well, whatever you take, have a great trip! i'm heading up to canada this coming weekend for a fly-in fishing trip with my dad and some other guys. this is a great time of year to be up there. little chill in the air! good luck and i hope everything goes well.
Steve, lets see pic of the new 250, I've narrowed my 250 selectin to a newer Drz 250 [with a kit for street legal] or the ninja 250. Taking a working trip in Sept. myself,[ to NE Ohio] ,planing on the Drz400 for this one. I'am also interrested in an old van for travel and transport of the bike ,when needed . I know you do this also ,any tips on van choice and etc. CMS
I think somewhere in this thread I posted a pic of my van with my Aprilia RS50. It happens to be a 01 full size Dodge. The door height is a bit lower than the GM and Ford I believe. I can get my DR350SE (and 250) in van as long as I remove the mirrors and headlight fairing. My 250 Ninja will roll right in, no disassembly required. I carry in van a 9' ramp (max length that will fit, a pair of 2X6's with central spine) for loading. With this grade it works out that I can manage around 300lbs in and out of the van. I use a Condor unit as a front wheel chock. I carry a cooler too within which I store my riding gear (ATGATT) and use as a step getting in and out. I work out of this van and almost always have the DR200SE (mirrors have to come on and off) in van for parts chasing. This really cuts my fuel expenses down (15 vs 100mpg) plus it's great to get out for the ride. With the paniers and rack I can haul lots of stuff, talk about utility. The DR250SE I picked up is a 93 and is almost identical to my 94 350. It is typical of a 14 yr old bike in that it has received little maintenance and will need to be completely gone through, been there done that, and will again. Will post pic soon. I have a pic of my 350 somewhere in the DR350/250 picture thread. You can shortcut the process by checking my posts via my username. As previously mentioned I am a fan of the baby Ninja. If you can live with it's 28 hp and ergos you've got it made. Don't forget to change the final to at least a 15:42 for better highway performance. The posers will never be happy with it because of it's lack of flash but I found it extremely capable but few give it the chance.
That's a neat idea to always have the DR200 in the back for scooting around. I have almost the same rig, a full size '94 Dodge van that the bikes fit nicely within. We often go to Tucson for a couple weeks mid-winter on a business trip and it completely changes the trip to have the 200s along. For the better of course. You have a serious case of multiple bike syndrome. Although I guess I do too. I'd love to have the 250 or 350 also.
Klay, it may be more serious than that. Anyway, after fitting a new set of Bridgestone Trailwings (TW301 and 302) on the 200 I noticed the sound level was picking up from the tires not being balanced. I parked the bike so I would not ruin it's new shoes figuring on whether I would pay someone to balance or buy a balancer myself and do the job. Just in time in the BMWMOA Owners News was an article on the product offerred by Innovative Balancing (www.dynabeads.com) for balancing wheels/tires. What this amounts to is the insertion of approx 1 oz of ceramic beads (for my application) into the tube through the valve stem. Since the application I have put 200 miles on the tires the bike is much smoother. The front end is perfect but I may add another 1/8 oz to the rear. The tire noise is gone. This method may be an ideal solution for those of us using aggressive d/s tires on hardpack or surfaced roads at speeds exceeding 35mph, check it out.
I have an 03 DR200 that is very hard to find neutral when at a stoplight waiting for the light to change. Those of you who have DR200's is yours acting like this or does it go into neutral easily like my DR650? Any ideas as to why it is hard to get into neutral ? I have to push hard on the shifter to get it to move that I go past neutral and into 1st or 2nd depending on which way I'm pushing the shift lever. Just changed the engine oil but it has acted this way from the beginning and has about 2300 miles on it now. Shifts fine going through the gears but is very annoying when I have a long stop light and I want to kick it in neutral . Thanks, Rob in Walla Walla, WA
Sounds like the clutch may be dragging. First make sure there isn't excessive play in the clutch cable. There should be about 3 mm of play at the clutch lever. It's real easy to slip my DR200 into neutral.
i had a similar problem and klay's advice was spot on. tighten up the play in the clutch lever and life will improve dramatically. ( klay)
I really like the sound of this, but the linked website only talks about streetbikes. Are these "approved" for dual-sports? I have a TTR250 that I have been struggling to get balanced, but my riding is 80% off road - do you know if these will work in this situation?
Somewhere within the site is a bit of info on d/s machines. Either from the BMWMOA article/IB website is mentioned that the beads become effective at about 35 mph. For trail riding they won't do a thing for you but if you have to travel roadways at 35mph or greater to get there they will. As you might have noted they will also maintain balance as the tire wears and it's balance point changes with the wear. I think this would be especially significant with the more aggressive d/s tires as the knobs wear. Per IB's info the retention of this perfect balance will give maximum tire life. Also mentioned was that tube type tires present a perfect environment for the beads.
