I worked my way through university by working in a BMW & Aprilia motorcycle shop in a suburb of Pittsburgh. When I graduated, I continued to work there mainly because I enjoyed it so much - stopping down every Saturday to post new bikes to the web, doing a little parts work behind the counter when needed, installing patches on PC and generally keeping everything technical running in tip-top shape. The wring was on the wall though...

A little over 5 years ago, the shop closed. The owner was recently divorced and the purchase of it by one of the world's worst individuals was (thankfully?) botched. I spent my new-found time starting a motorcycling forum, then selling aftermarket parts to folks on the forum, and finally, mid-last year, selling motorcycles.

I didn't know much about SSR until early this year. I've been selling the Sachs MadAss for about six months more for enjoyment than anything. Seeing them, and specifically the XF200 and XF250 at the Dealer Expo this February was enough to make me want to become a dealer for them - if for nothing more than I wanted one for myself.

Flash forward to late March, and my XF250 arrived. Here it is:



Uncrating it did NOT go smoothly. While the MadAss 125's are nearly fully assembled, the SSR's are not. The XF250 in particular needs it front wheel installed. When we were done removing all of the cardboard, guess what? No wheel. That somewhat important missing bit stopped me in my tracks for 3 days until SSR USA expedited a 'replacement' over.

Having finally received the wheel, and nearly pulled a groin by installing it, setup of the remainder of the motorcycle was easy. Nuts and bolts where all tight. Slack on the chain was perfect. The 1400 ML oil change was exactly as expected. The lithium ion battery (yes, seriously...) changed up and popped right in with a little bit of extra foam just to keep it comfortable. The bike fired right up. I opted out of putting the stickers on.

A 170 mile (275km) break in ride later, I have a few observations to share:




Power from the engine is exactly what I hoped it would be. It revs a bit slow, and overall grunt is not as extensive as my other motorcycle (BMW F800GS) but it's more than enough to be A) interesting and B) interstate highway worthy. The motorcycle accelerates quickly through the first 4 (of 5) gears reaching a top speed in excess of 70 mph or 112 km. Vibration is practically non-existing until way up in the RPM range.

The spacing of the gear ratios is excellent as well. The motorcycle will pull the front wheel off the ground in first gear, but the low gear is still very useable. Before ordering the motorcycle, I purchases a pinion and sprocket combination that I read worked well for the XF200. (16/44) Both of these remain on the shelf as they are completely unneeded.

I'm glad I didn't proactively purchase a set of pegs with rubber on them. The stock setup works well without communicating the vibes that I was anticipating:





The seat as well was surprisingly good. Generally, my arse is only good for about 100 miles at a clip. 120 later, and I had zero pain or numbness - which is more than I can say for my BMW. I wish it was easily removable though, so I can store my paperwork under it, like the BMW.



What's not so good however is the instrument cluster. It looks pretty cheap and frankly, acts pretty cheap too. The needles waver a bit when they have to correct either way quickly, and I quickly noticed what was missing - mainly a fuel indicator, and yes, a trip odometer. The latter is a minimum requirement in my opinion, as how else when you know when you're about to run out of fuel?

Incidentally, I did run out of fuel at just under 110 miles, or 175 km. The bike just sputtered and that was pretty much it. I flipped over to reserve and away I went for another 8 miles to a fuel station. I put 1.8 gallons in it. (6.8L) So, that works out to be around 3.4L per 100KM. I don't believe that is typical however...



Speaking of not typical, did you notice the steel braided brake line from the dash picture? Both front and back are steel braided discs. The bike stops better than expected. It's not BMW Brembo ABS braking, but still much better than expected and totally sufficient.

One braking niggle is the rear pedal height. You can tell this bike was dirt bike first - foldable brake and shifter levels are a dead giveaway. The height of the rear brake however isn't so noticeable, until you ride. It's dirt bike high - designed to be used when standing:









Other observations:

  • The tires on the bike are a brand I don't recognize - Kingstone. They are OK, but I would assume they are quite poor in the rain. When I test them in the rain, I'll let you know.
  • The mirrors have a ridiculously large DOT label on them. At first it quite annoyed me, but now I don't notice it so much. They actually function quite well, all things considered.
  • The front fork covers are faux carbon fiber. They look great from one side, but super cheap from the other as the back is bright, white plastic. They're also the only carbon fiber on the bike. I would rather them have just been all black plastic.
  • What doesn't function quite so well is the license plate bracket. It's not designed for a North American sized plate. So, cable ties for now. I'm pondering on a long term solution for this...
  • Not pictured, unfortunately, is the motorcycle has a completely adjustable front suspension. The ride, while good, is a bit harsh when riding on poor road conditions, so I'm going to attempt to correct it via adjustments. There is exactly nothing in the manual about it however, so I'm flying a bit blind...


As of right now, there are about 250 miles on the bike. Zero issues, so far. TONS of compliments as no one can seem to figure out what it is without the stickers on it. It's a hella fun ride too.