Not again, yes again.

I sold the mud bike I bought at the end of last year. During our ongoing COVID 19 lockdown I spent what seemed like months looking for the next project. I wanted a lighter 4 stroke bike to ride in the woods. I finally found a candidate a super, super clean 2017.5 Factory Edition 250SXF with 12.2 Hrs. That’s right a motocross bike that weighs 219 lbs without gas and came with a bunch of goodies on it that I wouldn’t have to buy and the price was very, very good. Yes it’s a five speed close ratio transmission the only drawback to a five speed is limited top end on those occasional fire roads. But I’ve had five speeds before and found I seldom wound it out especially when it turns 13000 RPM before I ducked back on to a single track.

 

The bike came with a brand new Guts soft seat a brand new Acerbis skid plate, FMF muffler and spark arrestor the high dollar Rekluse and a brand new set of graphics. I added a fan kit, foot pegs, kickstand, Flex Bars with Cycra hand guards, speed odometer, left hand operated rear brake and an 18” rear wheel. Some of this stuff I took off my mud bike.

My major concern was/is the suspension the forks are air and of course the suspension was set up for MX not trail riding. And so far this has been the only real issue. The bike is so light it dances around like a two stroke and we haven’t been able so far to get it plush enough for me. Right now I’d say there would be a lot of riders who would think the suspension is great where it is right now, but it’s not for me and after all it’s me that counts.

The bike handles very well and will eventually be much better once the suspension is worked out. I’ve been surprised at the amount of power the 250 puts out especially when you consider how much I weigh. The 250 wasn’t intended to haul a big belly like me around but it does. The motor revs very freely pulls ok off the bottom and overall has very good power. 

Bucky at SBB has been working with me on the suspension. He re valved the shock and changed the spring I’m about to try the third different settings on the front forks the air forks are tricky for trail riding. If this doesn’t work I think we will go to a spring fork conversion kit

Second ride after the last fork re valve and before this latest ride I changed the rear shock spring back to the stock unit and rode 34 miles at Chalk Bluff so obviously it worked better with the softer spring. But the front is still not where I’d like it, so I have put the Explor forks on off my KTM 350 dual sport bike on and will try this combo. One of the things I don’t like about the Air Forks is they are still a little harsh in the initial part of the travel and they hold up in the middle of the stroke, I’m expecting the forks to move in the middle as I go through corners and when they don’t it throws me off. If you read MX bike reviews one of the things testers constantly complain about is that the forks don’t hold up in the middle of the stroke as they corner apparently lots of ex pro MX’ers like the fork to hold up in a corner I don’t, I like them to move as I go through a corner.

I’ve fallen off this bike five times already and have taken lots of skin off my arms as a result. I finally discovered one of the reasons. I’d like to blame it entirely on the bike but can’t. The rear brake master cylinder was inconsistently bleeding off and of course it did it when I needed it the most, I’ve fixed that issue.

The Explor forks solved the front end problem for me. Stan, Wayne and I rode about thirty miles at Chalk Bluff and the bike worked the best it has today. Still didn’t keep me from peeling more hide off my arms though as I hit the ground again a couple of times, most of the damage was done going over a 20” log.

So the question now is do I keep the Explor forks off my 350 on it and then what do I do for my 350? I can convert the air forks to spring forks, but I’m not confident that will work for me, do I look for a set of Explor forks for sale or do I cut my losses and sell the bike before I put more money in it still not knowing if spring forks will solve my problem. I’m leaning at this moment towards selling it.

I’ve decided, I’m in the process of getting it ready to sell it.

Oh well. Stay tuned.

Doug 21J

Part 3 of #217 of 21J’s new projects

Part 3

I forgot what it felt like to run out of rear brakes and as a result bit the dust big time. The other day while riding at Chalk Bluff and pushing as hard as this old man could I boiled the brakes. I’m a rear brake dragger and actually use the rear brake to help me turn. I had already ordered a solid rear disk rotor for the bike because I’ve been squeaking the brakes for some time, that noise is very distracting.

I’ve also continued to have the stalling issue I contacted Rekluse about it and they said to reconfigure the clutch so it had the high RPM engagement setting then set the idle so the bike creeps a little in gear with the clutch out. I also flushed the brake fluid installed the solid disk rotor along with new pads, now waiting for the next ride to try out the latest settings.