Well , I tightened up the cable and it worked like a champ. Thanks, Guys, This forum is an immense help and all within 24 hours problem fixed, Rob
After a buddy called at the last minute to tell me they were going riding, I had to think outside the box a little. My beater XR 250 had a flat, and my KTM was down. I had no tube, so I had to improvise. I took a kids floatie toy, called a "noodle", styrofoam, wiggly, bright orange, you know what I'm talkin about. Wrapped it heavily with duct tape, and stuffed inside the tire like a Bib Mousse. It actually was pretty good for about 25-30 miles, then it started breaking down. By mile 50, it was almost like riding on a flat, but at least I got to ride. It might have lasted longer but the area we rode in was the rockiest in the state. I would'nt admit this on just any thread, you minimiist guys might be able to relate. I got laughed at by my buds, but it beat sitting on the couch all day.
That's using your noodle, jgas! My minimalist mount, an XT225, is so easy to work on it reminds me of the old VW Bug ... tinker-friendly, fixable, lovable. Kaler
I've been following this thread for a while, found this comment interesting. Despite it being the most low-tech car I have ever owned, I had a lot of fun in my old Bug. Maybe it was because I was a teenager and it was all I could afford at the time. Don't miss those heater-boxes in the winter though. Despite being a XXL mega-primate type rider, I find a the idea of a small bike appealing. I might have to go with a ninja 250 or perhaps the taller klx250s as the others would be more clown-like with me on them I think.
Steve, Sure hope you take the 200 ... otherwise the ride report (which I look forward to reading) won't be on this MT thread. BTW, have you got a pic of your spare fuel can system yet? What's your departure date for the JBR? Questions, questions ... Kaler
Ah yes, those cleverly designed heater boxes ... cough, cough ... They worked great as long as they weren't sucking in exhaust fumes and then pumping them into the car's cabin -- which of course ... cough, cough, ... they always were. Nice coughing -- er, talking -- to ya. Kaler
Speaking of bad heaters, I had a 1970 Toyota Landcruiser. It had a leaky soft top with plenty of duct tape holding it together, and just a little heater box in the back with hoses running to it from the radiator. Basically it was a pretty good hand/foot warmer, not much else. I had a van too, but it broke down and I had to go to Guard drill, about 50 miles away, on a zero degree morning in the 'Cruiser. I put on all my cold weather gear, and still froze my ass off. It was so cold that weekend, they let me sleep in the drill hall so I would'nt have to drive home that Sat. nite. I got so cold headed home on Sunday, I pulled off at an abandoned rest stop off the Interstate, and built a fire to warm up before going on. I literally could'nt drive anymore, my leg was shaking so much, I could'nt push the gas pedal. Since ya'll seemed to like the noodle-tube thing, I'll admit to another one. A few years ago, I just barely had the $ to buy gas to go ride, but not enough to buy brake pads. I took some old Subaru disc brake pads that had just the right thickness of material left, and I took my Sawzall and cut the pad off flush with the backing plate. I traced them with my bike brake pads, and cut and ground them to the right size/shape for my bike. Then I used JB Quick Weld, and epoxied them to the backing plates of my bike brake pads, clamping them overnight with Vise Grips. I kinda thought they would come off under hard braking. but they lasted quite a while. They didn't have the same grab as real bike pads, you had to really press hard on the rear brake, but they worked. A buddy of mine kept bending the rear disc on his XR. He got tired of spending 100$ every 6 months, so he went to a tractor salvage yard and found a huge 4 ft diameter disc off of a John Deere skidder, bought it for whatever the cost of steel was a lb, think he said 40 bucks. It was just a little thicker than a bike disc, but close enough. He cut the center out of it with a torch, and ground it down to the size of the bike disc, and cut out the center for the hole in the hub with the torch, then ground it to shape with a die grinder. He used the bike disc as a template to mark and cut the center and bolt holes. Took him all day to make the damn thing, and it's ugly as hell, but he raced A vet class in GNCCs with that disc for 3 years, rode it another couple years, gave it to his teenage kid, who abused the crap out of it. I bought it from his kid, and still ride it. That disc is so hard, it has dings on the leading edge from hitting rocks, but it won't bend. You can hit a rock with the disc that'll throw the whole bike up in the air, and it won't bend. You don't even need a disc guard. I wish I knew where to buy steel like that. He said it was so hard to grind, he had to go to the hardware store and buy several grinding stones for the die grinder. It took several to grind it down.