I finally had a chance to get the bike out (and close to properly jetted) in something other than snow. Bike had 1.6 run time hours when I unloaded it yesterday and has 3.4 when I was done. Here's what I can say....
It's freaking rad****************************************!
My other bike is a 06' YZ250 punched to 285cc's, porting and head mods, suspension revalved/resprung, Scott's SUB mount and some comfort items. It's certainly on the radical side of things.
I can say that even though the WR is new and tighter that a Politician when the dinner tab comes, it absolutely hammers down in the woods and should only get better as it loosens up. I'm 10-15% faster without effort right off the bat vs. the YZ. I've yet to really push it and see how far it (and I) can go. It steers on command, it changes lines without thought and makes traction like a thumper.
The Yamaha is a point and shoot affair. I see a corner, I gauge my speed, I determine how long it will take the piss-poor Nissin's to slow me down, I think about gear selection, I enter corner, hit chop and crap myself. I recover, blow the corner up, blast down the straight to the next corner, rinse and repeat all day long. With the WR I dont have a clue what's going through my head. It just happens. I'm spending much less time thinking and far more time enjoying myself. This bike makes riding the forest so much easier that I almost feel guilty about it. Plus I feel like a damn MAN with how high I sit in the saddle. A bike made for men and not 5' 4" 140lb weaklings
I've yet to touch the suspension, but I'm rather pleased with it thus far. The mid stroke feels pretty harsh still, but I've yet to touch a thing so I might be able to tune it out.
The chassis is the most stable I've ridden. I would get sloppy and it would almost correct itself with a little bit of throttle. Far more forgiving than my other ride. Regardless how old the design may be on paper.
Brakes and clutch are ridiculous. Once I became accustomed to the stopping power I was gleaming. I'm big on brake and clutch feel. Both are top of the charts. I have a Hinson clutch setup in the Yamaha and the factory Husky clutch was superb feeling. Better than the high dollar Hinson setup in the Yamaha IMO.
Motor is the icing. Now that the jetting is close and the mid/top blubbering is gone I can say it's pretty magnificent. Low end was jetted lean, but still impressive. Almost feels electric. I was floored at how low the RPM's can drop yet it will still lug and pull with some authority without clutch work. Low into mid range was a pretty substantial change. Mid throttle is where the motor starts to come alive and loses the 'electric' feel. The ground starts going by quickly and then the top end arrives. It revs out like a full on MX'er.
I spent lots of time and money chasing after this type of power delivery on my Yamaha and didn't come close. Many might say the 300 is only a 250 with a bigger jug, but the engineers obviously spent considerable time on port size/timing, head characteristics, power valve characteristics and exhaust characteristics. It doesn't feel quite as lively as the 06' WR250 I rode, but it certainly pulls harder off the bottom and makes more power in the mid. Top end feels remarkably similar. Or at least my memory tells me it does, but the extra low/mid grunt may make the top end feel less enthusiastic. It feels quite a bit faster than the few KTM 300's I've ridden. It still wont show my YZ it's rear fender in an all out drag, but not many bikes will.
My friends ask me why I have two 2-strokes that are so similar (similar displacement anyway) and I didn't have an answer until yesterday. The YZ is a pure race bike. It doesn't like a slow to moderate pace and there's very few places I can push the bike to perform at its best. The PNW mountains are certainly not the place! The WR is a highly capable, competitive machine at home anywhere but an MX track. While it does jump decent and the motor is more than capable, I dont feel the forks are up to it as I was nearing the end of their comfort zone on a few of the larger kicker jumps I encountered. Plus it's very long feeling and likes to be steered with the bars and not the rear wheel like most 2 stroke MX'ers. A capable pilot would prove the exception to the rule, but I'd be much faster on an MX track with the YZ. No surprise there.
There's lots more I could say, but this post is nearing 'Genesis' lengths as-is. I love that bike. Race season starts next weekend and I have 2 weapons at my disposal. The Yamaha for the more open GP or desert type events and the WR for the tighter woods events. Although the WR would shine just as well in the open events, I'd like to spread the abuse and that crazy YZ power will actually work to my benefit.
I Never owned a Husky before this one, but I can certainly see their charms. A bike at home on the trail or race course. A rare crossover breed indeed.
I have 2 gripes however. The shifter gouged the clutch cover and it looks like crap now :foul:. And the mud flap has 2 ribs that eat into the swing arm weld from the suspension action. WTF were they thinking
NWetRider actually told me about both of these, but I let them slide for 2 rides. That's all it took to do its damage. Minor and easily fixable issues, but they'd be easier to fix from the factory. With that said I give the 09' WR300 9 out of 10 on the bike scale. It may not be for everyone. It is for me though!
