2017 KX250F - 2004 KX250

[umberto]

And lastly, here is the unit itself.  Evidently I like my bars too far forward to mount it in front, so I mounted it behind the bars.  I actually like it there, because it is protected from flying debris (looking right at you Danger  ).  One of the great improvements over the last generation (besides the cool new black instead of silver body) is the new screen that allows you to see coolant temperature and the tach bar.  Before you could get the tach bar and the air temperature, or the speed as a bar and the coolant temperature.  Definitely more useful in this generation.

Tomorrow I am going to try to do some artful denting of the pipe to clear the tire, and setting official sag.  Then it's hurry up and wait on decent weather and Danger to be available. 

[umberto]

A really cool thing happened on Tuesday on Instagram.  I post a few pictures of my bikes on the site for Two Stroke Tuesday, and this week I posted some pictures of Al (new nickname Al, short for Aluminum) from this weekend, including the muddy picture.  The pictures got picked up by Boyesen Factory Racing, and three other Instagram only accounts.  The four listing have over 18,000 likes, and one of them was trending as a top result for KX250 and KX250F searches.  I was honored to see my bike on other feeds, and it's was very cool to see so many people liked it.  Anyway, here are the searches with my bike in the top results (near the top).

[umberto]

I forget to post this, but this is a picture of the guy who modified my frame’s other job. He takes military surplus trucks and makes them into off road pumper trucks.  . He fabs all the tanks and side pieces from sheet aluminum, and makes all the mounts for the pumps and winches. It’s hard to represent the scale of these dudes. The headlights hit me in the chest, and I’m 6’1”. He does all of this in a home two car garage and an awning where the trucks sit while he builds all the tanks and bits.  He even paints and stripes them. 

[umberto]

Ride report number two. I was able to ride the bike again today in some pretty challenging conditions, and it really shined. The suspension is getting more loosened up, and I actually went in on the clickers a little bit to stiffen it up. It is still the best stuff I have ever ridden. The bike is very precise handling wise, and never seems to get upset by changing terrain or soil conditions. The temperature never got over 180 today, despite some tight stuff, so I think the radiators are going to be sufficient for summer. I still have some light pipe rubbing on the expansion chamber, but a few more “artistic” dents should do the trick. All in all, I am extremely pleased with the results.

[umberto]

I wanted the bike to look OEM when I built it, but I also like the full graphics package on a bike. I decided to get a second set of plastics so i could do both. I ended up going with Decal Works for the graphics, and I’m pretty pleased with the results.  49 was my Ozark region number in 1984, so I even squeezed in some nostalgia. 

[kxpegger]

Nice!

[umberto]

Nice!

Thank you sir.  It's a big change, but I'm starting to really like it.

[umberto]

I’m at my parents’ house this weekend for Easter, and I brought a couple of bikes to ride. There is a section on their pasture that is really rough, and I’ve always used it to judge how well suspension works on my bike. This was my first time to ride this bike there, and it was amazing. They have had tons of rain, and most of the pasture was a rice paddy.  It didn’t faze the bike at all, and it just handled and rode like a dream. I just need some clear spots on my schedule and some clear weather, and I’ll be riding this dude more.  I love it.

One interesting bit on modern ergonomics: they make older bikes feel really weird.  I was breaking in my Frankenbike 2004 project, and switching between it and this bike was like switching between a chopper and a sport bike. You sit in the older bike, you sit on the newer bikes. It’s so much easier to move around and the bikes are a lot narrower.

[umberto]

Sometimes the littlest things can cause issues that just drive you nuts. This bike has fouled two plugs lately, and it was never a plug fouler before. It’s carbureted really well, and normally runs great. When I was building it, I replaced the coil because I thought I had an issue with the lead. The one I bought off eBay had a weird cap on it, but the bike fired right up so I didn’t think about it. When I was changing the last plug, I decided to look at it to see if there was anything loose or weird about it. Not sure why anyone thought this was a good idea, but it has a hole in the top of the cap. The bike always fouled the plug after I washed it, which made sense with the hole. Needless to say, that cap went in the trash and a new NGK cap went on.

[umberto]

I was riding this bike on the 4th of July, when it just ground to a halt and wouldn't start.  I've been having issues with spark, so I assumed that was going on.  I replaced a faulty coil, and it still wouldn't run.  I got some good advice to check the reeds, and I think I may have found at least part of the problem:



I don't think I've ever had a set of reeds explode like that.  I was afraid a bolt came out and destroyed the piston as well, but the top end checked out okay.




I was able to score a VForce 3 for pretty cheap on eBay, although the shipping was ridiculously slow (don't buy from Parts Giant, they ship via a DHL/USPS combo and you could send a sloth to get it quicker).  



The bike started, but it's backfiring which makes me think that I still have electrical problems.  I have a complete spare ignition, so I'm going to swap it all over and see it that helps.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[kxpegger]

Curious as to what you find?

[ftc]

wow, reeds blew up!  theres no way to replace the petals on the v force type?

[umberto]

wow, reeds blew up!  theres no way to replace the petals on the v force type?

You can replace them, I just got a really good deal on the new ones. Plus the gray looked really old and worn out on the VForce 2.

[umberto]

Looks like I got everything fixed today. I bought a backup electrical system a while back, so I swapped that over completely. I also added a ground strap from the motor to the coil, and grounded the main harness to the motor. The spark quality is much, much better now. It’s a big relief to have it running again.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=KnKvjbJE3QU

[ftc]

sounds excellent!