Older Yamaha Motorcycles

I bought the Yamaha WR250R almost two years ago now. I wanted a dirt bike that I could also ride on the street to get to the offroad rides. I looked at a variety dual sport bikes, such as the Yamaha XT250, Kawasaki KLX250S and Honda CRF230L, but concluded that I didn’t like the offroad performance. These bikes were a little too street oriented for me. Many years ago I had a Yamaha IT175 rigged to be street legal. I wanted something similar, a bike that was tuned to offroad, but was street legal enough to get me offroad. After reading several reviews, and a few trips to the dealer, I concluded that the Yamaha WR250R was just what I was looking for. Read on to get my thoughts after two thousand miles on the WR250R.

Yamaha WR250R Overview

The Yamaha WR250R was introduced in 2008 to fill a market niche that Yamaha believed existed. That is the need for a offroad performance motorcycle that still meets street motor vehicle registration and licensing requirements.

Most dual sport motorcycles are design to provide an equal balance of both on road and off road riding experience. This makes them comfortable for riding around on the street, and good for taking on camping trips or some simple trail riding. However, suspension and other components are generally not up for some serious off road riding. This is where the WR250R fits in. It is fitted with higher performance suspension, brakes, and other components that are tuned for a riding style more like 80% off road and 20% on road. It also have fuel injection, that is an added bonus. Despite being much more off road oriented, the WR250R still has a street bike maintenance schedule as opposed to the typical motocross bike requirements. All this does come at a price premium, but you get what you pay for.