Hi all,

After 30,000 miles riding my Tenere around South America I came to love my bike, but for one characteristic - its weight.

It's now parked up on the other side of the Atlantic, so I decided to press the green button on an idea that has been lingering in my mind for a while - turning a WR250R into a mini-Tenere. And whist looking for one in the States, I struck gold - a bike which the owner had gone to town on, with most of the mods I had intended to do already done.

The bottom line - with a 280 big bore kit, better pipe and FI controller, a Safari 14L fuel tank and rally fairing, and a better seat, this WR250R feels distinctly like my 660 Tenere.... only 50kg lighter (dry) and without the killer buffeting! I'm yet to try it out fully loaded for long-distance overlanding, but so far I love this machine.

If you want to see a full list of the mods done to it thus far, I've collated them on my blog here:

https://horcamoto.com/wr250r-modifications/

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Blogging @ www.horcamoto.com

Bike looks great. ...ready for world travel! That's a serious saving in weight. And hopefully a new ' Way we roll'...? Steve

I know what you mean. The WR250R is getting quite a reputation in Australia now, and really shouldn't be underestimated as 'just a 250'. They have titanium valves in so only need looking at at 40,000kms!! Unheard of in the dirt bike world. Not to be confused with the WR250F as they have different motors & frames. There's a guy in Oz called Greg Yaguar who has covered thousands of K's on 660 Tenere's in all sorts of terrains & organizes rides on them. But lately has got his teeth into the 250's proclaiming it would be his pick for a RTW bike after crossing the Simpson Desert on one in 9hrs with no problems. This is the bike...

Ha!! I'm dying to do another "Way We Roll" Steve, because that means we are on the road again! I'm currently in Uganda for a few weeks and getting a serious itch to ride E Africa top to bottom.

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Blogging @ www.horcamoto.com

I'm seriously re-evaluating the 250cc RTW option too. I met guys doing S America on 125s, but always thought I'd miss the extra grunt of a bigger engine. But this WR250R, especially with the 280 big bore kit installed, offers more power than I expected, and is comfortable 'chugging' at relatively low revs, which I didn't expect. I'm yet to try it fully loaded with RTW kit, but even if the more limited power becomes accentuated with weight on board, I think I'd trade that for the 50kg saving.

One of the standard criticisms against small adv bikes for RTW is their limited capability doing long miles on the tarmac. I rode this bike from Texas to Mexico, over 900 miles of highway, in three days. It handled it absolutely fine, with the fairing and upgraded seat.

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Blogging @ www.horcamoto.com

Steph Jeavons has been on a huge RTW trip on her CRF250 L.....and it's done her proud. Are you re-using any of the luggage /Nav set up you had on the Tenere. ..? Steve

Great stuff! I am a believer in the WR250R. I use one for my mustering work. It's got about 2000hrs and 36,000km up so far. It hasn't been trouble-free. Stators and fuel pumps x 4. But both parts have been upgraded since 2012, and are now satisfactory.
My cylinder got dusted due to those idiot spigots going into the clean-air side of the airbox coming loose. So, a new cylinder assembly about 3000km ago. That's life in the scrub/heat/dust etc lane. Even so, the old cylinder was marginal as to whether it should be replaced. Amazing considering the amount of fine dirt it swallowed over a long period.
I'd buy another one tomorrow, but I don't have to. Mine still rides like a new one. Very tough bike.
I hope you have a great time with yours, El Forko. Good for you! Envious. Very envious.

I think I'll remove the pannier racks and use one of Giant Loop's saddlebags - the Great Basin for bigger loads or the Coyote for short trips. My girlfriend used a Great Basin on her DR200 and it worked great.

The bike already has a mount for a Garmin Montana on the dashboard of the Safari Rally Fairing. My Zumo 660 is getting a bit dated, so I may upgraded to a Montana.

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Blogging @ www.horcamoto.com