If I can answer any questions then ask away!
It's freaking rad****************************************!
My other bike is a 06' YZ250 punched to 285cc's, porting and head mods, suspension revalved/resprung, Scott's SUB mount and some comfort items. It's certainly on the radical side of things.
I can say that even though the WR is new and tighter that a Politician when the dinner tab comes, it absolutely hammers down in the woods and should only get better as it loosens up. I'm 10-15% faster without effort right off the bat vs. the YZ. I've yet to really push it and see how far it (and I) can go. It steers on command, it changes lines without thought and makes traction like a thumper.
The Yamaha is a point and shoot affair. I see a corner, I gauge my speed, I determine how long it will take the piss-poor Nissin's to slow me down, I think about gear selection, I enter corner, hit chop and crap myself. I recover, blow the corner up, blast down the straight to the next corner, rinse and repeat all day long. With the WR I dont have a clue what's going through my head. It just happens. I'm spending much less time thinking and far more time enjoying myself. This bike makes riding the forest so much easier that I almost feel guilty about it. Plus I feel like a damn MAN with how high I sit in the saddle. A bike made for men and not 5' 4" 140lb weaklings
I've yet to touch the suspension, but I'm rather pleased with it thus far. The mid stroke feels pretty harsh still, but I've yet to touch a thing so I might be able to tune it out.
The chassis is the most stable I've ridden. I would get sloppy and it would almost correct itself with a little bit of throttle. Far more forgiving than my other ride. Regardless how old the design may be on paper.
Brakes and clutch are ridiculous. Once I became accustomed to the stopping power I was gleaming. I'm big on brake and clutch feel. Both are top of the charts. I have a Hinson clutch setup in the Yamaha and the factory Husky clutch was superb feeling. Better than the high dollar Hinson setup in the Yamaha IMO.
Motor is the icing. Now that the jetting is close and the mid/top blubbering is gone I can say it's pretty magnificent. Low end was jetted lean, but still impressive. Almost feels electric. I was floored at how low the RPM's can drop yet it will still lug and pull with some authority without clutch work. Low into mid range was a pretty substantial change. Mid throttle is where the motor starts to come alive and loses the 'electric' feel. The ground starts going by quickly and then the top end arrives. It revs out like a full on MX'er.
I spent lots of time and money chasing after this type of power delivery on my Yamaha and didn't come close. Many might say the 300 is only a 250 with a bigger jug, but the engineers obviously spent considerable time on port size/timing, head characteristics, power valve characteristics and exhaust characteristics. It doesn't feel quite as lively as the 06' WR250 I rode, but it certainly pulls harder off the bottom and makes more power in the mid. Top end feels remarkably similar. Or at least my memory tells me it does, but the extra low/mid grunt may make the top end feel less enthusiastic. It feels quite a bit faster than the few KTM 300's I've ridden. It still wont show my YZ it's rear fender in an all out drag, but not many bikes will.
My friends ask me why I have two 2-strokes that are so similar (similar displacement anyway) and I didn't have an answer until yesterday. The YZ is a pure race bike. It doesn't like a slow to moderate pace and there's very few places I can push the bike to perform at its best. The PNW mountains are certainly not the place! The WR is a highly capable, competitive machine at home anywhere but an MX track. While it does jump decent and the motor is more than capable, I dont feel the forks are up to it as I was nearing the end of their comfort zone on a few of the larger kicker jumps I encountered. Plus it's very long feeling and likes to be steered with the bars and not the rear wheel like most 2 stroke MX'ers. A capable pilot would prove the exception to the rule, but I'd be much faster on an MX track with the YZ. No surprise there.
There's lots more I could say, but this post is nearing 'Genesis' lengths as-is. I love that bike. Race season starts next weekend and I have 2 weapons at my disposal. The Yamaha for the more open GP or desert type events and the WR for the tighter woods events. Although the WR would shine just as well in the open events, I'd like to spread the abuse and that crazy YZ power will actually work to my benefit.
I Never owned a Husky before this one, but I can certainly see their charms. A bike at home on the trail or race course. A rare crossover breed indeed.
I have 2 gripes however. The shifter gouged the clutch cover and it looks like crap now :foul:. And the mud flap has 2 ribs that eat into the swing arm weld from the suspension action. WTF were they thinking
NWetRider actually told me about both of these, but I let them slide for 2 rides. That's all it took to do its damage. Minor and easily fixable issues, but they'd be easier to fix from the factory. With that said I give the 09' WR300 9 out of 10 on the bike scale. It may not be for everyone. It is for me though!
If I can answer any questions then ask away!
rofessor:
That is a fine looking bunch of Octuplets!
