1991 CR250 peaky powerband?

Just got my first bike, have questions
Just got my first real dirt bike, a 1991 CR250

Here is a pic: http://www.coserv.net/~quino/bike/CR250.jpg

I used to ride when I was a kid, but have not ridden 2 strokes in about 15 years.

It starts and idles good, but I have a question about the power band.

It seems awful peaky. It has a FMF gold series pipe, and a FMF silencer. Those are the only mods I am aware of. It sure seems like this bike only likes it full throttle. It "bogs" before you get to the power band, to the point that it sounds like it is choking... and then it takes off like a rocket, only for a split second, then you must upshift and get back on it, or it will start to bog again on the upper range of the rpms/power band.

I know this is the nature of the 2 stroke... but damn this thing seems peaky.... and really runs rough if you are not getting on it.

Is this more of a function of the pipe? Would the factory pipe give a broader power range?

I just want to kick around a bit.... and ride trails mostly... and I think this might become an annoyance.... what do you guys think?

Ok guys....

I took off the HPP left side cover, started and warmed the bike to operating temperature.....

It appears the exhaust HPP power valves are working properly to me.... from what I have read on the www.ericgorr.com site.

When the bike is idling, it looks like this:



And when I open the throttle wide open, it fully extends like this:



When it goes back to idle, it retacts to the original position.

From what I have read, this is correct... yes?

So... it sounds like this is not my problem.... ??? correct?

To be very clear, my bike does not act like it is going to die or anything, it just doesn't have a lot of bottom end power, and runs very rough until it hits the power band.... then takes off like a damn rocket.

From my reading last night, it seems the first area to look at on the 91 CR's is the HPP valves... after that, consider a new boysen reed valve (dual stage or something like that) and having the flywheel weightened.

Does this sound like a good plan of attack?

I dont know too much about the carbs.... but I will be reading. What should I look for... as in, what if someone has monkeyed with the jet sizes, and settings? What are the factory jet sizes? I would think that I would want to set everything back to factory and go from there... no?

Thanks!!!

I posted it there but then saw this forum and posted it here because it probably belongs here more.

I tried to delete it, but I cannot. Sorry if I offended you... I know... I am a newbie here.. making the typical discussion board newbie mistakes.

Thanks for all the help so far guys! I feel better knowing the power valves are working.

I am going to clean the carb, throw in a new dual-stage reed (cheap) and then put some fresh premix in it and see how it goes.

Thanks again!