any tips on getting the 250 2 stroke to handle better?

[YaRdApe]

[quote="O'Brien#178"]If you're using real world ideas then increasing the rear preload puts more weight on the front....although theres a fine line between front end weight and instability in braking bumps. Also have tried using the rider spring and damping? the higher the spring the more forward he is (might be the opposite i can't remember, pretty sure thats right) the higher the spring the more damping i find is needed otherwise he moves around really fast![/quot



This is bang on!... and if you guys did a little back history checking on here, you would find that JLV based the 250 2 strokes on the 2006-08 KX250 chassis. Then if you look up the racetech suspension site which a ton of people mention on this forum. You will notice that they recommend running the rear pre-load at 6mm, where as they run every other bike at 5mm. So, O'brien is actually helping this guy out... instead of just arguing back and forth.... so, yes the 250 2 strokes handle better with more rear pre-load, because of the chassis JLV used for the model for in-game physics

[richy34]

The 250 feels like it has very soft suspension compared to the 450, almost always if I'm having a problem in whoops for example on the 450 a 250 with the same suspension gets through perfect.

As far as the front end feeling light, I can't say I've had that problem with them, but you can try what al167 said by lowering the rider mass distribution to lessen the wheelying effect. You can try inceasing the shock compression damping too. The suspension he suggested might work good for outdoors (maybe a little too soft) but for SX you'd be bottoming everywhere.

Personally I find the 250's very hard to ride well in SX, but the bikes feel amazing outdoors imo. Love them outdoors but SX not so much, I'll take the 125 indoors (current tileinfo is a little grippy for it though, easy to bog). But on the 250 stock 0,0 gearing revved at 8.5k in 2nd off the gate can pull 450's in my experience.

form my xp i feel like i can take corner so much faster on a 450 or even a 250f i just cant ride as good on a 250.

i have used the cr250 for a while and it handles the best but is super slow lol.
currently trying the rm250

[SOAB_465]

...JLV based the 250 2 strokes on the 2006-08 KX250 chassis...

Q: HOW DOES THE 2006 KX250 HANDLE?


A: The most evident handling characteristic of the 2006 KX250 is exhibited at turn-in (when the front wheel is first turned). Turn-in results in a freewheeling castering effect. There is no bite. After a brief sensation of oversteer, the KX rider has to release pressure on the front wheel to get the front end to grip because it starts to understeer severely. As a rule, the KX has a tendency to stand up in any corner that doesn’t have a berm. This makes it perfect for railing the outside line and less than perfect on fast flat turns. In our opinion, this is a flawed chassis. The stinkbug rear end hampers not only the rear suspension, but the handling as well.

The 2007 KX250 handling wasn’t any better. It was a turn-and-stomp chassis. What is that? When the KX250 turned, the front end stepped out so fast that you had to stomp your boot on the ground to drag it back in.

Your best bet is to set the front end up soft enough that it will settle and bite in the corners, and then be very precise with your inputs to keep it from knifing, and just accept that sometimes you'll be laying upside-down at the bottom of a bowl turn and not know why

[MotoGoon31]

If you're using real world ideas then increasing the rear preload puts more weight on the front....although theres a fine line between front end weight and instability in braking bumps. Also have you tried using the rider spring and damping? the higher the spring the more forward he is (might be the opposite i can't remember, pretty sure thats right) the higher the spring the more damping i find is needed otherwise he moves around really fast!

Is this true? does rider spring move the rider forward & backwards? I always thought that the spring was how far he could move. I thought mass distribution moved him forward on the bike?

With this being the subject at hand here... should i have a higher than normal (90+) rider spring for both vertical & forward settings?

[Finalmushroom]

If you're using real world ideas then increasing the rear preload puts more weight on the front....although theres a fine line between front end weight and instability in braking bumps. Also have you tried using the rider spring and damping? the higher the spring the more forward he is (might be the opposite i can't remember, pretty sure thats right) the higher the spring the more damping i find is needed otherwise he moves around really fast!

Is this true? does rider spring move the rider forward & backwards? I always thought that the spring was how far he could move. I thought mass distribution moved him forward on the bike?

With this being the subject at hand here... should i have a higher than normal (90+) rider spring for both vertical & forward settings?

I lowered my forward spring from 90 to 72 and kept the dampening at 40 and I love the difference. I had to make changes to the suspension to handle the whoops like it used to but my stability was much better as well as my bike seems to not move as much from my controller inputs. I ride a lot more consistent now and I enjoy the ride more. The rider does move slower now compared to before at 90.
The mass for sure is where the riders weight is placed on the rider himself. .50 being more top heavy if I'm not mistaken.
I thought the same thing for a while but was told by a bunch of riders and JLV that this wasn't the case.

I'm currently trying to figure out why the fast guys have a high mass .48 to .50 and I'm assuming have to increase their sensitivity to compensate. I'm assuming more weight higher so they can apply more torque on the bike to seat bounce and things of that nature. I run a .43 with a "stiffer" advanced and it feels normal to me. lol.

Just my two cents. (I'm not the best rider but maybe this will help).

-Jake