Topics

16

General Two Stroke Talk / Changes in riding groups selection of bikes

« on: September 18, 2017, 05:35:28 AM »

An observation from this past weekends ride

Over the past few years I've seen a change in the bikes my riding group has been on...  There are those of us (me included) who are 2 stroke only...  there are several who have switched back and forth, and there are those 4 stroke or nothing riders.  This weekends ride, there were 10 riders on two on 4 strokes...  one just bought a 2012 CRF-X 250.  Its been lowered, (which fits as he's a bit height challenged), the other on a KX 450 cause he a big tough guy...  the rest was two KTM 380's, KTM 300, two YZ250's , KTM 200, KTM 150, and a YZ125. 

I think my buddy on the CRF-X finally found the right bike for him...  He needed something along the lines of an XR250 but with more punch and decent suspension.  He's not a fast rider, sometimes painfully slow... he has a KX125, but didn't ride it aggressive enough.  Had a CRF 250 for a short while (loved it), but it was hard to start, and after valve issues decided to sell it.   The X version is much tamer, plus estart.  The valves have been swapped for stainless steel, so maybe they will last a while longer.  It does start much easier.

The 450 rider, has a bike too big for his ability.  It gets him into trouble, as much as it bails him out of it.  Previously he had a bone stock KTM 150...  said it wasn't fast enough... never tried to adjust the jetting, swore it was just a bad bike...  Over the weekend he rode my buddies 150 with proper jetting and suspension settings, he now wants to dump the 450 and get a 150. 

The 2 guys on YZ250, are previous staunch supporters of the 4 stroke brigade... No more... too many expensive repairs, one also realized the 450 he was on was killing his lap times, rode a buddies smoker for 15 min, put the pig up for sale and bought the YZ... couldn't be happier. 

The rest of us are two smokers for life...  we did notice the faint sounds of a stroker at the riding area, but most of the time it was just the sweet sound of a two stroke on the pipe... 

17

General Two Stroke Talk / Observations from the weekend ride

« on: August 07, 2017, 05:43:08 AM »

The weather was unseasonable cool... overcast with temps in the mid 70's...  had a brief light shower during the previous night...  conditions perfect.  6 riders... 5 smokers, 1 stroker. 

Several years ago, a riding buddy relocated to Florida to help further his career.  To help facilitate the move, he sold everything... his beloved KTM 250SX, riding gear, everything.... Fast forward 2.5 years... he's back... 1st thing he did was have a sit down and a long conversation getting another bike.  I reminded him of the grin on his face when he test rode a KTM 150SX.  He looked at a few but they were roached... found one in Michigan, and made the 6 hour drive (each way) to get her...  2013 KTM 150 SX... excellent condition... 

Sunday, the 1st day on the track with his new steed....  now this track does not have any really long stretch, its more is a tight & twisty with a lot of breaking bumps and turns.  The 150's PO had the suspenders set up for a 175 lbs rider...  Dave just happens to tip the scales at 170, so when he was blasting through the bumps, the back tire stayed planted.  It was quite a site to see as he was blowing by the 450's like they were standing still... They'd try to take his line away... no problem, he'd just either dive under or take the outer line.  He was having the time of his life... No it doesn't hurt that his riding style suits the 150 to a T... he is one who likes to go ring it's neck, and never let off...  plus he's just a damn good rider, he's so smooth.

I took a group into the woods on one of the more technical trails.  The 450 rider in our group struggled to keep up.  I was running a pretty good pace when I kept noticing a wheel right at my foot pegs...  Dave was setting me up for a pass.... I shut him down and tried to check out...  nope... he was right on my ass....  we came around a muddy turn and I didn't see the log across the trail buried in the mud... my front wheel slide down it like it was on ice... yep I go down in a graceful thud...  Dave stop realized I'm fine, laugh's his ass off... and then proceeds to roost me while he's laughing the whole time...  DAMN KIDS!!! 

All in all it was another great day on the bike...  I'm a little sore today, my ankle got a little tweaked, but other then a flat tire on my son's 300 and some bruised ego's...  it was a great day.  As I'm gimping around this morning getting ready for work, the wife says see what happens when you act like a kid... to which I say if I could go again today...  I'll suite up right now...  She asked when are you going to grow up???  NEVER!!! 

