Hi I have a 1996 Rmx 250 and am going to freshen the top end with new piston and rings, I am also planning on installing a .030 thinner head gasket which is suppose to be the same thickness as a 1989 Rm 250. Just wondering if anyone has used this set up and will it be okay with pump gas premium? According to my research this is what most people used when racing the bike offroad, I also currently am running a fmf gnarly pipe and turbine core silencer. Any thoughts would be appreciated
Adam Hausler
96 Rmx 250
01 Drz400e
1996 Rmx 250
Started by
Adam Hausler
, Dec 27 2005 06:52 PM
21 replies to this topic
Posted 27 December 2005 - 07:04 PM
I have the RM headgasket in mine and it seems to run good on pump fuel.
Posted 27 December 2005 - 07:51 PM
Same here - '97 RMX with OEM '89 RM250 head gasket or Cometic HiPo RMX head gasket for 6 straight years with CA 91 octane; runs fine even for a bone-headed jetter like me, with either my FMF Gnarly or PC Platinum.
Do yourself a favor and send the cylinder and head to Eric Gorr. He ports it mildly and reshapes the combustion chamber to smooth the transition to mid boost, and it runs well on the gas you want to use (tell him beforehand). He charges like $150 for both (a steal these days), includes cleaning your exhaust valve and cylinder hone. I had him machine the cylinder base down to lower the transfers as I ride it just under the hit/a gear high, then stab the clutch and/or goose it over obstacles to float the front just right.
My gas mileage is 20-30% better than my son's KDX!
Another thing to do is pitch the PJ carb and get a PWK from a Kawasaki KX250. It will idle better and improve off idle response.
Tall seat foam and BRP top clamp to ride aggro. '89-'02 RM250 tank if you ride on the gas cap like me. Certainly use a CR-tall bar bend.
They could use a stabilizer. I like WER's.
Steahly FWW if you ride mud or want to chug hills, and not stall as often from touchy/grabby rear brake.
Don't bother with front oversized rotors; stock is as good as it gets.
I could go on and on....
Do yourself a favor and send the cylinder and head to Eric Gorr. He ports it mildly and reshapes the combustion chamber to smooth the transition to mid boost, and it runs well on the gas you want to use (tell him beforehand). He charges like $150 for both (a steal these days), includes cleaning your exhaust valve and cylinder hone. I had him machine the cylinder base down to lower the transfers as I ride it just under the hit/a gear high, then stab the clutch and/or goose it over obstacles to float the front just right.
My gas mileage is 20-30% better than my son's KDX!
Another thing to do is pitch the PJ carb and get a PWK from a Kawasaki KX250. It will idle better and improve off idle response.
Tall seat foam and BRP top clamp to ride aggro. '89-'02 RM250 tank if you ride on the gas cap like me. Certainly use a CR-tall bar bend.
They could use a stabilizer. I like WER's.
Steahly FWW if you ride mud or want to chug hills, and not stall as often from touchy/grabby rear brake.
Don't bother with front oversized rotors; stock is as good as it gets.
I could go on and on....
Posted 28 December 2005 - 09:33 AM
Hi placelast, where can I get those Steahly FWW which you mention for my rmx250s(the one with 96 rm frame)?
Posted 28 December 2005 - 06:36 PM
They are in Oregon, USA; www.steahlyoffroad.com/. I got it direct from them.
Rocky Mountain M/C does carry them, as does mxsouth.com.
I do not know if you can get one shipped to you overseas, but it is worth looking into if you find the need for slightly better hookup and less brake stalling; sure did help me with both.
Rocky Mountain M/C does carry them, as does mxsouth.com.
I do not know if you can get one shipped to you overseas, but it is worth looking into if you find the need for slightly better hookup and less brake stalling; sure did help me with both.
Posted 28 December 2005 - 07:36 PM
sorry to crash in, but does anyone know if a rm shock could fit onto a rmx250s? the model which has a 96 rm main frame. thanks.if it does fit, which year?
