WR250X

[Cookie Monster]

Also installed the mirrors. Unfortunately (again), the aftermarket bar wouldn't allow the bar clamps to fit since it's thicker than stock. I could get the left side on with the regular bar clamp, but on the right side there was no way it'd fit, so I just got a longer bolt for the master cylinder on the bottom and cut the clamp part off the mirror mount and mounted it that way. Seems to work fine. Again, dirt bike.

So, riding with this mirror setup showed me that the right mirror was too far back and to the right, and I couldn't really see anything without having to lean way back to look into the mirror. I also didn't like how I had such a giant bolt going through the clamp to the master cylinder bracket so I redid the mount.

Before:



I found a piece of L angle aluminum in the garage, cut off the L bit and got a tiny piece of flat aluminum to work with to make a bracket of sorts. I filed the edges off and drilled two holes:



This is how it looks now:



Turns out the bolt I bought to mount the mirror clamp to the bracket was too short, so I ended up using the giant bolt that was holding the mirror to the master cylinder bracket, and now there's a giant amount of bolt sticking through the other side:



Luckily it doesn't come close to hitting anything, including the bar or the starter wires, so I'm just going to leave it like that. I was just going to test fit it today but it was such a bitch to get on and get everything aligned that I'm just going to keep it that way for now, since it doesn't rub anything. Maybe if I get bored in the future I'll get a shorter bolt there.

Position seems to be better, though. I'll be able to tell tomorrow.

[BimmerM3]

Now whenever you explain your riding to your friends you can use "brap braaaap" for everything. 

Braaap?

[Cookie Monster]

Removed the airbox flapper solenoid:



Looks a little cleaner now:




I was about to gear up and go for a test ride when USPS dropped off the quick turn throttle and grips that I wasn't expecting to receive for another week!

[Cookie Monster]

New grips!

I might end up trimming the ends off if I get hand guards... we'll see.

[Cookie Monster]

Ok, ended up tinkering with the controls a bit to get them placed properly, then bolted the flapper down so it stays open. Most people seem to JB weld it open or use a self tapping screw but I found that you can drill a hole straight down into the air filter area of the air box so I was able to put a bolt and lock nut in the door to keep it open.

I've also ordered some AC filters that are washable. I'm going to cut a giant hole in the airbox door and put the filter in it.

[CaminoRacer]

Foam filters or K&N style?

[Cookie Monster]

Foam filters or K&N style?

It's a foam filter in there right now. Just going to put a sheet of AC foam in front to help keep any dirt or water out hopefully.

[CaminoRacer]

Do you have sticky filter spray too? That's what I put on my pods.

[Cookie Monster]

Yeah, I had to remove the filter to fish out a washer I dropped and my hands were covered with sticky stuff.

[CaminoRacer]

[giant_mtb]

Ok, ended up tinkering with the controls a bit to get them placed properly, then bolted the flapper down so it stays open. Most people seem to JB weld it open or use a self tapping screw but I found that you can drill a hole straight down into the air filter area of the air box so I was able to put a bolt and lock nut in the door to keep it open.

I've also ordered some AC filters that are washable. I'm going to cut a giant hole in the airbox door and put the filter in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Uni-Filter-UFV-6-Foam-Filtered/dp/B0022ZN76K

[Cookie Monster]

Airbox door mod complete! Hopefully I still will have all that sweet intake noise but a bit more protection for the filter.

[Cookie Monster]

So I spent a while looking at hand guards online and finally settled on the Acerbis Rally Pro, but for $90 I wasn't sure. My friend sent me a link for some eBay handguard and it turns out it's a knockoff of the Rally Pro handguards for $25.

[MrH]

Alright, so now I'm completely confused.  You sold your comfy commuter bike for the equivalent of a bike miata.  And you're going to essentially autoX and track that.  And it's also your DD.  And then you also have a F4 as a track bike?  So you've sold all semblance of practicality and comfort and made your DD into a track weapon.  And you've got another project bike to also turn into a track bike.

This is the exact same thing you did with your miata too

[Cookie Monster]

Alright, so now I'm completely confused.  You sold your comfy commuter bike for the equivalent of a bike miata.  And you're going to essentially autoX and track that.  And it's also your DD.  And then you also have a F4 as a track bike?  So you've sold all semblance of practicality and comfort and made your DD into a track weapon.  And you've got another project bike to also turn into a track bike.

This is the exact same thing you did with your miata too

To be honest, I don't know how much actual track time this bike will see, since it's not that powerful and I don't want to wring its neck out constantly. The kart tracks are much, much tighter so it'll feel more at home there.

There is a guy who tracks his WR250X at Thunderhill and is pretty quick on it, but the CBR would be better suited to the big tracks, I think.

