Re: street legal 2-strokes
Had a couple days off including Christmas and FIRED HER UP
Took like 10 kicks but she went
But...I...suck :sad2:
https://i.imgur.com/c9XuuS4.jpg
Twerk twerk twerk
Re learning...again. I was way out of sync and could not find the central balance point
Re: street legal 2-strokes
well, I didn't change the transmission oil, I never drained/filled the radiator to make sure my water pump works and I'm not cooking coolant, I never checked the compression, never inspected the top end condition, and never checked the reeds
reading through the posts since the rebuild, I'm guessing I have 50-60ish hours on that top end
I think going on a ride will motivate me to get these done this winter...it's 28 degrees overnight in Barstow :eek: but looking to make the 3 hour drive to get some ride on.
was prepping my toolkit and found a couple spare plugs...reading up either one will do
https://i.imgur.com/XLZuJwn.jpg?1
left: BR8EG - R means resistor type (decreases electrical interference to radios...safe to run)
right: BR8ES - thicker electrode
the E is the most important part (pitch and thread)...number is the heat range...G vs. S is just the electrode. G is a racing one but may not last as long
filling up gas and gear tonight....leaving super early tomorrow morning. should be 28-30 when I arrive in Barstow, and high of 48
Re: street legal 2-strokes
https://i.imgur.com/J5MTq04.jpg?1
looking back, I think my last desert ride was March! :sad2:
yeah, yeah...I did a dozen other rides on mountain fire roads, around town, snow/beach (okay, well those were pretty cool :hellyeah:), but only a couple desert rides.
https://i.imgur.com/kBHvTX4.jpg?1
finally got out with the re-valved shock - it feels about the same as before it wore out, except at the limits. Before, even with the compression clickers all the way up, it would bottom out on big bumps and whoops. But now, I can literally just romp on the gas and the bike feels like it will stand up in the whoops sections...I even came into a section way too fast, not anticipating a big drop off, expecting a bottomed out rear spring launch me sideways or off like a bronco, and it tracked straight! both compression and rebound were sufficiently dampened that it didn't bottom out, and it didn't buck me off! this is what it means to improve safety through good suspension...you see it at the limits of its use. :hellyeah:
started out covering graded desert service roads...whoops (that were SO fun...this bike saiiiiils through the whoops...I had to control myself from not going WOT the whole time)...and a paved hill climb
https://imgur.com/J5MTq04
https://i.imgur.com/8LF2XWo.jpg?1
cruised down, and almost immediately got into a canyon - more whoops and sandy berms (with whoops mid corner) and bigger rocks, so once again the bike was soo much fun. this thing just floats over loose sand washes, and for whoops in berms, you just stand and get on the gas once you find a line. I started to feel in-sync with the power again and started holding speed much more consistently. gapped most of the guys and we all stopped by a cabin, built in 1932
https://i.imgur.com/P2iXYjk.jpg?1
saw a couple other guys and a group of quad/dirt bikes come through...maybe too many for us. we don't like too much 2-way traffic. one of the guys felt a little off after almost t-boning a kid on a quad, so we split the group and took a casual, scenic route back, stopping in tonka town
https://i.imgur.com/MNehr4a.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/yznbS2k.jpg?1
on the way back to the truck, we found this area of soft silt/sand hills
https://i.imgur.com/QxLcJ2F.jpg?1
^ find my friend in the pic!
we stayed here for a bit, and it was tons of fun! fast elevation changes, and tight riding! we just did loops, jumps, ridge riding, and hill climbs
https://i.imgur.com/sTaUPF0.jpg?1
then cruised back to the truck for some sandwiches and chill...surprisingly 45-48 degrees felt PERFECT. did not feel cold at all after a few hours of good riding. I was so tired I had to actually stop at a gas station and nap for 30 mins to make the rest of the drive home safely.
destroyed all the headlight straps though...headlight was dangling and led bar doesn't work anymore...zip tied it once and it broke again...double zip tied it a 2nd time and it held up. need a better solution for holding that on there...
