CRF250X - Second impression

F**kin Honda shop. I'm gonna kill those guys. And The Boy. Must
kill boy.

I had busted ass the past couple of days so my schedule would be free
today. I planned to take the new bike out, and was planning to go
with my son on his CR80. He ended up riding for a bit with a buddy in
the morning, then took off to a skatepark for the afternoon. I lost
motivation, didn't feel like riding alone, and the thought of
bleaching out my Camelbak pushed me over the edge, so I bagged it. At
4:30 or so, The Boy returned, and egged me to take the bikes out (no
doubt post-chastised by Mom, who volunteered to bleach out the
Camelbak). Fine - I went out wearing an Izod shirt, and dress pants
tucked into my MX boots - really.

I grabbed the 5 gal gas tank to top off my tank (which I filled up
last week), but it was empty - The Boy had used it all up making 2-
stink mix. Oh well - the shop guy told me that when they filled the
tank, they put in at least a half tank, which should be good for 25-30
miles. I planned on 15-20 at most, so I figured I was OK. I opened
the tank and shook the bike, and saw gas sloshing around, so I figured
I must've had plenty. Off we went. In retrospect, I think that
seeing sloshing gas doesn't mean nearly as much on a bike that doesn't
have a frame backbone.

A half mile into the woods, the bike died. Odd. I switched to
reserve, and it started right up. Hmmm. I guess I only have 0.4
gallons. I then re-planned, and set off on a shorter ~12 mile loop,
which I figured I could make on 0.4 gallons easily.

Evidently, I had the petcock set on reserve before I put the bike away
the last time, because I didn't have no f'in 0.4 gallons. Precisely 6
miles later, pffft. I was dead in the woods. I tried to do a petcock-
to-petcock transfusion with the CR80, but the 80's fuel line is skinny
and my line wouldn't seal on the petcock. Luckily, I knew exactly
where I was (which is rare), and we walked out to a main road. There
is a construction business office across the street from where we came
out - I rummaged through their garbage and found a length of wire,
which we used as a tow strap. We took the roads back, and The Boy
towed me home with his CR.

JayC

Almost forgot - before I ran out of gas, the bike was running great
most of the time. I had a few severe low-end bogging issues, but I
think I was probably running with low fuel in my carb bowl at the
time. The motor is absolutely not a chugger - it will stall without
warning down low like a 125, but if you're cruising at 30 in 3rd and
mat the throttle, either the front end comes up or the rear wheel
breaks loose (or both). Nice. Actually, the front end spends a lot
of time in the air - my front tire is going to last forever.

I think I'm still short-shifting though - also, even though its called
a wide-ratio tranny, the gears are fairly close together. While
riding the road to the trailhead, I was going somewhere around the
speed limit of 30-35, but found myself in 5th gear (that's all there
is) with the motor at a comfortable RPM. I think it's going to take a
long time to get used to running in the 10k-13k range.

Suspension is a little stiff, and somewhat sluggish. No surprises
though - I expect the bike is loosen up and get more responsive once
the suspension breaks in. I'm running the as-delivered clicker and
sag setup, which is supposed to be for a 180 pound rider. My race sag
measured out at 4 1/4", assuming the springs up front are matched for
weight, everything should be balanced (good enough) - the bike has a
natural-feeling stance and the bike turns very well without feelings
of wanting to push or fold under. Once things loosen up, I'll
probably go to something close to full-out on all of the clickers, as
usual.

JayC