389 Donuts in the Donut Shop

Today was another Pachaug loop ride day on the WR-250FP, and it was another good one.
I woke feeling more refreshed and energetic than I did yesterday, and that was because on Friday night I was up later than I'd a' liked since I was putting the finishing touches on putting the bike back into it's trail riding set-up and removing the DMV B.S. that I no longer need.
The sun was out brightly and up high in the sky shining almost straight down through the openings in the trees, and while that caused a problem with my eyesight's dislike for brightness, it couldn't prevent me from having a good feel for the bike and pulling-off some good moves.

No doubt about it - this steel-framed WR-250FP has a better feel for locking the rear wheel and using brake sliding to change direction (something I've always liked to do) than the aluminum-framed bikes I rode before it, namely the CRF-450X9 and the WR-250FY.
According to motorcycle chassis wizards, aluminum really isn't the best metal to build a dirt bike frame from but the manufacturers do it because it is "trick", everyone expects to see it on the showrooms, and, maybe the biggest reason, I have read that it actually costs less to produce.
You just know the money grubbers in these major corporations are getting a big woody over that last one.  ;)

So, why isn't aluminum the best material for this?
I understand it has to do with it's properties of stiffness, natural vibrating frequency, and resiliency, or lack of it.
Since aluminum is a light metal, the frame spars have to be pretty beefy to be strong enough to do the job.
The side effect of the beefy metal frame parts is that the manufacturers have had to work hard to come up with aluminum frames that have the same feel of the steel frames they replaced.
Or, trying to replicate the feel of a steel frame.
Where the aluminum frames can feel too stiff or make your rear wheel slide out more than you wanted it to while brake sliding, the old-fashioned steel tube frames flex a bit more, absorb bumps better, feel more forgiving, and, allow me to brake slide to my heart's content and allow me to feel precisely what the rear wheel is doing.
And today, I was sliding that rear end around corners left, right, and center.
Great fun, great feeling, and it reminded me of how I rode back when I was a teenager.
Good stuff.

I parked at my normal place, didn't bother to do any carburetor fiddling (since I'm satisfied with how the bike runs, at least for now), rode the usual loop including the southern part, and did 60 miles all together.
I even added another trail I'd ridden only one time before on the CRF-450X9, and that was in the wrong direction.
This trail is nicknamed Baby Head Hill because of the uphill, rock-infested, dried-up stream bed that makes-up the floor of the trail on this one particular hill that the trail's nickname comes from.
I've never enjoyed that kind of terrain because I'm riding a dirt bike, not a rock bike.
So, when I approached the Baby Head Hill section of the trail, I simply ride up what other riders call the bypass trail running along side of it.
It's a tight and twisty trail since it's basically a hastily done afterthought but, it beats riding over boulder city.
Some guys like that stuff, though.

Probably the best thing I got from today's Pachaug rock pile ride was getting better acquainted with the WR-250FP and getting a better feel for the bike and becoming more familiar with riding it.
By now, it's feeling like a good-fitting glove.
I like it.  :)

-John

388 Jets in the Sky

To jet, or not to jet.
That is the question.
Where is the question mark if it's THE question?


It's Saturday evening, and I'm relaxing with a big bowl of spaghetti as I type this bloggy post.
I went out onto the ol' Pachaug enduro loop today (with a nice and shiny new CT. motorcycle license plate attached to the rear fender of the WR-250FP) intending on doing some more carburetor jetting experimentation.
As it turned out, all of my experimentation boiled down to opening the fuel screw back out to 3-and-a-quarter turns out (close to where it was on the last ride), and that was that.
Basically, I felt that while the carb jetting and throttle response probably isn't as good as it could be, it certainly was just fine and dandy for riding and riding a bike that ran pretty darn good, too.
So, I just left well enough alone with that.
Sometime soon (probably during the jerk week sometime in the near future), I'll try a larger leak jet in order to reduce the amount of gas in the accelerator pump squirt.

