told me that he turns nearly identical times on a supermoto vs. his street bike because the sumo corners at such high speed, I believe it.  

I'm only two rides in and I can't believe how far you can lay it over at full bore.  So much fun.  I'll have to put on the knee pads next time and really throw it around.



BTW I never did switch back to the 13t front, and still haven't installed the tubliss system.  It requires new tires (rim locks dent tire and they won't seal), so I've got new scorpions for when these wear out.

So I think it's now two years since I bought the bike, getting pretty close to that anyway. I figure I've spent probably $4k or $5k on mods, maybe closer to $6k.... including the Sumo wheel set.

The WRR is something like $6900 Cnd, so I'm running around $12k Cnd after pretty much every significant mod outside of engine work and a lynx fairing. In my opinion.....well worth it. KTM's are certainly nice, but they're not outrunning me in the trails by any means. In fact due to my sweet plush suspension it's frequently the other way around. A new Katoomer would be $11k Cnd and then I'm guessing another $3k in mods at least to be roughly equivalent.

Good value either way - longevity will tell the tail for which is the better purchase. A WRR with about $3k in mods will challenge the KTM's no issue IMO.

Seriously starting to think that I need to do the Athena 290 upgrade......NEED.......

Weird little bikes. For me they are the best compromise available for what I like to ride.

I bought a low mileage used WRR to replace a 650 twin adventure bike. I had a fully prepped/modified KTM450EXC for the serious off road stuff.
As I was putting some time on the R2 in preparation for a Death Valley trip I started realizing that I never found myself wishing I was on the KTM

I made the decision to sell the KTM & invest a little more into the R2. The suspension work was the best bang for the buck hands down. I got a bit carried away from there, but have less than 6k invested & my original 4k engine is sitting under my bench wrapped in plastic.
I went bigger (stroker & big bore), but highly recommend a big bore. The engine responds beautifully, like that's the way it was intended to be. I'm down to one bike, which for me is weird. This bike will do gnarly single track & happily cruise 70mph all day long.

IMHO, I'd look at Thumper Racings 280 kit, 3 ring piston that is lighter than the Athena & keeps the balancing much closer.

So I've had the WR a couple of years now and thought I'd articulate a few of my thoughts.  

1. You can set this bike up to be whatever you want it to be - more street, more dirt, a trail weapon, an ADV bike, you name it.
   
2. My quest was to make this the one bike does all machine.....it is possible but in the end, no longer where I'm heading with it.  Definitely would require an air hawk or sheepskin on top of the seat concepts seat for me (I have a tail bone issue though).
   
3. At the end of the day, the issue with street riding and adv riding with this bike is that it is still a 250.  A very nice 250, but lacks comfort on the long haul.
   
4. I've kitted mine out for off road enduro style riding - the Sumo wheels are a bit of a waste.  Yes, you can swap them over and ride the street - but I far prefer the KLR650 I bought this fall for ADV and road riding.  There's no replacement for multiple bikes.....I also ride a trials.....
   
5. With the mods I've done I'm not held back off road at all by the bike.  I race through the trails with the fast guys out of our off road riding crew (we're all on dual sports) and the KTM500's, Beta350's, even the WR250f are not outriding me.  Would I be better on one of their bikes?  Maybe.....maybe the WR250f.  
   
6. Sometimes I get mired in spec sheets and think I'd be better off on a different bike - once I sling a leg over mine and go attack some tight mountain trails I have no doubt that there is no issue with the WR250R holding it's own against the other manufacturers, but that's only after the mods that I've done which in my opinion are all critical.
   
7. The exception being the big fuel tank.  I'm going to go back to stock and see how it rides for a while.  The Safari tank is in fact better protection on the bike, it's extremely hardy and I've put it through plenty.  I don't like the width though which contributes to the bike having a heavier / larger feel to it.  I've ridden 270km off road on the Safari (3.1g), but the same would be possible with the stock tank and a 1 gal rotopax.
   
8. I jump the bike a fair bit and bottom my forks more than I'd like (once or twice per ride minimum).  I think fitting some forks from a WR250f or a YZ426 or something would be really sweet.  Yes I can do some spring mods or lose some weight which is what I'll likely do (the former over the latter....).
   
9. I'll be installing Tubliss soon and not sure what kind of shape the rims are in.  I think some of the bottoming sounds I hear are the rims bottoming on rocks sometimes - at speed it's not always easy to tell.  So aftermarket rims wouldn't be a bad thing, but I'll report on that once I've got the rims off and inspected to see if they've held up.  Knock on wood....with my heavy duty tubes I've never had a flat running 11psi front and 10psi rear on Pirelli Scorpion XCMS tires.
   

