Picture this: You’re watching Mad Money, and Jim Cramer is yelling “BUY BUY BUY.” Is he hawking META shares? Lululemon? Nope, he’s displaying a photo of… a Yamaha WR250R.

Actually, because of the Inverse Cramer Law, hisrecommendationmight be enough to push you away from Yamaha forever… my point is this: Nobody is making anything exactly like the Yamaha WR250R right now, and they probably never will again. The time to buy one is now, before they’re all worn out or priced too high.

A mystery bike

2008年雅马哈WR250R来到市场of a mystery. Who ordered this thing? It had a fairly advanced engine, with basically an R1 head cut down to a single cylinder. EFI came standard, which stood out against a field of carbureted dual sport competition. When compared to competition like the KLR or the DR650, the new WR was fairly lightweight at 295 lb wet. An aluminum frame helped keep the poundage down. Other nice touches included adjustable suspension and a supermoto sub-model.

Sounds like it should be a pretty fun and aggressive bike, right? Not so much. From Day 1, many journalists’ reviews of the WR250, said it was down on power. A lot of owners said the same thing. Depending who you asked, the WR made 28-29.5 hp at the crank, which was very respectable for a 250 single—but it only made 17 lb-ft of torque, and you had to rev the engine to make that muscle. Its powerband was more like a two-stroke 125 dirt bike than your usual 250 four-stroke dual sport.

This meant that if you kept the bike in stock trim, it was pretty fun on trails once you learned to spin the engine up. On back roads and even highways, it was OK, especially with a lighter rider. But if you put on a heavy aftermarket gas tank, a set of wide saddlebags and some other luggage and then hit a long grade in a tailwind, then you were in for a slog. Keeping speed through a section of repeated hillclimbs meant you’d get plenty of practice rowing through the gearbox.

Since the WR’s introduction, many riders have wondered why Yamaha didn’t release a version of this bike with a larger engine. I suspect the reason we never saw a WR350 is that the original quarter-liter model would have fit nicely into Japan’s restrictive motorcycle licensing system, and a three-fiddy would not have. I also suspect the WR250R was really built for smaller Japanese riders. The suspension and engine aregood, but they’d begreatfor someone who wasn’t as big as the average over-fed North American.

I say this, because I’m a big guy myself, and I’ve owned a WR for almost half a decade. I’ve had plenty of time to think about how the bike fits me, and how much better it would work for a smaller rider.

An excellent starting point

股票悬架和发动机都好很多riders, and the WR’s other attributes were a good trade-off for its low torque. Build quality was excellent. Valve clearance checks and other maintenance needs came at long intervals. The WR was very economical on fuel, if you were willing to ride in the slow lane. The aftermarket made it easy to make the machine more dirt-friendly, or kit it out for more practical street riding. Whether you wanted to update your suspension, protect your radiator or double your fuel range, the aftermarket had all the answers.

As a result, you can find YouTube videos of guys doing everything with these machines—enduro racing, long-distance adventure travel, casual woods riding. The YouTuber above is a good example.

The WR250R in 2023

The WR250R was canceled in late 2020. Yamaha won’t be bringing any new machines to North America; what we’ve got is what we’ve got. I think that means that if you want one, now is the time to buy.

Nobody makes anything quite like the WR250R today, combining made-in-Japan build quality and components with respectable off-road capability and a highly reliable engine that doesn’t need constant maintenance. These attributes make the WR an excellent choice for tough long-distance trips such as the TAT, TCAT, or long treks through the Aussie desert (which might explain why the WR is so popular in that role Down Under).

The WR250R was an expensive bike when new, which drove many riders to other machines like the DR-Z400 (its closest competitor in the market for years). The high MSRP kept used pricing high as well, but now these prices are starting to come down, especially as the COVID buying craze dies off.

But eventually, the low prices will even out then start to climb again, I think. Unless someone builds a modern equivalent in the years to come, people will be buying these up in the years to come as it turns into a cult classic. Used parts supply will shrink, and the aftermarket will trail off. For those reasons, I think the best time to buy one of these bikes is now.

This bike here

ADVrider inmate @Blind_Beard has this WR for sale in the Flea Market section. You can see his adhere. He is asking for $3,800 or a trade on a more enduro-focused bike. He has upgraded, added or replaced a few parts; check out his advert for the full details, or to coordinate a pickup in Massachusetts…