Another thing or two that is new is the FMF Powerbomb header and matching FMF Q4 muffler I installed on the bike last night before beddy-bye time.
This is the same brand and model of exhaust parts I used on the CRF-450X9 and the WR-250FY, and as with those other bikes, the WR-250FP now weighs a couple of pounds less and runs even better without being loud enough to be heard in the next county.
The stock muffler is pretty plugged-up in order to meet wicked-low decibel ratings, but with the FMF items, the bike is now breathing well.

I parked the truck near my favorite pine-needled whoop section, made a few laps around it, adjusted the fuel screw on the carb, and then decided to venture out and ride at least most of the Pachaug loop since I was no longer tinkering with the carburetor.
I rode out to the point that is approximately the 15 mile mark on my usual loop route and took it from there, riding the usual route from that point and including the southern part of the loop.
When I got back to the truck, the odometer read 41 miles so that was a decent ride considering I didn't even intend on doing much more than playing with carb settings.
The bike is feeling more familiar to me now that I've ridden it three times, now, and the feel of the bike is very good, indeed.
I do like the steel frame, for sure, and the rear suspension is very supple and does a great job on all of that typical New England rock n' roll terrain we have around here.

As with the ol' WR-250FY, and especially now since putting the FMF exhaust on the bike, the low-end torque and pulling power is very, very good, and combining that with the forgiving nature and bump-absorbing nature of the steel frame, the light-weight feel of the bike, easy handling, and great clutch lever feel and action, this bike really feels good while negotiating the trails.
While climbing numerous rocky hills out on the southern portion of the loop, I thought to myself more than ounce that I'm really liking this WR-250FP.
I'm glad I made the switch.  :)

I'm also to the point to where I no longer need my route sheet for the southern loop, too.

When I first pulled in to the parking spot today I saw another pickup truck there, and a few minutes later a guy riding a late-model KTM 200cc 2-stroke pulled in.
A few minutes later as he rested on his tailgate, I went over and chatted about bikes and the Pachaug loop.
Nice guy.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is another normal Pachaug loop in the usual route.
I'll post results of that ride.

-John

387 Years of Waiting

The WR-250FP dressed in it's DMV inspection and registration get-up.
How did it go?
It passed inspection with flying colors and I got the registration processed AND got my shiny new license plate.
In other words:
Mission accomplished.   :)
Pachaug loop legality (and a return to my normal weekend rides without any more interruptions), here I come.

Yes, indeedy, I got the WR-250FP registered for street use today, and that's a big deal for several reasons.
One, I'm sooooooooooo glad that the time and money put into the whole project was worth it and that I can quit worrying about it.
Two, I'm once again riding a Yamaha WR-250F on the Pachaug enduro loop that's a legit bike with a legit license plate on the back of it, and that means I don't have to worry about getting a ticket for riding an unregistered motor vehicle while doing it.
Why is a street license plate required to ride the Pachaug loop?
Well, partly because there are short sections of public road connecting the trails together into a loop, and partly because the state of Connecticut simply says the bike has to be street registered in order to ride the trails within the state forest to start with.
Period.
Well, you got it, Mr. Forest Ranger dude.  ;)

The details on the trip to DMV?
Well, it takes about an hour to get there since it's about 55 miles away, and that's a big reason why I'm so glad it flew on the first attempt - it ain't exactly across the street, Lenny.
I got up there at about 11:10am and went inside the main office building to pre-pay for the inspection, just as I was told to do the two other times I did this kind of thing.
This time, however, the nice and well-meaning lady at the information desk told me to just go out to the inspection station (across the lot about 100 yards from the main office building), get the inspection done, and then come back in to pay for the inspection while processing my registration.

Wrooooooooooonnnnnngg.

