Another new bike

[merv]

Man shit weather here today but I finally took my DR250R to Sawyers and walked out with my new WR250F. Huh huh, did it all with the trailer because the Yam comes with a box of stuff including a full workshop manual and I had to get all that home somehow, and with the weather like that stuffed if I was going to ride the thing home when I've gotta work on the suspension yet to get it to fit my short arse. Sawyers have worked on the front end to drop it 40mm or so but I've probably got to buy a new shorter shock for the back (Ohlins maybe - will be in touch with Robert Taylor asap). Should have it all going sweet in time for the Pukemanu. Lynda better change my bike details on the entry spreadsheet - talk to you more about it later.

[Yamahamaman]

new WR250F

Yeah, I need a step ladder to get on one of those as well

[Firefight]

Man shit weather here today but I finally took my DR250R to Sawyers and walked out with my new WR250F. Huh huh, did it all with the trailer because the Yam comes with a box of stuff including a full workshop manual and I had to get all that home somehow, and with the weather like that stuffed if I was going to ride the thing home when I've gotta work on the suspension yet to get it to fit my short arse. Sawyers have worked on the front end to drop it 40mm or so but I've probably got to buy a new shorter shock for the back (Ohlins maybe - will be in touch with Robert Taylor asap). Should have it all going sweet in time for the Pukemanu. Lynda better change my bike details on the entry spreadsheet - talk to you more about it later.

Great news Merv , You will love the WR, I'll send the bits to you later in the week.enjoy....


Firefight

[merv]

Motu would like this, I ordered my shorter Ohlins shock Monday last week, Robert had it all done and it was in my hands by Thursday and I fitted it Friday. Weather was crap Saturday but I got out riding Sunday and it all fits sweet. For my short arse the bike is now OK for me to just reach with my toes both sides at the same time so should be great for all dirt riding. Of course I have compromised on ground clearance and because the WR is so tall in the first place they haven't taken particular care with design to keep everything up high so the sidestand mount hangs quite low, but hey I'm too old to do too much heavy riding these days. The footpegs are relatively low in relation to the seat which gives the bike good leg room - certainly would also suit much taller people than me who wouldn't need to alter the shock. So here's a pic of my Ohlins equipped WR. Just got to tune it a bit now, runs a bit hairy at low throttle openings so needs the pilot air screw tweaking a bit. Might get around to that this weekend and run a few more kms on it. So now I have a light powerful dirt bike that I can reach the ground on.

p.s. if anyone out there is sweating over seat height I can certainly recommend a change to a custom shock to lower the bike if all other adjustment fails you (Robert made mine to the length I asked for). This would work with road bikes too where you might compromise footpeg clearance but if you bought a damn crusier instead you would be worse off in that respect than buying a sports bike and knocking it down a bit.

[James Deuce]

Very sweet bike sir.

Good job on the new shock too.

[mangell6]

Very nice Merv, new lounge suit has put back the savings plan for me next bike DT230 or WR250.

Are you gonna visit LH on Thursday

[Motu]

Usualy a link is used to lower a bike,changing a complete shock seems an expensive way to go - was a link kit not available or was there another reason to go for a short shock...inquiring minds want to know.I guess if I wanted to waste a lot of time I could fabricate another link,but that's a project for another day.The height of my XT is close to where I want it,seems to depend on tyres - the 130-90 and 520 put me on my toes,or a single flat foot,a 120-80 or 460 gets me on the balls of my foot...trouble is the tyres I want are in the larger sizes.

The Pajero fired up today - but there is a long way to go yet....I may be pushing it a bit.How's the ground down there Merv? drying out yet or is it going to be a wet one?

Lookin good Merv,can't tell it's been lowered at all - but it's too clean,you need to work on that.

[merv]

Usualy a link is used to lower a bike,changing a complete shock seems an expensive way to go - was a link kit not available or was there another reason to go for a short shock...inquiring minds want to know.

We looked hard at the links but the way the WR has the bottom of the shock going through the swingarm if I'd lengthened the side links there was a good chance the bottom of the shock would hit the swingarm. My Suzuki you could pull a bolt out the bottom shock mount and move it up to a higher threaded hole thereby dropping the shock down without it fouling the swingarm. I would have loved to have been able to do it on this but the shock was made with a flanged end and bugger all alloy above that point so it would have taken a major strip down of the shock to get the thing changed, remembering the bottom shock fitting has the damping adjusters in it. Yeah so it might be expensive but it was quick and Robert fitted a shorter softer spring to the shock to suit. It also means I still have the original shock which means it can be put back to standard very quickly if I were to sell it. If you saw a stock WR you would see how much I've knocked it down - its about 110mm. So I have compromised ground clearance and suspension travel but that's a small price to pay to make it right for me. I just couldn't compete on Supercross jumps eh!

[merv]

The Pajero fired up today - but there is a long way to go yet....I may be pushing it a bit.How's the ground down there Merv? drying out yet or is it going to be a wet one?

Still bloody wet and the news this morning was saying we are going to have a wet cool autumn - bloody marvellous.

I'll run the WR on the stock tyres for the Pukemanu and I must say they are a bit hard in the carcass - suit Aussie ADR road rules I guess - so not sure yet how well they will actually grip slippery surfaces. We will see - but it still should be easier than trying to ride a BMW or something like that. The 102kg dry weight of the WR suits the needs of a short arse like me.