At the end of it all I'm glad I have a 250 - they're fast off road and cheap to insure.  I don't think I'll ever switch to a KTM or Beta or Husky, but then....I've never ridden one.  My opinion is based on the riders around me who all ride those bikes.  Wonderful machines, but....mine is less expensive, more customized, and way the hell more reliable.  If I was to switch to something else, it would either be the new WR250f or maybe a 300 2t of some sort (Sherco likely) if I thought I was going to race hare scrambles and enduros.  The more likely is I'll keep my WR that I can ride the street to all the local trails out here and could viably enter an enduro/hare scramble and certainly get through it.  Never going to win, but I have no doubt that I could make it.....(and then ride home).

You know....a few more clicks of compression damping on the front end, some new rims and a thumper 280 kit would sure be cool.......

4play wrote:

Weird little bikes. For me they are the best compromise available for what I like to ride.

I bought a low mileage used WRR to replace a 650 twin adventure bike. I had a fully prepped/modified KTM450EXC for the serious off road stuff.
As I was putting some time on the R2 in preparation for a Death Valley trip I started realizing that I never found myself wishing I was on the KTM    

I made the decision to sell the KTM & invest a little more into the R2. The suspension work was the best bang for the buck hands down. I got a bit carried away from there, but have less than 6k invested & my original 4k engine is sitting under my bench wrapped in plastic.
I went bigger (stroker & big bore), but highly recommend a big bore. The engine responds beautifully, like that's the way it was intended to be. I'm down to one bike, which for me is weird. This bike will do gnarly single track & happily cruise 70mph all day long.

IMHO, I'd look at Thumper Racings 280 kit, 3 ring piston that is lighter than the Athena & keeps the balancing much closer.

That's funny; I'm doing the same...I've had my '14 WRR for 9 months and 10K miles and I just sold my XR600R.  Next up in the spring will be my Wee-Strom ADV and then MAYBE my 450EXC.  I'm not completely there yet on the KTM, but if I don't ride it this year then maybe it will be time to let it go.  I am keeping my old Wide Glide forever.  I'm sure there is a 280 kit in my distant future, but right now it's really hard for me to justify it when the little thing has done everything I've asked of it.  Last year I took a two week trip and rode it 3700 miles from St. Louis out to Moab and back.  It was loaded down with camping gear and I spent a week exploring the Moab area.  Some of that was pretty gnarly and even with stock gearing I didn't have slip the clutch.  This year it will be a 6K+ mile trip out to Washington state and the WABDR.  I commute on it everyday that there's not snow on the roads no matter the temperatures.  I'm 200 lbs. and so the suspension isn't perfect, but it's not horrible even compared to the KTM.  It's way better than the Wee-Strom.  So for now I'm just going to change to a lighter weight fork oil and heavier shock fluid.

If you're not unhappy with the stock suspension you're riding very different terrain than I am. The fork upgrade was a huge improvement over stock. Stock would bottom so hard I was worried about breaking things & I'm not talking about getting air, just steps or creek crossings. Through ebay shopping & by selling the stock forks & front wheel I actually came out ahead. The rear shock re valve with the proper spring for my weight makes it work well together. I can ride almost as aggressively as I did on my KTM450XC & it's just as good or better in the technical rocky stuff. With a full tank, guards, GPS & tools/tubes my R2 weighs within 5lbs of the KTM set up the same. I have not dyno'd the 306cc engine, but it requires way less downshifting & pulls 6th so well (trials tire & 14/49 gearing) I'm looking for 7th gear on flat level ground because it would easily pull it.

4play wrote:

If you're not unhappy with the stock suspension you're riding very different terrain than I am. The fork upgrade was a huge improvement over stock. Stock would bottom so hard I was worried about breaking things & I'm not talking about getting air, just steps or creek crossings. Through ebay shopping & by selling the stock forks & front wheel I actually came out ahead. The rear shock re valve with the proper spring for my weight makes it work well together. I can ride almost as aggressively as I did on my KTM450XC & it's just as good or better in the technical rocky stuff. With a full tank, guards, GPS & tools/tubes my R2 weighs within 5lbs of the KTM set up the same. I have not dyno'd the 306cc engine, but it requires way less downshifting & pulls 6th so well (trials tire & 14/49 gearing) I'm looking for 7th gear on flat level ground because it would easily pull it.

What did you put on the front end? YZ forks?? I've been investigating this today....