I love my KDX 250, but it isn't really much lighter than your XR. It weighs around 250 lbs. without gas. Don't expect the 250 to be like the KDX 200 you had, it is a totally different animal. The engine is basically a 1989 KX 250 engine with milder porting, a heavy flywheel, and a wide ratio tranny. With a little uncorking, it runs great, with excellent low-end grunt (not as much as that XR, though ;) ) and a strong mid, but it needs a decent exhaust system to replace the stock boat anchor and a lot of rejetting to get it to run anywhere near it's potential. I can hang with all but the fastest 250 MX bikes in acceleration. The stock fork springs are way too soft for anyone over about 140 lbs, but the shock spring is fine for me, I weigh 195 lbs. It makes a great offroad bike with a few mods, and mine has been very reliable. You will have to do top-ends much more frequently than on your XR, though. Top speed on mine is about 75.