Conversion to trail bike?

[Kowalski___]

hey guys, I recently bought a 2004 yz250f and I don’t really do any of the big motocross stuff. I do want to race hare scrambles next year but for the time being I ride trails around the house and just around my neighborhood in general. I’m just trying to figure out what modifications I should do to make my Woods/Trail riding more enjoyable. -thanks 

[motrock93b]

Install the usual body armor. Then have your suspension altered for off road. MX setups are usually found to be too harsh for most trail riders, unless they’re seriously fast.

Your bike can be set up very well for trail riding. Good luck!

[irme42day]

7 hours ago, Kowalski___ said:

hey guys, I recently bought a 2004 yz250f and I don’t really do any of the big motocross stuff. I do want to race hare scrambles next year but for the time being I ride trails around the house and just around my neighborhood in general. I’m just trying to figure out what modifications I should do to make my Woods/Trail riding more enjoyable. -thanks 

I have a wr250f here in the desert and what I have found is that the motorcycle wants to go FSAT, it is a blast to ride and lots of FUN! Sunday I almost got caught by DEEP powder sand, twist and go, came right out of the sand. At first I thought about taming the wild beast but it's just too much FUN. I would like a putt around bike, say a ttr230.

[Kowalski___]

1 hour ago, motrock93b said:

Install the usual body armor. Then have your suspension altered for off road. MX setups are usually found to be too harsh for most trail riders, unless they’re seriously fast.

Your bike can be set up very well for trail riding. Good luck!

I think that’s what I’m going to do handguards and maybe even a thicker skid plate. But one thing I need to ask, is it normal for these bikes to spit antifreeze out the overflow tube? I replaced the cap with a tusk cap, it has a built in thermometer. the bike runs all the way from 50 degrees when I ride on roads to 200 when I’m riding slow technical trails. Maybe a reserve tank for coolant will help? But does this mean I’m overheating?

 

[Kowalski___]

1 hour ago, irme42day said:

I have a wr250f here in the desert and what I have found is that the motorcycle wants to go FSAT, it is a blast to ride and lots of FUN! Sunday I almost got caught by DEEP powder sand, twist and go, came right out of the sand. At first I thought about taming the wild beast but it's just too much FUN. I would like a putt around bike, say a ttr230.

I feel the same way! My 250f has been geared down 13 51 and although the top end isint the best the bottom end is incredible 

[irme42day]

Mine is stock as a rock and, in my opinion, rips. Puts a big smile on my face. What I have found it does not like to just putt around and look at the world, wants to attack what ever is in front of it!

[Kowalski___]

1 hour ago, irme42day said:

Mine is stock as a rock and, in my opinion, rips. Puts a big smile on my face. What I have found it does not like to just putt around and look at the world, wants to attack what ever is in front of it!

I think I’m just going to se the suspension to MY settings, I’m a light rider 115-120 and it’s bouncy as a motherfu*ker you can’t go over one rock without the front wheel sliding and leading you into a tree

[irme42day]

after you lighten up the suspension it should be a whole new ball game - batter up - and kowalski steps in to the box - the wind up - it's a fast ball - he swings - KRACK - HE GOT ALL OF THAT ONE It's a HOME RUN!!!!! 

[Kowalski___]

1 minute ago, irme42day said:

after you lighten up the suspension it should be a whole new ball game - batter up - and kowalski steps in to the box - the wind up - it's a fast ball - he swings - KRACK - HE GOT ALL OF THAT ONE It's a HOME RUN!!!!! 

hahahaha I can’t wait for summer now!!!  I know you have the WR but my YZF at the moment the coolant is boiling over and flowing out of the over flow, I changed the cap any ideas?

[William1]

Flywheel weight

Possible change in final gearing to be more 'trail friendly

Better skid plate

Trail tires (ones that will not get the knobs ripped off on rocks/longer wearing)

Coolant recovery tank

Keep in mind fuel capacity as well.

 

[irme42day]

12 hours ago, Kowalski___ said:

hahahaha I can’t wait for summer now!!!  I know you have the WR but my YZF at the moment the coolant is boiling over and flowing out of the over flow, I changed the cap any ideas?

No idea, this is my first water cooled bike and I'm still learning.

[highmarker]

Biggest mistake people make is filling the radiator, just fill to top of the fins inside.

[Kowalski___]

33 minutes ago, highmarker said:

Biggest mistake people make is filling the radiator, just fill to top of the fins inside.

When the bike is level and you try to see how much coolant is in there it doesn’t come over the first layer of fins if u slant the bike a little it comes up (obviously) but should the coolant even be boiling over in the first place?

[kxrob]

14 hours ago, Kowalski___ said:

hahahaha I can’t wait for summer now!!!  I know you have the WR but my YZF at the moment the coolant is boiling over and flowing out of the over flow, I changed the cap any ideas?

Thermo fan , thermostat switch and RC ( radio control ) battery pack 

[Kowalski___]

6 hours ago, kxrob said:

Thermo fan , thermostat switch and RC ( radio control ) battery pack 

well adding the battery all that wiring  and fans will most likely add a lot more weight to the bike so I guess I’ll just leave it like it is thanks though.

[highmarker]

Can you see good coolant flow idleing and increasing greatly when you rev up. 250f usually dont run hot.

[Kowalski___]

7 hours ago, highmarker said:

Can you see good coolant flow idleing and increasing greatly when you rev up. 250f usually dont run hot.

