Yamaha WR250R

This entry is part 10 of 17 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #43

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Lightweight, nimble and awesome fun for a rider who knows how to make a small-bore work.

With Safari Tanks tank and fairing.

This is one insanely good performer. Never mind the engine capacity. Just keep the throttle pinned and grin all the way to the front of the pack. For the distance rider, the increased fuel capacity and wind protection are the icing on the cake.

Yamaha’s WR250R has been a giant killer from the day of its 2008 release in the stunning Mackenzie region on New Zealand’s South Island.

Since then the bike has earned an enviable reputation for lightweight, trouble-free durability and, thanks in no small way to the efforts of Greg Yager and RideADV, has become accepted as a genuine adventure mount in the way no other small-bore has. Yager has seemingly made light work of just about every challenging adventure ride Australia has to offer on the WR250R, including blatting across The Simpson and back multiple times. The stock suspension is good, the motor is an absolute screamer, and the bike is comfortable.

But there was still room for improvement.

Although the bike you see here was sitting around in the Yamaha Motor Australia warehouse, it isn’t an official Yamaha model. It’s mechanically a stock WR250R with a couple of critical aftermarket additions.

Lance Turnley, National Commercial And Government Fleet Manager at Yamaha Motor Australia, was heavily involved in the development of the WR250R Safari Tanks equipment.

Adventure

Despite lacking big horsepower, the WR250R is light, nimble, and a surprisinglygood performer. As we’ve written often enough, horsepower is only part of the equation. The mass of the bike and torque delivery play a big part in the final performance result, and with a stock WR250R weighing in at a measly 134kg full of fuel – the shadow of the editor’s KLR weighs more than that – the low horsepower figure from the small-capacity motor becomes far less important.

But the two potential limiting factors for adventure riders on the stocker are a fuel capacity of 7.6 litres and the bike being naked. Windblast over long distances takes its toll, and 150km or so from a tank just isn’t enough.

The engine is a screamer. It seems to be almost unbreakable.
The Safari Tanks fuel cell gives a 14-litre capacity. The sticker kit looks cool.
Looks like a rallye-bike nav tower, but weighs heaps less and does a good job deflecting windblast.

Lance Turnley, at the time working on Trail Zone magazine but now National Commercial And Government Fleet Manager at Yamaha Motor Australia, thought the bike too good to leave those factors unaddressed.

“Robin Box at Safari Tanks had designed the tank and the bike started to demon-strate it had the range adventure riders were looking for,” said the Sydney-based Turnley, “but it was still too much like a trailbike.”

Lance knew from experience what adventure riders wanted: a long-range tank, protection from the elements, and some way of carrying gear.

“Seeing how well the WR went at highway speeds,” he Ténéréd, “and that it was so lightweight, I thought it warranted further development as an adventure mount.”

Air flow

Lance, a graphic designer before moving to Yamaha Motor Australia, drafted up some drawings and worked with Safari Tanks to come up with the design seen here, and it’s a good one. Both Lance and Robin Box at Safari Tanks were keen to avoid a nav tower anchored to the frame of the bike because it made construction complex and expensive. The rigidity of the structure comes from the angles and shapes moulded into the composite itself, and it mounts with a few screws into brass threads embedded in the tank during its manufacture.

The result is a lightweight, tough,protective fairing which looks very similar to the nav towers used on rallye bikes, and which sits rock-solid in place. It offers good protection from windblast and, a bonus, gives an aerodynamic advantage which results in better fuel economy.

The final addition was the rack which, although small, was a tough little bugger that carried a fair load during our time with the bike.

Yamaha’s WR250R is ready and willing for just about anything. The addition of a fairing and long-range tank makes it a very viable adventure-bike option.

Surprise!

The WR250R with the Safari Tanks additions ended up a light bike with a capability which far exceeded the expectation conjured up by the engine capacity. The little 250cc motor is amazing enough, but the suspension on this example was first class. There have been some staff changes since the project was kicked off and we couldn’t get clear and absolute answers to some of our enquiries. We remember the standard suspension on the WR250R being good, but not this good.

We suspect Teknik Motorsport has tweaked up this bike some, because holy Mother of Dog it works well. On rough and choppy ground it floated like a cloud, and even on the road it let the bike scythe its way through turns in a manner we found hard to believe. With the motor offering a smallish amount of power we asked a lot of the suspension and we’re still in awe of how good it was.

Yamaha WR250R

Yamaha WR250R with Safari Tanks fairing and tank.
Ride-away price for standard bike: $9599.
Safari Tanks tank: $590. Safari Tanks fairing: $572
Web: www.yamaha-motor.com.au

Engine type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, four-valve, single cylinder four-stroke
Displacement: 250cc
Bore x stroke: 77.0mm x 53.6mm
Compression ratio: 11.8:1
Lubrication system: Wet sump
Fuel management: Fuel injection
Ignition system: TCI
Starter system: Electric
Transmission system: Constant mesh, six-speed
Final transmission: Chain
Frame: Semi double-cradle
Front suspension system: Telescopic forks, 270mm travel
Rear suspension system: Swingarm (link suspension), 270mm travel
Front brake: Hydraulic single disc, 250mm
Rear brake: Hydraulic single disc 230mm disc
Front tyre: 80/100 R21M/C 51P tube-type
Rear tyre: 120/80-18M/C 62P tube-type
Length: 2180mm
Width: 810mm
Height: 1230mm
Seat height: 930mm
Wheelbase: 1420mm
Ground clearance: 300mm
Wet weight (including 7.6 litres of fuel): 134kg
Fuel capacity: 14 litres
Service intervals: First service at 1000km, then every 10,000km. Valve clearances every 40,000km.

Driver

The motor’s a ball-tearer.

A lot of riders won’t find the best of what the 250cc single has to offer because they won’t take the time to understand it. But for any-one who knows what they’re doing, the WR250R motor is sensational. It delivers good power right up to the 10,000rpm redline, and competent riders won’t be afraid to keep it at high revs while they flail up and down through the six-speed box like a mad-man – or mad woman, of course.

While it’s light and easy to move around, the WR250R asks more of the rider than a bigger capacity motor in its own way. There’s no punting along trails with the motor chugging away at low revs. It needs some aggression and confidence from the rider to attack the terrain if things are to be kept moving at a good pace. Cruising along at freeway speeds is fine, but overtaking requires a little patience and a big handful of throttle.

We know from experience how tough the bike is. It’ll take everything just about anyone can throw at it, so what would seem insane mistreat-ment in a big-capacity bike is just everyday riding on the WR250R, and when it’s ridden like that, it’s a dream.

We loved it.

Details

The tank and fairing, predictably,fit together nicely, and offer a very affordable approach to the rallye-bike look and function. The fairing does keep a great deal of wind off the rider and offers a great platform for mounting GPS or other instrumentation,and the only part of the set-up we couldn’t get quite right was the Barkbusters just grazing the top of the fairing when we had the ’bars where we wanted them. Raising the ’bars a smidge would solve the problem, and for us, would’ve suited just fine, although the standard ’bars set as they were when we received the bike were okay.

We’ve always thought the WR250R an amazing bike, and the addition of the larger tank – which gave a range of around 250km of mixed riding for us – and fairing offer a genuine step in the adventure-riding direction.

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