I told the nice lady that wasn't how it was done the times before, but she insisted I do it her way.
Well, the inspector said I was actually correct and the nice lady was wrong.
He inspected the bike, alright, and it met all of the requirements of the actual inspection, but wouldn't give me the last punch mark of his paper puncher on the spot of the inspection sheet that says PASS, and he said I wouldn't get a pass mark until I went back in to pay for the inspection.
So, the nice lady was actually running the DISinformation desk in my case.
I told her.....

So, naturally, since the Wethersfield, CT. DMV (which is the state's main office for that stuff) has you pick a number for everything, I had to wait just to pay for the inspection I'd already got, finally got that done, and then had to trot back outside to the inspector and show him the receipt where I'd paid for the already-done inspection.
He then let me have that awesome punch mark on my inspection sheet that said PASS.

I told her....

Well, with the inspection out of the way, it was time to go back into the main office building (again) to process the actual registration.
That meant more waiting for my (new) number to be called.
When I picked my number for that mission, I wanted to throw-up when I saw that 60 numbers had to be called up to the counter before mine came up.
60.
That's six-zero, and it takes anywhere from two minutes to fifteen minutes for a new number to be called.
Yes, Benny, that line was moving pretty slowly.
I then decided to just say "bye" to that place and drive to my local DMV branch in Norwich for the registration part since I felt I'd be sitting there waiting for my number until midnight.

The Norwich office had only a tenth the people inside of it, and that's because it's a smaller building and a smaller town and not the main Grand Poo bah office like Wethersfield is.
That's just fine and dandy with me, although once I got my new number to be called up I found there were 21 numbers before mine, and I still had to wait about an hour and a half.
Still, much better than midnight.  ;)
It is, far and away, the waiting that is the suckiest part of the whole thing.
That, and the typical DMV uncertainty about anything you want to do there, where sometime the simplest things can get stopped in their tracks if you didn't dot an i or cross a t, or if one of the people working there is in a pissy mood.

Once I FINALLY got to the registration counter, that part went fairly well.
The guy waiting on me did the typical head-scratching about my wanting to register a WR-250FP for street use (and I guess that's because they don't see many Yamaha Certificate of Origin documents cross their counter tops), but before long and after a conference with his coworkers, he got the hang of what it was we were doing:
Registering my bike that had just passed an inspection, and the inspection said it was now worthy of street use.
Simple, eh?
He thought so, too.
Eventually.
After about 10 minutes of keyboard punching and money collecting, I walked out with my registration form and license plate.

So, after leaving jerk this morning at 10:11am, I drove back into the parking lot at about 4:50pm.
I'm now home, the bike is unloaded and back safe at home, I'm eating my supper, and I'm quite tired.
More tired, in fact, than after I good ride out on the Pachaug loop.
It's all of that waiting and the stress of the DMV uncertainty that does it.

In hindsight, even though I've done this three times now (WR-250FY, CRF-450X9, and now the WR-250FP), I really don't want to do it again anytime soon.
That means I really shouldn't switch bikes anytime soon.
Good thing I like this WR-250FP, huh, Lenny?  ;)

-John

I Just Used 386 Zip Ties

Just a short bloggy post today since there was no WR-250FP riding this weekend.
No riding is a bad thing, but, it was for a good cause since I spent the weekend getting the bike ready for my trip to DMV on Tuesday.
Yes, folks, I'm going to try my luck once again at getting my bike street registered (this will be the third one, too) so that I may ride the Pachaug loop as a legal beagle and be 100% legit.
I want to play by the rules, you know.
Bring on Tuesday because I want to get this over with.  ;)

-John

My Grandma's Volvo Just Hit 385 Miles Per Hour

Today was shakedown and carburetor fiddling ride number 2 with the WR-250FP, and things went OK.
There was a noticeable improvement in throttle response since the accelerator pump was working this time out, although the settings seemed a bit on the rich side.
The bike performed better than last Sunday, but still can be improved by more testing.

