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Cliff's Cycles KTM
NETRA enduro B-vet
Close your eyes, look deep in your soul, step outside yourself and let your mind go.
lies.
you wanted a dong patch too, I know it.
Cliff's Cycles KTM
NETRA enduro B-vet
Close your eyes, look deep in your soul, step outside yourself and let your mind go.
[side point] the 690/701 is an excellent bike! and yes, you can find miles upon miles of roads that are ADV friendly (which everyone here should try!), and even guys that show up to LAB2V on an Africa Twin and shred past me and all the smaller bikes! Heck there are miles of road off road that I can ride on the Ninja...and it's true, 70% of some the days we do can be done on a bigger bike, and only 20% of it you'd like a lighter bike, and 10% light dual sport is best. There are guys who prefer the 690/701 or 790 or 990 or 1290 for that exact reason...and honestly I would like to try it at some point.[/side point]
but I was not interested in a bigger dual sport/adv bike to replace the YZ250...for now, I didn't want that. I wanted a dirt bike that was lightest and most capable in the rockiest uphill, bike eating whoops, thickest power gobbling sand and easiest to pickup when I tipped it over. I wanted to make the hardest riding as easy as possible...but it can still do a little bit of road to connect sections in the desert and ride from home (no kx5/cr5). On the opposite end, I additionally want a 2nd bike which can do highway, tour, and do a little bit of off road like those smooth graded roads - ie. CB500X. [iglu]Between the two different bikes, it covers all the riding I want to do now[/iglu]. Now could a 450/500/501/690/701 do everything i ride? very likely! but I wanted the lightest dirt capable bike in that lineup...hence why I thought the 350 would be the best option. But I wanted all that expecting a grin on my face every time I got on the gas exiting a wide turn. I wanted it to say "yes harder" when you added more in gas in the whoops. I wanted there to be a drastic difference between 1/8 throttle and wide open. I want it to scare me and excite me at the same time. I want to like it so much that I'm constantly trying to find things to buy to make it different and/or better. hence the FE350 - not enough smiles/dollar. it was more 'meh, it's okay somtimes'
the clip was supposed to show how flat it is - full wrung out on the lake bed, as it gets closer to redline it's losing power. It's like revving a mid 90's ford vulcan V6 Ranger motor - the most usable torque is in the middle to 3/4rpm range...rev it out and it's just buzzy and wheezy. Passing a car on the highway in an old ranger, you downshift and rev the thing to redline, and the rpm's are rising, but you're not accelerating at a higher rate much more than if you were holding your higher gear. The FE350 has that flat mid range motor (hmm, maybe Joel is right about the power plant) and it just was just bland.
@chipper - but you're absolutely right - it's not an incapable bike...it's very much up to the tasks I have at hand, an excellent bike, and can be very capable, especially with a good rider on it. Heck if I compared laps, I'm sure I'd be faster on the 350, but you're also correct, I did not like it.
But I also stand when I say it's a good beginner/noob bike for your average street bike rider coming to dirt for the first time, or a wife/gf that's tall enough. The tune is not hyper, it doesn't rev quickly (nor does it want to), and you can cruise at low rpm's on it all day long like an XR/DRZ. Combined with it's light weight and mellow linear power delivery, no sudden power surge, I'd venture to say this is a better starter dirt bike than the xt225/dr200 piggy pogo stick bikes because it's lighter and the suspension allows it to more likely to track straight over rocks or rough terrain. And unlike the YZ or other more rev-happy MX variants, this bike isn't trying to buck you off. It won't kick sideways when you get on it. It doesn't have a drastic change in power delivery based on throttle position. It doesn't loft the front wheel as you hammer through the gear box. It wasn't designed from husky to be any of those things...hence it's place in the lineup w' the FE250.
Last edited by breakdirt916; 12-18-19 at 01:59 AM.
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
I thought this was relevant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GqlxwRC62c
It kind of makes me want a 350. Maybe I made the wrong choice with another 2 stroke.
I think the 350 motor is a gem. I'd have preferred a little more aggressive chassis/setup in the one I had.
as in: a plated 350xcf. then again, I'd like to have a 300 in the stable too, and most importantly the time to ride them all, and stay on top of my game, which is the biggest challenge, of course.
Cliff's Cycles KTM
NETRA enduro B-vet
Close your eyes, look deep in your soul, step outside yourself and let your mind go.
