Success with 426 for Street/Dirt Use

[thedon]

Hey I was wondering what success you 2002WR426 riders have had with dual sporting these bikes. Im thinking of buying one next spring and making it street legal. Any input is appreciated, Thanks

[The_Missile]

Depends on the state you are in I think but generally easy from my takeaway of this site over 2 years!

[Math]

I own a '01 which has the same ergos. The bike is great off road for sure. On the road, the seat feels really hard after an hour. You will need to rest a little for a few minutes and you will be ready for an additional hour.

The bike also feels too light for speeds higher than 130 KM/H. Of course if you are alone on the road, 85 miles/h is ok but when you meet or pass a truck at that speed, it becomes very dangerous. The bike is unstable even with road oriented tires so you have to be careful.

If you are not bringing the bike to the highway, you feel like the king of the road ?

Let's talk about tires. I have two wheel sets. The offroad rear wheel is a 19'' rim. That allows me to buy some used tires from guys that sell them cheap after only one or two track races with their YZs. That way, I don't cry when I have to do some miles on the pavement because the rear tire is cheap.

On the opposite, on the front offroad rim, I usually buy Pirelli brand new. All front Pirellis are DOT. That is definitly the way to go. Many TTers who dual sport their WR use front Pirellis.

My street rims are the original ones, they are mounted with Michelin Siracs. These tires are incredible. Once you tried them on the road, you easily notice that they are made for street use. They feel stable, they grip well in curves, they are not noisy at all, etc.

The surprise comes from their performance offroad. If you try the Siracs offroad, you will never believe that such a street oriented thread can afford that much stability offroad. Of course, it is not a knobby. That said, they remain straight as long as you don't hit loose sand or severe muddy conditions. Logging roads, gravel roads, trails of hard packed sand, any ground with a bit of a solid base will be a charm. You can control them easily and there is no surprise. They are quite expensive here in Québec though.

I've tried several gearing setups for both ( off road and on road ) so if you want some infos about this too, just ask. My present road gearing is 16-43 and is too high. 16-45 would be better. My off road gearing is presently 14-47.

Cheers

[Gnurf]

Math:

So you use your WR as a dualbike/streetbike? And it works? No problems with enough oil round in the engine? I was under the impression that the WR had trouble with cams and other stuff when going street.. This due to a thread I read here at TT about busted cams. Intrerested since I too have used it on street to get to and from the woods.. Longest I ridden it on street is 35 km. But after reading the thread, i´m worried that it won´t hold..

Edit: Link: https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/674101/page//view//sb/5/o//fpart/1/vc/1

And the thread is:" Crankshaft Bearing jammed "

// Thanks