I hit the Pachaug loop with the new carburetor needle and accelerator pump in tow and was very interested in seeing how the bike would perform.
You might not realize this, but the bike will not reach full operating temperature until I'm about 10 or 12 miles out, and it's at this point where the true nature of the carburetor settings can be felt.
It was then that I could tell that with the additional fuel of the accelerator pump squirt doing it's thing, while throttle response was improved, the main jet felt a bit too rich (too much fuel), and maybe the amount of fuel squirted with each squirt of the accelerator pump was a bit too much, as well.
So, after the 64 mile ride was completed and I was back at the truck where my tools were, I installed a smaller main jet and took the bike for a spin.
It felt a bit better and a bit stronger with revving out with the throttle open wide, so that was a slight improvement.
I also turned the fuel screw (also known as the pilot screw by some folks, although others insist it is not a pilot screw when we're talking about this particular design of carburetor) in from 3.25 turns out to 2.25 turns out, and that seemed a little bit cleaner-running, too.
I'll stick with these settings for the next ride and see how things are once I get out about 10 - 12 miles from the truck, again.  ;)

How was the ride?
Pretty dang good, all-in-all.
We got some rain Friday afternoon and some yesterday, too, and a bit more this morning before I loaded up and left.
I wasn't thrilled with having damp rocks and tree roots to negotiate, but, when you wanna' ride, you just go with it.
Since the total mileage was 64 miles, that meant I added the southern section of the Pachaug loop to this ride and it was good.
There were numerous water holes to cross due to the recent rain, but I got by unscathed.
I do like that section much better when it's completely dry since I don't have to slow and kill my pace, so, I hope this water dries up quickly.
Why slow down for the water crossings?
It because I don't know what obstacles or what the shape of the terrain is under the muddy water, Lenny.
If I had it all memorized, that would be a horse of a different color:
Shit brown, to match the color of the chocolate milk-looking water in those holes.

The bike performed well, less-than-correct jetting and stock-and-plugged-up muffler and all.
The freshly-serviced rear shock felt very cushy out there on the bumpy terrain and seemed to work very well, indeed.
Tom from Nasin Machine says he made no damping changes, but it did feel more supple and gave a softer ride than last Sunday.
I liked it.

Just as with last Sunday's ride, I was enjoying the light feel and high maneuverability of a 250cc bike.
On sections of trail that required changing direction while at the same time taking numerous and repetitive hits from the rocky terrain, this enhanced ease of handling was just what the doctor ordered - doing this stuff on the CRF-450X9 was much more difficult and that bike basically dictated you just try to ride through the uglies on the ground in a straight line without the maneuvering out of the way part.
Unfortunately, that's not always possible, and that's when you start muscling the bike around.
None of that muscling around required with the WR-250FP, thank you.

As I mentioned last Sunday, I'm very impressed with the bike's ability to chug way down low in the RPM range as tight trails and rough and rocky climbs are negotiated.
This was one of the great traits the ol' WR-250FY exhibited, and it's the same with the WR-250FP.
Very handy, this is, and I can only imagine how things will feel once an FMF exhaust system gets bolted on.
I'll have to wait until after my trip to DMV for that, though.
Soon.

Knock wood, but I still haven't had a difficult time getting the bike started, hot, cold, or anywhere in between.
That's just fine and dandy with me, and since the 250cc engine is so easy to kick over (as long as you use the manual decompressor lever as you are supposed to), I do not miss or need an electric starter with this bike.
I'll take the weight savings with less parts to have to haul around, thanks.
In fact, I wished the ol' WR-250FY came without an electric starter because I simply never needed it.

We're currently in the dog days of summer, which means hot and very humid weather conditions.
When it's like this, it tends to sap your energy and any water on the ground takes forever to evaporate.
Still, I felt good out there today, had a good ride, made some good moves on the bike, improved the bike's carburetion performance another small step, and had a good time riding my dirt bike.

