2017 KX250F - 2004 KX250

[streetsleeper]

That's a lovely looking bike! Hope you've got over your back operation.  Age or misspent youth, bad backs seem to plague us all!

[umberto]

That's a lovely looking bike! Hope you've got over your back operation.  Age or misspent youth, bad backs seem to plague us all!

Thank you streetsleeper!  The back surgery was a small miracle.  I did the laser type, and my back felt better immediately after surgery.  Unfortunately I had to wait for the repaired disc to develop scar tissue so it wouldn't re-herniate.  That is why I had such a long layoff.

[umberto]

Danger and I had a big day at Lake Stanley Draper today.  To say I was nervous to ride this bike would be a huge understatement.  I just kept expecting something to fall off, but fortunately nothing did.  The weather was in the high 50s and low 60s, with a strong south wind and overcast skies.  The trails were a soupy mess, and the place was pretty full.  We got there around 9:45, and made a quick lap around the dual track trail, just to make sure everything was working on my bike.  Danger brought his "parts bike", a KX500 that looks like it's got ten hours on it tops.  We made the lap around the trail (about eight miles), and I could instantly tell that the suspension and handling are like nothing I have ever ridden.  This dude can turn, and the suspension is fantastic.  I took it fairly easy at the beginning, but as we got farther along I started to ride it harder.  Everything worked really well, and the bike felt narrow and comfortable.  We came back to the truck to eat lunch and check bolts and fluids, and I was really relieved to see that the radiators were still full and the tank was not too low.  In fact, the only issue I found the whole day was the front wheel hits the pipe.  I think I can make a couple of artistic dents and be fine.  We finished the day up with the much harder red trail, and the bike really did well.  The suspension got worked a lot harder, and really shined.  All in all I was very pleased with the results.  I attached a picture of the bikes after we got back.

[umberto]

Got a new phone, and the pictures are too large to do more than one, so here they come one at a time.

[umberto]

Here is my bike after I got it home.

[umberto]

I washed my bike Danger, how about you?   

[sandblaster]

Nice!

[Danger4u2]

I didn't wash yet, I'm riding my trail today.  Going to do a controlled burn of all the downed limbs on the trail.
I make a burn pile every 20 feet.  That way I only drag the limbs no more than 10 to 12 feet.

I had a great time yesterday.  You left out the three big holes we hit.  I got to watch you hit them so I adjusted
acordingly.  We stopped to take a break and check over the bikes when we heard a group of bikes coming.
I moved my bike out of the trail and we waited for the show.  It was a good one.  The 2 KTM riders, oviously
the better riders of the group because they were in the lead and going fast, faired very well with the holes.
Then came the Honda rider.  The big hole deflected the front wheel to the right pitching him to the left.
He did a head stand in the last hole, flopping on his back.  Like any MX, GNC, Woods rider my first concern was
"I hope the bikes OK".  We ran over to make sure he was all right.  He was, just a little embarrassed.
Up with the bike and away he went.  We were still on the trail as the Honda guy took off as the last rider came around the corner.  He slowed, killed his KTM and took a short breather.  An older, tuff looking dude.  Had the look
of being around a track or two.  He checked out umberto's bike, really liked it, gave us a thumbs up as he hit
the magic button and off he went.

It was a fun day @ Crosstimbers. 
https://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/info/oklahoma_13165/ride_9ba6.htm

[umberto]

Nice!

Thank you.  Your mesh idea worked perfectly. There were three or four little clods on the mesh, but the filter was still like new. Plus I felt a lot better about it.

[sandblaster]

Nice!

Thank you.  Your mesh idea worked perfectly. There were three or four little clods on the mesh, but the filter was still like new. Plus I felt a lot better about it.

Cool... Glad it worked...

[umberto]

I didn't wash yet, I'm riding my trail today.  Going to do a controlled burn of all the downed limbs on the trail.
I make a burn pile every 20 feet.  That way I only drag the limbs no more than 10 to 12 feet.

I had a great time yesterday.  You left out the three big holes we hit.  I got to watch you hit them so I adjusted
acordingly.  We stopped to take a break and check over the bikes when we heard a group of bikes coming.
I moved my bike out of the trail and we waited for the show.  It was a good one.  The 2 KTM riders, oviously
the better riders of the group because they were in the lead and going fast, faired very well with the holes.
Then came the Honda rider.  The big hole deflected the front wheel to the right pitching him to the left.
He did a head stand in the last hole, flopping on his back.  Like any MX, GNC, Woods rider my first concern was
"I hope the bikes OK".  We ran over to make sure he was all right.  He was, just a little embarrassed.
Up with the bike and away he went.  We were still on the trail as the Honda guy took off as the last rider came around the corner.  He slowed, killed his KTM and took a short breather.  An older, tuff looking dude.  Had the look
of being around a track or two.  He checked out umberto's bike, really liked it, gave us a thumbs up as he hit
the magic button and off he went.

It was a fun day @ Crosstimbers. 
https://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/info/oklahoma_13165/ride_9ba6.htm

That one hole that ate the Honda nearly ate my KX.  I was glad to be upright and in one piece after hitting it. 

[streetsleeper]

umberto - dunno if you have, but if not you should write mate, coz you can evoke the situation and emotion really well. gave me a good mental picture anyway
EDIT. This was a quote from Danger4u2. Just noticed.

[umberto]

Thank you!  I've tried, but the way my brain works I zip from A to Z, and don't always think about B to Y, so I have trouble fleshing out ideas with enough detail to keep them interesting.  I guess dirt bikes are my creative outlet.   

[umberto]

After last weekend's ride, I discovered a few areas that I wanted to revise before my next ride.  I ordered some parts from Rocky Mountain and was able to add them on today.  I decided to add a Trail Tech Vapor Speedometer, Tachometer, and Temperature gauge, some Acerbis fork lug guards, and a new factory Kawasaki radiator cap.  The reason for the new cap is a bit of a cautionary tale.  I found a cap on Rocky Mountain that was made by Tusk, and had a handy temperature gauge built right in.  I figured this would be easier than putting in a real temperature gauge, so I bought one.  After a quick ride around the block last Friday, the motor had made it to 100 degrees.  When I parked the bike, it puked a few drops of coolant.  I texted Brett at ICW Radiators, and he immediately told me to try a factory cap.  Even the lighter 125 cap (1.1 versus 1.6 for the 250) made a difference, and the bike held its coolant all day.  Lesson learned: never trust a non-factory cap.

[umberto]

The Vapor is a little involved to get installed, but it's also pretty straightforward to install.  There is a red wire to wrap around the plug lead for the tachometer, a speed sensor to mount on your caliper bracket that uses a special magnet rotor bolt, and a sensor that goes in your coolant line.  It took me about an hour to get it on, including the fluid draining and hose cutting.  You might get yours installed quicker, as I'm a little anal about wire routing.  Here are pictures of the speed sensor and the temperature sensor.