Two Stroke Motocross
Two Stroke Motocross Forum => Non-Moto => Topic started by: Coop on July 23, 2010, 12:50:07 PM
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Here's mine. 1988 Kawasaki KX125. MSR Dflector handguards, Moose toolbag, Sunline bars, frame guards, rear disc guard, rejetted, two teeth larger rear sprocket than stock. I bought this as a basket case last winter and completely rebuilt it. I'd still like to get front fork boots and front disc guard. I love riding small bores, always have. Don't laugh at my homemade bike stand :) .
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f190/SVCoop/Bikes/Riding%206-21-10/moto_0114.jpg)
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Nice machine... you build nice bikes! Do you happen to have a soft spot for Kawasaki?
I like the stand....
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Yeah I like KX's. I don't buy based on brand though, I buy based on the deal I can get . :D
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Your stand is nothing to laugh at. You should've seen all the trouble we went through to find old ten milk crates to put all my dad's bikes on! I like how they really sank the rider position down in the '80s, what's the seat height on that thing when it's just sitting on the ground?
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I used to always use milk crates, but this bike is too tall. I had it on a bucket for awhile, but realized I had enough left over 2x4's to build two stands for me and my nephew. Nick wants one now lol.
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Nothing wrong with your stand coop. Make them with what ever you got.
I had some spare time last week so i knocked this up out off some rhs and an old outboard trim motor.
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/bikestand005.jpg)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/bikestand006.jpg)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/bikestand009.jpg)
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Man, talk about showing a guy up! LOL just kidding, awesome stand!
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I have several setups right now, all include hand guards and skid plates. However, I don't have a tool bag on the bike instead I use the Ogio Flight Vest since I can transfer from bike to bike. Right now I have
1984 KTM 495 MXC
1982 Maico 490 GS
1983 Maico 490 Sand Spider
1986 Honda CR500 (One of the worst bike possible for trail riding, so I never ride it)
All of which I rebuilt. I have other bikes I am rebuilding.
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Sounds like nice bikes. Any pics?
I can't wear backpacks or anything similar since I've had two back surgeries.
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I have lots of pictures and video
http://www.maicowerk.com/ (http://www.maicowerk.com/)
(http://www.maicowerk.com/Images/Photos/7/mtmaico18.jpg)
(http://www.maicowerk.com/Images/Photos/1/cr500_2.jpg)
(http://www.maicowerk.com/Images/PageLayout/header.jpg)
KTM 495 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4HaR_5ZGwU#ws)
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That 82 GS looks pretty clean.
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They were pretty clean just after rebuild, that bike no longer looks that clean!
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They were pretty clean just after rebuild, that bike no longer looks that clean!
LOL yeah I know that feeling. My 125 looked great the day I finished it. After the first trail ride I wondered what happened to my prestine bike :) .
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My set-up is pretty basic. I have a KTM 300 EXC, so the bike was designed for the trails. I've added hand guards, EE chain guard, EE clutch master cylinder guard, and try to keep a tire with sharp edges. I carry some basic tools in a fanny pack, and depending on the weather a camel pack with water.
A pic of my baby after a ride, she's washed and ready to be put away.
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b125/eprovenzano/eric-bike.jpg)
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I've run a KTM 200EXC the last few years with an autoclutch. This is a spectacular woods bike. With the KTM motor, you can adjust the powervalve and jetting to make it either wild or like a tractor. It's really nice in the tight twisties. In the short little transition sections, where you cut across a cornfield to get back in the trail, it's just super fast. It gives up some to the bigger 4Ts on really long straights.
Last week I visited a friend and we did some riding. He put me on his 125 EXC. It was like riding a bicycle. Really liked that bike.
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So here's a question, do you guys usually use all that travel on a trail ride? I find I've usually got an inch or two left unused (which is pretty good in my book) but that also includes some fairly hot fire road work. Because I'm thinking, if your focus is to have control through tight trails, I can imagine that having a very tall bike would be a little annoying at times. I remember once on the Husky I was going down a fairly hellacious slope on the side of some mountain that we'd created a trail for (yeah, we used to make trails) and the back end slid out on some soft dirt. It started to high-side in the wrong direction, so what would normally be easy to recover from at 2mph turned into a very fearful experience with my leg hanging in outer space as the bike started to lean over down the slope. I hope that made sense, but anyway, I saved it by dismounting really quick to get my right leg on the ground, and my left leg had to stay up on the seat, which put my angle and my face at the same altitude! It would've been much less terrifying on a bike with a 34-inch seat height instead of the 40 or 41 I was dealing with.
