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Do 250cc (or so, e.g. Enduro style) engines survive long highways? Do 250cc (or so, e.g. Enduro style) engines survive long highways?
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #1  
Old 13 Mar 2015
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In a word, Yes.

I sold my '93 TTR250 with over 75,000kms on it, with no issues whatsoever - other than a rusted through exhaust.

Yamaha 250's are renowned for being able to withstand constant thrashing and Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki 250's are not bad either. I did ride from Perpignon to Calais (1100 kms) in a day on the TTR250 - it was not much fun though!, it would sit at 100 kmh all day.....no problem.

Ive been out of the UK for 9 years now, but just looking on Yamaha UK's website I cannot see a 250cc bike, can you not get the WR250R/X or XT250 in Blighty ? if not then Yamaha have seriously missed the boat

The weak link on a lot of modern bikes are the Fuel Injection (FI) pumps, bad fuel (dirt or water) or if they run dry (they are immersed in the fuel, which acts as a coolant) and overheat. Older Carb bikes have less to go wrong, but the TTR is getting old and finding a good one is not so easy these days. The DR250 or a Honda CRF250L would do the job too, the Suzuki is an old bike now, the Honda a modern FI bike - I would not have a problem taking the Honda on a long trip personally.
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  #2  
Old 13 Mar 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gipper View Post
In a word, Yes.

I sold my '93 TTR250 with over 75,000kms on it, with no issues whatsoever - other than a rusted through exhaust.

Yamaha 250's are renowned for being able to withstand constant thrashing and Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki 250's are not bad either. I did ride from Perpignon to Calais, UK (1100 kms) in a day on the TTR250 - it was not much fun though!, it would sit at 100 kmh all day.....no problem.

Ive been out of the UK for 9 years now, but just looking on Yamaha UK's website I cannot see a 250cc bike, can you not get the WR250R/X or XT250 in Blighty ? if not then Yamaha have seriously missed the boat

The weak link on a lot of modern bikes are the Fuel Injection (FI) pumps, bad fuel (dirt or water) or if they run dry (they are immersed in the fuel, which acts as a coolant) and overheat. Older Carb bikes have less to go wrong, but the TTR is getting old and finding a good one is not so easy these days. The DR250 or a Honda CRF250L would do the job too, the Suzuki is an old bike now, the Honda a modern FI bike - I would not have a problem taking the Honda on a long trip personally.
That covers it - I would just add that it is a good idea to keep a close eye on the oil level, especially when running at high speeds (relatively speaking) for hours on end.
My XT225 holds just 0.9 litres of the stuff in the wet sump with a sight glass for such checks, so it is not hard to follow the oil check procedure.

There are not many WR Yams in the UK and none new; they were over-priced by Yamaha, as were all of their products for some time - now they are making a come back with their new twins and 3 cyls with much more sensible pricing for the UK market.
The XT 225/250s have always been grey imports and such imports are still done by some small dealers.
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Old 13 Mar 2015
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They should last if looked after and not abused too much but as for daily mileage that comes down to steady riding and not going near to top speed. I did a tour and would do another on a Honda XR125 and cruising at 45-50 mph and often covered 300 miles in a day comfortably, usually on smaller, more scenic roads. A 250 should be fine.
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Old 13 Mar 2015
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well, at highway speed with my nc750x and 220kg weight I don't feel sometime too stable especially in windy days... Trying this with 250cc at 130 kg is IMHO risky and definitely not comfortable for more then few kilometers..
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Old 13 Mar 2015
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No problem with my WR-R. But then again it's only done 25000 kms, and not many of those were highway kms. The build quality of the WR-R may explain its rather stiff price. But then again it takes a beating quite well, so I suspect it's a good platform to rig a world tourer from.
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Old 13 Mar 2015
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indeed, I don't understand where that difference in price come from between e.g. crf250l, klx250 and wr250r...especially as I prefer steel frame over aluminium.
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Old 13 Mar 2015
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I think there are a couple of facts that might - at least partially - explain the price difference:
1) 31 HPs in the WR-R as opposed to 20-something in the CRF-L and KL-X
2) A 350W alternator - it takes whatever you throw at it
3) An alu frame which allows a maximum load of 185 kg (RTW worthy!)
4) Very revving-friendly 1/4th of a Yamaha R1 engine
5) Long service intervals (not sure of the Honda and Kawa though) with valve clearance adjustments every 48000 km
And it looks better ;-)
Last edited by indu; 13 Mar 2015 at 18:36.
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Old 1 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post
The XT 225/250s have always been grey imports and such imports are still done by some small dealers.
It is my current view that the parallel import (aka grey import) market in the UK is picking up at present, thereby reversing the market of recent years whereby dealers etc from mainland Europe were scooping up UK registered bikes and exporting them to the rest of the EU - that process has reversed basically; to a great extent how this goes will depend on the exchange rate of the Euro to the £ - in fact, that is the primary factor.

There are some UK dealers who are importing brand new grey imports and there are others, in some cases individual entrepreneurs, who are bringing second hand bikes into the UK; keep an eye on ebay for instance.

In any event, low sales of new bikes in the UK since 2008 have the present day net result that late-registration second hand bikes are in short supply; the overall effect is that the second hand prices for all bikes are very firm and are likely to remain so for quite a while.
Talk to any UK dealer and you will get some form of conversation based on this.
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