[Grendel336]

First bike was a Honda 500 Interceptor in 1986.

Then I bought a 1990 Yamaha FZR400 and went roadracing.

Current bike just went up for sale in Craigslist. A 2002 Yamaha R1.

I want a street fighter. A supermoto. The Yamaha WR250x appeals as does the Suzuki DR-Z400SM.

Will I be lost on a 250cc? Or even a 400CC after coming off a liter sportbike like the R1?

I'm 45 years old. Not a stunter. Not a speed-freak. At least not anymore.

I'd like a cross between a light bike, that gets good to great gas milage, with quick handling and easy to maintain.

I read where the WR250X requires high octane gas. Is that true?????

I think my R1 calls for that but I've never put anything but regular octane in it and never had a problem.

I live in Delaware - USA. Mid-Atlantic region.

Glad to be here. Hope to find some valuable advice.

 

[reppans]

I hear you, unfortunately only you can decide. But I've always been a believer in my Sig (see below) and here's my story.

I'm 47 and started riding in the late 70s, RD400, BMW R65, and most recently BMW R1100S and R1150GS. All gone for a WR250X now. For the past 6-7 years or so, I was heavily into fast group riding/sport-touring, doing 10-15k per year with the fastest groups I could find. Male testosterone and fast-as-you-dare-bikes was always a bad cocktail in the making. I've watch many seasoned riders crash, spent enough afternoons waiting in hospitals, and know a couple of people that have died in motorcycle accidents (20+yrs experience).

Time to slow down and regress to my favorite riding style... carving the slow speed, highly technical, tight twisties that I know well. Roads posted in the 25-35mph range that I'll ride in the 40 to 60mph range. My WRX is perfect for that.

Wind force increases with the square of your speed, so going over 60 really starts to hamper these small engines with non-aero dynamic riding positions. The trade-off is ultimate flickability in the tight stuff, squeezing every ounce out of a machine with low high-side risk, and tons of fun with lower risk to your license and health!

I was originally disappointed with the power of the WRX, but after getting used to it, and my new Power Commander install, I've really come to love this machine. It has totally renewed my interesting bikes and am riding over 1k/month again (weekends only).

But once again, only you can make the call. Your riding style, general speed, type of road preference, and tinkering abilities should ultimately drive your decision. Supermotos offerings will cover the whole spectrum.

 

[chuckb]

I to like the slower windy roads. My commute to work is all 25-40mph roads. The wrx is great for that. As for the original post. I run regular octain in my wrx. I have been riding yz250f for years. I found that putting regular octain gas in them helped them top run cooler. Higher octains just helped them to run hotter. I never realy noticed any performance issues with the yz's have not tried to run higher octain in the wrx to see if there was a difference. If it came with 93 octain in it when I started putting 87 octain in it I could not tell a difference. I highly doubt that the deeler spent the money for 93 octain gas.