125-200cc Look what followed me home from...

... Upstate Cycle in Greenville, SC! Ever since buying the CR 125 last month, the kid won't let me ride it... so I fixed that problem today! Many thanks to Gerald, Mike and the rest of the gang at Upstate Cycle for being straight-up and down-to-earth GREAT people!

Well, I have plenty of bills too. I ride to help me forget about them!

congrats on the new addition, bet that baby rips

you and the son are destined for some unbelievable ride time with those two steeds... I would have really enjoyed riding with my dad back when I was in my teens riding a 125.

I am really looking forward to a ride report. My WR300 is still sitting in a corner in my garage waiting for the snow to go away.

wow can't wait to here how she runs

I don't know you, but I think I hate you.

RIDE REPORT:

What a monster! I conducted the break-in runs on some reasonably tight double trails with lots of ruts, roots, rocks and mud. The thing that sticks in my mind the most was the incredible difference in handling between my TE250 and the WR300. The TE liked to push through tight turns and, as expected felt heavier all around. The WR sliced through turns predictably and without drama. It feels a lot lighter in all situations than the TE. The 300's low end is great and allowed me to lug through the trails like a 4 stroke when I didn't want to go fast and keep it spooled. This is one thing that is different from the CR125... the 125 needs more revving, shifting and clutching to get the most from it (which is completely understandable).

The other difference I noticed between the 125 and the 300 was the fact that the 300 is just heavy enough to keep things planted when things got bouncy. The 125's front wheel tends to get wild and bounce around in the choppy stuff (choppy stuff meaning ruts and rocks and roots... not whoops or typical MX track stuff).

Unlike a few reviews I read which suggest the 300 has a lag in the middle of the power band, mine felt smooth and predicatable with little or no "on-off" hit. Shifting was smooth and neutral is easy to find. The clutch pull is a bit on the heavy side (compared to the 125 which is one of the best cable clutches I've felt), but engagement is smooth.

After I got the break in done, Cody took it to the track and flogged it for about 30 minutes. I had the suspension set for my 185 lbs, so needless to say, his 125 lb. body got jackhammered pretty good. He mentioned that it handled a lot like the CRF250R but was too stiff (see suspension settings above). He also mentioned the heavy clutch. Naturally, he liked the power... a lot! In fact, he made some snide comment to me afterwards that he was worried it was too much bike for me and that he didn't want me to get hurt on it!

The Cons:

The engine likes to vibrate. Although, in fairness, as it broke in throughout the day things got a bit smoother.

I think the pilot jet may be a tad rich as the engine had the slightest burble immediately coming off closed throttle.

The REALLY bad:

At the end of the day, just after my son rode it on the track, I noticed coolant splashed all over the head. At first, I thought one of the two coolant hoses going into the top of the jug was leaking as the coolant was puddling in a recessed area at the dome bolt closest to the carb (immediately in front of the brace holding the jug to the frame). I tightened the hose clamps to no avail and it became obvious the leak was actually coming from the dome itself! I puckered, fearing the worst (defective casting, crack, etc.). I got it home, drained the coolant, removed the two hoses and found that the dome bolt was loose enough to spin with two fingers. In fact it was so loose, I had to spin it finger tight just to get the ratchet to operate while tightening! After tightening, I started it several times and let things get plenty hot. No more leak! WHEW!

nice ride report

Check your engine mount bolts for proper torque.

Same exact thing with mine! It was spot-on perfect back when it was colder around here,...but now that it's hitting 70* for daytime highs I've got the burble right at the first crack of the throttle too. What pilot jet do we need? I tried opening the air screw a half turn,...that worked (somewhat) at 50-60 degrees,...but above 70* it's obvious the pilot is just too fat.

I get some crazy conflicting info when reading about the jetting. By some reports we have a 400 main and a 35 pilot,...but I've also seen 380 main and 17.5 pilot...? Then again there's supposedly a limited power version of our bike that's street legal in Europe, so maybe that's getting mixed up in there too.
I'd just like to have the right assortment of jets on hand before I crack the carb open,...know what I mean?

My bike blows black spooge all over my rear fender and it runs down the silencer housing,...with the fat pilot, and 32:1 ratio, at 70*+ temps.
Does yours? Will switching to 40:1 after break-in help any?

I had a coolant leak too. Not at the head, but down where that big weirdo hose that comes off the bottom of the radiators connects to the water pump cover. I tried tightening the clamp, but I must've cut through the inner wall of the hose, because now it seeps through the "fiber pockets" in the cross section of the end of the hose. Got a new one on the way from Hall's.
What did you put back in your bike for coolant after you torqued the head bolt and stopped the leak?

