info about rm250

[frye22]

found a 2001 in pretty good shape for a good price. anyone have any opinions on this bike? horrorr stories or bad experiences with the bike? ive gone on some websites and managed to find out the bike has lots of low end power but dies at he top.
im only using it as a trailbike and maybe the occasional sand trip and maybe a few jumps.
thanks for the opinions

 

[Flyingzook]

I think that it would be pretty good. I have a 2001 Rm125 and it has been reliable so far. As for power unless you are really good you should never need more power from a 250 2 stroke. and the low end power will help through the trees. it should do all you want.
Just my opinion.

 

[RM_guy]

Here's a cut and paste from a couple of years ago on my '01 RM250. I have since added a 9 oz Steahly flywheel weight and a Scott's steering damper. I also put in a JD Jetting kit and it really cleaned up the spooge and made it much crisper.

I might as well chime in here. I bought my ’01 RM250 new and have done a bunch of work on it. It didn’t take long for me to notice that it had no top end power. I was constantly looking for the next gear. It really went flat. Mine is an early ’01 model and I think they may have fixed the problem on later production. My fix was to send the cylinder and head to Eric Gorr for the Mo Power Everywhere port job. It made a HUGE difference in the top end over rev as well as smoothing out the mid range hit. It also gave me tons of low end power—so much that I kept the stock fly wheel and gearing because it can lug right down in tight, nasty trails. I am partial to a snappy engine and never warmed up to a flywheel weight. Eric is the guy to go to for all your engine modification needs. He really knows his stuff and he is priced well below the “other” guys.

I also added a V-Force 2 reed block set at the low tension setting. It made it more responsive and added to the low end. The new V-Force 3 system doesn’t have adjustable reed stops but I hear it still is a good addition.

The front forks have some mid stroke harshness that I just couldn’t tune out. They settled into the mid stroke and wouldn’t move well. That fix was to send them (and the shock too while I was at it) to MX Tech for springs and a revalve. It made a big difference and I can’t get them to bottom. It works real nice for MX and I’m in the process of changing the fork oil and plan on reducing the oil some to make it more compliant in the woods. Jeremy did a great job valving it for MX and woods.

In the carb I have a 158 main, stock needle with the clip 2nd notch from the top, slide cut away an additional .05 mm, 42 pilot jet and the air screw out 1.25 turns (it changes with temp). It runs a bit rich on the needle circuit but 1 notch changes makes it too lean. I have a ½ clip leaner needle on order and will try it this Spring. I use 93 octane pump gas with 32:1 Maxima Super-M oil.

For the tranny I use cheap 10W-40 motor oil and change it every 2-3 rides. What ever you use make sure it does not have “EC” on the label. That has friction modifiers in it that will make your clutch slip. And I’m on the original clutch.

If you are having trouble jetting you may want to check the power valve tension setting. I spent hours trying to tune out a BAAWWW only to find out that I had the PV tension set too high and it was opening so late that I thought it was running lean. The correct tension is ¼ turn clockwise from the relaxed spring state.

My latest addition is a FMF Q silencer. I want to make it as quiet as I can for trail riding and a little loss in power is fine by me. It has more than I’ll ever use anyway. FMF says it is suppose to bring the dB down to 88. I’m hoping my vacuum cleaner is louder than my bike when I’m done. I’m in the middle a my winter rebuild so I haven’t had a chance to try it yet.

Other nonperformance stuff are SDG gripper seat, Moose bark busters, Moose pipe guard and an enduro skid plate. It’s a great bike and I really like it.

 

[ZOOK250]

i had an 01 and the bike was as reliable as ever. i kept the engine stock ,but added an fmf sst pipe and silencer. i found the forks to be to stiff. i changed the springs and installed RT gold valves and removed the mid valves. this fixed it up. the rear spring is rated for a 215lb rider. i went to a lighter spring as well.
all in all the bike was great, i probably should have put a little more maintenance into it, but none the less it never ever gave me one single problem.
the top end was a lttle weak, compared to my friends 01 kx 250 it was down right anemic, but i could still kick his a@# anyways.