[chillindrdude]

i finally sacked up and dove into offroad/motoX riding. plan is to use it as a cross-training tool for dh racing. this acquisition was not without regret. it was my first 4stroke bike and i tried to be as educated as i could before i inspected the bike. there were a few major things that i had missed , when i had my local shop give it an once over. thankfully, no (powerplant) issues (yet).

it is my first bike, so i'll use this as a learning opportunity. here she is, fresh from the shop...ready to BRRAAAAP!

2008 kawasaki kx250f

new graphics kit is coming. gotta rep my sponsors and change numbers to 137

 

[Mr Jones]

Nice ride....

to be honest though... my first thought when I saw the pic was "oooo kashima"

 

[gonefirefightin]

looks pretty solid, tear it up.

Buy a couple sets of plastics now, and change the fluids, plug and wheel bearings

 

[chillindrdude]

fluids have been changed

shop said plug was fine

new wheel bearings put in by the shop

new top and bottom end rebuild (by me) when i get a few more hours on her.

 

[spam16v]

MUST run it on race fuel, carbon builds up on the valves and tears the seats right out of the heads.... There is just so much **** in the fuel now a days.

 

[rohleder644]

race gas isn't necessary, 91 octane will do it. unless, of course, the bikes had motor mods to bump up the compression.
4-strokes don't foul plugs near like 2 strokes do.
clean your air filter often (like every couple hours of ride time, especially if it's been dusty), change your oil and oil filter often, and check your valves. when the 250F motors decide to let go, they let go in a big way$
as far as the motor rebuild, get a service manual, take your time, and bend over$$$

by the way, i race offroad and i suuuuck on mountain bikes. my mx bike skills did not translate to mountain bikes, but that could just be me. either way, be diligent with the maintenance on that thing, definitely gear up, and have a blast. www.thumpertalk.com will have lots of good info on there. some of those guys are goons, but the forum is full of very knowledgeable dudes.

 

[stevew]

MUST run it on race fue

my brother treated his lawn mower to leftover race fuel.....it sounded funny.

 

[jimmydean]

MUST run it on race fuel, carbon builds up on the valves and tears the seats right out of the heads.... There is just so much **** in the fuel now a days.

I get ethanol free Chevron premium and have never had an issue.

 

[chillindrdude]

went out for ride on some backwoods dirt roads today. some twisty uphills and downhills with braking bumps and the occasional waterbar.

no stalling, but came pretty close! i sat on the bike for the most part. riding standing up felt kinda strange. it was hard to gas it while standing, felt like i was gonna fly off the back. and activating the rear brake while standing is alittle unnatural. its hard for me to feel anything in my Sidi Chargers. i had to look down at my feet alot. i'm assuming that once the boots get broken in, it'll feel less constricted/vague.

oh yeah, i stayed primarily in 2nd gear....slow is me!

 

[sanjuro]

You are going to kill yourself on that thing...

 

[spam16v]

I get ethanol free Chevron premium and have never had an issue.

We have 100 octane race fuel locally that's 100% ethanol and BS free that treats ORV's so much better than consumer gas and all of it's additives. I'm not saying you need Race fuel b/c it goes faster, I say it helps b/c of it's lack of extra crap they think we need that hurts small potent engines.

 

[5150dhbiker]

Congrats on the purchase! FYI....it's not going to be used much as a cross training tool for DH. I started out thinking that and have now mostly switched to moto (after racing DH for almost 7 years). You also don't need to run it on race gas, just 91 octane works perfectly fine. My buddy that races supercross just runs his on 91 unless he's putting in timed motos or racing. Ok, well on his race bike he has to since Kawasaki put thousands of dollars into the race bikes but ya, otherwise 91 works great on the practice bikes.

If you're going to be riding trails and tracks I would HIGHLY sugest you also buy radiator braces because I've learned the hard way that a radiator is not cheap to replace. Other than that, MX is freakin' awesome!!!

Here's my girl...she likes being ridden rough but sometimes she fights back.