What do you guys think? Has the bike's tallness ever gotten in the way, or do you just need all 12 inches for the kind of stuff you tackle?
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Where I ride there are some extremely tight singletrack, mixed with some open rutted & whooped out sections, with hill climbs tossed it. In the tight single track the height can be a disadvantage at times. But hitting the fast terrain and sometimes even the hill climbs at high speeds I use pretty much all the travel, even with it set up for my weight. I would either have to slow down or take a major beating if I rode a vintage bike like I ride my KX. I know because I started riding in 1979 and it wasn't until 1998 or so that I got a long travel bike, until then I always had 70's bikes.
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Well, I wasn't necessarily implying vintage. I don't know if one can still do this, but I know my Uncle got fed up with his 430 Husky being jacked up to the moon like they come, and fortunately the shocks give you five different height settings to choose from. His is set at the lowest, and when I looked, it appears mine is set at the second-highest (the bikes are one year apart so the frames and shocks are identical.) He also has the forks raised up a bit in the triple-clamps, which not only reduces his travel (which he claims not to need) but also reduces his rake angle. If you lower the shocks and kept the forks the same, the rake angle would start to look very Peter Fonda. It has a very noticeable effect on seat height; our two bikes look very different size-wise next to each other.
And it sounds like it's someone you wouldn't necessarily want to do because you also encounter fast whoops (there are a few trails out here that have some big ones, which you haven't really seen in-video yet because the whoops are about as friendly to the 120 as AC/DC music is to the Pope.
But anyway, I'm still curious to know if peoples' shocks today have different settings for where to put the spring, or another way of directly changing the seat height. I'm guessing the forks are still adjustable in the clamps, yes?
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Yes i need all the suspension travel ive got.
The riding we do is over pretty rough hills and forests.
When your taped out in 4th or 5th over rough ground you need all you can get.
I bottom my suspension on every ride. I couldnt imagine doing the type of riding we do with only half the travel. :(
I personaly find fire roads boring if they are more then a couple a k's long. But each to their own.
The riding we do is a bit like a harescramble without being timed.
We do do a bit of single track and thats where the height of the bike can be a pain.But it's just something you have to get used too.I think it improves riding skills not being able to your feet down at times. Learning to rear wheel steer down steep hills and ruts and just keeping good balance.
I will admit i have done the odd ride that was that steep and muddy that you would have been better off on a TS185 or XR200. But its not the norm.
When i finaly get a helmet cam i will post up some videos.
My trial setup is full armour,Camelback when its hot and good tyres.
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To answer your last question jetz, You can buy lowering links for most modern bikes.
Its just a longer linkage that will drop the rear of the bike.
And yes you would need to slide the forks through the clamps to keep the same rake.
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Okay, cool. I had a feeling it would have something to do with linkage.
For what it's worth, I'm not a big fan of big gravel fire roads either, but unfortunately our area has a lot of them built in and it can be a little difficult to take a lot of trails without having a bunch of "commute time" worked in. Dirt roads are a completely different story, though. They do all kinds of neat things, kind of like a pair of trails going in parallel, except better-tuned for the 25-55mph speed range. Especially if you find some power lines! The towers need access for maintenance or upgrades or whatever, so you get these basic little dirt roads that follow under the power lines over whatever kind of terrain they decided to string 'em up over. Sometimes they're quite nice and smooth, other times they're the gnarliest, roughest, steepest, most hair-raising bastards you've ever seen. I recall having to turn back once because the power lines went over a small river, and that river had the audacity to carve a 2000ft chasm into the Earth, and someone was crazy enough to make the road continue down there into the pits of Hades with a slope similar to Back-to-Back. With a 6ft deep white-water crossing at the bottom!
I know I'm getting a little off-topic on this, but I've heard that there's roads out by Mt. Jefferson at the south end of the Indian Reservation here that are like 40-mile motocross tracks (sans jumps) complete with whoops. You need to have someone from the tribe to give you permission (and good luck with that if your ancestors came from Germany) but my dad's got permission a few times in the past and he says it was heaven, provided you've got long-travel and at least 250cc.
Okay, now we can go back to talking about set-up. :)
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because the whoops are about as friendly to the 120 as AC/DC music is to the Pope.
;D
When your taped out in 4th or 5th over rough ground you need all you can get.
That's what I was trying to say, but didn't get out quite right, lol.
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I use the CR500AF for most trail riding (So Cal desert and mountains) Usual mods .