Well the next ride came the solid rear rotor worked although I didn’t push it hard enough to find if it cured the squeaking and fading. It takes a little bit of adjusting to the solid rear rotor it requires a little more pressure on the rear peddle and it’s much harder to lock up the rear brake which is a good thing. It did stall a couple of times and this just may be as good as it gets.

The bike overall works so well and is fun to ride, if I can push it around the tight trails at Chalk Bluff I can ride it anywhere.

I’ll continue riding it and report again later.

Doug 21J

21J ...King of Bike Projects!

Part 2 of #217 of 21J’s new projects

Went to the Chalk Bluff area along with 13 other NCWR members to work on the trail system, Nevada county Woods Riders has a contract with forest service to do trail maintenance, we divided up into groups each one of had a least one rider with a chain saw. Five hours later we had made huge progress they estimated we removed around a hundred trees in that time. We couldn’t get to parts of the trails because of the snow.

Well how did the bike perform, well good and not so good? The bike feels very comfortable with a little speed, but when I’m trying to negotiate slow switch back turns in the trees it feels very heavy in the front end and not easily turned. It’s a big mystery to me. The 2020 Husky TE300TPi I had which only weighs a couple of pounds lighter than the 350 I felt right at home. The 350 also flamed out on me a lot at very slow speeds and I remembered the last 350 trail bike I had did the same thing, shit.

So I cleaned it up and I’m back to the drawing board. I have a few things I needed to fix first before I tackle the main issues, my OX Hydro left hand operated rear brake started hanging up (Not good) the little screw that hold the spring for the kick stand came off and disappeared. The six mm screw that helps hold the frame guard snapped off when I tried to remove it. You know I’m beginning to see a theme here.

Going to look at the settings on the fuel programmer and maybe add some more fuel in the low down RPM range.

I talked with Bucky at SBB suspension about the low speed turning issue and he thinks the springs are too soft. I picked up a stiffer shock spring and Bucky ordered stiffer fork springs hopefully he will get them before this weekend so I can try it out.

Bucky installed the heaver fork springs and revalved the forks a little, in time for me to ride it this weekend doing more trail work at Chalk Bluff.

We had 24 volunteers show up for last weekend’s trail work which didn’t amount to much, so Stan and I didn’t go with the group instead we did a 34 mile trail ride about 3 hrs of run time on the motor, that works out to be about 14 miles per hour average. That certainly doesn’t sound very fast and you would be right, but it’s mostly 2^nd and 3^rd gear riding and we are old and not as fast as we once thought we were. And for those who ride in that area know 34 miles up there is a lot.

So how did the bike work this time, well I sent Bucky (SBB) a big thumbs up. It was a huge difference and now I can learn to ride this bike and gain confidence on it. How about the flame outs? I had less this time but still had too many. I’ve read a few articles about how they’ve tried to stop the stalling by putting this or that gadget on the bike; I don’t think anyone has been able to stop them completely. I watched a video on why the 350 is more prone to stalling more than any of the other KTM/Husky four strokes and I think what he had too say made sense. Basically its inertia the 350 has a very small light weight crank, flywheel and clutch so it can reach those 13,000 RPM’s and when you turn the throttle off and right back on there isn’t enough motor inertia with those lightweight parts to pull in the next gulp of air and fuel ergo flame outs and I’m a notorious off/on throttle jockey which doesn’t help. I added more fuel to the low end and that seem to help.

One thing I did notice was when I shifted into third which brought the RPM’s down and I came to sharp turns and thought I had enough inertia to pull through the corner that’s when it would mostly stall. I think the other thing that contributes to this is I have a Rekluse and I believe there may be a small amount of freewheeling that goes on when off the throttle taking away from some motor inertia, all speculation on my part. One thing I do know is the 350 seems to be more prone to flameouts than the rest of the KTM/Husky four strokes.