also tried the new boots...toes are sore and the shift lever is too low. really needed to jam my boot at the right angle to upshift. did not have a spare tube on me and forgot my gps mount :eek:
Re: street legal 2-strokes
https://i.imgur.com/MI2YnNY.jpg?1
lighting damage report:
-headlight out
-front left turn signal out
-front right turn signal lens destroyed
-rear right turn signal out
from a single ride :lol:
oh well....at least mechanically it's good and the tail/brake light works
rode over to a meetup of an "end of the year ride" and got some BBQ in the parking lot
https://i.imgur.com/PsoNwJg.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/05j6NLg.jpg?2
nice day out for a quick ride :hellyeah:
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Glad the riding was nice but I wouldn't feed that "BBQ" to my dog.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
google “The Palms”, signal hill, CA
You will learn that is what we would expect from such establishments
Re: street legal 2-strokes
well, maybe I was okay with the number of hours on the piston so far...
https://i.imgur.com/L3DffBv.jpg?1
got some carbon build up on the piston
https://i.imgur.com/UiZSu73.jpg?1
plug a little blackish...but paul said eff it...tune to throttle response and git r dun
https://i.imgur.com/SLDVXT1.jpg?2
gonna replace the headlight plug...desert just eating everything away as usual
https://i.imgur.com/Kn7URGg.jpg?1
needs an air filter, proper headlight mount, and front LED turn signals...should be able to do that all on Monday...then desert ride next Saturday!
this year goals:
-395/mojave/barstow/NV/AZ: feb/mar/apr
-lucerne valley: may/jun
-jul/aug/sep: pismo, san bernardino national forest
-oct: ocotillo wells, jawbone canyon
-nov: LA-B2V
-dec: back to 395/mojave/barstow
2020: try to join District 37 dual sport rides, try to venture farther north (Kennedy meadows, sierras)
Re: street legal 2-strokes
braaaaap
fun day in the desert! temps were in the 30's/40's and windy...if you're standing still or doing 60mph on an open/pavement section, you get cold, otherwise it felt great!
https://i.imgur.com/MmBhJ4S.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/miD6NBi.jpg?1
headlight harness re-done...but it still doesn't work at all :lol:
front signals may work...but the bullet connectors on the signals themselves are too small...f-it
borrowed a giant loop mojavi - BEST DUAL SPORT BAG EVER! good construction, ties down well, and holds a lot. I stored a gallon of pre-mixed gas in a dromedary bag and carried it through the whoop sections! tried carrying my tools there later and that took so much weight off my backpack. bike averaged roughly 30mpg today, and we did around 85-90 miles, so without the extra gallon I would have cut it close...but this time around I had 2+ gallons to spare at the end of the day in case we got lost or I wanted to ride more. If I wanted to do death valley I could honestly carry a gallon on each side totaling 5.4 gallons - that's over 160 miles of range!
engine sounds like it has worsening piston slap (is that a thing?). still getting used to the wide ratio transmission in the nasty stuff (where the close ratio mx gearing would have been better), and mostly keeping it in one gear and just revving it out. 5th gear overdrive in open sections is as good as I can get (we saw 75-80mph at times) on a 250 2-stroke. bike was leaking a little bit of premix when parked...gotta find out where.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
finally got around to making a video and man...
GO PRO QUIK SOFTWARE SUCKS BALLS.
https://youtu.be/fYhYApCOfFM
It's not user friendly, you have to dump all your gopro files onto your hard drive, if you don't view them all in advance you have to scroll through the whole clip ("scrubbing") by dragging your mouse over a preview of the clip, "click" on any part you can perceive to be a highlight which automatically adds it to your storyline, it maxes out at 60 seconds/12 clips (and you can't pick how long the clips are), and has a mandatory use of music which are limited to 10 same songs under the free edition.
