Rim Painting

I like the look of black rims on the WR250R but new black rims would cost about $300 before the spokes are laced.  I decided to paint my rims instead.  I went with the removable Plasti-Dip paint because it is flat in finish and removable.

Warning!  Painting rims is easier said than done.  Get ready for lots of taping.  As you can see below I used a trash bin as my wheel stand.

I started by taping the nipples


Next I taped the spokes

I then installed the tires and inserted index cards between the tire and rim.  I thought that I bought plain white cards but as you can see I actually bought stripes.

I covered the brake rotor with paper and covered the hub with an old towel.

Five coats later and a masterpiece is born.

I gave the rear rim the same treatment.

Tire Removal

Now that I have new beefy tires for my WR250R; The big question is; "How do I get them on the bike"?

I needed to keep costs down so I planned to do the removal and installation myself.  It was time to buy some motorcycle specific tools.  I bought the items from Amazon with my prime account with free two day delivery.

• Tire irons

• Rim Shields

• Bead Buddy

• Tire deflator

I already owned the ARB tire deflator from my off-roading adventures http://ljfj.blogspot.com/

 

New Tires

After my first day in some mud I realised that the stock tires are useless on such terrain.  The shallow, closely spaced treads filled with mud and became slicks.  It was time for some new meat for my WR250R.

After asking tons of questions and hours of research I decided to go with the Michelin Cross AC10.  Making a decision on tire size consumed a lot of time as well. The stock size 120/80 - 18 wasn't available for this tire.  A rider on the ADVrider forum mentioned that he mounted 110/100 -18 without any problems.  I wanted the largest tire that could fit my bike so I decided to give that size a try.

I found the best price and free shipping at Amazon.com.

                       

The tires arrived in two days with my Amazon Prime membership.

Hand Guards

I'm planning a to do mostly trail riding on my WR250R so I need to protect the knuckles from branches.  I also need to protect the clutch and brake levers from the inevitable fall.

I decided to purchase the Barkbusters hand guards.  They aren't the sexiest but they are well made and well priced.  I snagged them from Amazon.

The installation:

Skid Plate

The first upgrade for my WR250R was the addition of a skid plate.  I knew that rocks and other debris would begin to chip away at the paint on the lower frame if it wasn't protected.

After much research I decided to go with the Flatland Racing skid plate.  The plastic Moose Racing version was lighter and better looking but it cost $50 more.  I also felt that the aluminum plate would never break.  Install it and forget it.

I read complaints about the noise created by the aluminum plates but since the bike is new to me I couldn't notice any difference.  Just to be on the safe side I applied some Plasti-Dip as recommended by some forum guys to stop rattles.  I guess it worked.

New Toy

I found my new toy on Craigslist (11/2012).  It was three hours away but it was worth the drive.  A 2008 Yamaha WR250R with only 300 miles on it.  The WR hasn't  changed much since it was introduced in 2008.  The 2008 fork is silver vs gold for the later models but I personally prefer the silver fork because it matches the other silver components.

That's my old, new toy in the background