My new(to me) ride for 2013..
Posted by b00sted
David Barrett Super Moderator Location: Chicago, IL Join Date: 10/21/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 216 |
I'm doing a car for next season(hopefully), but I needed something cheap and fun for this summer. After some research, I decided to go grab a used 250cc 2-stroke dirtbike...I was going to go with a 4-stroke 450, but they're about double the price to buy, and cost FAR more when it comes to repairs. The 2-stroke is good, cheap fun.
So, I bought a 2001 Kawasaki kx250. It's mainly stock with first and second gear ratios changed(not sure if they swapped to the mid-90s kx250 ratios, or went aftermarket), a graphics kit, and some basics like levers and what not. 
I've got an FMF silencer on order, the TurbineCore 2 with spark arrestor. I don't expect any performance gains, but I needed something with a spark arrestor for riding the woods around me. I also ordered the tools to swap the fork seals, as they're leaky. I'm going to run it a few times as is, but I plan on ordering an FMF Gnarly pipe(increased bottom-end power), a new top-end kit, and a jet kit since the Gnarly pipe tends to like leaner jetting from what I've read. I may change the final gearing around too. I'm 265 lbs and ride woods/trails only, so I want something with lots of grunt down low. I've ridden the bike a few times on the street and it's a blast. I've been on 4-strokes since I could ride without training-wheels, but this is my first time on a bigger CC 2-stroke. What a difference. I've ridden big and small 4-stroke dirtbikes, all sorts of Harleys, crotch rockets(including track racing a Honda CBR1000RR), and nothing has gotten the blood pumping as quickly as this bike coming on the pipe. tl;dr: Go buy yourself a 2-stroke dirtbike and thank me later. 
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Mike Lindenfelser Professional Moderator Location: Minnesnowta Join Date: 10/17/2012 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 154 Rally Car: 1995 Impreza L |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
1968 thru 1989 nothing but motors that fire EVERY TIME they go to the top, like a motor should.. No crutches or patches to cover up faulty design like "camshafts" not one, much less 2, no valves, valve springs, retainers, guides tensioners, no fawkin turbos and already by 1973 everything had at least 1000 hp/l or 25hp for a 250, on a mild motor.
Nice color! Nice bike.. I'd be careful on the gearing thing---one tooth on the counter is a fairly big step.. (7-8%) I used to gear up when I was "like old and stuff" in my 30s and really setting the bike of for woods---I was after range...and if we went to Oregon for desert playtime, top speed.. 100 mph on a bike was like 
so from 12/52 ---4.4 to 13/52 or 4.0:1 Damn I miss bikes..fawkin cars are such shit compared to even 30 year old bikes.. John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
David Barrett Super Moderator Location: Chicago, IL Join Date: 10/21/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 216 |
John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
David Barrett Super Moderator Location: Chicago, IL Join Date: 10/21/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 216 |
I'm totally fine with doing the trans oil here and there, and doing the top end once a season at most.
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John Vanlandingham Infallible Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
My last bike, a Kawasaki KDX200 we did THOUSANDS of miles (we did average about 2 dank loads a day or, round 140 miles...10-15 rides a year) after about a year I was doing long neglected oil change, really cleaning the cables,. brakes and I pulled the plug.. Looked fine, gap a bit large..tapped it on the bars to exactly .028' shoved it back in! Never used the ring, base gasket or head gasket we had just in case... Ran like a clock, did wheelies when I wanted, and it was a gas outbraking more modern cross bikes into corners and holding the insidest inside line---corners are often drastically shorter round the inside... too bad those boys would just hang 2 fingers on the front brake lever, shorty lever at that...brakes work better when you pull on them.. Mine was the last year air-cooled---on purpose cause we got way deep in the mountains and didn't want to be sitting more than 2 days walk from home with some twig stuck thru the rad and the lights worked...we often arrived at the van half an hour or more after dark--- so can you imagine some guy with a nice new watercooled Honja CR250 getting outbraked and then I scoot underneath on the inside and PASS them? Oh too much fun..slow down to go fast... Make haste slowly. John Vanlandingham Sleezattle, WA, USA Vive le Prole-le-ralliat www.rallyrace.net/jvab CALL +1 206 431-9696 Remember! Pacific Standard Time is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time. |
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