My new ride/buildup

[Rot Box]

It was a chore keeping my ATK on the trail this year and although I really loved the bike to no end I finally decided to part ways because it was turning into a frankenstien I'm a two stroke guy so naturally I wanted to get another one. After searching... searching and looking for weeks on end I finally decided that I wanted a 95ish thru 05 250cc and I wanted to set up a motocross bike for XC. Oddly enough I decided on an older 95 RM 250 Suzuki that I purchased not running for $500. Check out this roach!

 

[Rot Box]

The story I got was it lost spark and quit running--but it was the fastest 250 out there when it did run! (heard that one a million times!!! ) So I ohm'ed the stator and found it to be bad--pretty common on older Suzuki's. I put together a price list not to show how much cash I've thrown at a motorcycle, but more so to show what it is going to cost to turn a pile of crap into a competitive and reliable XC race bike.

Ricky Stator with 30w lighting coil - $99
New Suzuki Pulse coil - $50
New air filter - $28
Honda Line 80/85W gear oil - $8
Clymer Suzuki repair and maintenance manual - $35
Tusk brand flywheel puller - $10

Once running I hit the trail and found the handling and suspension to be very impressive and almost magic in the very tight single track. The motor builds an entirely different style power than the ATK did with a lot of bottom to mid with decent top end. The po smashed in the pipe pretty bad so I decided to order a new one. Turns out Dyno Port had an unplated big volume pipe collecting dust in the back room. I love these pipes and it should provide an increase in bottom to mid power.

Dyno Port big volume - $200
Boyesen power reeds - $38

 

[SAMI]

Coming in at right around $1k aint bad. Right?

 

[rholbrook]

This will be a great bike for the $$$$. You may want to freshin the motor while your at it. I love working on the oil burners, they are so easy to work on.

 

[Greg]

Nice find Andrew! Looks like you're on your way to having a great trail bike, looking forward to seeing it in person one of these days.

 

[Rot Box]

Thanks for the complements

I dropped some more cash today... Because of the design of the stock top triple clamp I had no way to run the oversized 1 1/8" Pro Taper bars that I love to no end. If I used the 7/8 to 1 1/8" adapters it would position the bars too far back cramping the already tight (for me) riding position. Working with Applied http://www.appliedrace.com/shop/index.php and Scotts Performance http://www.scottsperformance.com/index.php I am now having a custom triple clamp built to accept my 1 1/8 bars and moving my bar location 3mm forward (from the stock position) AND!!! I will now be able to use my Scotts steering damper that I also adore whereas before I would not be able to :greg: Its about 2-3 weeks out, but hopefully it will all work out.

More to come

 

[Rot Box]

I remember when EVERYONE wanted flame and hot pink splash graphics circa 1997 Purple, sky blue and hot pink bikes were so hot! It was a bit time consuming but they finally came off haha. I think I will switch to a newer front fender so I can offset all the black with the newer Suzuki yellow.

Next up I needed new spoilers for my Cycra bark busters. Mine were broken and well used. These things are a must have for tight single track. I have saved more levers and skinned less knuckles than I ever would have without them.

Spoilers - $20

The fuel range of about 35miles with the stock tank just isn't going to cut it. A 3.4 gallon IMS tank that only fits a 95 RM250 is over $300 and I haven't exactly fell in love with the bike yet to justify it. So I decided on an Acerbis 1.3 gallon axillary unit that mounts in place of the front number plate. I have rode a few bikes with these and although they are a total eyesore the extra range is really nice and the extra weight is hardly noticeable. They siphon into the stock tank and actually drain out first. I will now be able to carry a decent amount of fuel at about 3.6 gallons.

Acerbis front mount auxiliary tank - $70

Stay tuned.

 

[Rot Box]

The FMF pipe that was on it was in worse shape than I thought. I literally had to take a hammer and a prybar to it just to get it off Sure enough over half of the tube was kinked off about 2" away from the cylinder.

Triple clamps and new pipe should be here sometime this week :greg: Can't wait to go for a ride!

 

[Rot Box]

Well the pipe showed up from New York, and the clamps came in from California It wasn't the bolt on deal the I had hoped for but the clamps are on and working with the damper. Now that the bars are moved forward the riding position is far less cramped. Again the pipe is built for bottom and midrange power which should work great for nasty single track.

Compared to the FMF gold thing--this new pipe is down right sexy imo :greg:

What an improvement! Fully adjustable and better looking--not that looks help performance.

You guy's going to plan a ride soon or what?!

More to come.

 

[Rot Box]

I went for a 40 mile loop out West (man the Ruby pipeline guys aren't wasting any time are they?! ) and I am LOVING the new bike. I am more comfortable riding much faster than I ever could on the ATK. The front mount tank was worth every penny as well and even full of fuel I hardly even noticed it was there.

So far I have zero regrets buying a bike built in the mid 90's. It is very well suspended, has incredible handling and actually pulled away from all the latest model 250's in the group on a dry lake bed I would like a little more flywheel weight but I can live with it for now.