YZ250 in the dunes?

[MACUSMC]

Hey I'm new to the site and just bought my first dirt bike (02 YZ250). I love taking the quads to Glamis and was wondering how a YZ250 will handle. Is it worth taking out to the dunes or should I stick to Ocitillo with the bike? I've heard mixed reviews on the subject. Mainly that you need a 450 for the dunes and taking a 250 out will jack up my bottom/top end quicker. Any thoughts?

[yamahasocal450]

I felt like the 250 2t got on top of the sand quicker but the 4 stroke is definitely more tractable. The 250 2 stroke used to be THE dune bike, of course theres the 500's too. You should be fine but yes it is hard on your top and bottom end so mix 32:1 and clean your air filter. It's a lot of fun..

[motomanp58]

Before the four strokes, people road 250's on dunes all the time(watch an old crusty or terrifirma). I agree you should richen the mixture, due to wot all the time when sand riding.

[adam728]

Get a paddle, dial in your "sand" jetting, and have a blast. A 250 will get around the dunes just fine. Heck, my modded KDX220 did well in the dunes. I even had a blast on a stock KX125 in the dunes! HP is great, but you can have a good time on any bike out there.

[sledhead999]

From my experience with both, the 450's get around better but 250's do ok too. I use the "turbo paddle" w/8 paddles. The 450 get the paddle rolling quicker from a dead stop, the 250 takes a little more clutching. If I was to do it again, I would either buy a 6 paddle -OR- get like a "sand snake" or similar with a smaller paddle profile. The turbo paddle seems to provide more traction than my old YZ250 can put down to the ground. A little more slip in the sand would probably be a good thing.

[YamaLink]

Riding is riding which is always fun, but even the frugal bastard in me admits a paddle transforms dune riding to a whole new level. If you don't have access I'd try to get a soft compound tire with paddle-like tread; also drop forks down a touch and make sure you don't seize the motor via larger main jet and proper air filter sealing from the elements.

[MACUSMC]

Cool, thanks for the advice. Yeah I wouldn't roll to Glamis without a paddle on my bike. I just wanted to make sure that it's not a bad thing to take YZ250 out there.

[txmxer]

Youll be fine on a 250 out there. Just jet it right, keep your filter clean, and run a paddle. I took my 125 out there for the first time but I ended up melting the piston on the last day; that was on a 125 though and I didnt jet it rich enough.

Your 250 wont have problems out there. Alot of guys ride 250 2 strokes in glamis, and one of the guys in the group I was with rides his cr 250 out in glamis alot.

[IDAHOBALLER]

The YZ works pretty damn good with the correct paddle matched to a person of a certain weight range, although due to the lack of tq on a 250 the lighter the rider the better for sure. I only run skat trak viper (the buffed and vulcanized type) tires because of how light weight they are compared to a molded tire, and it is a really noticeable difference in forward thrust between the light skat trak paddle vs a molded paddle. I also really like skat traks paddle blades because they work great and throw a MEAN roost!

If the person is under 180lb I think the 8pdl viper works great, but over 180 and I think a 7pdl viper works best. Ideally you want to find that point of traction where it has enough wheelspin to allow it to rev easy and do work in the mid and top where the 250 makes most of its steam, but you dont want so much traction that it lugs the motor hard since these motors want to rev instead of just torquing along (only talking about sand with a paddle here sine IMO 250s lug great in most normal riding conditions with a knobby).

Traction in the dunes is a tricky thing when looking for optimum performance. It must be set at a level that takes the hp/tq at the rear wheel, the overall wet weight of the machine plus the weight of a fully geared up rider onboard, how that weight is destributed to each of the tires, the sand its self, and the scale of the hills, all into careful consideration. The right balance of all of that will allow you to get the most out of your machines rate of acceleration and hill climbing potential. The soft sand and a paddle tire slow a machine down alot (compared to a knobby on normal dirt surfaces) due to the added rolling resistence between the tires and the surface of the sand and the weight of the sand that the paddle is physically throwing while spinning under acceleration. Thats why I say in the dunes the more hp and tq you have and lighter the overall weight, the more traction you can use and the combo of all that makes it much easier for the machine to propel itself and you through the dunes which IMO makes the ride much more enjoyable. I love my 500...??

For comparisons sake on my CR500 the paddle that I feel has the best balance of wheelspin to traction for the amount of hp and tq that the engine currently puts out is a 12pdl skat trak viper.

The YZ250 can be a really fun bike in the sand if you dont mind riding it like a 125 most of the time. I dont ride mine in the dunes much because I have a 500 that is a dedicated always paddled sand bike but when I do ride it out there I always manage to have a great time!!!

My advice would be to make sure your jetting is spot on or just a tad rich and run some decent quality fuel with an appropriate octane level for your compression and timing settings mixed with 32:1 or richer decent quality oil (with a fairly high flash point, I prefer castor oil over sythetic in the dunes), because if anything is going to make your bike detonate, get hot, or burn up more oil (due to higher average continuous internal temps) than it is needing to be getting in the fuel/oil mixture, possibly leading to a seizure, it is going to be the loads placed on the engine and resulting internal temps from riding in the dunes. And I would also reccommend that you check your airfilter every 3-5hrs (I also like to use an oiled filterskin), and keep a close eye on coolant levels. Either run a rear shock sock and remove the mudflap or be prepared to buy a new mudflap later as paddles like to snack on them throughout the ride. Also you might want to run a little more sag in the rear to help prevent headshake turn your compression clickers in a couple clicks stiffer, and play with different air pressures in both tires until you find some settings that you like. And oh yeah, dont forget to have fun.?

P.S. sorry for the novel.?

Edited May 19, 2011 by IDAHOBALLER

[Greg Y]

do yorself a favor and check your jetting. the .025% loss from being rich is worth it after a long pull......bang on jettng plus the load of sand kills a few every year.

[Butta]

And drop a tooth on your countershaft sprocket...it will help carry 3rd on those hill climbs. I use a 13/52 set up on my YZ when I go to the dunes...however, the dunes I go to are at 8500' elevation! ?

[ttugrad95]

Just keep her wound up and have at it. I always say riding in the sand is more like driving a boat than dirtbiking, ha. I grew up riding a 2t 250 in the sand, we never used paddles though cause there was some hard stuff too. I could go anywhere or climb anything just as well as any other bike or quad could.

[Dirt-rich]

250 2 stroke will eat up the dunes all day run 32:1 get a paddle and you shouldn't have any issues at all

[yamahasocal450]

Has anyone here tried the kings tire front sand rib in the dunes?