125-200cc '06 WR125 Setup

Yes!

This is one thing that I was not anticipating, really surprised me. I was anticipating getting tall bars or risers, tall seat, and lower pegs, but now I'm thinking I may not need all that.

I'm 6'6", 205-210 lbs btw for those that don't know me.

I've always hated how those things effected the feel of my bikes. Always felt like I was riding a chopper. I could really tell the difference in the way the bikes handled after putting on all the tall stuff, but I used to basically have no choice as I could never adapt to being all squished. The sitting to standing transition and back is brutal on my 53 yr old knees, especially the right one after 3 surgeries.

With the WR, I'm thinking just low pegs for starters, and MAYBE taller bars or risers. If I can skip the tall seat, that would be awesome.

We'll see.

Finally took a look at the jetting on the 125 and found one of the carb top bolt holes is stripped out. Its the smaller length of the two. This is a bummer as I'm chasing down an off-idle bog. I can snug up the bolt, but if I continue to tighten it, it goes loose, then snug, then loose. I installed it in the tightest spot I could, tightened up the other bolt and called it good for now.

Not sure if that would cause an air leak, but its surely not helping. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. Was considering an APT Smartcarb or Lectron at some point, so this may hasten the purchase.

For the jetting, the bike came to me set up like this:

• Main: 380
• Pilot: 30
• Needle: 6DJ8-60, clip 3rd from top (middle slot)
• Air screw: 1-1/2

The idle on the bike seems to be set high, but I left it alone for the moment. My KTM 125SX I had the idle a bit lower and it ran great that way.

1st changes:

• Main: 380 - left the same since it was ripping on the top
• Pilot: 25 - saw some guys were running this, plus it was starting cold without any choke, so thought I would go a bit leaner.
• Needle: lowered the needle to 2nd from top to try to lean it up a bit off idle.
• Air screw: 1-1/2- bike seemed to like it best at 1-1/2 so left it there after warming it up and fiddling with the air screw.

Other variables: temps, today its about 50 and very foggy (humid?). When I last rode it was closer to 60-65 and sunny.

Result: the bog seemed to be worse, just cracking the throttle in the driveway it was bogging slightly. It was not doing this at all previously, the bog would only show up under load on the trail. I did not get a chance to ride it. Mid and top seemed fine.


2nd change: raised the needle two slots to fatten it up, so it is now at the 4th position from the top, left everything else the same. Air screw seemed to again like being at 1-1/2.

Result: the off idle bog was basically gone. So cracking the throttle from idle it gave a nice instant response. Seemed to run fine on the mid and top. But it ran this way in the driveway with the original configuration, so I can't be sure I've improved the bog situation until I get it on the trail.

I am going to try to take it out for a ride tomorrow and see how it goes. Hopefully the bog is significantly reduced, or better yet gone, as I'm reluctant to pull the slide too many times now with that stripped out bolt hole in the carb body.

I will report back how it goes.

In other news, I ordered some springs from Richard at House of Horsepower. After talking with him and Kelly, I'm going with Richard's custom made progressive fork springs, they have 8+" of progressive travel @ 42-50, he recommended a 5.6 for the shock. He's also sending some SKF seals, he was raving about them, we'll see.

And also arranged with Kyle Tarry here to mod my fork valves and shim stack. After going back and forth with him and Kelly on home brewed mods that they have made I've very confident this will be a nice improvement over stock on the Zook 45's. I'm hoping to ship my valves and shims off to Kyle early next week.

I can't wait to see how the bike feels after getting the suspension reworked. Right now with the stock springs, its way undersprung, so the springs along should be a huge improvement.

I don't know how much you like setting up a carb but if you like riding the bike more get a lectron

the carb can really work well but changes in temperature and humidity (just before a rain shower) can make your bike run like Sh**

many experiences that I started the ride at 7:30 with a crisp responding bike and at 11:00 it was sluggish the difference was temperature and humidity.

changing main jets and needle settings on the trail is not fun for me (I've have the bike for riding not wrenching)

Robert-Jan

I much prefer riding to wrenching, and I'm no mechanic or jetting juru, so yes, a Lectron or Smartcarb is on the list, just wasn't planning on dropping the coin for one right away. I'm on a bit of a budget, so the suspension was going to be first, then see how I made out with the jetting. Then a Lectron or Smartcarb.

I did pretty good with my KTM's jetting in the past, got to the point where I had workable setups for winter and summer and did not have to fiddle with them at all really.

Now with the stripped out bolt hole on the Husky's carb, the Lectron/Smartcarb purchase may get moved up in the timeframe. Maybe it will be an early Christmas present to myself.

And the wife was quiet alarmed when I told her I wanted to take the bike out for a ride in the woods tomorrow to make sure its running right. She was like "What?! Its not running right?! You just bought it!"

She's always skeptical with my car and motorcycle purchases.

Had to take a deep breath and take a moment to figure out how to explain it to her. Basically told her to calm down, the bike is fine, I'm just fine tuning it, it needs to be done with all dirt bikes. Then gave her the "Now put a lid on it" look.

She didn't appear happy with the explanation. Or the look.

But she did put a lid on it.

Isn't that the same as that you feel when she is coming back with another pair of shoes or handbag

Robert-Jan

hey guys, I have the xc150, but what sprockets are you all running in the 125??

In 125 trim I had 12-50 changed it to 13-52 (last one worked out for me better in my opinion)

in 165 trim I had 13-52 and changed it to 12-47

I do ride muddy, sandy and technical stuff on open stretches it runs in the limits

Robert-Jan

yeah with mine on 13-50 its always ran out of gears in long stretches! but it climbs hills amazingly well, so I just hope it will still climb well with 13-48.
but it should be a lot better on the fast stretches now.

Thought I would post an update on the '06 WR125. Picked up a lightly used Lectron 36mm with the MS-3 rod. Got it and a new throttle cable installed. Bike seems to be running fine, need to get out to do some testing and fine tuning before I go out on any long rides.

I need to re-do my throttle cable install, the carb was missing the brass cable adjuster so I took one off a KX100 I had laying around. Also need to install a rubber cable boot and get some longer vent hoses so I can loop them over the top of the carb as has been suggested.



Also bought a used IMS tank, but have not installed it yet.

And just for kicks, I sprayed the inside of my skid plate with 3M Truck Bedliner - with about 10 light coats! I'm curious if it will help reduce vibration and a bit of noise, and also maybe protect my frame rails from getting trashed from the skid plate itself. I currently have some inner tube strips cut and taped at various points on the frame to prevent damage to the rails, but I'd prefer a tidier solution.



Will get the skid plate mounted up and tested soon.

And oh yeah, I got a license plate for the bike! Haven't bothered to mount up the plate but will one of these days.

I'm still really enjoying the bike, just need to ride it more. And I'm still hoping to put the WB165 kit on it, maybe this winter. -Ed

12/52 sprocket goodness installed yesterday, can't wait to try it.



No approach, steep hills have been a challenge for me on the Husky compared to my KTM 125SX so I'm curious how it will do with the new gearing. Also still need to fine tune the Lectron. Changed the gear oil. Just need to throw the skid plate on and find some time to take it for a ride and see how it does.