This bike will see kart track time, commuting duty, touring rides, and dirt once I can find some dirt wheels for it. Basically a do-it-all kind of bike.

And yes, my choice of giving up the windscreen and heated grips and smoothness of the FJ was not lost on me when I was freezing my ass off on the way to SF today.

[Cookie Monster]

Speaking of the kart track, it looks like I need axle, frame and peg sliders to get on the track. That's like $300 in small plastic parts.

[SVT_Power]

Speaking of the kart track, it looks like I need axle, frame and peg sliders to get on the track. That's like $300 in small plastic parts.

Stop going down and you won't need any of those

[MX793]

Stop going down and you won't need any of those

That's more to protect the track surface than the bike.  You should see all of the deep gouges in the asphalt on Tail of the Dragon from people low-siding and their peg and axles tear into the pavement.

[Cookie Monster]

Yeah, most tracks, kart or not, require sliders of some sort...

[Cookie Monster]

Gas mileage took a hit from 61 mpg to 56. The 56 mpg was all highway and the 61 was twisties, but I added some fuel on the controller to get rid of the popping and backfiring so the lower mpg makes sense.

[Cookie Monster]

Handguards are coming today.

Hopefully they won't be too difficult to install.

I also ordered a Righteous Stunt Clutch. It's an easy-pull clutch lever, which will not only help me do clutch up wheelies, but my hand has been hurting a bit while riding in traffic so having an even lighter clutch will be nice. Good thing I got the handguards to protect that lever (although it's a billet aluminum lever with a lifetime warranty).

[SVT_Power]

Handguards are coming today.

Hopefully they won't be too difficult to install.

I also ordered a Righteous Stunt Clutch. It's an easy-pull clutch lever, which will not only help me do clutch up wheelies, but my hand has been hurting a bit while riding in traffic so having an even lighter clutch will be nice. Good thing I got the handguards to protect that lever (although it's a billet aluminum lever with a lifetime warranty).

Lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects? That probably doesn't cover when rider drops the bike and damages the lever? 

[Cookie Monster]

Lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects? That probably doesn't cover when rider drops the bike and damages the lever? 

They cover crashes too.

[giant_mtb]

Hmm. Not that my clutch isn't light enough already, but those are kinda interesting.  Plus I'd like a shorty cause even now 2-finger clutching still means ramming the clutch into my third. 

[Cookie Monster]

Do it! $130 seemed kind of expensive, but it's really not bad considering you get the perch too and it's hand made billet aluminum. I paid $100 for mass produced CRG's on the FJ.

[giant_mtb]

Do it! $130 seemed kind of expensive, but it's really not bad considering you get the perch too and it's hand made billet aluminum. I paid $100 for mass produced CRG's on the FJ.

Gahhhh maybe next summer. I've only got a couple months (maybe) left in riding season.

[Cookie Monster]

Fair enough. You can get all the parts ready to throw on for next summer so it feels like a completely different bike, though.


I'm looking into a HealTech gear counter as well. I've been spoiled by the gear indicator on the FJ and miss it now. I can live without it, though, so I'll just do some research on it for now. Need seat and tank first.

[giant_mtb]

Who needs a gear counter?  You'll get used to it. You'll learn what gear you're in just by how fast you're going and what revs you're at.



Do you look at the gear indicator on your stickshift?  I'm guessing you know what gear you're in at any given time.  Takes a while to get there, but the same will happen on the bike.

Unless you just feel like spending money on gadgets, then I feel you.

And true about the lever.  Maybe I'll buy one over the winter if I have some cash to spend.

[Cookie Monster]

Uh... in a car each gear has a different position so it's not like it's hard to tell what gear you're in on an H-pattern shifter.

On a bike the shifter returns back to the same position. Plus I don't have a tach so that makes it even harder to tell what gear I'm in. On the F4i I could tell which gear I was in based on the tach and speed I was going at (6th gear at 6k rpm was around 70 mph), but I can't even do that on the WR.

If I don't have to cut the stock harness anywhere (which I don't think I have to) I might get it.

[Cookie Monster]

Chris, if you ever need replacement handguards, look into the eBay sets (unless you knew that already). Seriously, the same as the Acerbis Rally Pro for 1/3 the price. It looks amazing and all the hardware is super nice. Everything went together really well and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. I am going to order a shorter brake lever on eBay because the one on there now is pretty close to the hand guard. I actually had to slide the whole thing in a little bit to get some clearance.

Tomorrow I'll look into getting a low profile lock nut for the rear brake pedal adjuster. I've run out of room to lower the pedal any further because the lock nut on there now is super tall. If I can get a shorter one I will gain a bit of clearance and be able to get the brake pedal lower. I want to try doing wheelies so I need to be able to easily cover the rear brake.