I'm not sure which chassis I prefer. The PDS chassis left me wanting a little when riding sand and jumps, like wareham, but the difference isn't huge with the XC/sx chassis. The problems may have been fixable with different suspension work. With the XC It's a little harder to get going in slow stuff, like coming out of a 1st gear hairpin. It would be great to do a back to back on the 2 bikes.
yup...saw many videos talking about how the 350 platform can be a true do it all bike between dual sport/MX
read about the chasis too; debatably any good suspension shop can adjust spring rates and valving to do what you want, but in summary if you want linkage over PDS based on how it feels = go husky FE350
Last edited by breakdirt916; 12-22-19 at 04:18 PM.
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
whaaaaat???
where did this come from??
jk jk...digging through some old footage and remembered enjoying this ascent
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
I bet this whole thread is one big elaborate April Fools joke by Breakdirt.
haha, nah...at this point I just miss riding
digging through some old footage and found some cool stuff though
![]()
Last edited by breakdirt916; 04-05-20 at 10:01 AM.
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
so this year, the front parking was closed, but you could pull around back
the cute cowgirl type waitresses wear masks, and belt buckles that say "F*ck Covid!" Glad they're still working though.
I rode a lot of the same trails as last year so I could see what the difference is with the 500
the power was pretty damn good; I never found myself looking for more.
if you're not careful, you'll definitely end up in the hospital. I do NOT want to buy a 500exc (maybe a 501?). But power-wise it was so awesome being able to roll the throttle before a jump and just send the thing. Come into a turn in too high of a gear, roll the throttle and wheelie over the obstacles. Approach a rocky hill/section and just mash on the gas to slay through that section.
Could the 350 do it? yes...but I definitely enjoyed the 500 more. In an ideal world I'd own both, or have rental access to either.
still sort of liking the renting for desert dual sport loops though (if it's a low hour bike). The desert is a sandpaper like environment. 80 hours/1700 miles on the bike meant I wasn't worried about burning oil like the guy that has 15,000 miles on his 500. Another guy's 350 had electrical problems and no spark. Another guy's bike seized 15 miles into his ride. The company that rents the exc500 doesn't even rent it out anymore...they preferentially allowed me to rent it because I clean/detail their bike after each ride, lube the chain, and point out the body scratches/maintenance items that they may need address in the future.
And now, I just hand it back. The 50mph dirt highways and 75mph pavement sections means that bike will likely need a valve adjustment, air filter, oil change, and rear tire.
but on the other hand, you can't pick and choose how the bike is setup. I got this one w' a stock 2.1 gallon tank and heavy duty tubes. Even though I liked getting up on the tank, and gassed up in jean w' 58mpg (WTF :lol), it's better if you come with a 150 mile range...I'd heard that the day before they had to siphon gas into a rider's tank. For tubes, my friend picked up a nail on his 701 and we had to do a trailside tire repair...and one of the donated tubes had a hole from sitting in his tool pack for so long...I'm seriously thinking about Nitro Mousse foam inserts...I don't want a flat. Can't demand those luxuries on a rental.
But desert season is finally here...and it's awesome!![]()
Last edited by breakdirt916; 12-05-20 at 11:40 PM.
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
yesterday I finally got saddle time on that 690/701 platform
If I had it in the aforementioned location (Pahrump, NV), it would be very good!
where it rocks:
-long distance touring rides with dirt - the is the most street-ish bike you can comfortably ride 100 miles of pavement at 85mph, but still able to ride almost any dirt
-long, long distance off road: w' the aux fuel tank you can get close to 200 miles - awesome for death valley, Pahrump NV, etc. where you don't have a refueling option for 100 miles
-2-up: has the power to bring a friend
-riding/camping: this thing has a big beefy subframe, so you can load it up to camp and ride. It's a wonderful BDR bike!
-power: think of all the Japanese 650 singles - this has a big canon ball firing single torquey cylinder. This thing pulls
where it may suck:
-silt
-deep whoops
-really technical/tight stuff
like any big off road bike, weight is a factor in the gnar, and it tires you out quickly, but I would 100% take a 701 over an ADV bike like a CB500x/Africa Twin/Vstrom 650 any day. The 701 just does it better.
so for California deserts, it's a good platform
Do I still want to keep the YZ? hell yes - 90% of the riding I do is a day trip in the desert, local fire road runs up the mountain, a 2-day weekend ride in the mountains, and even at Pahrump, the YZ will do everything the 701 could do.
I do, however, see myself taking a shot at off road motorcycle camping...maybe a few years down the road. A 690/701 platform would be my choice at that time.
Last edited by breakdirt916; 11-15-20 at 01:32 PM.
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1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:
I still have a chub for a Basel 690.
Cliff's Cycles KTM
NETRA enduro B-vet
Close your eyes, look deep in your soul, step outside yourself and let your mind go.