Yamaha WR250R
images coming soon…

Intro…

The perfect adventure bike should be able to comfortably clock 150kmph, travel at least 300kms on a single tank and weigh less than 150kgs. It should wind down impossible tracks with ease, and if you cartwheel it trying to touch the sky, you want to be pretty confident you can pick it up and keep on riding.  Geoff Ballard got it up to 157kmph with standard gearing on dirt at a recent 6 day enduro in NZ, I’ve ridden it from Sydney to Taree without refuelling thanks to my 13.5 litre Safari tank, and this little WR250R now weighs less than 115kgs dry. WTF you say? Yes, that’s a fucking light adventure bike.

I tore around a flat track on it with Brownie, tackled an enduro track behind ADB test rider Garry Blizzard, bounced across a table top behind Brett Kenny, raced Sam McLaughlin up a steep winding bitumen road on his Suzuki Bandit (not that Sam knew we were racing), and bumbled behind Wigan on a rocky trials mountain.  Admittedly, I couldn’t keep up with one of them, but rode every terrain with ease and I never changed my set up once.

Strip it down.

Like any good wo(man), in order for her/him to perform, you want to drop as much weight as possible before setting to work on it. Remove unnecessary clutter than only gets in the way of a good ride – like the AIS system. It is not mandatory nor does it communicate with the ECU (Engine Control Unit).  I also dropped the whole EXUP assembly, side stand switch, rear tail piece, mirrors and a few other bits that serve no purpose. I could have dropped a few other parts like the vacuum system that closes the airbox flap, the helmet lock and the rear footpegs. But when it comes to an adventure bike – you want your airbox airtight, your footpegs in case you meet a woman and a helmet lock in case you wanna lock up your bits, sink a few cans and not worry about losing your stack hat. Many other components were swapped for lighter, stronger and better performing parts  – we’ll get to them in a moment.

Super ergo console

When it comes to ya little dashboard – you want to ensure everything is comfortable and functions to capacity.  The standard dash does all that, plus we wacked a Yamaha XJ6S screen to stop your lips jabbering in the wind. It’s got to be reliable, indestructible and save your ass when you can’t save it yourself – and if you like a bit of tech stuff, you want it to tell you where the hell you are going in case a dingo eats your maps.
First up, the handlebars. I have bent a few pro-taper bars before from crashing at high speeds with lots of adventurous weight. Finally I have found my nemesis. A bar that is indestructible. The very first Easton 1 1/8 bars have flown straight out of the factory and onto this bike. Why? Because they are 4 times stronger that any twin wall or pro-taper on the market, so its one less thing I have to worry about. The only way I’ll bend these is by getting ‘em stuck in Mr T’s pucker valve.

Since the bike is designed for dirt, sand and tar, it seems only fitting that I use a unique under bar style MSC Ralle-Moto steering dampener. It bolts on in about five minutes and has an 8 step dampening rate with a three way setting. M for motorcross (100% out 0% return), D for desert (100% dampening out, 50% return) and C is for Cross Country (100% out 100% return). The only dampener in the world that has figured out how to keep you safe on a motorcross track; as well as sand, mud or a trail full of hard rocks – all with one dampening system.

To make sure you know where the hell you are going, you need a Magellan Triton 2000. A fully element-proof touch screen GPS with a torch and camera – enabling you to photograph, video or voice record then log your coordinates and, if you’re a geek, upload them to Google Earth. It’s even got a barometer, headphone jack and digital compass so you can check for weather, listen to your homemade porno soundtrack when are lonely on the road and work out where you are going at the same time. But, it sucks the juice, so make sure you hardwire to your battery to keep the tracks rolling.  Now, when you have done all this, you’ll be able to stand tall all day without pain. It feels like you are riding a superfast Segway – it’s that comfortable.