This week will probably see the arrival of my Baja Designs dual sport kit, the collection of parts needed for DMV inspection and registration.

-John

384 Little Squirts

This isn't the carburetor from my WR-250FP (it isn't even the same manufacturer of carburetor that my bike uses), but you get the drift.
Or, squirt.



Do you see that little squirt of gasoline coming from that brass thing sticking up near the bottom of that carburetor opening?
The Keihin FCR37MX carburetor my WR-250FP has uses a system that squirts gasoline into the engine as shown in this pic, and it does it whenever you open the throttle fast enough to trigger the accelerator pump into action.
This gives the bike snappy and immediate throttle response that otherwise wouldn't be there when opening the throttle quickly.

Well, today, while installing the new carburetor needle (that I bought because I have read about guys using it who have also uncorked their WR-250FPs and got better performance), I also checked the operation of the little squirt of gas that is supposed to come out of that little brass nozzle.
No squirt came out with just a very slight ooze of gasoline that didn't squirt from the nozzle, but merely dripped out and puddled at the bottom of the nozzle.
When I first cleaned the carburetor a week ago (last Saturday), I made sure the accelerator pump nozzle and passageway leading to it were clear by squirting first carburetor cleaner and then contact cleaner through the whole thing, but, for some reason, the accelerator pump was not squirting one tiny bit upon today's inspection.
Just oozing a small dribble of gas.

So, I now believe that the accelerator pump wasn't even working for all of last Sunday's shakedown ride on the ol' Pachaug loop, and here I was thinking the bike ran pretty good considering the stock carburetor needle and main jet (and stock exhaust system) were still in place.
Hmmmmm.
So, that naturally meant that as soon as I realized this, the carburetor came right back off for cleaning #2, with special attention aimed squarely at the accelerator pump squirt.

All I did was simply repeat the cleaning I did last Saturday with the parts pertaining to the function of the accelerator pump:
Blowing the passage from pump diaphragm to output nozzle clear, and them simply putting it all back together correctly.
This time, however, once the carburetor was back on the bike and held in place by the forward inlet manifold, I hooked the fuel line up, connected the throttle cables, and put gasoline into the carburetor float bowl before I attached the airbox boot to the rear of the carburetor.
This let me see the view similar to the above pic as I twisted the throttle.
Aaaaahhhhh, a nice little squirt of gasoline was a wonderful sight to behold, squirting straight toward the rear of the intake valves, Lenny.

This is one time where seeing a little squirt near my bike was a welcomed thing.  ;)

I then put the rest of the bike back together, started the engine, and could immediately feel and hear that the WR-250FP is now much more snappy in the throttle response department compared to how it was on last Sunday's ride.
I'm not sure how much of this snappy throttle response is due to the new OBEKP needle (the one that came stock with the 2002 Yamaha YZ-250FP motocross bike, a bike that came with no EPA regulations like the WR-250FP did), and I'm not sure how much of this snappiness is due to a functioning accelerator pump, but, I'll wager that the accelerator pump has much to do with it.
And, as said above, here I was thinking the bike ran half-way decent last Sunday, considering it was only semi-uncorked and using the stock needle.
Now, the slightest blip of the throttle has the engine sharply responding and feeling very much like my ol' WR-250FY did after I'd uncorked that one.
So, you can bet your booty that tomorrow is going to be another test ride session to both test the results on the bike's performance with a function accelerator pump, and also (I assume it will be required, although I wouldn't argue if it were not needed) to do a bit of fine tuning to the carburetor settings with the new carburetor needle (and a working squirt).

Now, naturally, I wonder what prevented the accelerator pump from working properly.
A passage that was still blocked or became blocked with a wayward piece of crud still in the carburetor?
Maybe.
Improper assembly?
Maybe, although there is nothing complicated about it, really.
Hmmmm.
This rates up there with wondering how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.  ;)
At any rate, I'm stoked that all is now well and I'm off tomorrow morning - bright and early - to do some more riding.