Up one tooth on the rear sprocket
skid plate
3.2 gal tank
trail tech computer
suspension re-valve and sprung for my weight
gnarly pipe
v force reeds
re jetted for altitude and weather.
Jets,
as far as the long travel suspension goes, I do bottom out on most rides more than once.
I have had a lot of vintage bikes, Back when they were new though.
I can ride any black diamond trail I have been on on a Honda Trail 90, But it would take a lot longer.
I prefer the long travel, Modern brakes, and liquid cooling of the newer bikes.
I was probably faster on a fire road on my old Elsinore, but not anywhere else.
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Right. Like I say, anywhere other than a smooth road or a tight-and-slow trail and you're going to want big travel. That's why 90% of my dream bikes are long-travel. But, if you can manage to construct a good-length ride that won't put you over anything too bad (and actually, you'd be amazed at what a short-travel bike can do when you get off the seat, just don't expect the shocks to last too many years) a good low bike is a fun experience. The handling is completely different and I've heard that the combination of big power and a low center-of-gravity makes for some damn good power slides. It's nice to take something different once or twice a year, but even I wouldn't want that as my main go-to bike. I did that for a few years when the 120 was my main bike (back in middle school) and while trails were a breeze, there was hell to pay after 20 miles of rattling over a road made of boulders.
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I have a friend in Texas who rides some hare scrambles and he said there is a guy in the series on a 1977 IT 400 doing very well in the C class. I think that would be a bike with a low seat height.
It's a tradeoff. The long travel lets you get over whoops, logs and through deep ruts easier. But sometimes when you need to dab on a tall bike the foot goes down and touches nothing.
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Shoot.... new bikes aren't all that tall!! It's easy just put your foot down.....
.... maybe it helps that I'm 6' 4" tall?? But today's seat heights work perfectly for my 36" inseam!! :o :o
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I'm only 5'11" but have long legs I guess, because there have been very few situations my foot wouldn't touch. Usually I only noticed the height when I am going up very technical climb with sharp turns, roots, rocks, etc. and then the trail flattens out and turns 90 degrees at the top.
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The high seat height is easy to overcome... just pack on a few extra pounds, the rear just sits a little lower these days. My job has had me on the road for the past 4 months, living in a hotel during the week, and home on weekends. No time to ride when I am homeā?¦ Itā??s easy to pack on the weight when you eat all meals in a restaurant.
I just started a new job so I am no longer on the road, and can now get the bike out again. I need to start working on losing the additional weight I picked up over the past few months. I know of no better (ok more enjoyable) exercise than to ride a dirt bike
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do you just need all 12 inches for the kind of stuff you tackle?
I certainly need all 12 inches for what I tackle but for an Oregonian male,likely 4-5 will have to do.You need to work with what you've got.Hahahahaha.I'm astounded you Aussie/Kiwi types didn't jump on that :o ;D Oh well,just got home from work and have to go mow the lawn.I'll be back later with a serious answer-maybe. :D
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Quote from: JETZcorp on July 25, 2010, 02:27:14 AM
do you just need all 12 inches for the kind of stuff you tackle?
I missed that one ford :D
Posted by: JETZcorp
I find I've usually got an inch or two left unused (which is pretty good in my book)
Are you showing off Jetz ? ;D ;)
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Better too much than not enough!
I wish I could say I intended that from the beginning, but I was actually totally oblivious. That's funny as hell, though.
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Which naturally reminds me of the old joke about telling your buddy you did his wife and found 4 unused inches.Ah,the oldies are still funny-to me anyway ;D
Anyhoo,for trail setup,I went through the guards for everything stage but in my old age prefer the minimalist,lowest weight approach.Nothing but a skid plate though I keep looking at it but can't quite make myself remove it-too many rocks around here.
As for suspension,I set mine up to almost bottom off jumps occasionally but although I don't bottom in the woods,it comes close from time to time.I'd trade seat height for suspension travel anytime(I've ridden IT's and found they had too little)-even though I'm not one of those gargantuan 6ft + freaks of nature :P ;)
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I'm astounded you Aussie/Kiwi types didn't jump on that: by ford
I don't think you will get any laugh's out of the Aussie's at the moment. ;)
They are too worried about the Aussies playing the All Blacks this weekend ;D
They are on a 7 game losing streak :o
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Ah,crying in their swill are they?Shameful :D
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It's what you get from a country founded by criminals ;)
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I'm not one of those gargantuan 6ft + freaks of nature
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__QQFNZJLb8Y/SRSwCsj43BI/AAAAAAAAA4I/cWtEc0Ny8FY/s400/robert_wadlow-picture.jpg)
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(http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/08_01/tallest2REX0908_468x745.jpg)
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It's what you get from a country founded by criminals ;)
What does a man have to do around here for a bite.