Suck and Blow

The bike breathes just like us humans. So its necessary to ensure each breath is fresh and pure and not clogged with any harmful elements. We used Unifilters to make breathing a little easier and even though many people recommend opening up the air box, we didn’t. You want the bike to go for as long as possible without maintenance, the extra power you get is not worth the pain of a top end rebuild in the middle of the Amazon because you forgot to check the air filter.  We also went for a Staintune exhaust – which opened up the mid-range throttle response and made it a little snappier. We didn’t need to do any remapping or tuning, plus – it shaved 3.3kgs off the original pipe. It even connects straight up to the O2 sensor, but we had to get rid of the EXUP valve, which doesn’t do much anyway, but would be good to have, as when the engine cuts, a valve closes inside the pipe, making the engine virtually watertight even if its above the pipe. Perfect for extreme river crossings.

Magic Carpet (Call Dole)

Stock, the suspension is pretty plush and built to suit everybody, which is a challenging task for any manufacturer. So ‘Rainman’ ripped off the suspension and sent it to Teknik Motorsport. I told them my weight (86kgs), the weight of my equipment including riding gear and 3 litres of water (14-18kgs),  the terrain I’d be covering (everything), and my riding ability. The stock rear spring is a bit heavy for some people, as it is designed to carry up to 185kgs. But perfect for an adventure bike, ensuring that when I accidentally roll over a ten foot drop laden with adventure gear, I don’t bottom out. But he did change the specifications of the rear shock internally to make it a little more compliant by adjusting the dampening curve, using different shims and a few other things I don’t really understand. The front forks are quite good stock, but tend to deflect off things a little easy as the standard piston sizes are a bit small, so Nick used the pistons found in XR’s, heavier springs plus a Teknik compression and rebound kit. 48 hours later, the WR250R rides over any terrain just like a magic carpet.

Gear me up (Cognitive therapy)

When it comes to gearing on an adventure bike, it is always good to stay close to stock so as to get the best economy out of the bike. Standard gearing is 13/43. I increased the diameter of both sprockets in order to take pressure off the top of the chain guide and swingarm point – then subbed in some schmick 14/49 JT sprockets. With this gearing I can still hit 150 on the highway, plus I can change the front to 12 or 13 in a few minutes, adjust the chain a little and tear through any tight single track with the best of them. To ensure the chain life runs as long as possible, I lassoed my JT sprockets with a top of the range RK 520 GXW chain. These new components combined with a smaller, lighter bike means everything’ll last longer – which means I can travel further and carry less spare parts with me.

Break

The breaking capacity of this bike is swift given the 250mm front disc, but with the additional weight of adventure gear, it is safer to employ the services of Goodridge brakelines to help minimize the distance between me and harm and ensure the braking system is a responsive as possible. All brake lines are individually pressure tested.

Burning rubber

When choosing tyres for your adventure bike you need to find a balance between durability and handling as you’ll be riding on all terrain. It also makes sense to set yourself up with a more aggressive front to guide you in the soft stuff and slightly more road orientated tyre for the rear for better handling on-road. I used the Dunlop D908 which is an aggressive street legal front tyre developed in Europe for events such as the Paris Dakar Rally. It has a heavy duty construction that can withstand punishing off-roading riding and still hold its own on the road. On the rear, I went for a Dunlop D606 with a 130 tread for a slightly wider footprint, enabling better handling on road. It won’t fit as well in the ruts, but it’s a perfect little compromise. Always use heavy-duty tubes. Nobody likes patching tyres, and if you are on a serious adventure, it is likely that the nearest tyre shop is at least 500kms away. On a combo like this you’ll be able to get about 4000kms without changing your tyre – add another 1 or 2k if you are willing to ride it to the core to save coin. I managed to get 150kmph on these tyres even with a JT 14/49 gearing ratio which is shorter than stock. The boys at Teknik got it up to 165kmsph on a set of Dunlop road tyres with standard gearing, one hand on the throttle, one hand on the fork, visor on the fuel cap, ass back on the seat…