Posted 28 December 2005 - 10:33 PM
Adam Hausler said:
Hi I have a 1996 Rmx 250 and am going to freshen the top end with new piston and rings, I am also planning on installing a .030 thinner head gasket which is suppose to be the same thickness as a 1989 Rm 250. Just wondering if anyone has used this set up and will it be okay with pump gas premium? According to my research this is what most people used when racing the bike offroad, I also currently am running a fmf gnarly pipe and turbine core silencer. Any thoughts would be appreciated
Adam Hausler
96 Rmx 250
01 Drz400e
Adam Hausler
96 Rmx 250
01 Drz400e
Yes Pump gas will work fine.
Posted 30 December 2005 - 01:40 PM
placelast said:
Same here - '97 RMX with OEM '89 RM250 head gasket or Cometic HiPo RMX head gasket for 6 straight years with CA 91 octane; runs fine even for a bone-headed jetter like me, with either my FMF Gnarly or PC Platinum.
Do yourself a favor and send the cylinder and head to Eric Gorr. He ports it mildly and reshapes the combustion chamber to smooth the transition to mid boost, and it runs well on the gas you want to use (tell him beforehand). He charges like $150 for both (a steal these days), includes cleaning your exhaust valve and cylinder hone. I had him machine the cylinder base down to lower the transfers as I ride it just under the hit/a gear high, then stab the clutch and/or goose it over obstacles to float the front just right.
My gas mileage is 20-30% better than my son's KDX!
Another thing to do is pitch the PJ carb and get a PWK from a Kawasaki KX250. It will idle better and improve off idle response.
Tall seat foam and BRP top clamp to ride aggro. '89-'02 RM250 tank if you ride on the gas cap like me. Certainly use a CR-tall bar bend.
They could use a stabilizer. I like WER's.
Steahly FWW if you ride mud or want to chug hills, and not stall as often from touchy/grabby rear brake.
Don't bother with front oversized rotors; stock is as good as it gets.
I could go on and on....
Do yourself a favor and send the cylinder and head to Eric Gorr. He ports it mildly and reshapes the combustion chamber to smooth the transition to mid boost, and it runs well on the gas you want to use (tell him beforehand). He charges like $150 for both (a steal these days), includes cleaning your exhaust valve and cylinder hone. I had him machine the cylinder base down to lower the transfers as I ride it just under the hit/a gear high, then stab the clutch and/or goose it over obstacles to float the front just right.
My gas mileage is 20-30% better than my son's KDX!
Another thing to do is pitch the PJ carb and get a PWK from a Kawasaki KX250. It will idle better and improve off idle response.
Tall seat foam and BRP top clamp to ride aggro. '89-'02 RM250 tank if you ride on the gas cap like me. Certainly use a CR-tall bar bend.
They could use a stabilizer. I like WER's.
Steahly FWW if you ride mud or want to chug hills, and not stall as often from touchy/grabby rear brake.
Don't bother with front oversized rotors; stock is as good as it gets.
I could go on and on....
Posted 31 December 2005 - 09:07 AM
ericgorr.com. Do join DirtRider.Net to get the 10% discount.
He preferrs to talk on the phone, and doesn't do email often so don't be shy about calling. He can best be reached in the evening
He did my stock cylinder and head in '00 when I took it apart to do a top end; he asked what I was looking for, what type of riding I did, and what gas I wanted to use. I said I wanted a smoother transition to the midrange (softer or easier to control hit/spike) and slightly more overrev to pull a higher gear on uphill sandwashes for desert enduros and fast trail riding. He suggested a more-power-everywhere port job, and head-squish reshape.
The reason I wanted these two changes is I was doing SoCA desert enduros at the time, and the mid snap was a bit too sharp when picking my way through rocky hillclimbs and rock gardens, and on uphill sandwashes where it would fall off of the power when shifting into 4th and 5th, even though I tried two teeth more on the rear sprocket. (Don't get me wrong: I'm not *that* fast although do get into the higher gears at times...)
On my first ride (after ring seating, of course) with his work there wasn't a whole lot of change; didn't make it a rocket - and that's fine as I wanted to maintain the RMX's core-renowned reliabilty, which fits his philosophy. I did notice it did *exactly* as he said it would: smoothen the transition to the mid hit, and added the ability to jump into 4/5th if I cared; I ended up going back to the stock rear sprocket (50t) and even wondered about going smaller! That's not the case any longer as I gave up racing (getting too old now; don't heal as fast), moved away from SoCA, and now ride tighter singletrack along the central CA coastal range.
