125-200cc I Rode The Prototype Wr200 And It Is Amazing...

I have Walt. I put it together the day I got it and did some heat cycles. Did one short ride last week and then yesterday did a proper ride.

So here's the deal:
09 wr125>165
RB modded Mikuni tmxx
FMF 125 pipe
Walt's springs (ended up back to stock/silver after trying a lot of combos, may go back and put yellow/silver to see if I can help the mid range out)
WR ignition ( I bought Demi's cr150 motor and think I may need to put that ignition/stator in)
13-50 gearing (I was shocked that this felt right for the steep stuff. There's no way my 165, with the current tuning, could use anything less tall)

Played a lot with it last week at the house. Jetting and PV adjustments (everybody seems to state where their pv linkage is, 3/4 up the slot, at the top, etc, but the pv has only one adjustment: the spring at the top of the linkage needs to be centered over the tab. If it's off either way, the pv is not going to work properly. I kept trying to do what other people where doing, but the manual states this and my testing confirms). Jetting is tough. I live at 3300', I ride mostly at around 1500-2500', but sometimes up in the 4-5000' range. Even the RB modded carb has a hard time dealing with the variance.
RM needle (16-62) 3rd clip, 25 pilot (1.25 turns out), 460 main yesterday at 2000', some spooge

The 165 is definitely a little tractor, like my 09 ktm 200, it just goes when you think it should stall. It was ok in the mid, but I think tuning may help (PWK? I need to pull the ktm carb off and check it out). Signs off early on top as expected and reported elsewhere. For most of the riding I do, this is almost the perfect motor. I think the 125 pipe was restricting the power as well. It seemed like it wanted to go, but was on the edge of letting it happen.

And the "125" though as heavy, possibly heavier, than my 200, feels lighter and the handling is much more precise. Still fighting with the Marz 50mm TC and I think the stock springs are not as stated (Drew (WER) mentioned this to me, that the 09 TC fork springs were measuring up to .45). Front end would not settle which is a little disconcerting in singletrack with consequences. But overall, this is a worthy bike if you like gnarly singletrack.

Look forward to any input and a big thanks to Walt for making this a reality.

Eric,

That is where the 200 SX Fatty pipe really makes the kit shine is that it brings out all that mid-range you have the feeling is there but is being held back by the pipe timing. If anything it even pulls harder to the top it does have versus the 125 pipe.

Glad you got it together and hopefully we can have a ready built pipe option in the next couple of months.

Walt,

I've been trolling for that 200SX pipe.

I have my 200 stocker. I'm going to give a shot at getting it on there as I have it and the neck/stinger from the original trashed 125 stocker. Stock ktm 200 pipe is very thin and probably not the ideal candidate just because it dents/crushes pretty easily. It's about in the middle between SX and Gnarly/SXS pipes (gnarly and SXS are the same shape, with sxs 1 gauge thinner material), leaning toward Gnarly/SXS as far as power delivery. I rode a 200 with the 04 SX pipe and did not like the lack of bottom and screaming top for riding in the woods, but from what you guys are saying, it works well with the 165 and is probably the ideal from what's available.

I'll continue looking for a used SX to frankenpipe or buy one from you guys when you get it sorted.

I mounted that stock 200 pipe on my buddies 165 as I have said before. Makes it a real bottom/mid instant response monster. He really likes it.

Ok. I finally finished (almost) my bike for this race season and took the maiden voyage. I purchased the bike about 6 months ago off Ebay for around $2500. Its was an '09 WR125 with the factory 144 kit installed. The bike had the stock Mikuni on it. After riding the bike around as is I was pretty disappointed in it. Huge bog it the bottom to mid transition and no bottom end to speak of. The bike came with some other parts and one was a brand new Keihn carb. Im assuming its from Motosportz because it had all of the different jets and colored needles with it. I installed the carb and it was a big difference. No bog. The power valve adjustment was next and this placed the power a little lower where I ride although an abrupt transition. These two changes made the bike much more how I had imagined it. After this I immediately began to tear the bike down and after speaking to Walt, I purchased his 165 kit. A bigger bore was my original plan and Walt didnt have to twist my arm. The bike was very well maintained with about 50 hours on it so there wasnt much repair that was needed. I had other things come up during the course of the project so things were really slow. Once Walts kit arrived I got too excited to wait anymore and got to work. The kit was a no brainer to install. While I was waiting for the kit I fabricated the FMF KTM 200 Gnarly pipe to fit the WR. I also purchased Walts power valve spring kit and settled on trying the orange / green combo first. I also went with with the FBF JD CR125 CDI. I liked the idea of this because of the programmable dual maps with handle bar switch. Drew (WER) took care of my suspension needs. He does excellent work and is always willing to help and and answer questions. I also installed the 14 tooth front sprocket that came with the bike and left the 52 tooth rear. I usaully run my fuel mixture at 40:1. For break in I richened it to 32:1. I fueled the bike up, topped off the radiators, and changed the tranny oil. I have been running Rotella-T for a couple years with really good results. Time to fire it up!