Have all the aussies left us ?
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It's what you get from a country founded by criminals ;)
What does a man have to do around here for a bite.
Have all the aussies left us ?
Maybe you need different bait.Tell them you slept with their wives.That almost always gets a rise for some reason. :D
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I probably have ;)
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;D I haven't.Given what they're used to,they likely couldn't handle a Canadian male anyway :o Now all you can do is wait.......
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I'm bored and since this thread got WAY off topic, here's two more pics of my set up. MSR D-Flector aluminum hand guards with large shields and Moose tool bag.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f190/SVCoop/Bikes/KX125/MSRGuards2.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f190/SVCoop/Bikes/KX125/toolbag.jpg)
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I like your beer gear. :D
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You know that's vital in the garage :D .
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Back on topic.
Only extras i have on my bike are Zeta handguards & JRF Tourque controller. "Adjustable power valve".
I aways run good tyres as well with heavy duty tubes.
Only thing i am going to add is Devol radiator guards. When i can figure out which ones fit. ::)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/DSC01358.jpg)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/DSC01361.jpg)
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Yeah that's nice!
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Back on topic.
Only extras i have on my bike are Zeta handguards & JRF Tourque controller. "Adjustable power valve".
I aways run good tyres as well with heavy duty tubes.
Only thing i am going to add is Devol radiator guards. When i can figure out which ones fit. ::)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/DSC01358.jpg)
(http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab207/tmkiwi/DSC01361.jpg)
TMKiwi check out the bullet proof designs radiator guards their what I use on my KTM & they have alot of airflow and great protection.
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I have lots of pictures and video
http://www.maicowerk.com/ (http://www.maicowerk.com/)
(http://www.maicowerk.com/Images/Photos/7/mtmaico18.jpg)
Hey Opferman I'll give ya between $500.00 to $750.00 bucks for that "83" Sand Spider...
Just let me know asap so we can get the ball rollin' on this KILLER deal that I'm offering
you! lol,lol,lofl..... ;D :D :P :) ;) Come on Opferman you know that was funny as all
hell....!?$*!!?
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Hey Opferman I'll give ya between $500.00 to $750.00 bucks for that "83" Sand Spider...
Just let me know asap so we can get the ball rollin' on this KILLER deal that I'm offering
you! lol,lol,lofl..... Come on Opferman you know that was funny as all
hell....!?$*!!?
Haha, for that price all you can get is a CR500AF
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Oh, that reminds me, the 120 is for sale. All you need to do is sacrifice your first-born and make two easy payments of one million dollars (as well as one very difficult payment of exactly $999,999.99). I've already had to turn away one idiot trying to get it off me for a measly two million, so don't bother low-balling. I'm cereal.
:P
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There was a 1969 Kawasaki 120 TR for sale in Denver craigs list a month ago, I don't know what the price was though. Said it needed a set of points.
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Hey Opferman I'll give ya between $500.00 to $750.00 bucks for that "83" Sand Spider...
Just let me know asap so we can get the ball rollin' on this KILLER deal that I'm offering
you! lol,lol,lofl..... Come on Opferman you know that was funny as all
hell....!?$*!!?
Haha, for that price all you can get is a CR500AF
I would'nt pay nearly that much for a CR500AF! I'm NOT much of a Honda fan... :)
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There was a 1969 Kawasaki 120 TR for sale in Denver craigs list a month ago, I don't know what the price was though. Said it needed a set of points.
I think about 90% of all the bikes that came with points, could use a set of points. I don't think I can name a single part on a dirt bike that has given more trouble and woe to this world than points.
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Didn't briggs & straton motors have points ? >:D
Your motor must be similar ;)
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I know my 120 has points, and along with the clutch (which is working decently now but its life is limited) they're the only thing that's ever given us trouble on the thing.
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Didn't briggs & straton motors have points ? >:D
Your motor must be similar ;)
Hahahahahaha :D Only with less power :o ;)
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I don't know, how many Briggs and Stratton motors came with a rotary valve and expansion chamber?
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I don't know, how many Briggs and Stratton motors came with a rotary valve and expansion chamber?