I had the bike apart not only to install a different carburetor needle, but also to get the rear shock off the bike and over to Nasin Machine to have the shock serviced.
I decided to do it this past jerk week and get it over with, and that was a good move.
Although Tom didn't make any modifications to the damping settings, he did replace the rubber bump stopper that is at the bottom of the shock shaft since the original one was rotting away from 10 years of sitting in a guy's basement.
So now, the shock absorber is all serviced with fresh oil, fresh nitrogen gas, a good bump stopper, and the bike is put back together.
Weeeeee.

Next stop:
Sunday test ride #2.

-John

I Just Rode 383 Miles

The WR-250FP relaxing in the front yard after today's Pachaug rock pile ride.
How did the bike perform on it's first ride with me at the controls?
Read and learn.


Yes indeedy, folks, today was the starting point for yet another bike that has me riding it on the ol' Pachaug enduro loop, and things went very well, too.
When I loaded the truck for the trip out there today, I also brought a collection of tools with me because I knew I'd be fiddling with the carburetor setting (since the bike still has the stock EPA needle and stock main jet).
I unloaded the bike and rode it a couple of miles around the truck to sample how it ran, stopped and adjusted the carburetor needle setting a step richer, and left it like that for the day.
The carburetor settings as they are right now are merely a temporary setting that will be used until after I get the bike inspected and registered (before this month is out, I surely hope) and can then sigh in relief that I survived yet another DMV trip and THEN get the bike jetted properly and ride to my heart's content.

Well, how did the WR-250FP work out there?
Very well, I am so happy to say, because I experienced what I was missing with the CRF-450X9:
The feeling of light weight and maneuverability.
In fact, I rode down a trail today that I basically didn't dare try with the CRF-450X9 because it's tight in spots and I knew full well that riding the 450 there would have been like wielding a locomotive down that trail.
The WR-250FP made this particular trail quite fun to ride because of what it does well:
Display a great balance of good, effective power with excellent maneuverability.
The WR-250FP has a similar torquey pull way down low like the ol' WR-250FY did, yet still can get up and go when you open the throttle and wind it out.
Sure, the 250 can't match the 450 in sheer power and torque at any point in the rev range, but, believe it or not, I wouldn't go back if you gave me a 450 for free, Bucky.
No way, Jose, I'm sticking with a mid-sized bike, thank you very much - my old nagging wrist and shoulder were already thanking me today as they didn't complain much.
Simply put, the WR-250FP was much easier for me to ride out on the ol' Pachaug loop and without the pain of my aging body.

So, even though the jetting is not great (for now), the engine passed the acid test.
How was the handling and suspension?
It was great, Lenny.
The bike feels light, allows the rider (me) the ability to actually maneuver the bike around trail obstacles without having to opt to ride straight over them, instead, and, as I was wondering about before I rode it, this WR-250FP with the steel frame likes to brake slide into and around corners with a better feel than my two recent aluminum-framed bikes did (WR-250FY and CRF-450X9), and rear brake sliding to negotiate corners is one of my old tricks from when I was a teenager, Bub, and I still do it a lot.
I've read and heard many comments about how steel is actually a better material for a dirt bike frame, but marketing men have made steel obsolete and old-fashioned.
Well, I like it, Leonard - the bike is stable in a straight line and carves corners well and is very willing to make sudden moves on a twisty and obstacle-strewn trail.
A very nice feel from the handling side of things.

Suspension action is good, even with the ten-year-old oil and nitrogen gas pressure in the rear shock (I'll have Tom at Nasin Machine do a basic service on the shock after DMV is over and done with).
I set both the fork and shock at the stock damping settings, set the rear spring preload to achieve the usual 4 inches of sag with my weight on the seat, and went riding.
Both ends worked well, lending a decently cushy ride over the sharp bumps while not feeling too soft over the faster bits, such as on the pine-needled whoops through the woods.
At times, the rebound damping at the rear seemed a little light, but I didn't turn the clicker to make it heavier, either, so maybe next time out I will.

