First ride on the 220

My buddy's stock 220 is just as easily managable as my 200, only with a little more grunt. The 50 tooth sprocket (47 is stock), and your xr background are the likely source of tight trail woes. how many teeth are on the front? Stock is 13. It's like any bike, you just need to ride it and get used the the characteristics.

Gordo

20 oz. flywheel weight seems like a bit. KDX motors are great, always enough. Liked me 220 and 200 I had, good luck to you.

Coming from a XL350... I can see what your saying. I have found that throttle control is the key. 4 strokers are very forgiving in this area... 2 strokers are not. A KDX will creep just as good as your old XR200, just keep practicing the throttle control, the KDX doesn't have to be run full bore all the time like most 2 strokers. My .02 :)

Click up a gear and use the extra torque to keep the 'pipe' from lifting your front wheel.

I have a fly wheel weight on my bike- i think it is 20 oz, any way it gives you more traction keeps your wheel from spining which is a good thing in the woods. A lot of riders don't really care for a fly wheel why- i'm not sure. About the race gas- the previous owner may have had head mods done to the bike-like the squash band has been changed- your bike also may have been ported and polished- so looks like your stuck with race gas-- better yet ask the person you bought it from what mods he did to it. Good luck with it, sound like a real kick butt bike.

A 20oz flywheel weight is quite a lot. I think around 12oz is more usual for aftermarket weights. Flywheel weights make a lot of sense on the trail.

But yes, it's a whole nuther world compared to an XR200. On any four stroke, the power at the rear wheel has a much more linear relationship to the throttle and revs. On a two stroke you've got a "powerband" in the rev range where the the engine's power output suddenly jumps. Learning to work with this non-linear delivery takes practice and very careful use of the throttle and gearbox, but can be very rewarding when you master it. All that extra power comes in very handy if the rider can learn to control wheelspin.

An XR200 is probably one of the gentlest bikes on the trails, and you can give it heaps of throttle nearly all the time and not have to worry. The trade-off is that it feels slow and boring to experienced riders (even though in good hands, it wouldn't be far behind because speed is about far more than power). If you think the KDX feels crazy, try riding just about any other serious two stroke out there. It's all part of the fun for us. Long live the smokers!
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91 KDX200SR (240)
85 Virago 1000
http://www.copperleife.com/craig/bikes/

I had the same wheelie problem and pretty much solved it by putting on a 12 tooth countershaft sproket and using second gear in the tight stuff. Still plenty of torque for most situations but 1st is always there when I really need it.

Don't worry its not you....I have a 220 w/ basic mods, and this past wkend I rode for an hr. or so on some tight trails after 5 days of rain and it was a nightmare ride. Wet moss covered rock, roots, and leaves had my rear wheel spinning to no end....its the nature of the beast.

Even though the 220 is a "trail" bike, it still has the 2 stroke powerband "hit", which coming off a XR200 must seem like a rocket booster has been lit. I find I need to blip the throttle more on 2 strokes, rather than the smooth, steady roll-on needed for 4 strokes. As you get used to it, it is a lot of fun, but can be a handful at first.

The 10 oz. flywheel I have on my 200 is plenty good n'uff for most everyone, IMO...but I really want to try more and see what it's like. Any chance of asking that guy where he got the 20 ouncer, maco??

Jeff