I installed a WC Hr meter, RPM do-dad, I found the factory set RPM at 1640 to 1670 which based on all the information I’ve ever heard in the past is too low. It’s been my assumption 350’s need to be around 2000 RPM in order to operate the EFI properly. I’ve increased the RPM to 1850 to 1900 and will try that to start with. When razing the RPM’s I will have to adjust the Rekluse to compensate for the increase in drag.

I will say this if I can’t cut way back on the stalls I will be selling this bike. I don’t blame the bike for my poor throttle skills. And at my age it will be easer not cheaper to find something that doesn’t have a reputation of stalling in the first place; in this case this would be better than trying to teach really old dog new tricks.

I thought I was done but, went to Chalk Bluff with a couple of my riding buddies we did thirty miles which is a lot for up there. I had raised the idle, reset the suspension settings and reset the fuel programmer to the stock recommendations. It didn’t start out well within the first three, four miles it stalled four times. I reset the fuel from 3 to 6 and it only stalled twice the rest of the ride. 

I changed the Rekluse engagement point; it was set at a low RPM engagement point which translates to a lower RPM point when the clutch will disengage. I’m going to experiment a little; I set it up to engage at the medium point which means a little higher RPM before it engages and a higher RPM point where it disengages. My thought is perhaps it may help with the pop stalling, we will see. I didn’t touch the suspension settings at all. This was the first ride on this bike where I really enjoyed ridding it. I put the 52 tooth back on this made it easier to use third gear everywhere this combination works much better.

Well that’s it for a while, I’m going put time on this thing and I’ll report back later.

Doug 21J

Good Work...NCWR

A friend of mine and I were catching up the other day and I was telling him about what I’d been doing the past three weeks and even though he’s a motorcyclist he had no idea that a motorcycle club was doing the kinds of things this club is.

NCWR stands for Nevada County Woods Riders and I dare say most people don’t  know clubs like this exist. There are a lot of riders out there who take the trail systems we ride on for granted and don’t give it much thought about who helps maintain the trails, the Forest Service can’t do it all.

I joined the club last year for a number of reasons. A lot of my riding friends belong to the club, I trail ride up in the Tahoe National Forest at Burlington north of Nevada City. The club has a very close working relationship with US Forest Service around Northern CA and is contracted with the Forest Service to help provide trail maintenance for the Burlington trail system as well helping in the Foresthill trail system and other locations.

We just spent the last three weekends clearing the trails in Burlington as well as the Foresthill trails so the riding areas could be reopened. The club keeps track of volunteers’ hours and turns them into the Forest Service who gets reimbursed from the Federal Government for our time. That helps the Forest Service as well as us in the long run.

The turnout of volunteers the past three weekends has been amazing, fourteen the first weekend, twenty one the second week and twenty four the third weekend, well over 700 volunteer hours this year already, that is amazing. I think we’ve removed over 150 downed trees from the trails in that time and that doesn’t count all the limbs and other trash. We’ve cut up fallen trees from three inches up thirty inches. They also help in keeping the Pioneer trail clear in the area that inter twines with the trail system. The pioneer trail is used by horseback and mountain bike riders.

Because of the work the club does, a couple of years ago they received a grant from Yamaha which allowed the club to purchase an enclosed  two axle trailer as well as the equipment  needed to outfit the interior with chain saws and other tools to clear the forest. They work with an equestrian club in the Nevada County area along with a couple of mountain bike clubs to help promote unity. 

They put on events during the year, a yearly dual sport ride in Nevada County for family, friends and members. When the weather is good usually once a month there will be a dual sport ride during the week called “The retirees ride” and then on weekends another ride for those who still have to work. Every month or so there will be an organized trail ride, not always at Burlington. They occasionally have joint events usually around trail work but not always with the equestrian group and the mountain bike clubs, plus some charity events during the year. They have volunteered for years to help with the parking of motor homes and trailers for the annual Hangtown National Motocross event held at Prairie City.

We have monthly meetings that are usually standing room only. The club continues to grow and grow which shows there are a lot of good people out there who are willing to be part of what this club stands for. Below is taken off the front page of the club’s website.

The Nevada County Woods Riders (NCWR) brings together off-road motorcycle enthusiasts to enjoy trail rides and fun activities. NCWR promotes responsible trail use, advocates for off-road vehicle (OHV) access rights and fosters trail improvement programs with the Tahoe National forest Service.