F-THAT
Reddit has the answer to everything and recommends DaVinci Resolve...downloaded that after fighting with Quik for 3 hours...maybe future videos will be faster than Quik
Re: street legal 2-strokes
rain finally slowed and daytime temps finally got into the mid 60's, so saturday was the day to play
https://i.imgur.com/q6KE0wc.jpg
hmm...low res still from a video that I had to crop sort of looks like a 90's magazine shot :beerbang:
went to the ktm street demo day, but they didn't have any available slots left...so I just rode local
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THGJNcPkrKI
Re: street legal 2-strokes
so uhh...I "lead" my first 100 mile desert ride :eek:
I kinda suck...and not very adult
but overall, good temps, no crashes, great traction, and good times in the desert
coffee start meant balls to the wall start...DO NOT START A DIRT RIDE THIS WAY YOU WILL NEARLY KILL EVERYONE...and make people tired
https://i.imgur.com/WMAhCml.png?1
hit the first ridge within 15 mins...seems to be consistently packed down and relatively smooth except for the embedded rocks
https://i.imgur.com/emrasJd.png?1
after the 2nd ridge/fence ride we took the "scenic dark rocks" detour
https://i.imgur.com/qBtRlyI.png?1
we hit a long sand wash...but since it rained recently, it was actually just packed dirt! never seen it this way in the years I've been going here
https://i.imgur.com/cH3WGcl.png?1
past the husky monument, we took cuddeback road (something easy to do on a corolla) on an LAB2V easy way track and hit the only dusty spot of the day
https://i.imgur.com/ZViDwOo.png?1
then cut through a dry lake bed WITH SICK WHEELIES BRUG then followed more the LAB2V track so we could avoid the pavement stretch of the 395
https://i.imgur.com/Evwtv8Y.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/l3wku0o.png?1
on the way to Trona Street we found some hills and played around a bit...they were beautiful!
https://i.imgur.com/DREZBAP.png?1
the dudes wanted a burger, so quick stop in Randsburg
the hills behind Randsburg were awesome...packed, smooth, fast, and easy to catch air
https://i.imgur.com/PMsqQdm.png?1
the canyon after the hills were so fun...the soft, somewhat damp sand, and double track made for some super fun back and forth railing
https://i.imgur.com/gLoHrZA.png
tried ear plugs for the long/fast sections AND LOVED THEM.
my leading attempt: had room to improve...I need to budget 45 mins from parking to KSU, be on the saddle by 9:20 (for 9:30 KSU), turn off auto archive on the Garmin, & make clear what I plan to do with the ride in the post - KSU time, here's the route, here's how I will be doing it.
Also no coffee in the AM...just a piece of bread, juice, trail mix & protein bar. Banana/trail mix, 2 protein bars and maybe a coffee at lunch to push me through to the end.
but ready to try and "lead" another one!
https://i.imgur.com/ZRuPlXB.jpg?1
DRC edge taillight lost in the desert...plate destroyed and will need a DMV replacement...bent the clutch lever and need a replacement...lost a bolt for the shock mud flap....headlight and front signals still don't work...but made it 100 miles no problem with the 3.4 gallon tank!
Re: street legal 2-strokes
has anyone tried an ultimate MX hauer?
I'm moving into a room for rent, and was thinking to use my truck bed (with locking hard cover or truxedo) to store:
-gear bag
-helmet/bag
-hauler
-ramp
-stand
-gas can
-chemicals (chain lube, extra oil, 2t oil, etc.)
-spare parts
-camping gear (sleeping bag, tent, air mattress, air pillow)
-beach/camping chair/umbrella/cooler
keep all my dirty stuff in the truck ready to go, just load the bike (or surf board) and take off
my only issue with covers is for the street bikes - loading the 500R - 2 man job to remove cover. Have AAA tows tho.
****FULL WARNING***WEIRDO POST BELOWWWW***
EDIT: also looked into camper shells to just store the dirt bike (covered) in the bed. Most people say F-it and use a hitch hauler. Cab height is generally 36", and I only found one post that involved removing the wheel and the forks...and described as a PITA to do. Another post on advrider (pics long gone, no post about which bike) suggested a go-cart wheel/tire on the front is enough provide enough clearance. But every way I measure it up, 36" is really difficult without taking off the forks...40" (medium rise truck cap) would just be enough, 44" would clear sufficiently (but highly ugly & only one is $1,100). I may look into a go-kart or equivalent front rim...would be worth it for me just to leave the bike in the truck all the time, covered up.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
https://i.imgur.com/57QWBfp.jpg?1
alright, been a few months, but I finally got my living/storage situation sorted out
replaced 1 rear signal & spliced the front signals back in - good 'nuff for streeting
compression still a solid 160ish :hellyeah:
since it's been so long, I trucked to the start of the trail (bottom of a hill), and rode up, so I could always coast down if it pooped out. 25 min drive before unloading/gearing up was annoying. Next time I will just ride the whole way. Will keep an extra bicycle LED taillight and LED headlight in my tool pack just in case...
