R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Just got to test ride one. Well, it was the X Supermotard version, same deal basically. Man… is it ever nice.
I currently have an 06 WR250F, farkled with enduro armor and uncorked. I've been using it for Enduros and Hare Scrambles for a few years. But I've been wondering more and more how much I'm really into it. Worried about my family if I should crash, or the weekends that get eaten up racing. Maybe I just want to get back into doing what I did before I got into racing. Cruising the trails and backroads. I bought the WR-F thinking it would be fine for that. It's street plated
and everything but... It's loud, buzy, the chain drive clacks when cruising at certain speeds, the valve interval is really short, it's only got 5 speeds, etc. etc. etc. I've only put about 1700km on it in 3 years.
I keep thinking about the DR650, but it’s fairly heavy and the insurance much more than I'm currently paying. Actually, the insurance is a big impediment to me. It just goes with the CC’s, and it doesn’t matter that a DR650 is slow. Insurance is expensive enough in Canada. I find the current $50/month I'm paying now is pretty stupid for a bike I don't ride that much, and they want $127 for a DR650 which isn't that much more logical to me.
So anyhow, there was a Yamaha test ride event locally, so I checked it out.
Man, is the bike ever nice. Right off the bat, I banged into the rev limiter. My bike is about 13,500 rpm, I think this one is about 11,000. But it’s also so much smoother… I was just surprised to come up on the rev limiter so fast. I got through second gear, and thought, well damn, this thing is kinda slow, as I feared. Then I look at the speedo, and I think I was doing 50 mph. What the hell… The bike is so smooth, and it has a fairly linear pull, and it’s quiet, you don’t realize how fast you’re going. It hits the rev limiter just when my bike starts to get loud and fun. And the gearing is way taller than mine as well. I’d be cruising at 60mph, and think “I’m sure I’m in sixth, but let’s just check” <click> “Oh, now I’ve got sixth”. And then the bike is just purring along at 60 effortlessly. I took it up to 75mph, using maybe ½ throttle. Didn’t feel it was being worked at all, still just purring along. The chain drive is smooth, the engine is quiet. Amazing. This bike would be fine for cruising backroads all day up to 60, which is all I really wanna do anyway. I don’t want to go on a major highway even if I had a bigger bike. There's little buzz coming through the handlebars, but the foot pegs vibrate a lot. The seat is much better than mine, but I'm sure other's would find it narrow... it's all about perspective.
I can see why somebody would want a bike to be more comfortable for long cruising. But I don't know why anybody would want or need more power. At least as long as you don't have a passenger, or too much luggage. Other people (Lois) has shown you can drive around the world on even less powerful bikes.
Nice bike. I'm really conflicted now.
I currently have an 06 WR250F, farkled with enduro armor and uncorked. I've been using it for Enduros and Hare Scrambles for a few years. But I've been wondering more and more how much I'm really into it. Worried about my family if I should crash, or the weekends that get eaten up racing. Maybe I just want to get back into doing what I did before I got into racing. Cruising the trails and backroads. I bought the WR-F thinking it would be fine for that. It's street plated
and everything but... It's loud, buzy, the chain drive clacks when cruising at certain speeds, the valve interval is really short, it's only got 5 speeds, etc. etc. etc. I've only put about 1700km on it in 3 years.I keep thinking about the DR650, but it’s fairly heavy and the insurance much more than I'm currently paying. Actually, the insurance is a big impediment to me. It just goes with the CC’s, and it doesn’t matter that a DR650 is slow. Insurance is expensive enough in Canada. I find the current $50/month I'm paying now is pretty stupid for a bike I don't ride that much, and they want $127 for a DR650 which isn't that much more logical to me.
So anyhow, there was a Yamaha test ride event locally, so I checked it out.
Man, is the bike ever nice. Right off the bat, I banged into the rev limiter. My bike is about 13,500 rpm, I think this one is about 11,000. But it’s also so much smoother… I was just surprised to come up on the rev limiter so fast. I got through second gear, and thought, well damn, this thing is kinda slow, as I feared. Then I look at the speedo, and I think I was doing 50 mph. What the hell… The bike is so smooth, and it has a fairly linear pull, and it’s quiet, you don’t realize how fast you’re going. It hits the rev limiter just when my bike starts to get loud and fun. And the gearing is way taller than mine as well. I’d be cruising at 60mph, and think “I’m sure I’m in sixth, but let’s just check” <click> “Oh, now I’ve got sixth”. And then the bike is just purring along at 60 effortlessly. I took it up to 75mph, using maybe ½ throttle. Didn’t feel it was being worked at all, still just purring along. The chain drive is smooth, the engine is quiet. Amazing. This bike would be fine for cruising backroads all day up to 60, which is all I really wanna do anyway. I don’t want to go on a major highway even if I had a bigger bike. There's little buzz coming through the handlebars, but the foot pegs vibrate a lot. The seat is much better than mine, but I'm sure other's would find it narrow... it's all about perspective.
I can see why somebody would want a bike to be more comfortable for long cruising. But I don't know why anybody would want or need more power. At least as long as you don't have a passenger, or too much luggage. Other people (Lois) has shown you can drive around the world on even less powerful bikes.
Nice bike. I'm really conflicted now.
