Adventure Bike Rider Forum

minkyhead - as always - spot on with the description and comparison - well said (thumbs)
As with any bike there are plus's and minus's to ownership - and we each make our own choice - don't follow the herd unless you feel you need to. I urge everyone to try one - it is unique and different, yes there are some bad bikes/points - but no worse that any other bike. I would wager proportionally it's no worse with problems than KTM and others.
I have found the customer service to be exceptional - refreshing these days - not many places where you can speak to the designer with questions, or work with the mechanic on the shop floor.
Don't forget 6 have just ridden from the bottom of south America to Alaska successfully in a relatively short period of time!

SteveR wrote:

P4ulie wrote:There has been a re release of the Serow a couple of years back Jonny.....for the Japanese market only. It looked pretty good too, screen with gps mounting bar, larger tank. Likely a bit too slow but still a decent bike

Won't be long before a few exports creep out then...

In Yam's 2018 catalogue they are marketing the Serrow 250 as an XT?--however, they have finally dropped the WR250R as I think its an emissions thing--at this point they are still a very popular bike in the US and sell well--but at 7k DOLLARS in the US (and at US salaries) its about equivalent to 5k GBP here!!--now thats good value!! My little WR has just done a 4.5k round trip to Bulgaria and back--the only "spannering" was one chain adjustment, put no oil in it (but changed it out in Bulgaria), 70 mpg (IMS 3gal tank)--and with a Seat Concepts foam and cover (US) NO rear end problems !--its a keeper at the moment--and 26k valve check intervals . Admitted I've "upgraded" it a bit--but we all do that. It was ex Scottish Police and I reckon that for way under 4k several years ago its been good value--the build quality is excellent--apart from the rear shock spec--but I've fixed that--again with US stuff. For me buying a new bike and then spending loads on it is simply not on--I would rather buy a good, newish secondhand one and spend a bit on that--but if you are lucky the previous owner has already done the work--and it will get thrown at the scenery anyway! I might look at a secondhand CCM when they come down in price a bit more (sensibly a lot more!)

you have to be realistc chris a quick check on mcn shows the list price for the wr250r as 6400 in 2008 ? :blink: the currant f model is 7600 pounds

unfortunatly for us the usa prices have no bearing on uk prices if it was currant it would be comfortable sitting around the 7 grand mark ..and that really puts it well in to the bigger bore orange coolaide teratory and near enough 2500 over the honda 250l ...thats the problem they have with it ..too near the higher end enduro bikes and too far away from the market class it should really be in

Agree--it was always overpriced--for whatever reason--but its the same chunk of steel thats currently sold in the US for around 6k dollars--and I've always worked on dollar NUMBERS being the same as GBP NUMBERS--Yamaha manage to sell, and presumably make a profit, in the US--but its a big market there. Here in the UK we are very much small fry and I guess they don't really care if they sell or not in this niche market. Kawasaki, for example, gave up selling the KLR650 in the UK--the new version available in the US is a good piece of kit. We have a Kawa super sherpa 250--again a grey import--but currently sold (and resurrected at popular request!) in the US, and Russia of all places--its good for Mongolia etc! When I asked Kawasaki why they discontinued the KLR 650 in the UK they simply said it wasn't worth them homologating it for the numbers that they would sell. If you want one you could import it and get single type approval I suppose. I notice that Honda CRF250 prices are creeping up quite a bit recently also. I had a CRF230 for a while--cracking little bike once sorted--again suspension and increased tank capacity (but NEVER sold as road legal here in the UK--but road legal versions were available in Europe).

I neither love nor hate mine. Off road I think it is the best bike I have every ridden, although I have not ridden many bikes off road and I would be interested to see how others think it compares to a TTR 250, a DR350, an Armstrong or a CRF 250. What I do not think it is, due to the poor seat ( I could accept a poor seat on a small capacity trail bike but not on a bike that is advertised as being capable of going round the world) and the fragile nature of the the electrical components, is an Adventure bike.
You seem to have got a very good deal on yours Minky. Mine set me back about £9,200, it has most of the optional extras and now has the PC fitted. I reckon I would be lucky to get £7,500, a year and about 5,000 miles later, although I could be tempted if anyone wants it. As you say the prices of all the extras and the servicing seem to have shot up. When I bought mine I was told it would be £260 for the 5,000 mile service, nine months later that had gone up to £330, well above inflation.
I suppose ultimately I am annoyed at myself for believing the hype. If it did what I expected it to do and I had not had all the issues I would be looking forward to keeping it and be a proud owner, as it is I am still not sure. I am genuinely interested as to whether more experienced off readers think it is superior enough off road compared to the bikes mentioned above or similar to make it worth keeping.
Incidentally the mpg on mine dropped significantly when fitting more off road tyres which I suppose should be expected. I currently have a Mitas ( a CO2 I think) on the front which is great off road and an AC10 on the back which is crap. The original Heidnaus were great on road and okay in the dry off road but they were not so good in the mud. I don't know if there is a good tyre somewhere between the two.
Cheers Jak

Off road compared to the bikes listed it is.light years ahead...but then depends how you ride...fast or sedate...my ccm644 has given me years of grief with electrics and oil leaks and.snapped subframe...but it still makes me.smile which is all i ask ...solo trail riding it is.ace ...just the doopy rider lol..

Thanks Tramp, that is sort of what I thought. I was just hoping it was me that had got loads better, but the reality is that the CCM is that good off road that it makes a crap rider look vaguely competent.
Cheers Jak

Having just got back from the ABR I reckon I could have sold a dozen CCMs there if mine had been reliable. So many people asked about mine. Unfortunately the honest answer is that at the moment I would not recommend anyone buy one. The only other GP450 owner there had already had similar fueling problems to mine within a very short mileage. Mine used about 150 ml of oil doing the green lane run and one very sedate lap of the enduro track. When I got home and cleaned it I noticed my silencer is coming apart where the front rivets are.
I was constantly telling people what a great of road bike it is but that it is the most unreliable and uncomfortable bike I have owned. It is such a shame but unless they can improve their quality control on the new models I cannot see how they can survive. A small company like them must rely on recommendations from current owners and on the feedback from Internet forums like this one.
Cheers Jak

Jak* wrote:Having just got back from the ABR I reckon I could have sold a dozen CCMs there if mine had been reliable. So many people asked about mine. Unfortunately the honest answer is that at the moment I would not recommend anyone buy one. The only other GP450 owner there had already had similar fueling problems to mine within a very short mileage. Mine used about 150 ml of oil doing the green lane run and one very sedate lap of the enduro track. When I got home and cleaned it I noticed my silencer is coming apart where the front rivets are.
I was constantly telling people what a great of road bike it is but that it is the most unreliable and uncomfortable bike I have owned. It is such a shame but unless they can improve their quality control on the new models I cannot see how they can survive. A small company like them must rely on recommendations from current owners and on the feedback from Internet forums like this one.
Cheers Jak

Jak, thats over 10% of your oil capaciry in such a short space of time, something wrong there ?? Call Drogan, he"ll tell you that you've been cleaning it too much :whistle:

I really like the look of these bikes after looking at another one last weekend but after all the adverse comments a number of owners have made I just can't part with my money to buy one and I cannot believe how much people are loosing when selling secondhand.
I know a number of owners really rate them as well.