Was going to get new springs for the 2010 but saw this in great shape and a reasonable price so decided to jump on this and then look at selling the older one.
RM-Z 250 parts list and exploded diagrams
Sag – stand 25 3/8, static 23 1/2, race 21 1/2
I was not happy with the handling on the RMZ 250 after riding the YZ250F again, checked the static sag and it seemed to suggest that the spring is too stiff. An aftermarket spring is about $200, not sure about fork springs. Even with new springs it looks like the suspension has been into MCR Suspension probably for re-valving?? So decided to list it and get something else but ended up buying another RMZ, check it out here.
Finally some nice weather and good track conditions. GoPro mounts installed, all the bikes seem to be running ok. Jake wasn’t afraid to have a go at sending it over jump 9 …
Location: Midhurst, Barrie
Tracks: Two – main and 50cc
Comments: The main track is great and suitable for all riders, beginners to experts, although beginners might find it a bit intimidating at first. Limited facilities and very limited opening times, friendly atmosphere.
Location: Chatsworth
Tracks: Three – main, beginner and learner
Comments: Lots of facilities including cafe, paintball, washrooms/showers, camping, frequent open times.
Location: Woodstock
Tracks: One
Comments: Secret club? Only has Facebook page with minimum information for website.
Location: Tillsonburg
Tracks: Four – main, arenacross, peewee and beginner, plus trails
Comments: Sandy
Location: Goderich
Tracks: Two? – main and 50cc
Comments: ?
I picked this up for the little guy, looks to be in good shape. The clutch bites late so it might need new plates and it has a DEP exhaust that makes the power band a bit too vicious for him to learn clutch and gears with so I’ll try to pick up a stock exhaust. Tried installing the flywheel weight tonight but it fouls the cover. The chain was extremely loose and despite what I thought, there was enough adjustment left to get it in spec, I also need to install the new fork seals that came with it.
Bit of a big step up from the PW80 but I think he’ll be ripping this around in no time.
RM 65 parts list and exploded diagrams
1.6L direct injection turbo 190HP
Front wheel drive
5 doors
6 speed manual
2960 lbs
5 seats
Josh was looking for a car but when I saw this going for a good price, my family convinced me to jump on it and give Josh the Golf GTI. It has 250,000 Kms but the seller rust proofed the underside for me and it came with new brakes all round and all season tires.
AC not blowing cold – took it in to a local garage for system health check, they couldn’t find any leaks so told them to top up the coolant and we’ll see how it goes – $450!!!!! Seems a lot to me when the DIY kits are about $70 but they also use a conditioner that helps maintain the seals.
They also said that the cabin air filter needed replacing and one of the CV boots was torn, I got a filter from CT for $40 and installed myself and booked it in again for the CV boot (the Porsche is not reliable enough yet for me to tackle the boot on a weekend).
Checked the oil level at the weekend and it was almost off the bottom of the dipstick!!! Topped it up and will keep a closer eye on it but there’s no sign of drips underneath so it’s likely blowing past the piston rings and if that’s the case, it will mean major surgery.
Since I have upgraded the air filter and muffler and deleted the resonator, I think I’m probably over 200HP now so I felt justified in having Rick make me a Nismo badge, installed it last night.
The CEL came on at the weekend with P0101 MAF out of range code again. Cleaned the MAF sensor again and checked the wiring, then cleared the code but it came back immediately?? Checked for vacuum leaks by spraying Quick Start (ether) around the engine bay but it seemed fine. Cleared the code again, stayed off for 2 days so far.
Idle was a bit off on the way home from work, it could be relearning stuff after the muffler but just in case, I cleaned the throttle valve with Sea Foam and a cotton bud.
Stillen Muffler: Picked this up from a guy on Kijiji, traded for an Xbox 360. When I checked mine, it is quite different and has no flange at the muffler. In fact since there was no flange installed when the resonator was deleted, the entire exhaust from the turbo back is all one piece including the cat!
It took some cutting and welding with a couple of adapters but we got it installed and I think it sounds great! Also made a significant difference to the performance, Stillen suggest +13HP and that seems about right to me, it definitely pulls better and is generally a better/smoother drive.
Tuning: it seems that getting a tune on this thing is not going to be easy. A lot of places say they can’t connect to the ECU and the ones that can want mega bucks (like $1100) and haven’t even tuned a Juke before – crazy if you ask me! The best option so far seems to be an ECU-Tek Programming Kit from Visconti that works out at about $960 with shipping and allows me to flash the ECU with ‘off the shelf’ roms. It’s a lot of money for something that is licensed to ONLY one vehicle and might well only be used once.
CEL Misfire on Cyl #4 – New spark plugs, NGK 91215 DILKAR7C9H, also swapped coils 1 and 4 When I punched it to overtake someone the other day, I started getting some hesitation and then the CEL started flashing indicating that there had been some misfires. I pulled the pending code that indicated the misfire was on cylinder 4 only so I figured the first place to start was spark plugs. CarQuest was able to get me some at a very reasonable price so I ordered 4 and installed them, also swapped coils on cylinders 1 and 4 just in case. The plug in cylinder 4 was the worst and was well worn, wouldn’t be surprised if it was original!
Just picked this up (Jan 2019), really wasn’t sure about getting another 4 stroke but couldn’t find a nice 2 stroke and got a great deal on this.