As on the ol' WR-250FY, taking the gnarly stuff was best done with the throttle open and weight transferred to the rear wheel, allowing the rear suspension to soak-up the bumps.
In situations that feel right for doing this, the bike is really in it's element, and a couple of times I was basically amazed that the ugly-looking terrain I'd just seen with my eyes as I approached it passed underneath the rear wheel incredibly easily and with a good feel from the bike as a whole.
Overall, I liked the action of the suspension enough to stay with the stock valving, at least for now.
A good suspension, I'm very happy to say.

My feelings on a couple of points I'd read about 2001 and 2002 WR-250Fs, points that were supposedly sore spots:

1) I'd heard that these bikes can be a pain in the ass to start.
Mine wasn't at any point in today's 54.6 mile ride, and I hope it stays like that.
The bike is kick start-only, complete with a little manual decompressor lever near the clutch lever, but it always started right back up when I stopped the engine - hot, cold, luke-warm, it didn't matter -  and I did stop the engine a couple of times just to test the restart ability.
The bike passed the tests just fine.

2) I'd heard that the 3 gallon fuel tank holds a lot of fuel but makes the rider pay the price for this by being so big and bulbous that it makes the forward part of the seat end rather abruptly and not allow the rider to get far enough forward on the bike to pull-off some in-the-seat aggressive cornering maneuvers, the kind of maneuvers where you want to slide up forward to the front of the seat and get close to the steering stem.
This was not a problem, at least not for me, and I'm a rider who is quite aware of the need for a seat and fuel tank shape for some good ergonomics on a dirt bike.
Compared to the WR-250FY and it's flatter seat and 2.1 gallon fuel tank, you cannot slide up as far forward.
That is true.
However, although I couldn't get as close to the steering stem while performing in-the-seat cornering, the WR-250FP still felt fine while doing this.
It simply was not an issue.
That's just fine with me because I was wondering about this.
Nothing to fear.

At the end of the ride today, I was able to wash and lube the bike without feeling quite as beat-up as I'd been feeling lately on the 450, and that was basically the whole point of going back to a 250cc bike.
If you're naturally a bit skeptical, you're wondering how I can be bigging-up a 10-year-old 2002 model dirt bike and trying to make it sound like it's better than the 2009 models I rode before it.
Well, Bucky, the bike simply felt good to me out on the trails today, and in comparison to the CRF-450X9 I was owning and riding just two weeks ago, the WR-250FP feels lighter, handles easier, and doesn't prevent me from riding down any trail I care to take for fear that it will feel too big, heavy, and ill-suited for the job.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
The CRF-450X9 suspension was of a high quality, indeed, and the bike exuded a solid feel that made you feel it could handle the fastest and bumpiest situations you could find, and it had a strong engine that could easily propel the bike up to those speeds in short order.
However, there are all too few spots like that out on the ol' Pachaug enduro loop, Hank.

As for comparing the WR-250FP with the WR-250FY I rode before the 450, both bikes share the same light feel and go-anywhere ease of maneuverability.
The WR-250FY ran better with much better throttle response, but that's just a temporary thing because I haven't bought the parts (yet) required to rejet the carb on the WR-250FP, and I did have to do that with the WR-250FY as well.
I prefer the feel of the steel frame on the WR-250FP, and I like the extra gallon of fuel capacity, too.
The suspension seems to work as well as the WR-250FY's did (actually, equal at the rear and a bit better on the front for some reason), and the overall handling and feel of the bike is very much as I remember the WR-250FY being.
That means it's very good stuff, Edwardo.
As time goes on and I rack-up the miles, I'll keep you posted as to how things go, as usual.

Next stop:
Buying the parts needed for the DMV inspection and registration.
Stay tuned.

-John