2 stroke riding help

[Scotty99983]

hey everyone im looking for some help. as my RM250 is my first proper motocross bike. never had anything with powerbands like it or anywhere near the same power.

so anyway i need some help on how to handle a 2 stroke. i feel like im revving the nuts off the thing when im riding it and im not sure when to change gear because im finding it difficult to hear what the engine wants due to it sounding like im revving it pretty high.

im even beginning to wonder if 2 strokes are right for me

any help would be much appreciated thanks

 

[ellandoh]

you will get used to it. if you are just riding easy, keep it just in the power band or near it so you can lift the front tire in case of a log etc. if you are hammering through the gears then you want to shift just before you lose all forward thrust


hope this makes sense :cool:

 

[justathink]

new to 2 stroke too

hope you dont mind ,thanks for the tip can,t wait to try this sounds like fun

 

[Scotty99983]

i hope ill get used to it, i suppose i just need to figure out where the powerband is exactly so i can be on the edge of it, and as for hammering through the gears, the fact that the thing is going so fast in the first place is makin it difficult for me to actually feel when i need to change aswell.

 

[ellandoh]

as an experiment. take off going slow and kick it up twice to be in third gear, now give it half throttle and listen to it chug along picking up speed.......when the front tire comes off the ground, that is your powerband. repeat until you can tell if youre near it.

 

[IndyMX]

It should be pretty easy to determine where the powerband starts, it'll be right about where the bike pulls your arms out of the sockets.

 

[FNG]

2 stroke MX bikes are a beast to say the least, especially to someone who is not familiar to them.

ELLENDOH had the best advice, find the power band and feel the hit and experiment with it in a more open area to get the feel of the motor, then start playing with it in other gears.

Don't be worried about what gear you should be in or how fast you should be going when riding, or what you "think" you should be doing. Ride it to your ability and understanding of the bike, find your comfort area and grow from there.

 

[Scotty99983]

thanks for the advice, your right, ellandoh sounds to have the best advice for the power band im going to have to try it out. wont get out for my next ride till my gear dries lol the only thing is really that my back tyre is worn and it spins up before it wheelies depending on the surface, i figured maybe its best to get used to it before i go sticking on a new tyre.

another small point is that because im not used to the height i feel that when im cornering i feel that the bike is going to fall over.

 

[mathd]

thanks for the advice, your right, ellandoh sounds to have the best advice for the power band im going to have to try it out. wont get out for my next ride till my gear dries lol the only thing is really that my back tyre is worn and it spins up before it wheelies depending on the surface, i figured maybe its best to get used to it before i go sticking on a new tyre.

another small point is that because im not used to the height i feel that when im cornering i feel that the bike is going to fall over.

The tire spinning is because you need more practice with the bike :P
As for cornering, practice practice and practice. More seat time!

 

[jmcollins77]

I say you should go ahead and invest in that new tire, learning exactly where that powerband is is going to be a little trickier to deal with once you have a new skin on there and you have already learned to ride it with the bike not hooking up with current tire. Insted of spinning, the bike will end up on top of you, with a new tire if you try riding it like you do with a worn out tire.

 

[Scotty99983]

i can see your point JMCOLLINS, i have a set of tyres there from my brothers YZ250 he is breaking that are barely used so ill probably change to them soonish.

 

[robwbright]

Get at least a decent tire. Don't need a brand new one, but you should have at least 2/3 tread on there or you're just wating your time. If there's one thing 2 strokes are bad about, it's wheelspin - even with decent tread on them.

You're probably not overrevving it. The power curve on a 2 stroke is like flat land running into a very steep mountain. There is relatively very little power/torque on the low end and then it hits HARD in the midrange and pulls really hard until it drops off. See here:

http://img116.imageshack.us/f/rmz450rmz250rm250model2zf7.jpg/

Note the more "jagged" power and torque of the 250 2 stroke in green vs. the more consistent pull of the 250 4 stroke. But, of course, the 250 2 stroke has significantly more of both - it's just harder to control.

 

[Scotty99983]

the image wont come up. it just asks me to register

 

[FatBiker]

the image wont come up. it just asks me to register

I've had that happen with other links too. Not with this one though.

 

[BSWIFT]

You'll find the bike begins to pull the hardest just before the powervalve opens up and "hits" your arms hard. Keeping the bike on the pipe will really take some serious practice. If you ride in the woods, ride a gear high and use the bottom end power to do most of the work. Your arms will thank you. Knowing the point where the powervalve opens gives you the ability to loft the front wheel at will and control the wheel spin. Throttle control is key.