Re: Riding my new bike"lugging the bike sounds like "klank-klank-klank"
That's actually chain slap. It's just characteristic of the X. You'll get
used to it.
--
ADW
"JayC" <jwc@sysmatrix,net > wrote in message
news:e2e16e48-4075-47c2-9276-d6da762c72e0@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups,com ...
>I took my 250X out this weekend for a few hours. Man, what a nice
> bike. As most of you know, I am a devout 2-stroke aficionado, but
> after this weekend, I'm considering a shift to the other camp.
>
> Riding in the tight and rocky as I do, I generally short shift. When
> ridden in this manner, the 250X feels like a small-bore XR. Although
> the motor can surely be considered a revver, it has a suprising amount
> of low end grunt. Not as grunty as a XR400, but I'd say it has as
> much or more oomph than a XR250. I screwed up a hill-climb at one
> point and just about came to a stop in second gear - I just kept the
> throttle open and the bike continued to klank its way up at all of
> about 100RPM, keeping itself running until I could get myself re-
> positioned enough to give the clutch a stab and downshift. I think my
> 400 might've even stalled there (not to mention pounding me into the
> ground afterwards). I did stall the 250X once when I got stuck across
> a root at the top of a nasty climb, but was able to re-start with an
> awkward push of "the button". The 25 pounds devoted to the e-start is
> worth it's weight in GasGas parts. The urge to shift comes in the
> midrange after the power builds to a reasonable level, but the bike
> really isn't even close to ready at that point - just keep holding the
> throttle open and the motor makes more and more power, with the RPMS
> continuing to build seemingly forever, or at least for another solid
> gear worth of speed. Power is impressive when the RPMs are up. Rev
> speed is also impressive - the motor spins up like a two-stroke with
> instant RPMs, while still retaining some degree of throttle-RPM
> relationship, unlike a stinkwheels. I was entering a rock bed and did
> a quick clutch stab to get a burst of oomph to hop over the leading
> rock and clear the next few - the bike stood up and almost looped out
> in the air. Didn't see that coming. The bike did seem to run a
> little hot though while in technical terrain (which is all of it),
> although that might've felt worse than normal because my pilot mix was
> tuned a little on the rich side.
>
> I rode the suspension box-stock w/o even turning a clicker. It's
> pretty good - the forks aren't as good as my XR, although they are
> pretty smooth. They do spike and deflect a bit on fast hits, but that
> might go away once I start running with the clickers wide-open. I'm
> keeping the stock springs on the bike, even though the spring rate is
> low for my weight - the lighter springs ease low-speed rock-eating,
> and the additional sag is in the range of only about 1/4"-3/8" on both
> ends. Front to rear balance is maintained, and I truly doubt I'll
> notice a difference in suspension action due to riding 3/8" lower in
> the stroke. Even better, I can touch the ground with a toe while
> keeping my butt on the seat, which is a new thing for me.
>
> I didn't kiss the pavement all day, but came extremely close once - I
> had wicked it up on a powerline trail that was covered with somewhat
> loose rocks. The front end suddenly kicked out and bike layed down to
> the low side. I think I pretty much froze and I stayed on the gas, or
> maybe I had a smattering of divine intervention, but the bike went off
> the trail sideways with the handlebars no more than a foot off the
> ground. The surrounding brush had recently been mowed down by the
> power company, so I slid into a field covered with 1' high pungi
> sticks. A foot or two off the trail, my front wheel hit some of this
> brush and hooked up, and the bike stood up. I steered back onto the
> trail and kept on going. I'll be needing a new seatcover though, as
> mine is now soiled.
>
> The road manners of the bike are good. We ran into an impassable mud
> hole, and had to do a couple of miles of illegal road riding to
> circumvent the hole. One of the guys riding was on a Banshee - we
> couldn't risk him getting stuck because he has no legs, and I wasn't
> about to ruin my brand-new Gaerne SG10s pushing him out of a goo
> pile. Anyhow, I was pleasantly suprised at how well-behaved and
> stable the bike felt at 45-50MPH road speeds.
>
> There were really only two things I didn't like about the bike. The
> first was the sound of the engine at lower RPMs. Both of the other
> guys I was with complained about the "weird" sound the motor makes.
> It's really klangy - lugging the bike sounds like "klank-klank-klank"
> instead of "blub-blub-blub". Maybe it's the auto decomp clattering
> around or something. Once it opens up though, it sounds like a sewing
> machine on steriods. The other complaint is a function of all the
> crap they pack into the bike. Not only is it a nightmare to work on,
> but all of those little nooks and crannies trap gunk, so the bike is
> even hard to wash. I spent 45 minutes on it, removing such PITA
> pieces as the front sprocket guard and bash plate, and I STILL found
> two big globs of mud that were hiding in the bike once I put it away.
> The sprocket guard is dumpster bound, but trying to clean up the bike
> is something I'm not going to look forward too.
>
> My 15y/o son and his buddy (riding a 250 3-wheeler he just got for
> $200) rode the first leg with us, then peeled off to get into mischief
> on their own after our first stop. I got to watch my son climb a long
> and really nasty rock climb on his CR80E as they were headed off into
> the distance. Pretty impressive - the boy is riding surprisingly well
> these days. Who says you can't ride New England swill on small-bore
> two-strokes? Next out, my other new bike, the CR125 - always wanted
> to ride a bike that weighs less than I do.
>
> JayC