Rainy Daze

Today was a rainy day, and after the work was all done and everyone else was gone for the day, I wandered around with my ancient digicam.
Spooky pic, huh?
I covered the flash bulb so the glare wouldn't wash-out the image of my extremely handsome face in the mirror.
I don't have the opportunity to illuminate the inside of my finger very often, so I'd better enjoy it while I have the chance.
It's fun - you should try it, too.
What a rush.
I'm not smiling in this pic, but that's only because that's how my face looks when the muscles are relaxed.
It's not because I'm pissed-off or anything.
I'm actually a pretty crafty guy with a mischievous sense of humor - give me something to smile about and I'll smile.
If you don't, then I'll give you something that will make me smile.
See how that works?
Learn it, people.


Here's Noel again, and he's showing us how his little finger got "infected" by his chewing on his fingernail.
Yeah, that's what he said.
At least this didn't stop him from helping me carry the day's UPS delivery up from the loading dock downstairs in the Service Dept.
Myself, I really think he was trying to flip me off and act all big n' bad, but he got the wrong finger out.
Hey, Noel, practice that a little bit more, would you?
Sheesh.


Aaahh, yes.
The WR-250RX, and my mode of fun-filled transportation to and from work most days this time of year.
I brought it inside because it started raining about mid-day.
I just can't leave my bike sitting outside in the rain.
What if it catches cold?
Then what?
Would it sniffle and have to blow it's nose when it tries to get into the powerband?
Maybe I need a new powerband.
What color should I get?
Any suggestions?


The eingine is basically, and so I'm reading on the Internet, one-cylindered slice off a YZF-R1 engine.
I'm not sure what model year YZF-R1 it's supposed to be from, but since this bike has a 4-valve head, I'm guessing a 2007-2008 model.
Either way, it's an amazing little engine.
The reason I call it little is because for a street bike, 250cc is little.
Most people want 600cc or better for use on the wide-open mean streets so they can get all sorts of big horsepower when they twist the throttle.
I can't blame them, actually, because I've had many a 1,000cc sport bike, too.
But, this bike isn't about big horsepower catapulting you out of a corner.
Nope.
It's about being able to use all of the power it can muster to keep your speed up and not slowing down much for the corners.
The engine gets plenty of full throttle usage, and it seems to like it very much - it's always spinning at high RPM for miles on end.
This WR-250R engine, by the way, has nothing in common with the other WR-250 in the Yamaha lineup:
The WR-250F, which is based on the YZ-250F.
No, and although it seems a bit confusing to call two different bikes a WR-250, there's a couple of big reasons why this dual-purpose engine is different from the off-road engine:

1) EPA compliance.
Yup.
The WR-250R, being a street-legal bike, must meet all of those stuffy and silly (I think) regulations that supposedly make the world a cleaner and quieter place while it cuts the power down dramatically.
I think the whole environmental agenda is a big, big load of shit, and one post in the future, I'll give you my views on that in detail.
On top of that, I understand that the engine must be rugged enough to still be able to meet those silly regulations after thousands of miles have passed.
That means, after the bike has been ridden 10,000 miles, the engine can't be worn out and burning a load of fuel and oil, stinking up the atmosphere like that volcano in Europe recently.
This means it has to be built robust enough to take that kind of milage.
Yes, people, that means extra weight in the engine because some of the parts will need to be heavier.
This is one reason why your buddy's YZ-250F engine is a lot smaller and lighter - the YZ ain't EPA compliant...just the way I like it! :)

2) Long-term reliability.
If you were producing motorcycles and offered a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects, would you hope that none of your bikes needed to be fixed for free?
Well, yeeeaaahh.
This is one of the Golden Rules of Dirt Bikes:
The more power you pump out of an engine, the shorter amount of time it will be before it blows up.
Never forget that one, OK?
If you have two engines built with the same metalurgy but engine No. 1 is the showroom stock WR-250R and engine No. 2 is the fire-breathing WR-250F and you flog the living daylights out of both bikes, the much more powerful WR-250F engine will need a doctor sooner.
So, because of this, the WR-250R engine is different.
You just won't see that written anywhere on a sales brochure or on the Yamaha website.
Now you know.
You can thank me later, alligator. :)

Here's the big, nasty oversize front brake rotor kit I put onto the WR-250R.

It's 270mm vs. the stocker's 245mm.

I did this because I like very strong front brakes.

The stock front brake was pitiful, and right now, it's slightly less pitiful. :)

I'd really, really like to spend some coinage on a motard race-spec front brake system and make the front brake fierce, but I just haven't decided to do it, yet.

A 320mm rotor and a wicked 4-piston Brembo caliper would look very nice on there, I think.

-John