18

General Two Stroke Talk / New Project 04 RM 125 Barn find

« on: June 29, 2017, 08:09:20 AM »

New Project... Barn fresh 04 RM 125.. My son's girlfriend mentioned to him I know where there's a bike that's been sitting for years (6 years to be exact).  Ex boyfriend's... she called his step mother, it doesn't run... she said please come get it out of the barn, please, you can have it... FREE...

Adam picks it up, said the tires were 3 inches down in the dirt, wheels didn't want to turn.  Was told by the ex that it has a full aftermarket exhaust, bored 40 over....  Adam didn't care, just wanted to collect the bikes and its parts and get out of there... 



So we gave it a much needed bath... found its missing a few small things, but its pretty complete.  As usual I don't take believe what previous owners say they've done to their bikes..  After a quick inspection I see it has the stock exhaust... so I know the PO is full of shit... Before wasting my time I check for spark, yep, got lots of spark.  So with that, let the tear down begin  (the other RM in the pic below is his buddies, just happens to be a 04 RM 125 too)



I drain the rads, it had engine ice in it... nice.  Pull the head, so far good, measures out to a stock bore.  I feel a slight scratch in the bore...  hmmm  I may be able to salvage this with just a top end refresh.  I pull the cylinder... somethings not right.  It takes me a while but then it hits me...  someone resleeved the cylinder but didn't line it up...  it's off 3/8 th's of an inch.  How that hell do you do that...  the ports are partially closed, including the power valve.  It was blocked from being able to open...



I'm dumbfounded as to how stupid some backyard mechanics are...  When I 1st saw the sleeve didn't line up with the casting, I assumed the sleeve or casting was broke... nope.... upon closer inspection, it's just bad work... The crank is tight, no play in the big end bearing, and no play on the clutch or flywheel side...

So we'll have the sleeve replaced and of course put in a new top end.  The bottom end will get washed out with clean diesel fuel. It needs a new chain and sprockets, levers, grips, and the rear fender stitched back together .  Clutch plates are serviceable for now.   It will make a fun track bike.

19

General Two Stroke Talk / Weekend Ride

« on: May 19, 2017, 08:31:53 AM »

My son and I got out the other day.  Over the winter months he disassembled his 2000 KTM 300 and painted the frame.   He put everything back together while greasing and replacing a few worn items.  When we get to the riding spot, I asked is he started the bike since reassembly... no he didn't but he did check for spark when reconnecting the electronics.  Of course it wouldn't start...  As he kicked it over it just didn't sound right... As I listened it sounded as if he was holding the throttle open, but he was not...  As I investigated I found the slide was not bottoming out.

Thank God I'm a stickler for making sure the same size bolts are used...  So with just one 8 mm socket, we quickly pulled the seat and tank  to get to the carb.  I found he incorrectly routed the throttle cable causing  it to pinch and not allowing the cable to fully retract.   A quick re-route and the slide bottoms out...  It fired up after only a few kicks.   

Our club is hosting a cross country race during the upcoming weekend.  The course was laid out and we were able to take advantage of it and help to break in some of the new trials...  It was a great day to be on a bike and even a better day to be making memories with my son...  even if he doesn't always listen to me... as always dad knows better...   

20

General Two Stroke Talk / Holiday Weekend ride

« on: April 17, 2017, 06:21:11 AM »

OK guys who got out to ride over the Holiday Weekend??

I actually took Friday off, and went riding.  Everyone was busy, so I said screw it and went solo.  I headed over to my riding club, and found all of 10 riders were there...  500 acres of trail 2 MXs  tracks and an endurocross track for 10 people...    We've had some heavy rains during the previous week, but was really nice Friday.  Conditions were mostly dry, with the usual mud / water crossings.  Being the 1st time out this year, plus riding solo, I decided not to push it too hard... as I knew I'd pay for my lack of conditioning later...  Rode for several hours, staying for the most part on double track, with some challenging single track thrown in for good measure...  Of course I had to put in a few laps on the tracks...  thankfully no one was there to see how slow I was going... 

