125-200cc Threes company

Had a small gathering of fellow husky riders yesterday. Met a couple of guys -watky and surfing boyo

Two other 2010 150 Xc s and my 08 wr 165 with cr ignition
Did a bit of swapping around and these were my thoughts
The 150 Xc /wr feels a lot slower revving . Gets along ok once it going but tends to fall easier towards the end of hill climbs . luke (watkys) 150 was well set up with rm needle and 5 slide but still not as responsive as my old 09 cr 150 or the 165
The others thought the 165 made " electric "power and both guys are thinking about the conversion especially matt who s bike wasn't quite running right
The smoothness of the 165 was very apparent and immediacy of the power. i think the older 08 head has a lot to do with the smoothness . Walt may have an opinion on this
I've really noticed a difference between the power delivery of the newer 09 on cylinder compared to the 08
The 09 on comes on quite aggressively and doesn't seem to have the same over rev
My 08 does have a longer muffler but i don't think is the only reason for this.
Other comments were that the 08 felt bigger and longer and more stable especially the front end
Being fairly tall the 08 suits me best
I still want to pick up some of the loss of top end since doing the modified Aussie head may need to try switching back from the pwk 36mm to a mikuni 38mm
For me though the take home message is the cr ignition is the number 1 mod i would be doing

RD great insight on how different bikes are set up and how they handle thanks.

No prob.
The other guys are still playing with jetting a lot but i think they just need to do either the 165 or cr ignition swap
I've never been able to get any of my wr igition 125 or 144 bikes running perfect
Matt rode my bike and got off shaking his head saying that's amaizing "how do I get my bike to go like that?"
He tried a mid hill re start band was impressed with how the bike could pull away and get traction mid hill
I was bit shocked at the difference too I guess we get used to a certain set up

What's involved in the ignition swap? Is there a thread on here about it? With piccies preferably
Cheers.
I will most likely go 165 when this top end is done can't wait!

There a few threads - look in index for some of them
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/wr125-to-cr-ignition-mod-notes.18774/

The hard part is getting the cr flywheel/stator , cdi and coil - all of which have to be changed
without buying them new which would be too expensive
There are aftermarket options available - Horse Power Ignition - from memory
for around $300

The 08 cylinder with 7 ports instead of 5 is a lot smoother as a 125 or 165 . Both my 09 cr and the wr /xc have a harder hit as a 125/144 but seems to drop off sooner.
My old 06 and 02 FBF cylinder was also smooth in comparison to newer cyilinder . Funny I am still learning stuff on these bikes after 5 years .

I seem to recall I was the only one that didn't fiddle with jetting on the day other then 1/2 turn on the air screw at the start . But yeah going to put the 32.5 pilot back in it as it certainly felt weaker down low with the 30 pilot in it.
Caned the idea of getting a pipe, instead I'll set it up with a CR ignition/fww if I decide to keep the bike.
I wonder if you could just put a smaller FWW on with the WR ignition and see a difference.

The 165 felt great from Bottom - mid, seamless power from the get go. It just seemed to sign off too early & feel flat in the top end compared to the 144.

I did adjust my needle to try make sure she s. not too lean as i am watching for detonation ,
I must also say the 125 fatty may be holding back the top end but the original head had more top end before the compression ratio was changed to suit oz fuel
Thing is you just get the hit and change gear and she has the pull for the next gear

You can lighten the wr flywheel

any more info on this? i'd really like to try doing this before sourcing all CR ign parts. i have a spare WR flywheel.

thanks for the bike comparison!

EDIT: BTW, that trailer is super sexxy, i dig it

The 125 pipe doesn't help the 165 where it makes great hay, bottom to mid, and holds the motor back where the timing is correct because of the restriction of the smaller diameters. The 200 Fatty which is the best of the all around pipes bottom to top makes better top than the 125 pipe. The top end 200 pipes have better bottom than the 125 pipe and really make far better upper mid to top end. I have run mine with the 125 fatty pipe and it is still a nice motor but you are just leaving a lot on the table. JMO

Not my trailer it's watky s
There was a thread on here where someone set the flywheel up in a drill press and made a pattern of holes with reportedly good results



Walt I know what you are saying and another pipe is on the list.

I will also say I am running slightly rich as I am still getting the Keihin set up after running the Mikuni last time I rode it.

It still makes heaps of bottom and spins up the back wheel so easily
The faster rider - Matt really liked the power delivery and commented it still had good top end .
his comment on another forum "and lapper( RD ) , i now want a 165 kit...
that was amazing, such smooth linear power."

Of course the top end revs are lower than a 144 or 125.
But the power is now in the right place for 90 percent of situations
When the dirt mags tested Meos World championship winning 250 f they were expecting a top end screamer but found that it was set up for low to mid - a grunt machine.
We all need help on the hills on these little bikes..

What I like the most about my bike at the moment is that with the extra torque I can corner much better and sharper using the throttle to slide the back wheel as needed

I like the 09 onwards handling better in that it turns a bit tighter and is balanced more to the rear but the bigger and more stable feel of the older frame to me makes them pretty even
A big bar riser helps the 09 for me but still feels smaller than the other older frame

The additional grunt available immediately from just off idle that I noticed on my short stint on the bike would be hugely beneficial on hill climbs, especially trickier climbs or if a restart is needed on the climb.
Honestly the power delivery is totally different to any other bike I've ridden. Its like a sowing machine where you press the peddle & the needle immediately speeds up.
Twist the throttle on that 165 and the response is instant yet smooth.
Wish I never road the bike Because now I know what I'm missing.

OK, thanks. i have that old thread bookmarked somewhere... wasn't sure if there was more progress on that mod by others since then.

Ok - just an update on carb tuning on the 165
I tried to go leaner on my 36mm Keihin PWK ( to a 170 with 35 pilot ) and it helped but still felt it was holding back something
I have just swapped over to the older 38mm Mikuni TMX with 380 main and tried a leaner 17.5 pilot ( down from a 27.5) .
It went really well felt very good down low very crisp
and hit harder - pulled real hard from mid to top
Definitely more top than with the 36mm PWK
Feels like it breathes better
Plug looks maybe a tad light so I will try a slightly richer needle setting - as its on 1 at the moment

Hi Rockdancer,

I recently changed the jetting on my (previously 2010 XC 125) now 165 which runs the TMX Mikuni (different to yours????) to the rm needle (middle clip) and a 5 slide and 460 main with a 15 pilot, and it ran very crisp. Still some pinging (minor). The main in particular is the same as the XC 150. I have the KTM 200 fatty pipe. I have only done 4.4 hrs on it and still sorting the jetting, and in discussion with Walt on the pinging.

Would you happen to have any contacts that have older huskies for vinduro (pre 85), may be looking to buy one. Are the older WR 125's (80 -85) as good in the woods as the new ones and what were the motors like ???

Best regards,