Bulletproof armour

We have built this bike for battle and with the beefy subframe tubing it’ll be hard to break. I’ve tried. Any attempts to destroy it will be met by a serious layer of defense.  True adventure bikes are like MMA fighters. You can knee them in the face, elbow them in the back of the head and ride them like wild ponies and all they do is turn and laugh in your face and whisper ‘You like that? I like that… why don’t you do it a little harder’ They have to be so tough they make you shudder. Usually I’d set up the front with some type of guard system, but the Safari Tank not only gives me the ability to travel over 300kms, it also enshrouds the front end, making it very different to damage the radiator.  Whacking a B&B radiator guard make it impossible to damage. These guys know how to armour up, so I also attached a B&B master cylinder guard and bashplate, which’ll protect the WR250R from any serious damage. Lastly you need some serious hand guards like the Acerbis Multiplo’s which’ll save your hands from freezing when you are riding through a snowstorm and stop them from being ripped off by any Tolkienesque talking trees that wants to take your bike for a ride.
I’ve never smashed my footpegs but find it hard to get comfortable standing on steep terrain given the slightly wider long range tank, so I thought it’d be worth trying out some Pivot Pegz to see how they stand up to a bit of pirate treachery. They made it so comfortable when standing, and much easier to get the position I was looking for on a steep incline or decline. As an adventure bike, sometimes you are standing up and sometimes you are sitting down. You don’t want to be shifting your lever and rear brake every day, but with the spring-loaded pivoting action you don’t need to. I’m never going back to static pegs again.

Bling!

You don’t really need bling with this bike, it looks so damn sexy without even trying. But the indicators are huge and annoying. The amount of indicators I have broken is embarrassing. Luckily the boys at Ficeda had just got their hands on possibly the worlds smallest CE approved indicator – the Oxford nano led indicator’s which are about half the length of my little pinky. Match this up with a trick looking B&B numberplate holder, and you have one head turning bike. But if you really want to make your bike sing, send it to Brownie. One of the most respected graphic’s masters on the planet. This man’ll take your machine and turn it into a master piece using a combination of printed vinyl, paint and extraordinary skill. The same way he does for Red Bulls helicopters, planes, jet skis… he does it all.

Big load?

Now most people are probably thinking, ‘K so you’ve got the bike, but how are you going to carry your gear on it? Whats the point of stripping all the weight off if you are going to whack some giant pannier racks on? Well, for the first time in my life I don’t need to. There is a new product out called the Giant loop which doesn’t need any pannier  rack or sub-frame mods to attach to your bike. We simply attached a tiny GYTR rear carrier. The bag is shaped like a giant U which wraps over the tail of your seat and tight down each side of the bike – attaching with four well placed straps. Keeping the weight low, tight and aerodynamic.

Summary

Sitting around the campfire with Geoff Ballard on night, he likened the WR250R to a sewing machine ‘Not a whole lot of bottom end, but its so happy to be revved all day. I flogged it like a race bike and actually felt sorry for it. But it seemed happy as Larry to be flogged. So I flogged it again. This is an amazing bike that seems content to ride forever.’

Over the years I have always ridden big thumpers like XR650’s, KLX650’s and DR400’s, and to be honest, I was quite hesitant to use this as an adventure bike. But the WR250R does almost everything the big thumpers can do, plus it is light enough to take you over more challenging trails, giving you better access to more amazing places. The service intervals are extraordinary, with valve checks every 40,000kms and oil change every 4,000kms, and even when you do get around to a service it is so damn easy thanks to a handy sight glass so you can check your levels on the run for the coolant and oil. Aftermarket bits bolt on like a dream – the only challenge was finding a stock screen that would fit, and that wasn’t exactly challenging. The WR250R is compact, tall, great lines, weight distribution and seriously smooth ergonomics – particularly with the recommended
Lost On… modifications mentioned above. I wouldn’t mind a little more horsepower, but don’t want to play with the engine as I prefer to increase longevity/reliability of the motor where possible. On long rides the seat did attempt to rip my ass in two, but that’s an easy fix with a bit of skeepskin, or if you want, a whole new Corbin seat. It behaves surprisingly well in the bush and turns, brakes and points confidently and predictably. The only way to test it is on a serious adventure. So next month I am going to ride it along single trails and off-piste from Cape Tribulation to Papua New Guinea with Roy ‘MacGyver’ Kunda. Then we’ll see exactly what this bike can handle. Just hope I don’t get eaten by a headhunter.