dirt bike for old man

[pat22043]

13 minutes ago, will isiam said:

As far as the front sprocket, how do I know which one/kind to get?  mine are Super Sprox front and rear sprockets. 

Start out simple: count the teeth. Assuming that the previous owner didn't do something weird, like change chain size, you should be able to buy any reputable brand's KTM sprockets with whatever number of teeth you like.

If you go down one and its not enough, you can go down two teeth, but there is a limit. If the front sprocket is too small, it puts a lot of load on the chain and can make the chain and rear sprocket wear out too quickly. Its better to go to a larger rear sprocket than go "too small" on the front.

 

[will isiam]

13 hours ago, pat22043 said:

If you are lucky, you have the factory KTM "user manual" with the bike. If not, they are available. It will show the specifications for "sag" of the front and rear springs. Set them to the recommended value before you do anything else to the suspension.

Yeah, its a high bike. I went with a KTM "lower" seat that was 12 mm lower than the standard seat. And I'm pretty tall at 6-2.

Its cheap and easy to swap to a smaller front sprocket. Will give you more torque at low speed and let you idle in gear. But its a 250F, its not going to have the insane bottom end grunt of say a 300 two stroke. Its got a real pop once you get it up in RPM and "on the cam"

 

 

Thanks Pat.  Them front shocks on mine were redone/replace by enduro engineering.  I got the manual I will give it some research.  As far as the front sprocket, how do I know which one/kind to get?  mine are Super Sprox front and rear sprockets. 

Ok, looks like my front sprocket is 13 tooth, rear is 50 tooth.

[pat22043]

3 hours ago, will isiam said:

Ok, looks like my front sprocket is 13 tooth, rear is 50 tooth.

I have no idea what a "Super Sprox" spocket is or why that would matter. Its important that the sprocket fits the countershaft (or rear wheel hub) but brands make no difference. You might be able to get away with a 12 tooth front, but 13 is already fairly small. Downside to going big on the rear is that rear sprockets are more expensive, and you might need a longer chain.

[will isiam]

what about that rekluse clutch I got, do you think it would make a difference?  

[will isiam]

Got a maintenance question if you dont mind.  I want to change the antifreeze out.  The manual just says "we recommend motorex products" what antifreeze do you recommend? Motorex has like a 3.0, 5.0....

[pat22043]

On 10/8/2018 at 4:03 PM, will isiam said:

what about that rekluse clutch I got, do you think it would make a difference?  

Rekluse are for wimps. Be a man, learn to use the clutch.

[will isiam]

lol i dont need to learn. and iam a far bigger man than you, iam sure.  6'1 215#.  

 I have used a clutch i dare say more than you ever have pat.  used one on the harley for about 5 years.  my first car was a manual and both my work trucks and our two tractors (case 1394 4x4) and (massey 150) have clutches as you might guess.   I use the one on the dirtbike quite well also.  although iam sure iam no expert.   I thought the rekluse clutch might just help it from stalling out at low speed.  especially since It came with the bike.  

 Iam not talking trails here iam talking uphill through the woods.  thanks for your  non proproductive  comment.  always one in the bunch.  i bet your a democrat.  i came here to learn about my bike.  guess if we dont agree with your views were a sissy.  nice.   iam done

[Rwebell]

8 minutes ago, will isiam said:

lol i dont need to learn. and iam a far bigger man than you, iam sure.  6'1 215#.  

 I have used a clutch i dare say more than you ever have pat.  used one on the harley for about 5 years.  my first car was a manual and both my work trucks and our two tractors (case 1394 4x4) and (massey 150) have clutches as you might guess.   I use the one on the dirtbike quite well also.  although iam sure iam no expert.   I thought the rekluse clutch might just help it from stalling out at low speed.  especially since It came with the bike.  

 Iam not talking trails here iam talking uphill through the woods.  thanks for your  non proproductive  comment.  always one in the bunch.  i bet your a democrat.  i came here to learn about my bike.  guess if we dont agree with your views were a sissy.  nice.   iam done

Hey Will,

Don't read anything into those comments.  I would hope they were made in an attempt at humour but its hard to tell with written text.  I haven't ridden with a rekluse.  some guys swear by them others are critical.

My advice would be to just ride the bike for a while and find out what you like and don't like.  If the rekluse was on the bike and came off thats probably a good indicator the PO didn't like it or it didn't function properly.

