Has anybody used one of these for street duty? 5th gear seems pretty tall, so I wonder if that would make this work ok for some road riding?? I have an extra bike sitting here and am bored...
I should add that this would be a street only machine. It would mount street tires and I would lower the suspension 1-2". There aren't many dual sport opportunities around here, so this would be a street machine for short commutes. I'm thinking fun to ride and gets better mileage than my full size GMC or Jeep Wrangler... The 2000 WR250 that I ride off road seems like it will do 90mph with dirt tires and stock gearing - add street tires, lower it, and I wonder what it would be like... ?
The only thing I could see happening is that it may over heat at a long red light. Most dual sport bikes have a fan on them.
I've talked to a few guys that used to ride street legal 2 strokes on the road and they all said that you gear your bike so that you can cruise (at your typical cruising speed) below the rpm range that your motor will come on the pipe. I understand this fully, but wonder if a 250cc motor will have enough torque to cruise at 60 mph 'below' where it comes on the pipe? Any opinions on that?
I have started this project and there is no turning back now! So far I have it stripped to the frame and will be painting the frame with a some medium blue paint that I had on hand. I will be using a trimmed white front fender from a YZ250, a headlight (and the plastic piece that goes around the headlight) from an XT350, trimmed black rear number plates, a black rear fender with a custom black extender/brake light holder/license plate holder. I only have yellow tank shrouds, so I will end up painting a set black-hoping that being as how this is a street bike, the plastic won't flex enough to make the black paint fall off. The front suspension I have to replace the fork seals. While I'm working on the forks I will cut the spacers down to take some preload out of the front springs, and replace the oil with 3wt belray. The rear suspension is all in good shape. I will take all of the preload out of the rear shock, remove the chain guide, and the back should be ready. I plan to lower the bike (partially) by using hardly any preload, but keeping it under control by slowing down the damping. I will rebuild the motor. It will get a ProX rod kit, main bearings & seals, and a new Wiseco piston. I have a Keihin PJ 38mm carb from a Honda CR250 that will fit on this nicely. Add some Kenda K761 tires on the stock rims, and I hope to have a fun street beater for less than $800. What else is there to do during a cold Minnesota winter???
None of you like my street legal WR250 project idea? I've been getting some help from people over on TT, but am surprised that nobody here has much to say...
Thanks! I might add more pics when I make more progress. It is just a pile of parts and an idea right now...
It will easily pull 65 off the pipe. 14X48 gearing gives you a top end well over 90 mph and 65 is less than 6000 rpm. The true wide ratio 5 speed in your bike is a nice tranny. This is with a 110x100 18 rear. Walt
After taking the forks apart I decided to lower them (internally). Here are some 4" spacers that I made from an old pair of Trail Tech handlebars...
OK... So I now have lowered the forks 4" internally. The rear of the bike will probably sit plenty low by just backing off the preload on the rear shock. Does anybody know anything bad that might happen if I end up with 8" of front suspension travel with 12" of rear suspension travel? As long as the bike sits/handles nicely on the road, what can it hurt??? Any feedback is helpful as I am doing something here that most people just don't do...
I am starting to get the front end together. This pic shows my home made rebound adjusters (the stock ones were messed up). They aren't real pretty, but functional and not many people will ever know the difference.
You should have posted this in 2 stroke for more responses. I rode my 2000 WR250 on the road a good bit. I had a Baja Designs DS kit on it and would pass inspection. I kept the stock 13/48 gearing and it would go 60 mph dwn the road without a problem. Favorite moment was.... coming up entrance ramp onto 4 lane divided highway, just as a couple on big Harley came by. When I wheelied by them at 65, they just about crashed doing a double take! Great bike on and off road! Keep up the good work!
Sounds like it's going to be a fun way to save some gas money. I take my WR300 to work sometimes, but I don't have a true wide ratio tranny They make paint for plastics but you know it will end up cracking. I think it would look great with a black frame, then you can leave the shrouds yellow.
I am going to leave the shrouds yellow. It will probably end up looking just like it does in the pics - ugly, but oh well, it is just a cheap beater that should be fun to rip around on. One big upside to this project is that I will have a fresh motor and suspension that can be used on my racebike in the event of a major failure. Maybe you should find a 6 speed for your 300???