First off. This isnt a "hand start" bike anymore! I used to be able to start my 125's by hand or with bare feet back in the day. Not anymore. I was wearing tennis shoes and had to change into my work boots! Its not hard to kick over. But closer to my YZ250 than a 125. After about 15 to 20 kicks it started to come to life. I did two heat cycles letting it cool completely between them. Then I took a couple of very low load rides around the back yard varying the revs but not revving it very high at all. Then I rode it on some trails putting a little load on the motor and just opening it up a little bit.

I can start off by saying that I might need to change the power valve springs so that it opens a bit later. I tend to lug a motor and ride lower in the power band. The power valve opens just a little too soon for me with this combo. Its okay in the grass back yard but on my rocky turns and hills where there isnt much momentum at the bottom it comes on too soon. Not too quick though. This might have something to do with the pipe. Walt did warn me that it would be a handful off the bottom. I will have to work on this.

The best attribute by far???? TRACTOR POWER! Like I said I lug my bikes. Thats why I couldnt stand my YZ250F in the woods and sold it. Constantly flaming out. I put my 5 y/o son in front of me who weighs 56 pounds. I weigh around 200 with normal clothes so we had almost 260 pounds on the bike. The bike REFUSED to stall. I tried to get it to die by leaving it a gear to high and climbing hills right off the bottom. And I mean RIGHT off the bottom. The bike just continued to pull! It didnt load up and didnt sputter or cough. I atribute this perfect (for me) power to Walts hard work and research with both the 165 kit and power valve spring kit. I also think the the Keihn carb from Motosportz is a fantastic set up. I know the Mikuni can be made to work and if I didnt already have the Keihn I would have kept it.

I couldnt really open the motor up yet and rev it all the way out. I want to break it in a bit more before I really start to test the top end of the power. I will post the results of the change in power valve springs as well as how the top end power feels. I also didnt mess with the dual ignition yet. I was nervous about the transition from a YZ250 to a small bore. This little bike has everything on the bottom that the YZ has. If this is a sign of the entire power band then I highly doubt I will miss the YZ at all! And of course the suspension felt great! Thanks Drew! Stay tuned for more reports on changes and my thoughts on top end power!

I included a picture. Ignore how dirty the bike is! I just rolled it out of the garage and hadnt cleaned it up yet! I will try and load a video of the first time I fired it up.

Thanks! I will probably get an official real ride on it early next week. I work a crazy schedule and cant foresee having any saddle time prior to then. I hope to switch out the power valve springs in the meantime as well as set my sag.

I have one as well , but havent got around to installing and test it , look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. What are your jetting specs?

I have to take it off to change out the springs so I am going to install the FMF WR125 Fatty just to compare. Is your pipe modified yet? I think it will work well with some tinkering. It actually fits great and tucks in nice. I did a post on my modification to the pipe. It was pretty easy.

I forget what my jetting specs are off hand. I need to take the carb off and check. I always forget to write them down. I remember checking to see how people were jetting their 144's in my area. The 165 runs great with whatever I used. Well on the bottom anyway. I will report back with the exact specs. The throttle response it awsome!

I have it all tacked up

Great report and I look forward to the rest. Really want to know how the Fatty feels with the WB165. Thanks.

Can you post a link? I might need to do this also. I have a mig and tig welder but have never worked on pipes before.

pg 16 of this thread

It really is a snap because you don't have to do any bending or massaging of the pipe itself. It is just a matter of welding on the right spigot to fit in the head(how much to cut off the ktm pipe), replacing the stinger with the right size and at the right angle, and then just mounting the brackets where they need to be. If you can and have a tig welder it will make welding the thinner metal of the pipes much easier.

My 2007 200xc weighed in at 211 without a thing on it...never weighed it after...guess after GPR, pipe guard, lights, handguards, heavy duty tubes....I am sure it was above 216 probably closer to 220....you could really tell when you have a 125 and the 200 next to each other....big difference even pushing...

Darkside....its page 16 of this thread. Lots of pictures. I never did pipe work before either. In fact....I have never even welded much before. Its evident when you look at my work!

Just curious if anyone has ridden a YZ144? How would it compare to the Huskys?

Seems like they have a pretty complete package with one of the best suspensions going, a reliable well-tested motor and GYTR 144 kit.