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Shiny's adventure with dirtbikes

30K views 571 replies 33 participants last post by  shinyribs 
#1 ·
So,I dig the KLR, but it didn't quite fill the bill in the offroad department. Who da thunkit? So I bought this '98 XR400R. Street title, partially installed Baja Designs dual sport kit. The engine was supposedly rebuilt, but who really knows without digging in? Looking the bike over I could easily see fresh gaskets where the cases had been split, and the seller had a clean looking shop...so I took the risk. His claim: new piston/pin, new rod bearings, new cam chain. Fingers crossed.


As I got it. Dingy, but looked solid. Hardware looking healthy, no crushed frame tubes, but a pretty badly bent rear rim. Started easily and felt strong, but I have no experience with these bikes to judge against. Talked him down to $1,200 and loaded her up. Baja Design kits are $500 and the street title has to be worth something. I figure if the engine dies I'm not in it too badly anyway.



As always, my new bike needed fork seals. But at least I finally own a bike that won't be needing a fork swap right off the bat! This is a first for me. Never had a cartridge fork apart before, but it wasn't a bad job. Turned up a fork seal driver and cleaned up a couple dings on the legs. Good to go.



Took her out for a ride and it had a pretty loud valve tick. Checked the lash, it was good. Did some research and found out the auto decompression system is known for going wonky on these bikes. When you press off the auto decomp it leaves oiling passages exposed. Typical approach is to put a sleeve over the passages and call it good, but there were a couple pressed in pins that I didn't like the look of. So I made a sleeve that would capture them as well.

Stock set up.



Exposed passages and pins.



Fixed.



Cam chain was supposed to be new, but it wasn't. Cam chain tensioner was just about at the end of it's travel. Found out that a CRF450 cam chain swaps right on, is a few bucks cheaper and is two plates wider, so stronger. Win-win. :thumbsup: Motor seemed clean inside. Cam lobes and rocker faces look nice.



Took her back out, tick was gone. :) With the auto decomp gone it was easier to start and a low speed stumble I was having was gone. Altogether just ran better. 2nd and 3rd gear power wheelies at will. The auto decomp was intermittently opening an exhaust valve. Motor was nice and quiet now. Went to change the oil and it was filthy. Black and speckly. :doh: Ran a couple gallons of gasoline through the motor, frame, oil lines and cooler. Figured the PO didn't clean things as well as he should've. The lie about the cam chain isn't giving me much hope about the engine in general. Didn't find anything alarming in any of the oil screens, though.

With the engine running strong, the clutch started slipping in higher gears. Pulled her open and found glazed steels. Springs and frictions are well within specs. Scuffed up the steels, back together....4th gear power wheelies if I hit it right, 5th gear clutch wheelies are easy. This thing is a horse. :shocker:

But....clutch started slipping again after a few rides. Tore back in to the clutch. Steels are completely polished smooth already :wtf: Took another look at the frictions plates and they're hard. Almost feel like ceramic. Dropped the oil to have a look....black and speckly....fook. Maybe the frictions have gone hard somehow ( baked? overheated?) and are grinding up the steels to make this dirty oil? Engine runs too strong/quiet to take a chance, so it's time to dig in.
 
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#262 ·
'cause there's no way he's winning employee of the month awards always fixing my shit at work :fu:
You'd be surprised the amount of work I can do while CFing. I'm leading a meeting right now while posting. :D
 
#263 ·
The XR got some overdue attention this weekend.


I have one small hillclimb that's not very steep or tall, but it's extremely loose for some reason. I ghosted the bike on that hill Friday evening and finally put the finishing touches on my bars. They've been bent and straightened a few times but I decided to just replace them before they end up snapping off. Went ahead and put fatbars on since the Scott's clamp in made for them, and that dictated new handguards, too. Not sure how I feel about no crossbar, but we'll see what happens.

ProTaper CR Highs and Enduro Engineering guards. The guy at the parts counter said you get new grips for free when you buy bars, so I decided to try a set of soft compound grips. I like 'em. :thumbsup:





Tall and roomy. I don't feel like I'm trying to kiss the headlight when I'm standing now. They look so delicate, though...
 
#265 ·
Everyone seems to love them, I reckon I'm used to seeing crossbars. The ProTapers on my FZ still feel creepy when I feel them flex. Past two evenings riding with these new bars feel great. They're tall enough I could roll them forward so I no longer have my hands in my lap ( bars are actually inline with the forks now). The extra comfort has translated in to a big boost in confidence in a couple situations. Amazing what comfortable bar placement can give you.

And yeah, I've seen your vids of you going down :D Just a hazard of the game.