Just the economy models :)
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02 RM 250, fmf gnarly, PC 304 silencer, ported head , jetted boyesen pro series reeds, the bike pulls hard from down low chugs up hills, has killer midrange and decent top end. need to buy a flywheel weight for it. it smashes the tire in top gear with a fresh rear tire, bike is a wheelspin machine(if you want it to be), reminds me of my rota :D
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I realized I never posted here with the "new" bike.
2003 KDX200, pretty much stock except for an aluminum throttle tube, bars, MSR D-Flector handguards, and an LED taillight bulb.
When I brought it home:
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f190/SVCoop/KDX200/KDX-1.jpg)
Now (crappy cell pic):
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f190/SVCoop/KDX200/KDX-3.jpg)
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(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b394/juliendogg/IMAG0004.jpg)
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b394/juliendogg/IMAG0009.jpg)
Crappy cell phone pics, but the best I have on hand. That's my trail bike.
1989 KDX200
RB head mod
Carb goin off for RB mods next week
43mm KYB USD conversion (from 93 yz250 donor, rebuilt and re-sprung)
DG pipe and silencer
WER steering damper
Top and bottom rebuild done last year, replated cylinder, rebuilt crank, new bearings, etc.
Trials tire out back
Tusk Chub bar cut down and moose mini brush gaurds
Ceet apex graphics
KX500 rear fender
I know there's more I've done to it over the last couple years, but can't put my finger on it right now, lol.
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Not much of a picture person so nothing to show for it here. And it's nothing to look at any way. I don't even have graphics on it. I ride a 2005 YZ250 mostly. FMF Gnarly pipe & Q silencer. 10.5 oz. Steahly flywheel weight. Fly oversize bars. Moose handguards & barkbusters. I run mostly in the woods with it. An occasional motocross or day at the track with #1 Grandson. He is a 2 stroke rider also.He is stock accept for a set of Acerbis Handguard/barkbusters on his CR80. He wants to try hare scrambles this year.
And, if you didn't know, I'm new here. I live for 2 strokes. I'd have an RD350 2 stroke street bike if I could. Unfortunately I have been swayed to the dark side for on road adventures. I did have a dualsported KTM300 until about September. Needed some cash in a hurry so it had to go. I'll replace it though. My battle cry is "2 strokes & mullets forever". Hope to ride with some of yuns this season. See ya around.
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Good to see you here Allen!For those that have read some of my past posts about riding and my KDX, Mullet is one of the guys I ride with on a regular basis. Well I was until my back went south right before fall.
Here's a couple pics:
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc233/joedcco/Rufcut%20Riders/Five%20Star%20Ride%2011-21-10/DSCN0999.jpg)
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc233/joedcco/Rufcut%20Riders/Five%20Star%20Ride%2011-21-10/DSCN1010.jpg)
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Thanks Coop. Did you notice my nose in the air in the second picture. I'm worse than an old coonhound. I love the smell of premix in the morning.
Can't wait to get back out riding. As sick as I feel today, I will ride something. Lost enough snow in the past couple days to drag the YZ out & sling a little mud. Let's get that back straightened out so we get you out soon. Otherwise I'll be picking up the KDX & the nephew & taking them riding. ;D
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LOL Zach already said he is going to ride my KDX if I don't :) . He is off with the new girlfriend today, Sami took them to the mall, blah.
Good looking KDX juliend, glad to see you are posting here.
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Nice YZ mullethead, I'm gonna try the flywheel weight on mine.
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Nice YZ mullethead, I'm gonna try the flywheel weight on mine.
Thanks Glenn. The flywheel weight will make your bike more controllable in anything slippery. And it will make your power spread a lot smoother & longer. The Gnarly pipe & silencer helped with that too. I used to run a Fatty pipe with a Shorty silencer. The thing had a serious bark to it. Great for the Arenacross stuff I was racing. I think you'll like the weight. Keep us updated.
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They don't have Bob Evans out here, sucks.
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They don't have Bob Evans out here, sucks.
Just run down to the local grocery store. There's all kinds of stuff in there that says Bob Evans on it. Worse comes to worse, just rap something in bacon. Everything is better rapped in bacon. :D
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Thanks Coop. It may be 22 years old, but I can't tell you how satisfying it is to smoke my buddy on his yz450 when we hit the trails :)
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Thanks Coop. It may be 22 years old, but I can't tell you how satisfying it is to smoke my buddy on his yz450 when we hit the trails :)
Oh yeah! Before buying my KDX I had a 1988 KX125 that I re-furbished. It used to really make guys mad with new bigger 4T bikes when they couldn't shake the "old little" bike in the tight stuff ;D .