Yamaha WR250R Mega Thread

These are rated 80/20 street/dirt. I'm using them to drive up to Alaska this summer, before changing to a more off road DOT set

Shinko 705's

Not sure if by "street rubber" you mean dual sport tires, or strictly road tires.

The OEM Trailwings are decent pavement and gravel road tires, long lasting, and I bet you can find a set of take-offs with almost no mileage, for very cheap.

If you don't like that idea, IRC-GP1 are good tires (at least on my DR650), and Shinko 705s are popular and look good.

If more road-oriented, this IRC GS-11 looks interesting:

+1

A great tire for doing pavement and light dirt duty. Excellent tire in the rain, too.

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My fuel economy stayed about the same, it certainly rode smoother though. They are fairly cheap too but not at all dirt friendly.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Exactly what I was looking for.

+2

I use these on my KLR for street and easy dirt and they work great. I also have one on the front of my Super Tenere and 7.5K miles it still looks great.

Someone recommended to me and I am going to try this year....Kenda 270's. They are cheap, so worth a try.

Kind of squirmy in the corners.

Makes things interesting They were a squiring tire on my KLR. I adapted, but preferred the Duro

Instead of the Kenda 270's look at the Shinko 244's. Almost exact copies in the middle tread, but much more substantial side lugs which makes them much more sure footed on the pavement. The middle lugs on the 244's are actually "bigger" too which again helps with stability on the road. They are also cheaper than the 270's usually. Sometimes the Shinko 244's are labeled as "Golden Boy" tires too.

I've ran the Kenda 270's before and I used to like them, but they are either a love or hate relationship. The biggest problem with them is that their side knobs are soft and flex when you get over on them on pavement, so this can make the tires seem squimry. It's definitely worse on larger bikes.

Since I have found the 244', I won't run the Kenda's again. They are almost direct copies of the Kenda 270's and are cheaper to buy, but they redesigned the side knobs to be more substantial and they don't flex like the 270's do. A win/win!! Their beefier knobs gives them a more sure footed feel when you get over on the side knobs in the twisties.

Here's a direct comparison of both tires. That is a Shinko 244 on the left and Kenda 270 on the right. You can see the larger side knobs which I cannot bend with my finger where I can on the Kenda's. You can also see the knobs just in a bit from the sides are also a bit larger on the Shinko's and go all the way to the edge every 2 knobs which gives you more stability there too.




A well worn Kenda 270 on the right and a new Shinko 244 replacement on the left


A close up of the side knobs. See those little bitty side knobs. That is what makes the kenda 270's so squirmy. They give & flex so easily.

I got the 270's I think they are fine, but then I don't rail corners on the WR and hear they can be squirmy (i've not noticed it). I actually liked the Sinko's 244 better which have a similar pattern and are even cheaper.

Loving the 244s on my 17's... will do that again

Woo-hoo. I got back yesterday from 5 weeks in Baja, plus a week of taking the long way to get there from Nor Cal via Death Valley. The WR was awesome.

Unfortunately, I got too complacent and let the chain slack and lubrication get away from me. Conditions were very tough--salt spray, sand, mud that was more like cement (both wet and dry). The chain wore, got corroded, and I didn't notice it until it was too late and have suffered the painful-to-look-at swingarm damage. Chain slider gave way, chain slack was excessive, some of the links started to kink, and now I've got approx. 2-3 mm deep grooves worn in the bottom leading edge of my swingarm pivot.



I'd appreciate hearing from fellow WR owners on how they've recovered from this. Options I see are:

1. Replace the swingarm
2. Get it welded.
3. Fill with quicksteel.
4. Ignore it, and keep riding.

All of the options include replacing the chain slider and chain...

Cry, Replace Slider, Ride.

Sucks, but you aren't the first this happened to.

Would love to see if anybody else's fixes for this are though. It's my nightmare.

Have heard of some folks replacing the lower slider with a piece of "Delrin" (look it up) to keep this from happening again in the future. Kinda too late for you though.

On the plus side, looks like that weld you cut through had excellent penetration!

haven't done it myself, but I have read everything i could find about this before buying a WRR.

Personally, I'd go with #3, and as you said, install new sprockets, chain, and seal-guard.

On Page 3 is a write-up by a guy who used JB Weld or similar to fill in the grooves: http://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t4825-swingarm-eaten-by-chain

Here it is, my new WRR. Picked it up 120 miles from here, where I'm staying with my parents in Palm Springs. Heading back up to SLC in a week or so, via Death Valley and central Nevada and Utah. More pics later. Fun ride!

Congrats, looks brand new!!

You shoot your eye out!

I think I'm going to dive into the head bearing to make sure it has enough grease/regrease it. I think the only special tool I need is a steering stem spanner, is that correct? Anyone know what size? Will this one work? http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/43/-/171/989/-/19026/Tusk-Steering-Stem-Spanner-Wrench

Since I'm talking about greasing bearings, are there any other ones that I really should check?

I got mad at mine. I kept the old worn out chain and tried to repair the chain slider with various materials. I tried cutting board but it wore quickly. I tried lexan but the JB weld did not stick well enough and it fell off. I was fed up so I bent a piece of steel and attached it to the slider with screws. The chain actually ate into it pretty well and I have replaced the steel piece once. Maybe when I get a job I can afford to replace the sprockets and chain. The chain is not visibly kinked but it still pretty bad and needs replacing.