NCWR is a not-for profit motorcycle club based in Grass Valley. And is a Chartered member of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and dist 36.

They have an excellent Website with a general discussion section where lots of communication happens. I’ve received as many as 20 general discussion Email’s in a day, a lot of back and forth about various subjects, it’s great.

For me its chance to give back and be part of a very worthy cause, the fellowship and camaraderie with like minded people is priceless these days. Don’t get me wrong it’s far from all work and no play; it’s a great group of men and women and I’m very proud to be a part of it.

A little history of the club, it was sort of formed in 1973 and was at first primarily a competition only club, by that I mean most of the members rode Dist 36 enduro’s and cross country events, but over the years it has morphed into what it is today.

The early trails were created in the greenhorn area and slowly moved north over the years toward the Burlington area. In the eighties and nineties there were a handful of riders who opened riding trails in the Burlington area which is part of the Tahoe National Forest. The Pioneer trail was for horses originally but is now also used by mountain bikers. Whenever necessary these trail blazers would create new trails to make sure they stayed off the Pioneer trails. 

During the Clinton administration a decision was made to close as much of the forests as they could get away with and at some point the woods riders discovered notices posted on the trails they had created saying they were part of the Pioneer Trail. The club reached out to the local horsemen’s club to find out why and was told any trails previously marked would not be closed according to the Federal Government that was a sign of early cooperation between the horsemen and the club. That started a spirited debate within the club about what to do to make sure all the trails they had created wouldn’t be taken away. Eventually the club partnered with the Forest Service to turn the Burlington trails into an OHV area. The club was given a grant to create a staging area and a bathroom at the beginning of the trail system. Over the years many more miles have been added to the trail system by the Forest Service and the club.

If you want more information about the club you can go to woodsriders.clubexpress.com

Doug 21J

PS There’s another organization I’m sure nobody’s heard of its called the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship their focus is primarily in the Tahoe, Plumas and Lassen National forests. They are dedicated to the restoration, preservation and enhancement of recreational trails of the lost Sierras. They have created over nine hundred miles of trail and help maintain a total of over eleven hundred. Their long term vision is to connect fifteen mountain communities with trails. Trails that can be used by hikers, bicycle and motorcycle enthusiasts to help provide these small communities some much needed revenue opportunities who have struggled since the timber industry shut down. You can contact them at sierratrails.org 

Doug's Thoughts On Mammoth Bar OHV

Many years ago now the river rafters were successful in closing down the park to the current days it’s opened. This was a compromise; they wanted it shut down completely. They complained about the noise as they drifted by the short distance where the park is. This park has been under attack by various groups for many years. The Mammoth Bar area has been used by motorcyclists for probably well over sixty years. I’m not sure when it became part of Auburn Recreational Dist.

Because it’s a State run OHV park someone, not sure if it’s Auburn Recreational Dist receive funds from the State OHV fund to operate Mammoth Bar. I was told by a very reliable source they (Someone) receive well over four hundred thousand a year to operate Mammoth Bar. In the last three years alone all I’ve seen done is they have put up fences and gates to make sure riders can’t use some of the trails and pile up dirt from where the old track was. The trails that are left consist mostly of a lower two track road that goes about two miles and currently dead ends so you have to turn around and ride back the same way. A very rocky road that goes up and meets a single track trail that goes about another two miles and dead ends and you have to turn around and ride back against riders coming the other way, you get the picture. 

The OHV money is supposed to be used for Mammoth Bar only and I’d like to know what all that money (Well over a million dollars) has been spent on the past three years alone, certainly not to improve the experience there.

As I said there are a number of well organized groups in the area who have their own agenda’s which do not include the motorcyclist’s interests.

Sadly, I would be very surprised if anything every moves forward there, I think there are enough other influences to keep anything of any real substance from ever happening there. Problem is if they shut it down completely there goes the money they (someone) receive from the State OHV fund.

So the real question is what is all that OHV money being spent on?

I, along with my fellow motorcyclists don’t know how to get our voices really heard, don’t know if you would be interested in investigating this for those of us who have no voice at all?

Doug McCaleb

PS you have my permission to print this if you wish.