I found another cylinder from a '93 and decided to have him port it for bottom-to-mid as an experiment, the other type of porting he does. In this case he redirects the transfer ports just like the other port job, but also mills the base (a bargain for $25!), the latter of which effectively lowers the transfers for earlier closing; squish is made the same as the more-everwhere port job.
Funny thing is before the first ride I actually thought the front wheel was going to reach for the sky! but instead it just grunted along hapily in every gear, content to click in the next higer gear and move along just under the mid hit. The results were overall pretty much the same as the other port job although the power comes on at a lower RPM in a thicker way (more there?) and seems to sign off a tad bit sooner, but not by much. Everything shifted to the left.
Don't expect radical changes with his work - that's not his intent; all his jobs do is make the power a bit easier to use and more forgiving, certainly not overwhelming. Don't mistake that as a taming because it's all still there - just better or more affective, especially in any circumstances off road. It still rips and throws roost/rocks when asked, although it hooks up a bit easier, especially with a fly wheel weight. Highly recommended and for less than a cost of a pipe!
As far as gas mileage, I will speculate (or babble further, if you will). There were two times I checked but it's so good I've never metered it precisely, to be honest. Once I did 45 miles (perhaps just under two gallons) with my RM250 tank before hitting reserve in the high desert (and that with lots of throttle), and another time I went 70 miles on the stock tank (8,000' elevation on single track; Kennedy Meadows, CA) and did not even touch reserve, but believe I was close to switching. I attribute such reasonable mileage to a combination of riding technique - under the hit (staying off of the main), and being in a gear higher than usual. My oldest son, who once had a '90 RMX for a few years and we always rode together, many times, rode a bit more aggressively than me (and less smooth, others said), used to use a bit more fuel, but I believe it had to do with two things: his technique was to brake slide and accelerate - where I would roll the corners; I would lug along, he would rev., and to maybe a lesser part, pre '93s had larger exhaust ports which may waste more fuel(?) In any event, my other son's KDX drinks fuel at a higher rate than both, and I believe it's becuase that 200 has to work harder/rev higher than a 250 to do the same thing.
You should get more than 45 miles out of a stock tank. Do you have the stock PJ carb?
Since you are in FL where there is a lot of sand, you may never get as good of mileage as I do where there's more traction, but I would think you could do almost as good by keeping your revs down and using the meat of the power to do the sand whoops you have. Having fresh soft terrain tires helps too.
He preferrs to talk on the phone, and doesn't do email often so don't be shy about calling. He can best be reached in the evening
He did my stock cylinder and head in '00 when I took it apart to do a top end; he asked what I was looking for, what type of riding I did, and what gas I wanted to use. I said I wanted a smoother transition to the midrange (softer or easier to control hit/spike) and slightly more overrev to pull a higher gear on uphill sandwashes for desert enduros and fast trail riding. He suggested a more-power-everywhere port job, and head-squish reshape.
The reason I wanted these two changes is I was doing SoCA desert enduros at the time, and the mid snap was a bit too sharp when picking my way through rocky hillclimbs and rock gardens, and on uphill sandwashes where it would fall off of the power when shifting into 4th and 5th, even though I tried two teeth more on the rear sprocket. (Don't get me wrong: I'm not *that* fast although do get into the higher gears at times...)
On my first ride (after ring seating, of course) with his work there wasn't a whole lot of change; didn't make it a rocket - and that's fine as I wanted to maintain the RMX's core-renowned reliabilty, which fits his philosophy. I did notice it did *exactly* as he said it would: smoothen the transition to the mid hit, and added the ability to jump into 4/5th if I cared; I ended up going back to the stock rear sprocket (50t) and even wondered about going smaller! That's not the case any longer as I gave up racing (getting too old now; don't heal as fast), moved away from SoCA, and now ride tighter singletrack along the central CA coastal range.
I found another cylinder from a '93 and decided to have him port it for bottom-to-mid as an experiment, the other type of porting he does. In this case he redirects the transfer ports just like the other port job, but also mills the base (a bargain for $25!), the latter of which effectively lowers the transfers for earlier closing; squish is made the same as the more-everwhere port job.
