My 2012 KTM 200 EXC

[LUFC]

I think I've sussed it out, the bike stand is not orange. Mystery solved.

 

[LUFC]

I'm glad your enjoying the 200 Johnny, I must admit I had my doubts when you bought it. Your first trip out of your drive was amusing reading.

You've already discovered like any small bore 2 T they need to be revved to get up stuff and that momentum is everything, but once you learn to commit I think you'll be impressed. The wheelspin in loose stuff is always gonna happen, my 300 is the same but less so than the 200.

I'm guessing but I bet you not that impressed with the forks on the KTM compared to your WR.
Brakes are shit hot though, non?

 

[johnnysneds]

I'm glad your enjoying the 200 Johnny, I must admit I had my doubts when you bought it. Your first trip out of your drive was amusing reading.

You've already discovered like any small bore 2 T they need to be revved to get up stuff and that momentum is everything, but once you learn to commit I think you'll be impressed. The wheelspin in loose stuff is always gonna happen, my 300 is the same but less so than the 200.

I'm guessing but I bet you not that impressed with the forks on the KTM compared to your WR.
Brakes are shit hot though, non?

To be honest Daz I didn't have any reservations before I ordered it. I put the work in with the research and made sure I knew what I was going for and there hasn't been too much in the way of surprises apart from the driveway incident, had a good look around after it to see if anybody seen me, luckily no TF hil

I thought the suspension performed ok considering I haven't done anything to it yet. I was more concentrating on the power delivery and getting use to that than anything else really. It is slightly harder than the WR but nothing some tinkering won't sort out. What I did notice - because the bike is so light you can bounce and gas it quite easily over obstacles

The brakes are fantastic especially now I have my LHRB, one finger operation on both all the way baby. A very steep downhill section on the ride yesterday proved how beneficial that LHRB is, id probably would have ended up over the bars or walking the bike down if it wasn't for it. Compression braking wasn't too much of an issue either, once my brain dialed into not having any it became pretty natural(ish) for me. Im wondering how it will affect things when I jump back on the WR.

One question for you 2 strokers -I have black oil escaping from the exhausts rubber joint and from the end can, not sure if this is normal or not, any ideas? Its obviously the joint being loose, but is that much oil escaping normal. Im guessing it might be something to do with the engine running lean and not burning it all off.

Below is a quick video of the Clutch Override Perch Ive designed to operate a go-kart brake master cylinder. This will give me back my manual clutch operation if needed. The lever can be operated with one finger very easily. Once it connects to the slave cylinder there will be more resistance which hopefully will give it a nice feel. The video is just for testing and obviously won't be mounted on the handle bar. Ill also have to play with the pull angle to get the right amount of travel. Just some small brackets to fabricate and it should be good to go in a day or two.

 

[LivinLOS]

One question for you 2 strokers -I have black oil escaping from the exhausts rubber joint and from the end can, not sure if this is normal or not, any ideas? Its obviously the joint being loose, but is that much oil escaping normal. Im guessing it might be something to do with the engine running lean and not burning it all off.

Same here.. Google spooge (the other kind) and more info around.

From what I have read so far some is to be expected but ideal jetting minimizes it.. Dont think I am too worried.

 

[Loop]

One question for you 2 strokers -I have black oil escaping from the exhausts rubber joint and from the end can, not sure if this is normal or not, any ideas? Its obviously the joint being loose, but is that much oil escaping normal. Im guessing it might be something to do with the engine running lean and not burning it all off.

Spooge seems to be a new term but an old problem with 2 strokes John.

It`s just a byproduct of the lubricating system on these bikes and nothing to worry about.

I run semi synthetic an have penciled in an exhaust clean (burn) out for the rainy season for mine.

Jetting is a pain with 2T`s these days as the gas doesn`t have lead in it and trying to judge by colour of the spark plug is futile.
I`d suggest the bike may be a little on the rich side here in CM with the elevation and mild humidity. The power kick you are talking about may just be something you will get use to over time riding the bike. I wouldn`t be trying to change too much about the state of tune until you get some more hours on it.Being a little rich wont hurt it one bit especially while it`s new.

