upnorthbacon

Member
Jan 28, 2005
35
0
I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a showroom new 01 yz250 tomorrow but I have one concern. Last couple bikes I had were an 01 yz426 and 05 wr250f. I was happy with both bikes but always missed two strokes. I've been out of the scene a few years with kids and all but now my daughter and wife are riding with me (I currently have a Polaris Rzr which as a mostly two wheel rider I must admit is an absolute blast!!!) and I'm thinking of picking up a bike rather than ride as a passenger with my wife in the Rzr half the time. The catch is we will be riding with our daughter so speeds of 25-40mph are about all I'm comfortable riding with her right now. I'm obviously going to be riding slower and I don't want to be throwing roost at them all the time. I'm concerned about it loading up or overheating riding around at those speeds while just "cruising" and not ripping through the gears? Is this a valid concern? I have another line on a mint 04 yz250f that I was considering too, and I'm second guessing if that would be better for trails with the family. The kicker is I kind of want the best of both worlds because I still plan on riding with some buds on 250's and 450's but it will mostly be single tracks and trails, not much of anything super open or sand. Will I be changing plugs all the time and should I go for the 250f or will I be fine for the most part?
 
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Tom68

Member
Oct 1, 2007
407
0
Don't have experience with those bikes but a well jetted 2 stroke with good oil and an iridium spark plug will be reliable and cool running. High perf 4 strokes can run pretty warm tooling around, have seen 'em boiling when waiting at hills on organised rides. If they have a lot of ign timing at low speed low load they will be OK.
 

upnorthbacon

Member
Jan 28, 2005
35
0
Thanks, I was hoping that would be the answer. I haven't owned any two stroke bikes since the 90's and back then the last thing I was worried about was riding too slow and loading them up!!! I always run Klotz in my two stroke sleds with no problems I'm guessing that stuff in the premix version would be pretty clean burning. I've been jetting four strokes for the last few years I'm going to have to re-educate myself with jetting two strokes too!
 

Someone

Member
Mar 12, 2001
865
0
There was nothing I could do wrong with my old 01 YZ 250. That thing was a beast and didn't complain about anything. Well, same goes with my 05 YZ 250 too.
 

02stampede

Member
Jan 5, 2009
76
0
Someone said:
There was nothing I could do wrong with my old 01 YZ 250. That thing was a beast and didn't complain about anything. Well, same goes with my 05 YZ 250 too.
+1 My 05 yz 250 gets "putted" around in the tighter areas I usually ride in. Or, when I ride with a group of atv's and razrs I am generally not banging gears WOT. I just rev her hard a bit every now and again to keep her honest.
 

FNG

Member
May 2, 2008
97
0
I have a '95 YZ 250, my wife rides a TTR 125 and my son rides a PW 80. Lost of slow riding in my world:)

Anyways, I put a RAD valve in the YZ and dropped 2 sizes on the main, I also dropped the pilot 3 sizes and it can put around all day. I did put a couple ounces of REDLINE in the coolant to keep things cool and so far not 1 issue.

I too ride sleds and they are always jetted a couple sizes on the rich side for wty reasons. Seems like a lot of dirtbike guys foul plugs and generally complain about running rich but don't do much about it.

Enjoy and hang on. These things are a blast but we have to make the mortgage too! LOL
 

YZ Teacher

Member
Mar 13, 2007
37
0
Grab the two stroke. One plug can last all year and they are a true work horse that can do it all. a Four stroke requires extra to keep it going. Valves, shims etc. My 2003 YZ 250 is killer on the track yet putts around in the woods in 2nd gear all day long.
 

Someone

Member
Mar 12, 2001
865
0
My 05 runs very rich, I am too lazy to dig into the jetting. I have never fouled a plug in it since I bought it in 04 (wow, it's 5 years old already), so I aint fixing something I don't have to. :)
 

NJGregsCR

Member
Feb 25, 2007
78
0
I ride with my kids, and now that they are a little older we all rip around pretty good. But, when we ride in the woods by my house we are just creeping through. My 97 250R took a little time to jet right, but it has not fouled in 2 yrs. My 16yr old and I just jetted his new 98 YZ125 and it runns great, no fouling whatsoever. Click on the jetting links and it all makes sense and is pretty easy to do once you understand what jets control what rpm's and road speeds.

Also, we added flywheel weights to tone down the hit down low. I added a steel clutch which also added mass to the flywheel and made it rideable when picking through the slow rough spots.
 

upnorthbacon

Member
Jan 28, 2005
35
0
Thanks, everyone! I picked up the yz250 a few days ago and it's in great shape. I'm going to take her out and work on jetting tomorrow. It has a Rad valve and I'm starting with thier recommended of 50 pilot, 175 main, and 3rd notch on the clip. I'm in MI I think we're around 500ft and I'll be riding temps from 60-80. The previous owner switched out plugs to a hotter plug, he said it loaded up on the trails. I noticed he had the clip at the second position so I've went back to the stock plugs and dropped the needle to the third. He also had the main at a 168 which seemed a little lean going by Boysen's specs w/rad valve. I bought a few plugs today I'll just have to go out and see what happens, I'm hoping I'll be close on the pilot because I haven't bought any different pilot jets but I have a bunch of mains from my other bikes.
 

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