RM-Z 250 parts list and exploded diagrams
Jun 2019
Race sag = 98mm, static sag = 46mm – static sag is too high, need softer spring
Jan 2019
Race sag = 95mm, static sag = 41mm, preload length 255mm
All damper settings set to stock
Valve clearances:
Exhaust 0.17 – 0.24mm (0.007 – 0.009″)
Actuals Jan 2019: L 0.178mm, R 0.178mm
Intake 0.09 – 0.16mm (0.0035 – 0.006″)
Actuals Jan 2019: L 0.152mm, R 0.127mm
Saw this on Kijiji and thought it would be good for us all to play with and even for the wife to use as a pit bike at the MX track. Sadly when I got it home I found that most of the stuff I was told about it was not accurate …
“Brand new rear rim and hub assembly” – really, with dirt all over the hub and sprocket, a bent spoke with broken nipple and a dent in the rim???
“Upgraded battery pack” – looks like 4 x 10Ah SLA batteries to me, same as stock, what’s upgraded about it?
“It’s only been ridden about half a dozen times” – it’s 5 years old! And I suppose that in those 12 hours (charge lasts about 2 hours) the rear tire was worn down, and a lot of the stickers fell off???
Also, the rebound adjuster on both the forks AND shock was damaged so they wouldn’t turn, the rear end has been smashed so hard that the mount screw for the rear shock was bent and the bushing trashed, the steel bead in the rear tire was all bent, the front mudguard was snapped in half, there was no air pressure in the forks and the battery cover was under the battery.
Oh well, this all just shows that I should perhaps not be so trusting and do a better job of inspecting stuff before I buy.
Set to work on it. No room in the garage, sat it in the trailer,
After the MaxTakeoff treatment,
The torque on this thing is insane, but being a trials bike, it’s not very fast. You need to be super careful with the throttle response setting and it takes a bit of getting used to especially when riding slowly. It’s really designed for kids 9-12 years old but it is well made with decent components and easily copes with my 5’9″ and 160lbs. I was sold on it after watching this video,
We’re planning on frequent visits to the track this year and I wanted to be able to transport all 4 dirt bikes and keep all the riding gear out of the rain. We rented an open trailer from U-Haul last summer when we went camping but it was only 5’x8′ so could only really fit 3 bikes. I was looking at bigger open trailers but I soon found that I would have to increase my budget or buy brand new from Canadian Tire where I could get interest free equal payments on their credit card. As usual, the budget crept up until I found this 6’x10′ enclosed trailer.
It has some issues but seems to be pretty solid and once I’ve cleared out the shelving, I think we should be able to get 4 bikes in.
Sure enough there’s a good bit of room even with all the bikes loaded.
So I made a box to put the toolbox and gas cans in.
Now with the new seat,
YZ250Fw parts list and exploded diagrams
Valve clearances:
Exhaust 0.17 – 0.22mm (0.0067 – 0.0087″)
Actuals Dec2017: L 0.203mm, R 0.178mm
Actuals Jun2018: L 0.203mm, R 0.178+mm
Actuals Dec2018: L 0.178mm, R 0.178mm
Shims: L 1.72mm, R 1.75mm
New Shims: L 1.70mm, R 1.73mm
Actuals Jan2019: L 0.203mm, R 0.178+mm
Intake 0.10 – 0.15mm (0.0039 – 0.0059″)
Actuals Dec2017: L 0.102mm, M 0.102mm, R 0.127mm
Actuals Jun2018: L 0.127mm, M 0.127mm, R 0.127mm
Actuals Dec2018: L 0.102mm, M 0.127mm, R 0.127mm
Shims: L 1.76mm, M 1.73mm, R 1.72mm
New Shims: L 1.72mm, M 1.72mm, R 1.70mm
Actuals Jan2019: L 0.152mm, M 0.127mm, R 0.152
Aug 18: Backed off pilot air screw ~1/4 turn to address hanging idle and tough warm starts (although we weren’t following the procedure in the manual)
After losing confidence in the YZ250F reliability due to the valve failure, I listed it on Kijiji for trade for a 2 stroke. I was offered a 2004 KTM 125sx that was ‘ready to ride’ and when I checked the reviews, this was the year that they sorted out the poor rear suspension. So I met the guy and my heart sank when I saw the condition of the bike and the huge dent in the expansion chamber but it started ok and sounded alright and for some reason, I went through with the trade. When I ran the VIN, I found out that it is actually a 2003, great but at least the VIN was not reported stolen.
When I got it home and started looking closer I found all sorts of little issues, front fender wobbling, play in front wheel bearings and rear shock lower bearing, bent rear sub frame, fork seals leaking, it looks like this poor thing has just been neglected – I would not class this as ready to ride. It amazes me how people will sell something without even washing it??? Pretty disappointed with the accuracy of the description but I could have walked away and the issues really are relatively minor … so far. So I got started on fixing it up, here’s a more recent pic,
125sx parts list and exploded diagrams
Jan 2010
Race sags: Josh/Jake = 95mm, Stu = 114mm, static sag = 44mm
Jet needle set to middle notch
24 Aug 2018
Compression damping on rear shock = stock + 2 clicks
Compression damping on forks = stock – 6 clicks
Jet needle lowered to 2nd notch from top to address mid throttle sputter – we’ll see??
Original
Race sag (Stu) = 105mm, static sag = 30mm
