Messages

31

General Two Stroke Talk / Chris Blose in for Hangtown on a YZ 250

« on: May 14, 2012, 04:59:30 PM »

What does everyone think of 2-stroke hating Matthes throwing in to help Blose this weekend?  I shouldn't say hating because at least he acknowledged the 125 class going away was a terrible injustice to the sport. 

32

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 12, 2012, 03:45:16 AM »

And a short youtube video of my first real full ride on it.  It was done with my wife's iPhone and unfortunately she didn't turn the phone sideways.  So really only the first 40 seconds is worth watching, the rest I'm tiny because the phone can't zoom while filming.  The best I could get her to do on short notice.

33

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 12, 2012, 03:38:59 AM »

The final product nice and clean.  Pretty happy with how it all came out.  Now all I need to do is re-adjust to it.  Felt really strange on the bike last weekend.

34

General Two Stroke Talk / This should end the HP debate once and for all

« on: May 11, 2012, 12:40:59 PM »

There's 450-like horsepower numbers in every 250.  The factories were making close to 60hp on their bikes in race trim.  The power is there if you're willing to spend the money and live with short engine life. 

I know it's trendy to hammer on 4-strokes but in my opinion no bike is "easy to ride".  It's takes skill to maneuver anything (even an electric bike which in all likelihood is where this sport will end up if it intends on surviving) around a MX track with aggression and speed.  And from what I've seen if you can do it on one type of bike you're capable on any other kind, displacement and strokes aside.  The reason I love this sport is because it comes down to you.  This is one of the only motorsports on Earth where the size of your pocketbook is NOT a direct correlation to your relative speed on the track.  Even in motorcycle road racing a bad bike means a bad finish no matter how good you are.  In MX a bad bike simply means you have to work a little harder. 

35

General Two Stroke Talk / This should end the HP debate once and for all

« on: May 11, 2012, 03:46:52 AM »

Did someone actually argue that a 250F had more horsepower than a 250 2-stroke? I've never seen anyone make that claim.  Its interesting that the KTM makes more power than a stock CRF450. 

36

General Two Stroke Talk / Chris Blose in for Hangtown on a YZ 250

« on: May 11, 2012, 02:33:26 AM »

He was on Motosport Outlet Kawi with Nick Wey.  Blose rode for H&H last year. Both of those teams are SX only though.

37

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 10, 2012, 01:22:29 PM »

Outdoor pictures.  This is after a ride before it got cleaned since the light was fading.  Rode it again last night.  Worked out a lot of bugs.  I quickly realized the '09+ CRF450 chassis really changed my style because I hate 100mm of sag.  I have to run the bike low in the back or it just feels unrideable.  Also I was having a small blubbering issue at 1/4-1/2 throttle that I chased around but never really nailed down.  It's been a while since I rode a 2-stroke except for a few laps on my buddy's '12 KTM 250SX, and I must say it makes me feel slow.  I didn't have much confidence yet to charge or be very aggressive.  The bike feels light but strangely that felt like a negative compared to the 450.  Just going to take some time.

Like I said, keep in mind this is right after the first day breaking it in.  So it is dirty:










My wife didn't feel like standing up.. she also took a short video with her iphone I'll try and upload.  Obviously she can't zoom so for a portion of it I'm pretty small.   

38

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 05, 2012, 11:47:02 AM »

Bike is complete and loaded in the truck to go ride after work.  I'll take a few shots after it gets daylight.  Waking up at 4am really blows.

39

General Two Stroke Talk / ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz...... Who''''''''s winning the XR450 Class? The XR250 Class? ...

« on: May 05, 2012, 11:45:29 AM »

While I agree 4-strokes have really hurt the racing in Supercross, I sure do remember a lot of run-away boring victories over the last 20 years.  I remember a certain rider taking 72 premier class victories in a pretty short period of time.  No matter what kind of bike it's up to the riders to be competitive.  2-strokes definitely offered a better chance at good racing though since they required more precision and caused more mistakes. 

40

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 04, 2012, 06:49:27 PM »

The sprocket is anodized directly from Renthal, for an extra 5 bucks they'll send you one of a few different colors.  That's why it's a different red from the hubs.  The hubs were done by a local guy for 45 bucks, we didn't have much of a match for CR red but he got close I think.  I wanted to do the frame and swing arm too but the logistics of that were a pain in the ass. 

I was aiming to copy this look minus the graphics but it would have just cost too much on top of everything else I did:

41

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 04, 2012, 05:57:09 PM »

My helmet cam bit the dust a few months ago so I won't get any of that footage just yet, but if I drag my wife along she can do some iphone videos from the tower. 

42

Technical / yZ125 piston life?

« on: May 04, 2012, 05:54:32 PM »

Your service manual is usually a pretty good answer.  A fast and aggressive rider will want to replace pistons pretty often, my manual suggests every 8 hours.  Some people run them until the piston gets loose or the bike actually loses power.  Not a good situation to put your bike in if you want to ward off problems. 

Vertex is cast, it's basically an OEM piston in another box.  Their quality is solid. 

43

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 04, 2012, 11:17:32 AM »

Well here we are folks, it's 90% done.  Still needs the chain mounted, front plate properly secured, sag set, and a proper going over to make sure everything is tight.  I started it up and it sounds great. 

44

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 03, 2012, 08:20:29 PM »

Starting to get serious!  I'm leaving work now to go by some race fuel and finish the prep for tomorrow.  I'm pumped, can't wait to see how it all feels now that the bike is completely rebuilt. 

45

General Two Stroke Talk / Yet another project

« on: May 02, 2012, 05:40:52 AM »

I got everything in one place and finally started putting it all together.  Like usual the lighting and camera on my phone are all horrible.  Please excuse the mess surrounding the bike.  It should be all ready to go by Friday afternoon and ready to ride this weekend!  Yes yes I know..  please pretend the 450 next to it isn't there..  or at least that it's clean. 

The wheels with Excel A60 rims, Excel spokes, and the powder coated hubs





The bike as it sits.. camera washed out the color pretty bad