I need to work on this rear shock some more. It's vastly better with the Goldvalve, but it still bucks pretty hard on rebound. Sag numbers seem to tell that the spring rate is ok, but I'm not sure. I don't feel any bottoming and the bike handles whoops and g-outs well, it just wants to buck over logs. I think the fork could use some more rebound, too, but it's pretty comfy as it is. I loosened the compression clickers on the shock today to encourage bottoming to see if I am overworking the spring, but holy shit....the rearend pinballed around so bad I couldn't tell much else. That clicker is definitely working.
 
#267 ·
It has an external clicker for rebound and compression, no high speed tho.

Racetech's recommendation was a big improvement and their settings called to run the rebound clicker wide open. I initially liked that since it meant I had a lot of adjustment to dial it in from there, but running it in seems to have no effect at all.
 
#268 ·
The gold valves come with a chart and extra shims, correct?

If not I'd give them a call and see what they recommend, maybe they could send you a stack to try. What shock oil are you using?

I used the suspension guru's over at TT when I rebuilt/revalved mine last time. At first I had the same problem, but with the forks. Not enough rebound. Thankfully a few clicks in (slower) made a big difference.

I'm actually due to rebuild mine because both fork seals let loose two rides ago.



Thankfully they are OC forks so I just took the caps off, compressed the wheel and filled em up for the last ride:



If I wasn't so cheap I'd send mine out to someone who knew what they were doing, but I'm not exactly an A rider. Or B. Or C...
 
#269 ·
Im firmly in novice territory myself, but it doesn't prevent me from pretending I'm an A rider on occasion. Of course, those are the times I end up needing new bars :)

I used BelRay in everything since it what is stocked local, but I don't remember which weight. I'd have to check the manual, but I think it's 5w in the shock.

And you're right, there is a chart with progressively firmer shims stacks. Might be unconventional, but I might step up to a firmer rebound stack than recommended, but leave the compression stack as it is. I'm not so sure some of the rebound issue isn't inherent to the suspension linkage itself. The shock linkage is tucked up extremely neatly on these bikes, so it ends up folding around on itself in odd ways. It's so tight that you'd never drag it, even without a bash plate. Very protected, but they don't use that design anymore. Probably for a good reason, too.
 
#270 ·
5w is what I put in the forks, 3w for the shock. But I've got a nimbly little 2 stroke, not a giant tractor ass 4 stroke. :D

If the rebound clicker ain't doin' shit, then I'd say it's worth a restack next time you open her up.

I wouldn't count out sending Race Tech an email or call though. If you can tell them what it's doing that you like, and what it's doing that you don't like, they can probably tell you how to build the stack so that you'll be pretty happy. I've heard their customer service is good.
 
#274 ·
I didn't until after I had a really nasty get off that put me in the ER. Wish I had as my neck and shoulders constantly hurt because of the wreck.

Now I ride with an Atlas Air. They are a little awkward when you first start wearing them, but they quickly "disappear" after a little while. I never notice it anymore other than when putting it on or taking it off.

I should ad that it doesn't actually support my neck while riding, it's just there to mitigate and redirect possible damage if (when) I crash.

 
#276 ·
Thanks, Larry. I've had a couple offs lately that had considering them. Don't know anyone local that uses one to pick their brain. Any particular reason you picked that model?

Somehow, I lost the front end and went over the bars in the same direction. I found myself sliding on the side of my chinbar while my body/feet were vertical above me. With all the pressure I was feeling I was waiting for my neck to snap. Ended up with a face full of dirt and that was it. Very grateful my goggles held up, too.

Problem is, I ride with a Fox Titan jacket since it's got better back, elbow and forearm armor than any hard chest protector I could find, and those are the places I use armor constantly. I wonder how effective a neck support would be with something like that?

I don't want one more damn thing to have to wear, but I also plan to ride bikes for many, many years to come.
 
#278 ·
It had good reviews, and at the time the Leatt had a single rear "mount" that would transfer energy to your spine, instead of of two that would put it on either side of it. I believe they have changed their design to be more like the Atlas in that regard.

Also the Atlas was on sale at RMATVMC, because they were clearing out the old color scheme for the new. Pretty much how I buy all of my gear is to get last year's model.

I don't know if it would have helped in your crash or not. You have to keep in mind it's basically a "hyper extension stop" for your neck. It's purely for damage mitigation/control when you done fucked up real good like.

I've got an EVS roost guard I wear on occasion and the Atlas fits ok with it. You could probably get on thumpertalk and see which braces work best with your jacket.

I know Leatt makes a jacket that interfaces with their line of braces, but I think it's a bit spendy.

Way cheaper than a visit to the ER though.

