2007 Yamaha WR250F - Long Haul #1 - Dirt Rider Magazine

You read about the WR's stellar performance in the Dirt Rider 24-Hour (May '07), and since it has been inducted into our Long Haul fleet, the blue bike keeps on giving. One 24-hour wasn't enough, so we gave it another and another! Just the following week we took the bike to our brother publication ATV Rider's 24-Hour event and rode the bike most of the time, including hooking up some of the headlights for our upcoming light buyer's guide as the WR has a good stock charging system. But we wanted to run even brighter lights. Upon getting the bike back to the shop, we installed a Baja Designs modification to unify the power output of the stator. The mod took a couple of hours to finish and sends all of the juice to the battery, so you can run a lot of light if the need arises. The kit includes a bigger voltage regulator, and all the plugs fit together (less one locking clip, which later on fooled with us).Next stop was the Coalinga National Enduro, where Chris Denison lined up in the 250 B class and piloted the Yamaha through 70-plus miles of mud and gunk. "The WR was perfect for the nasty conditions," Denison commented. "It is ridable in tight trails, nimble in the mud and, above all, it has a button start!" During the race, Denison, along with about 330 others, eventually houred out, but he ended up sixth in the class without doing any damage to the bike beyond covering it with a thick layer of asbestos-laced mud.We did have an issue when changing the oil, though; we tore the vent right off the oil tank. Lesson learned: Don't overtorque the bolt, and a little anti-seize would have helped.Next up was a 30-hour-plus stint on some of our favorite trails alongside our Husaberg to rack up the hours. Here is where the bike began to sputter. It was like it was running out of gas, and the battery was going dead, too... We checked the fuel supply, which was OK, and looked into the battery, which was dead when returned from the enduro. We thought the headlight switch might have been accidentally left on as the battery took a full charge and seemed fine. Well, after three hours it was dead again. We suspected the soldering job I'd done on the stator was the culprit and tore into the motor, but it checked out OK. Remember the plug without the locking clip? Well, we should have checked that first as it had pulled apart and stopped the battery from charging. The bike was running off battery power. The Baja Designs instructions clearly said to tape and secure the wire, which we had, but not well enough. Once the problem was identified and we took the extra measure of wiring shut the connection, and it was off and running without even a hiccup; the bike even charged up its own battery!After an oil change, a valve-clearance check (everything was in spec), a clean air filter and a set of new Maxxis tires (with a front mousse), we sent Kyle Redmond off to the Six Hours of Glen Helen to run the Ironman class. Redmond ran strong despite the soft suspension getting softer due to leaky fork seals and pulled off a second-place finish. Now it is time to get the suspension serviced, and we're thinking of performing a slight revalve so the Yamie can handle the big plans we have for it.Running Tally
Hours on Bike: 69.2
Modifications: $448.94
Yamaha GYTR kit (for throttle stop): $49.95
Baja Designs stator mod and voltage regulator: $49
NiteRider HellFire lights: $349.99
Maintenance and Repairs: $228.17(not including tires)
3 oil changes and 2 filters
3 qt Yamaha 20W-40 oil: $4.88 each
2 oil filters: $11.95 each
Oil tank: $189.63
Dunlop D756 front: $95.25
Dunlop D756 rear: $93.33
Maxxis IT front: $69.95
Maxxis IT rear: $78.95
Michelin front mousse: $164.53