During a break, I watched a family come in, unload their bikes and quads only to see a 12 year old girls Honda 250 quad pissing fuel out the overflow.  Her sisters / brother took off on their bikes / quads while she had to stay behind as dad tried to fix it...  after watching him tap the carb hoping to dislodge what ever was keeping the float open, I offered to help.  I ended pulling the plastic and air box just to get to the carb.  Pulled it off to find it full of crap...  I cleaned it the best I could and reinstalled it.  I didn't want to pull the needle seat off unless I really needed to...  Turned the fuel on and... yep it still pissed fuel...  I grabbed a small hammer and get it a good wack... it stopped... Put everything back together and had her ride it in the parking area, all was good... she was off into the woods in a flash...  Sometimes its better to be lucky then good...   

21

Technical / Footpegs What's your choice and why???

« on: March 23, 2017, 07:45:57 AM »

I'm looking at changing out my stock pegs and am looking for suggestions... 

What are you running... Do you like them, and why...

22

Technical / Sometimes I can't believe the stupid things people do...

« on: December 06, 2016, 08:15:48 AM »

A friend of my son asked is I could repair his cylinder (2001 KTM 250SX)..  Someone forgot to install the 2nd circ clip and the piston pin did a great job of machining a groove into the cylinder wall. 



He's purchased a new sleeve from LA sleeve and new wiesco piston.  This repair is way beyond my backyard garage expertise so I've contacted a local machinist I trust and he will handle the repairs... I can't believe just how perfectly the grove was machined without destroying a port...  It looks like its supposed to be there... 

I'll post pics of the repaired cylinder when after its fixed . 

23

General Two Stroke Talk / Local Riding club, KTM Days...

« on: November 18, 2016, 07:36:15 AM »

My local riding club (Crow Canyon) is a private club , but we hold open events a few times as year to help pay the bills...  One of those events is our annual KTM Day's ride event. It was held on November 5th and 6th... KTM brings a full complement of their new bikes, both track and trail.  KTM Days allows anyone the opportunity to try out a new KTM, or bring your own bike and enjoy the facilities.  We also have several vendors on site with gear, parts, supplies, food, etc.  The week preceding the event the weather was warm for this time of the year (mid 60's), and had been dry.  Mother nature blessed us with some decent rain on Thursday.  There was a few last minute changes to the MX track (which everyone loved) and the final prep was made to the track and 3 different trail loops.  The trail loops were one exclusively for those testing / trying out a new KTM, and the other were a AA 8 mile loop of mostly single track, and the other was an easier 6 mile double track loop for families and quad / side-by-side riders.  The kiddie track was also prepped.  The weather for the weekend was scheduled sunny with temps in the low 70's. 

Saturday I volunteered to be a flagger on the track... (It's so much fun watching the little guys blasting around the track).  I arrived at 8:00 AM...  the main parking lot was almost full... We had to open other areas for parking to accommodate the larger than anticipated crowd.   As a club member, you get in free as long as you have your club ID.  With that in mind, Saturday we had 600 paying riders, plus those who came to support the riders... We counted over 1,200 people through the gates Saturday. 

While working as a flagger, I couldn't help but to notice the ratio of smokers on the track...  the sound was awesome, as the smokers outnumbered the stroker by a 4:1 margin...  Now many of the track riders normally rode a stroker, but was there to try out a new smoker... Wow it's really fun to be that close and watching the talented riders just abuse the track, and watching one rider in particular, keeping a 150 pinned as he was blowing past the 450's...  Yes he normally rode a 450, but just wanted to tryout a 150 just for grins... of which we had plenty of.  He was whipping that bike over and around everything...  I talked to a few guys after their rides and they were just full of smiles ear to ear...  Loved the new 2 smoke Katooms....  They were struggling with what their next bike purchase would be... deal with the cost of maintaining a stroker, or jump ship and get on a smoker....  I also worked the kiddie track, and laughed my arse off watching the little guys buzz around on their 50's 65's and 70's...  they were just having a ball... Even the woods riders, the smokers far outnumbered the strokers...  Plus it was so funny watching someone on a stroker kicking and kicking, and kicking trying to refire their bikes... when their buddies on a smoker would stab at the kicker once and ride off... 

