Posts
5409
Joined
10/1/2013
Location
Davis, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
8/24/2015 9:39pm
That they lost a customer. Some here might remember the ongoing issues I've had trying to restore my 06 rm250. Long story short, I put in a bunch of my own money and time into the bike and it ended up all being for nothing, the bike made it a few laps and was down for the count. Looks as though the frame may be cracked, which caused the head to crack and this damage the cylinder, and I honestly didn't have the heart to spend another huge chunk of money into that thing.
Fast forward a few weeks, and my dad thought it was time to start fresh, and he was nice enough to help me out with a 15 yz250! I had kicked around the idea of restoring a cr250 but in the end we decided to start fresh since I would have the bike for a long time. The decision then became which bike to get, the KTM or the Yamaha? I based my decision based on what is important to me, and that is suspension/handling over motor. Since the Yamaha has better suspension right out of the box, and even more importantly reasonable prices in OEM parts, the decision was to go blue. It actually was a super cool experience as I got to go and sign all the paperwork and pick up the bike, this is the first time I have ever done anything like this and it was pretty damn awesome!
Of course, the first thing to do with a new bike is rip it apart!
All bearings got a fresh coating of grease, and any bolts threading into aluminum or brass was given a coating of antisieze.
After a few heat cycles down the street and an oil change, it was time for the first ride! I was a little worried about running the 91 octane gas the dealer had in the bike but it ended up being fine, I will be mixing the gas 50/50 with AVgas from now on though since I did get a small amount of detination. Overall, I was very happy with the bike! After setting the sag I think I touched the clickers once the entire day, no comaints there! The motor was also incredibly strong and had enough power to get me over everything with ease, though I am only around 155 lbs. The first mods will definately be a flywheel weight and TM Designworks composite skid plate, I'm a trail rider at heart and will be racing this bike at the Sacramento Endurocross so protection is mandatory, I will also get a recluse clutch as well. Overall, I think I will enjoy this bike for a long time, the reliability is proven and I can see why Yamaha hasn't changed much over the years, there really isn't any need to!
Bike will be getting a steady diet of this cut 50/50 with 91 pump.
A few photos from the first ride. My friend was supposed to come out and take some better ones but he slept though his alarm! Come on man!
Sorry for the novel long post but I'm pretty excited, me and Raining Yellow are now teammates I guess.
Edit: Don't know what happened but the first and last pictures got switched!
Fast forward a few weeks, and my dad thought it was time to start fresh, and he was nice enough to help me out with a 15 yz250! I had kicked around the idea of restoring a cr250 but in the end we decided to start fresh since I would have the bike for a long time. The decision then became which bike to get, the KTM or the Yamaha? I based my decision based on what is important to me, and that is suspension/handling over motor. Since the Yamaha has better suspension right out of the box, and even more importantly reasonable prices in OEM parts, the decision was to go blue. It actually was a super cool experience as I got to go and sign all the paperwork and pick up the bike, this is the first time I have ever done anything like this and it was pretty damn awesome!
Of course, the first thing to do with a new bike is rip it apart!
All bearings got a fresh coating of grease, and any bolts threading into aluminum or brass was given a coating of antisieze.After a few heat cycles down the street and an oil change, it was time for the first ride! I was a little worried about running the 91 octane gas the dealer had in the bike but it ended up being fine, I will be mixing the gas 50/50 with AVgas from now on though since I did get a small amount of detination. Overall, I was very happy with the bike! After setting the sag I think I touched the clickers once the entire day, no comaints there! The motor was also incredibly strong and had enough power to get me over everything with ease, though I am only around 155 lbs. The first mods will definately be a flywheel weight and TM Designworks composite skid plate, I'm a trail rider at heart and will be racing this bike at the Sacramento Endurocross so protection is mandatory, I will also get a recluse clutch as well. Overall, I think I will enjoy this bike for a long time, the reliability is proven and I can see why Yamaha hasn't changed much over the years, there really isn't any need to!
Bike will be getting a steady diet of this cut 50/50 with 91 pump.
A few photos from the first ride. My friend was supposed to come out and take some better ones but he slept though his alarm! Come on man!
Sorry for the novel long post but I'm pretty excited, me and Raining Yellow are now teammates I guess.
Edit: Don't know what happened but the first and last pictures got switched!
honda, suzuki and kawasaki do not give a fuck about your yz250 purchase
The Shop
And great write up Josh! Happy for you , and getting that new freshy YZ! Bummed that the old RM let you down , but what you got now is definitely a step up! Hope to hear more from you on this bike after you have her all broken in and have it set up proper , and what your feelings are about it compared to your RM when she was running good. Congrats man!
If your going with a composite skid plate, I'd go with an SXS, its a great product, TONS of endurocross guys running them.
Nothing compares to a new new bike and congrats on the bike even if it is a yamadawg!!!
Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki's marketing department's answer to that is just to give away their current inventory instead. Weird ???
On a more serious note... AWESOME! Been drooling over the newer styled YZ's for awhile now. Possible near future purchase...
He absolutely loves it. Congrats on the purchase and keep it safe!
Pit Row
I know Honda, Kawi and Suzuki have no intention to produce a 2 stroke full size dirt bike anytime soon, but it may change, if 125 or 250 two strokes become the biggest sellers of Yam/KTM's range, at the moment, they have not,
Remember the 2008/2009 RM250's (whatever year they were) they had leftover in Australia, took them a long time to get rid of them, sure as heck Suzuki remembers it. And they were damn good bikes too.
they kept selling ok, but we were still selling way more four strokes,
Kawasaki stopped the KX125 in the states in 05, but sold it in the rest of the world till 08 and the KX250 got an extra year everywhere else in the world,
I have seen the Kiwi sales figures, and the Aussie ones are released publicly, and the 2 strokes don't get anywhere near the four strokes, I doubt the US figures are much different for MX sales,
And I preferred the RM over the KX :-)
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