I went to a completely new carb type on my KDX (round to D slide) 12 months ago and started from scratch only to find recently that the float tang (tab) wasn`t locating properly on the needle and seat so my float level has been out 3-4mm and a resulting lean condition meant it was getting hot at times.......gotta start from close to scratch again now!

Just out of interest what main,pilot and throttle valve cutaway sizes does it have stock?

 

[johnnysneds]

Some sound advice there Loop, thanks, I know who to come to for 2T Carb advice. The "Spooge" from the joint seems to be getting better, see before/after photos below, the spooge must be making a seal at the joint. Ive been informed that KTM's ship to customers in a lean state! so whats all the "Ready to Race" hype about.
One thing that ive noticed is how cool everything seems to remain, you can put your hand on the tail pipe easily after a ride and the expansion chamber to some extent too. After I got to the top of LMS trail this morning even the clutch cover wasn't too hot (which made me extremely happy after a certain episode with a WR!)
Not sure what size jets are installed, I had the Carb out a few days ago to clean them and never thought to check. After I re-jet is not just a matter of selecting the correct needle/notch for Chiang Mai altitude range? The altitude sickness is really apparent on my WR at the top of doi Suthep, I installed an easy access mixture screw and need to try it out, however its a pain having to fiddle about with screws when your on a ride - where's fuel injection when you need it, eh!

Before:

After:

 

[Loop]

Not sure what size jets are installed, I had the Carb out a few days ago to clean them and never thought to check. After I re-jet is not just a matter of selecting the correct needle/notch for Chiang Mai altitude range? The altitude sickness is really apparent on my WR at the top of doi Suthep, I installed an easy access mixture screw and need to try it out, however its a pain having to fiddle about with screws when your on a ride - where's fuel injection when you need it, eh!

it`s really not possible to jet a finely tuned 2T race engine to suit all conditions.
But the Keihin PWK carbs are very forgiving as the bike will run well within a big range of settings.

There may be some difference between a stinking hot low humidity day high up on Suthep and a cool wet one at lower altitude but it really isn`t feasible to be changing them to suit every time you go out.

The spooge might clear out after you get a few k`s on it....but it still would indicate rich to me. I`ve got autolube on mine but it still dribbles a little...so maybe it`s close to right?

Best to find a forum like dirtrider,woodsracer,thumper talk etc etc and read up on carb mods or settings that other guys run in different conditions and suggested mods....they`ve been a source of great info for my bike.

Interesting thread...

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/600687 ... s-kdx-200/

 

[Loop]

Re adjusting the needle to suit.

I made some big gains with the low down response by going to a leaner needle and experimenting with throttle cutaway.
So my opinion would be that once the throttle is wide open the needle doesn`t come into play so probably no benefit in adjusting it on a day by day basis though it might pay to raise the clip a notch sometime and see if makes it pull any harder low down and if not put back to the standard position.

4T`s seem to respond differently to needle setting changes from my experience.

Edit; Some handy info.."if your carb is same in standard form as my 08 200 it will be 42 idle 162main. best thing to do is drop 1 size on each ie 40 and 160. this has realy crispened up the throttle responce on my bike but i am running standard exhaust"

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/513360-the-200-club/

 

[bigntall]

Great to see you on the new scoot. Keep in mind the bike is UK spec (with jetting to suit the U.K.) and hence the jetting most likely will be off a bit in hot and humid Thailand. If there is less oxygen in the air because the high humidity has displaced it, because high temp air is less dense, or because high altitude air is less dense it will usually run a bit rich. Being more humid and hotter than the U.K. I would try to lean it out a bit and see how it responds.

If you need anything ordered in the states let me know and I can get it for you.

 

[johnnysneds]

If you need anything ordered in the states let me know and I can get it for you.

Thanks Justin, Ill keep it in mind.


I got the seat back today with the step up modification, I put the step up a wee bit further back than the original as I didn't want to chance it interfering with my normal position on the seat.. Just like the KTM Powerpart. Im going to order the KTM Seat X and try that out too.

Seat X