Sunday I didn't work, so I had the opportunity to ride my KTM 380...  Again we had close to 600 paying riders, and another 600 non riders through the gate ... Since there were so many fast guys on the track and I'm so damn slow, I headed to the trails...  The AA loop was a bitch...  There was a lot of guys that didn't understand the difficulty of an AA loop...  some parts of the AA loop were more difficult than their skill set.  Honestly they should have stayed on the double track (at least on just a busy day).  My son and I helped several guys up some difficult single track hills, and guided them over to the double track.  They were more than happy to ride the double track...  With the amount of riders there, the marked loops kept everyone going in the same direction, so you could run the trails as hard as you wanted without worrying about some idiot coming the wrong direction... I also ran the easier loop a few times and saw many, many groups of families...  It was a great site to see watching Dads, Moms, and several kids riding together.  At one point there was a bottleneck as a family was trying to get everyone up a mildly difficult hill...  It was so cool watching Jr. on his 50 trying to climb the hill and fail... everyone was encouraging to try it again...  We helped him down the hill and he'd try it again, and finally the 3rd try he cleared it...  all who were there erupted in cheers when he made it to the top... Yea you could see the grin on his face even with his helmet on...   By then end of the day, I was spent... I think I rode the AA loop 3 times and the easy loop twice.  I did make a few laps around the track, but was so tired I realized I needed to get my fat ass off the track and call it a day.

What a great weekend... it's sad to see the season winding down. 

24

General Two Stroke Talk / So what have you been up to during the TSM sabbatical?

« on: October 27, 2016, 05:46:33 AM »

OK guys...  The question is what has everyone been up to while TSM has been off line...

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General Two Stroke Talk / TSM is back...

« on: October 26, 2016, 01:00:47 PM »

WOW...  TSM is back!!!!

26

Non-Moto / Suggestions for 1st time rider

« on: September 14, 2011, 11:43:53 AM »

I hate to admit this, but I just recommended for a new rider to with go with a 4 stroke...  (DON'T SHOOT ME)  He's looking for an easy play bike, that he can dual sport, something that he won't hurt himself on.  I've recommended a used Yamaha TTR 250.  I'm trying to keep the cost down, as I know he's going to get hooked like we are...  and when he's ready to step up, he will have to get a smoker.  Since he doesn't have a way of getting to the trails other then the roads, I thought a dual sport TTR would be his best 1st bike choice.  What are the opinions out there of the TTR.  Please keep in mind 1st time rider, that wants to dual sport the bike, and like me, he's cheap... err frugal.

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General Two Stroke Talk / Motrocross Action rebuilds a roached 250F at a cost of $3,650.00

« on: September 08, 2011, 05:36:27 AM »

28

Non-Moto / Finally got to get in a ride

« on: August 08, 2011, 09:32:43 PM »

This has been a bad riding season...  It started in at the end of April, I was having some discomfort, but as most of us do, I ignored it until my wife said you're going to the hospital...  My appendix had ruptured.  I go to a teaching hospital, (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) where the consensus was to leave it alone, and pump me full of antibiotics...  They wanted it to "cool off"

29

Non-Moto / A Good Day riding with my son

« on: October 17, 2010, 06:40:24 PM »

30

Technical / Chain types and maintenance procedures

« on: September 27, 2010, 06:38:16 AM »

I know chain maintenance is as personal as which brand of 2 stroke oil, or tranny oil we use...  But, my son broke a chain over the weekend, of course he does not maintain it like dad does. Plus when we replaced the chain about 3 years ago it was with a cheap chain.  So I was just curious as to the types of chains and different methods, oils, cleaners the forum members were using.

On my bike I'm running an O-ring chain, I used to use Bel-Ray Chain wax, but switched to WD-40 about 2 years ago.  So far it seems to hold up fine.  On the boys, quad (yes he's a quad turd) we were running a cheap non O-ring chain.  He would clean it and spray it down with WD-40 once in a while...  it failed...  I saved my last chain (O-ring style) its currently soaking in an oil bath and will go on the quad when we get some time.