Well, I gotta get off here and call Upstate Cycles about those frame guards now,...wish me luck.

As far as jets, Gerald from Upstate Cycle mentioned that our Mikunis (as well as the one on my CR 125) are special OEM production for Husky only and apparently the slide, needles and jets will have to come from Husky. He wasn't 100% sure about the jets themselves being different, but the slide and needles are apparently Husky-only.

Mine blows a little spooge and I'm burning 32:1 as well. I think the right pilot and 40:1 will help a lot. I also lowered the needle (raised the clip) a notch this weekend due to the 70+ ambient temp. I had no burble when riding the needle.

I had the pump hose leak too. Gerald caught it during the pre-delivery inspection and fixed it by putting some sealing goop on the nipple. No leak now.

I put Engine Ice back in my radiator. I've used it on my four strokes with great results.

I'll try checking the torque on the engine mount bolts.

Thanks and good luck with the guards.

Going from a 32:1 to a 40:1 mixture will actually richen your jetting (less oil molecules = more gas molecules in the mixture). More gas in the mix = less air in mix = richer jetting. It may reduce the amount of spooge dripping from the silencer, but at the cost of reduced lubrication to the crank and potentially ring seal and life. Always jet for your mixture and never alter your mixture for the jetting. With that said, I run Klotz R50 32:1 in all my strokes and jet for that mix only.

The problem is your combustion chamber is not getting hot enough for a complete burn of the gas/oil mixture. The chamber is hot enough to burn the raw fuel, but leaves the oil behind and sends it out the exhaust ports as spooge. Got to get that chamber burning hotter.

You've got a few options as I see it.

-Reduce the amount of fuel mix vs. air entering the chamber via smaller jets. Works great up to a certain point, but the consequences can be bad (lean seizure, detonation)

-Run a hotter plug. A band aid fix IMO and can lead to excessive heat damage on the piston.

-Tighten the squish in the head. The real fix IMO. These are mass produced machines with semi-tight tolerances. An optimal squish clearance (between the piston crown at TDC and the edge of the combustion chamber) is subject for debate as a race motor that will never have a worn bottom end can get away with .025" or less squish. Our trail motors may go hundreds of hours without a bottom end rebuild, so we do not want to walk the line so tightly and risk the piston hitting the head as the crank bearings wear. I run my motors at .045" squish and have the dome machined to bring it back to stock compression.

I cant speak on the Husky (as I haven't even ridden it yet ), but I have lots of experience with this on Yamaha YZ's. When my 06' yz250 was bone stock it would spooge no matter what. I mean it.... going from 32:1 to 40:1 had no impact. Leaning out the power jet, pilot, needle had no effect. Once the head was cut from .062" down to 0.45" it was gone. Immediately. The head and its loose tolerance was not allowing for a complete burn in the dome. After that, I could jet it spot on every time and the throttle response went from good to excellent. Best $70 I've spent, bar none.

Once I get the 300 broken in and some seat time I'll take a squish reading and see where it is. I'm guessing its going to be on the loose side and the squish work will be of great benefit. It's all speculation at this point, but I've yet to see any mass produced engine within an acceptable range.

Hope you enjoyed my thesis. I dont mean to sound like a know-it-all (which I'm certainly not), but I do have some knowledge with 2 stroke building and jetting and everything I've stated is based upon my personal experience. Take it for what it's worth.

-PC

No way do I think you're acting like a know-it-all! I appreciate you taking the time to offer suggestions based on your experiences. Thanks!

Oh I know you know of what you speak PC,...I've read volumes about this squish clearance written by Clay Wolfe on KTMtalk. Clay is the big kahuna engine tuner and machinist extraordinare down at Munn Racing KTM in Waco Texas. I even know how to check the squish,...with a piece of solder,...right?

I'm just a bit squeamish about pulling the head off a new motor,...so I tend to try to minimize spooge the best way I can, and just live with what I have to.

Now if I had a riding buddy like you,...that lived nearby, well...........

Check out this link for instructions on how to take the measurement.
http://www.rb-designs.com/squish-band-test.htm
This is from the site of my motor guy, Ron Black. Great guy and machinist!

Anyway, the measurement is easy to take. It'll cost you some new o-rings or head gasket, whatever the husky has.....

Just read carefully about not using the kick starter and dont let the piston drop below the ports with the solder in there. And make sure it lead core solder as it's soft.

I'll be looking into this soon. I've got to ride the thing once before I tear into it though I'll start a new thread when I do.
Apologies to Krieg for thread-jacking!