Funny thing is before the first ride I actually thought the front wheel was going to reach for the sky! but instead it just grunted along hapily in every gear, content to click in the next higer gear and move along just under the mid hit. The results were overall pretty much the same as the other port job although the power comes on at a lower RPM in a thicker way (more there?) and seems to sign off a tad bit sooner, but not by much. Everything shifted to the left.
Don't expect radical changes with his work - that's not his intent; all his jobs do is make the power a bit easier to use and more forgiving, certainly not overwhelming. Don't mistake that as a taming because it's all still there - just better or more affective, especially in any circumstances off road. It still rips and throws roost/rocks when asked, although it hooks up a bit easier, especially with a fly wheel weight. Highly recommended and for less than a cost of a pipe!
As far as gas mileage, I will speculate (or babble further, if you will). There were two times I checked but it's so good I've never metered it precisely, to be honest. Once I did 45 miles (perhaps just under two gallons) with my RM250 tank before hitting reserve in the high desert (and that with lots of throttle), and another time I went 70 miles on the stock tank (8,000' elevation on single track; Kennedy Meadows, CA) and did not even touch reserve, but believe I was close to switching. I attribute such reasonable mileage to a combination of riding technique - under the hit (staying off of the main), and being in a gear higher than usual. My oldest son, who once had a '90 RMX for a few years and we always rode together, many times, rode a bit more aggressively than me (and less smooth, others said), used to use a bit more fuel, but I believe it had to do with two things: his technique was to brake slide and accelerate - where I would roll the corners; I would lug along, he would rev., and to maybe a lesser part, pre '93s had larger exhaust ports which may waste more fuel(?) In any event, my other son's KDX drinks fuel at a higher rate than both, and I believe it's becuase that 200 has to work harder/rev higher than a 250 to do the same thing.
You should get more than 45 miles out of a stock tank. Do you have the stock PJ carb?
Since you are in FL where there is a lot of sand, you may never get as good of mileage as I do where there's more traction, but I would think you could do almost as good by keeping your revs down and using the meat of the power to do the sand whoops you have. Having fresh soft terrain tires helps too.
Posted 31 December 2005 - 01:49 PM
My 96 rmx is primarily ridden in Mich. where I moved from 8 yrs. ago. Still has OEM carb but is re-jetted per spec on fmf website. Also has fatty pipe and turbine core silencer to meet 94 db. in Mi. Also added fmf ram valve and am running 3? teeth extra on rear sprocket. my weight is 230 at best so more acceleration was needed. Indeed fresh tires are the MOST important mod to make. This summer replaced the springs to my weight and was in love with the bike again. taller seat was also put on. Sad thing is that I'm probably faster on it than my 03klxr.
Posted 01 January 2006 - 07:08 AM
anything else other than doing up the cylinder to hot up the power? how about clutch springs? any use?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Posted 01 January 2006 - 02:19 PM
yellow: is your's corked up (stock)? If so then an aftermarket pipe & silencer, '89 RM250 head gasket, rejetting, and removal of the airbox lid; these are the standard things to make it have more rip.
Posted 02 January 2006 - 04:21 PM
Got it all done. anything else? an aftermarket piston perhaps? like?
Posted 02 January 2006 - 06:29 PM
Aftermarket pistons don't add nor subtract much, if anything. I prefer a double ring as opposed to a single, for slightly better life and sealing.
Posted 04 January 2006 - 08:12 AM
I'm not sure if the 295 sleeve is available anymore or not, I seen one not long ago sell on Ebay for about 50$. I know they still make the standard sleeve, so they probably make the 295.
Posted 04 January 2006 - 06:34 PM
I do like the idea of a biger bore. Here is what I remember:
Cycle Gear used to have a 300 kit for the RMX in the mid 90's. They stopped doing them as they claimed an otherwise reliable engine became less so, which may mean the blowup rate went through the roof.
Eric Gorr has done some too, and he told me they become difficult to jet and much more finiky to weather fluxuation. He recommends no more than 265.
If you have to have a Jap 300 then the KX is supposed to be the most receptive.
Cycle Gear used to have a 300 kit for the RMX in the mid 90's. They stopped doing them as they claimed an otherwise reliable engine became less so, which may mean the blowup rate went through the roof.
Eric Gorr has done some too, and he told me they become difficult to jet and much more finiky to weather fluxuation. He recommends no more than 265.
If you have to have a Jap 300 then the KX is supposed to be the most receptive.