There’s close to no flow at all this is what it looked like when I ran it with cap off 

[The Inquisitor]

I've got a 2005 CFR250R which IMO as pretty similar bike to the 2004 yz250f and I ride on fast flowy single track to slow hard technical single track.

Overheating - I've only ever done one HARD ride (50KM and took 6HRS and I'm talking some STEEP STEEP long ascents in the mountains of  BC) where the rad was really boiling hard and over flowing a bit but really I check my coolant level frequently and do notice any loss. I don't know if this is common issue with the 2004 yz250f but you might check the Yamaha forum.

Otherwise some cooling suggestions.

Are you actually running a coolant cus it sort of looks like plain water to me but hard to tell?

Coolant - Not sure where you live but I can usually ride 365 but I store my bike outside and it can occasionally get below freezing so I run Maxima Coolant anti freeze and IMO excellent coolant. I also usually flush and replace about every 2 years. There are other options for coolant like Evans Waterless but you'll need to do your research cus can be a someone complicated topic.

Over sized rads - I was not using rad guards/braces and stupidly rad into the back of a buddy and his exhaust destroyed one of my OEM rads. I bought a pair of GPI oversized rads for like $80 and IMO these are really well made and are about 30% bier than OEM. We the cash I saved I bought Devol guards/braces and again you'll get a lot of opinions on the GPI rads I think they are well worth the $$$.

GPI rads and I added pieces on the bottom guards for better protection.

Overflow tank - before I bought my GPI rads i was looking into adding an overflow tank after the one issue with my over heating and Motion Pro has a nice small one.

This is the Motion Pro tank but only for reference and its about the same size as the Bell Ray bottle so was playing around with where I would mount it but with my OEM rads but it would fit in the same place with the GPI rads.

Then general bike set-up.

Suspension - Set both sags correctly and start methodically playings with the adjusters one at a time but for your weight you might need to have to get the bike re-sprung which could get $$$ but suspension is key and can be tricky with a MX bike.

Flywheel Weight - I put on an 11OZ FWW are 2 years of riding and its the best $200 I've ever spent on the bike and should have done it the same day I bought the bike.

Gearing - I like 13F 51R as a good compromise for slow/high speed.

Protection - Hand Guards/Skid Plate/Rad Guard/Braces

Tires and Tire PSI - Again lots of options on this but you can slowly get into this.

Fuel - I put a CRF250X tank on and it hold 9.3L of gas and I can get 140KM safely.

Good luck and have FUN ?

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by filterx

[Kowalski___]

33 minutes ago, filterx said:

I've got a 2005 CFR250R which IMO as pretty similar bike to the 2004 yz250f and I ride on fast flowy single track to slow hard technical single track.

Overheating - I've only ever done one HARD ride (50KM and took 6HRS and I'm talking some STEEP STEEP long ascents in the mountains of  BC) where the rad was really boiling hard and over flowing a bit but really I check my coolant level frequently and do notice any loss. I don't know if this is common issue with the 2004 yz250f but you might check the Yamaha forum.

Otherwise some cooling suggestions.

Are you actually running a coolant cus it sort of looks like plain water to me but hard to tell?

Coolant - Not sure where you live but I can usually ride 365 but I store my bike outside and it can occasionally get below freezing so I run Maxima Coolant anti freeze and IMO excellent coolant. I also usually flush and replace about every 2 years. There are other options for coolant like Evans Waterless but you'll need to do your research cus can be a someone complicated topic.

Over sized rads - I was not using rad guards/braces and stupidly rad into the back of a buddy and his exhaust destroyed one of my OEM rads. I bought a pair of GPI oversized rads for like $80 and IMO these are really well made and are about 30% bier than OEM. We the cash I saved I bought Devol guards/braces and again you'll get a lot of opinions on the GPI rads I think they are well worth the $$$.

GPI rads and I added pieces on the bottom guards for better protection.

Overflow tank - before I bought my GPI rads i was looking into adding an overflow tank after the one issue with my over heating and Motion Pro has a nice small one.

This is the Motion Pro tank but only for reference and its about the same size as the Bell Ray bottle so was playing around with where I would mount it but with my OEM rads but it would fit in the same place with the GPI rads.

Then general bike set-up.

Suspension - Set both sags correctly and start methodically playings with the adjusters one at a time but for your weight you might need to have to get the bike re-sprung which could get $$$ but suspension is key and can be tricky with a MX bike.

Flywheel Weight - I put on an 11OZ FWW are 2 years of riding and its the best $200 I've ever spent on the bike and should have done it the same day I bought the bike.

Gearing - I like 13F 51R as a good compromise for slow/high speed.

Protection - Hand Guards/Skid Plate/Rad Guard/Braces

Tires and Tire PSI - Again lots of options on this but you can slowly get into this.

Fuel - I put a CRF250X tank on and it hold 9.3L of gas and I can get 140KM safely.

Good luck and have FUN

 

Thanks for all of your quality info! And yes I am currently running the bel ray Moto chill coolant as many people suggested to me, but as I inspected these radiators today there’s a lot of jerry rigged areas and I know this can get pricy too but I guess I will have to buy new radiators.?

[highmarker]

3 hours ago, Kowalski___ said:

There’s close to no flow at all this is what it looked like when I ran it with cap off