Make sure your clutch is well adjusted and cables well lubed so you aren't expending extra effort.....and ride it!  It might be good to find some other guys to ride with and try riding a couple different bikes so you can get a feel for other setups.

All the best,

Rob

[pat22043]

2 hours ago, will isiam said:

lol i dont need to learn. and iam a far bigger man than you, iam sure.  6'1 215#.   I have used a clutch i dare say more than you ever have pat.  Iam not talking trails here iam talking uphill through the woods.  

nah, I'm 6-2 and 265# of ground hugging weight. I don't know about your "more" claim, I started riding 48 years ago. I road raced for years, and one has to constantly stir them to keep them working.

Since it came with the bike, ride it and make your own decision. They do help prevent stalling. But the riding gods don't use them, they use their hands on the clutch lever. They use the clutch a lot, like constantly.

[will isiam]

ground hugging he said.   

well looks like you got me in the weight but i dont know about the clutching. after you've cut hay or bush hoged all day on a tractor your pretty wore out.   for the type of riding iam wanting to do its just you gotta keep your speed up on the ktm.  the problem is more than likely my lack of dirt bike riding experience.  

[pat22043]

On 10/10/2018 at 12:29 PM, will isiam said:

the problem is more than likely my lack of dirt bike riding experience.  

That problem affects many (most?) of us. Just get out and ride.

You are new here, you don't know that on the Interwebs, the topic of a Rekluse is hopeless, just like "what is the best oil"

[will isiam]

7 minutes ago, pat22043 said:

That problem affects many (most?) of us. Just get out and ride.

You are new here, you don't know that on the Interwebs, the topic of a Rekluse is hopeless, just like "what is the best oil"

Agreed.  never heard of rekluse till the original owner gave me a sackful of parts.  iam 3 countys away from home right now.  me having time to ride in the near future is looking bleak.  but on the bright side making money for more bike parts.  thanks pat.

[I'm trying]

2 hours ago, pat22043 said:

That problem affects many (most?) of us. Just get out and ride.

You are new here, you don't know that on the Interwebs, the topic of a Rekluse is hopeless, just like "what is the best oil"

Hey don't forget the 2t vs 4t debate. My favorite

[danosurf]

I'm only 83 1/2 years old.

Rode Ekins Triumphs for many years.

For the last 23 years my 1995 Honda XR600R has been strong and reliable.

5 or 6 years on Northern California logging roads, rest of the time, Anza Borrego Desert.

I've gone fast in the past, now I see more scenery.

[powdermuncher]

Recluse are awesome on the bigger 4 strokes that like to flame out at low RPM especially  4 strokes without e start.

I loved them in any of the 450 bikes , I even still have a YZ450f used for the snowbike and back up trail bike.  The recluse is like adding a flywheel weight and gearing down all in one.  With a soft Mapping on the Yamaha EFI and Fuel tuner and the suspension softened up as much as possible this thing is a very ridable trail bike.  Money very well spend if that is the type of bike you have and want to go out in some single track stuff.

My go to trail bike is a 2 stroke 250 XCW with the Juice clutch and almost impossible to stall I would not waist my time on a recluse there.

[RichieGoatGruff]

On 9/30/2018 at 7:26 PM, will isiam said:

too old for kick.

I'm 61, and can still kick with the best of them, if I want to...

The eleg does make me lazy, though.

[RichieGoatGruff]

On 10/2/2018 at 8:22 AM, Carman said:

right in the owners manual for a 2006 crf250x under competition use it says to replace a piston and ring set every 15 hours. basically any mx or mx based bike will have this kind of schedule. gone are the days of spark plugs and oil changed for 30 years of riding.

i put 200 hours on my crf250x then rebuild it but hopefully you get the idea of how much maintenance a high performance dirt bike is. 

the advantage to a 2 stroke is that they are dirt cheep to rebuild vs a small fortune in the case of a 4 stroke. i spent 3000$ cdn rebuilding it, and it didn't even blow up. 

an aircooled 4 stroke still falls into the old school bulletproof reliable low maintenance bike

Competition use... If you're trail riding a WR, or YZ, and replace the piston and rings every 15 hours, you're an idiot...

My 2003 WR450 has never been apart, other than several valve checks, first at 15 hrs, and never needed adjusting, except one exh shim the first check.