Yamaha WR250X

Riding in February?

Here in Ohio, February usually means 25 degrees outside and half a foot of snow on the ground. Even on warmer days, I rarely venture out on the the WR250X because the roads are covered with a nasty coating of salt. This week was different though and we had some 40 and 50 degree days, plus a recent rain storm had washed most of the salt away. I couldn't resist getting the X out for a few rides. While others were carving the ski slopes (see photo above), I was out carving up the back roads. Spring cannot get here soon enough!

 
A few of my favorite twisty roads were still closed for the winter (photo above left), but I still had a blast. On my shopping list for next year is some heated riding gear.... after riding about an hour in 45-50 degree weather, I'm usually freezing my a$$ off and need to stop occasionally to warm up.

Last ride for 2011?

 
The riding season is just about over here in Ohio. Today the temps finally got into the mid 40's so I decided to get the WR250X out. I only got about 50 miles in before I had to head back home and get warm. The roads weren't in that great of shape thanks to some salt that was recently put down when it snowed, and there was even some ice on the sides of the road. Yikes!

Afterwards I decided it was time to get the bike ready for storage, so I did a quick oil/filter change, filled the tank up with gas/Stabil, lubed the chain real good, then dropped the bike off at the storage unit. Hopefully we will get some nice weather over the next few months so I can get her out again, otherwise I'll be waiting until around March.

Early fall rides on the WR250X

 
I got a few good rides in this past week... trying to take advantage of every nice day I can since snow will be on the ground in another month or two :-(

TGIF

Great day for a ride on the WR250X

 
Got about 130 miles in today... up the Valley Parkway all the way to the lake and back. It was pretty cloudy out all day, so I think most people stayed indoors, which meant the the roads were pretty empty.

Outrunning thunderstorms

There was a good chance of thunderstorms today but I decided to take the WR250X out anyways. Got a good 100 miles in before I noticed some dark clouds brewing to the west, so I decided to start heading back home. This was a good move on my part because shortly after I got home it started dumping down rain pretty hard. Overall a pretty good ride.... was real surprised how light traffic was on the back roads around here considering it's a holiday weekend. And for some reason, I find it sorta fun trying to outrun thunderstorms.

UPDATE: I've now got about 750 miles on the new Bridgestone BT-003 tires. These things are awesome. More grip than you'll ever need on the street.

A winter time ride on my WR250X

Temperatures were in the high 50's today, so I decided to go for a ride on my WR250X. It's been cold and snowy here recently, so I hadn't had the bike out since early December!

Unfortunately, it was very windy out and I got blown all over the road. To make things more interesting, the roads were covered with salt. I still managed to get about 100 fun-filled miles in. I had a close call on Riverview Road... as you can see from the photos above, a large tree got blown down across the road probably 5-10 minutes after I'd ridden by. It completely blocked the road and took down the power lines. Wow, that was a close call!

Once I got home, the WR250X had a nice coating of road salt over it so I had to give it a quick bath before stashing it back in the garage. Temps are supposed to get down into the teens again with snow in the forecast, so that might be the last ride I get to do for awhile.

On a side note, I noticed the rear tire on the bike is shot. Time for a new one. It only lasted about 3000 miles, which is about what I expected considering how I ride. I ordered up a new Bridgestone BT-090 Battlax, which is what came stock on the bike. I really like them and didn't hesitate to order another BT-090.

One more ride on the WR250X before winter

Temps were in the high 40's today and the sun was out, so I decided to get the WR250X out again before winter. Who knows... this might be the last tolerable riding day we have for quite a while. Soon temps will be in the 20's/30's, it will be snowing, and worst of all...they will start salting the roads. Cold temps and salty roads mean NO GRIP, so I tend to just put the bike away until spring.

Anyways, I put about 100 miles on the WRX and had a blast on some of the twisty roads in the area. Rolled back in just as it was getting dark. Great day...despite how cold I got on the way home.

Winter is closing in

Another 100 miler on our WR250X

Today I spent most of the day over in Brecksville, with a quick run up the Parkway, but it was a bit too cold (high 40's/low 50's) for much more than that. Brecksville was deserted compared to the heavy traffic just a week or two ago when the leaves were at their peak. I love it when the twisty roads are empty! On the way home I about froze my ass off...started to get really cold and had to ride in the fully tucked position most of the way to keep the cold air off my upper body. I had my textile jacket w/liner on, and my chest protector under it, but the cold air at 60mph was starting to get really uncomfortable. Overall though, one of the best rides of the year since the twisty roads were completely free of traffic.