I was rusty as usual, but the bike was great! so fun...not sure why my friends are trying to convince me that I need a DRZ400 or a 450L.
https://i.imgur.com/JQBozNI.jpg?1
the mirror came loose, so I snugged it down, then would like to replace the brake/clutch levers and add handguards w' some battery powered amber lights on the end as running lights
https://i.imgur.com/yMPoOUA.jpg?1
now all I need is more saddle time!
Re: street legal 2-strokes
okay, my buddies are driving me nuts
they said - no more 2 stroke...sell the damn thing because I spend more time and money wrenching than riding
what's the best replacement bike for me?
you guys know me - the less maintenance, the better. At 138lbs, I don't think I really need a 525exc
Do I just buy a DRZ400 for $3k and call it a day?
Increase the budget to $4k or $5k?
seems like:
-$1k-$2k is a gamble.
-$2k gets you a DR200se/XT225
-$3k gets you a drz/dr650s/KLR650 or an old KTM
-$4k+ gets me into the newer WR250 or a KTM range
my friends say that "you need a bike that you can ride 150 miles tomorrow because that's the kind of riding we do" and "can you ride CA BDR tomorrow? all of us can"
Re: street legal 2-strokes
You need a mid 90's CR500
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Re: street legal 2-strokes
what kinda terrain for the '150 miles tomorrow' ride? what are your buddies riding?
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kurlon
Maaico 700 or bust
if that's the full body paint job currently on sale, steer clear ... friend with a '65 Stang took that deal and ended up with mad orange peel ... in black of course.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
typeone
what kinda terrain for the '150 miles tomorrow' ride? what are your buddies riding?
hard pack desert, with maybe 10% loose (or embedded) rocky hilly climbs...friends have a 450L, 701, an XR650R
I posted on adv rider and a couple DRZ400's popped up - with E motor swaps of unknown mileage. I don't want a mystery mileage bike...
in the mean time...
my YZ issues came up yesterday - rear tire pressure 5psi, bike tipped over 3 times while on kick stand, spark plug started to wiggle out, plate ripped off/lost, left turn signal broke off, headlight loose ugh
https://i.imgur.com/BBWkWBB.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/yA1o7Zn.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/DCYqpQF.jpg?1
but we went out 6 hours yesterday...came back in the dark where LED light bars suck for distance :lol:
Re: street legal 2-strokes
XR400R (or 650R) could be a good choice without breaking the bank.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
typeone
XR400R (or 650R) could be a good choice without breaking the bank.
You, quiet, it's about time this fool broke the bank.
Bhavesh, my friend. Go to your local KTM dealership and go buy a new dirt bike. Its time, man. You know it. Your friends are telling you. NESR has been telling you for years.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
i'm not a 4T guy but if i was out your way, building something like this would be on my radar for sure...
Project: Honda XR400R Desert Rally Build
https://advmoto-assets-advmoto.netdn...ect-bike-2.jpg
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Go buy a new 450L and be done with it FFS.
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Ok, how is low tire pressure and an improperly torqued plug a two stroke issue?
Re: street legal 2-strokes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Paul_E_D
Go buy a new 450L and be done with it FFS.
this actually crossed my mind. relatively high performance for the service interval you get out of it.
all the KTM's seem like they'd fall apart in my hands within 1-2 years :lol: .
So I threw out a message and got a couple leads so far:
https://advrider.com/f/attachments/i...5-jpg.1798173/
$3,500
Quote:
Originally Posted by adv guy
I bought the SM with the blown motor and swapped the motor from the E. The idea was to build a reliable, fun bike I could use in the dirt, street, track etc that’s wasn’t gonna break the bank.
Honestly I don’t know how many miles are on the motor. The bike it came from was ridden every little of any. It had the original 2003 date coded tires with the nubbiest still on them.
I took the top end apart to check it out and it looked virtually new.
also this one:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycl...MG_1029-X2.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by adv guy
Hmmm... thinking of letting go of my unmolested Ca plated DRZ400E...
seems like everyone wants to swap an E motor for the hot setup
is the stock "S" motor really that bad?
the worry I have with a swapped motor is that now I have no idea how many miles it has; nor how many miles it will go...the whole point of getting another bike is to get away from the mystery explosion from the YZ...so I think I'd want an "S" bike so it's unmolested.
some have said I will not get the performance that I'm used to on the YZ on the DRZ; and that I should increase the budget and look at other bikes
what else has performance better than the DRZ but not as expensive as a 450L?
was a WR450R ever street legal? or will those also be $8,000-$10k bikes?