They really aren't much of a hassle to deal with, and the piece of mind makes it worth it to me. The one I have has a front clasp so you can install or remove it while wearing a helmet, but I just slip it over my head before the helmet goes on and use my hydration pack to keep it in place.

Overall I recommend it. The only downside I've seen to them IMO is they limit how much you can look around, but I never notice it while riding, just when back at the truck or when I stop for a break on the trails.
 
#279 ·
Been doing some research and found a few people using the Atlas with the Titan jacket. Seems the Leatt is a no-go, but tbh, Leatt stuff I've looked at local never impressed me all that much.

Probably not gonna find a better price than this. Says it's a 2017 model, but doesn't appear to have the two screws(?) on the front. Wondering if this model has the suspension on the front legs that the videos talk about.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2017-A...2380057.m570.l1312.R1.TR11.TRC2.A0.H0.Xa.TRS1
 
#280 ·
That looks exactly like mine, except for the color.

There shouldn't be any screws on the front. The larger pads with the screws go on your back, and the screws allow you to adjust the angle of them for a good fit.




I haven't watch any videos on them, so I don't know what you mean by suspension on the front, but the front pads do flex quite a bit if needed.

 
#284 ·
The recent trip hauling the throwovers did a number on the sidepanels. I know it's just a dirt bike, but I hate to see things neglected. Some wetsanding and polishing cleaned it right up.




Picked up some 3M dual lock to mount the driver and rectifier for the Cyclops H4 LED bulb. These things are awesome if you're in the market for an upgrade. The notch on the 650L speedo worked out nice for this.



Anyway, excited to try out the new 525 Cheater. The 505 didn't side hill for shit, but I like the knob placement on the 525. The Trakmaster still had life left init, but the hard compound is pretty slippery on rocks and exposed roots. Looking forward to the sun coming up tomorrow.

I love this bike.



Might see about buffing this off, though.



:letsride:

 
#285 ·
reading through your neck brace discussion i remembered speaking with guy who had a steel bar in his leg because of motox crash. he told me that he used to do circuit racing but moved towards motox, because circuits are dangerous :D
TBH i beg to differ
 
#287 ·
Got the exhaust pipe for the XL finished- finally. I wanted to use a factory type gasket and it took forever to show up.

Turned up a little adapter to fit all the pieces together.




The piece of tubing I had to connect to the headpipe/ fit over the gasket was a touch too small, so turned up a quick mandrel to swedge it open a touch.




Worked better than expected!


And all stuck together.


Need to find a clamp for this setup and then locate the rear brake reservoir. Then I can start blowing thing apart for paint. :thumb
 
#288 ·
Went for a ride on the XR4 with the new 525 tire and it's great, but I got fed up with the shock. I stopped thinking about things I'd read and just focused on what I was feeling. I was no longer sure the rear end was bucking due to too-quick rebound...it felt like the shock was locking on compression to me.

So I blew the shock apart to look at the shim stacks.



Stock shims stack vs Racetechs suggestions. Stock on the left, Compression up front, rebound at the rear.



Notice that Racetech seriously stiffened up the second stage of the rebound shim stack vs stock. I agree with this approach since that was my initial complaint. But look at the insane amount of compression damping they suggest for the compression stack, especially the first stage. No wonder this thing was so harsh at low speeds. The rebound wasn't bucking, the tire was just skipping.

I reduced the amount of compression damping by 4 shims ( started with a total of 12) on the first stage and left the second stage alone. Didn't touch the rebound stack except to add the proper amount of shims to the top of the stack to retain correct stack height.

She's a fookin' Cadillac at low speeds now. All the twitchiness and pinballing is gone. You can actually feel the suspension be compliant without wallowing.

I learned something about this today. This bike was always hop the rear tire real bad on steep downhills under engine braking. I thought it was lack of rebound pushing the tire back down, but it ends up it was too-stiff compression instead. I can downhill against the engine so hard now that I can over-rev the engine without the tire skipping. Traction everywhere is through the roof now. I'm not gonna ramble about all the things that have changed, but the stability the bike had now is unreal. I'll admit I was starting to wonder if this old suspension design could ever be made right - and I've been looking at CRF and WR 450's pretty seriously lately - but I'm fully blown away by how much removing 4 shims transformed this bike this weekend.

I'm not gonna say it's perfect. I need to ride some more under different conditions, and I'm sure I'll find something that might need more tuning, but I'm pretty damn happy and traction is currently through the roof.

Tuning suspension is addictive and hugely rewarding. That nitrogen charging station is THE best money I ever spent on the hobby.
 
#290 ·
The ports are pretty big, but not a huge difference compared to the stock valve. But yeah, it was a huge stack. Plus there's very little room between the first and second stage. If that's their novice/trail riding stack I wonder what they use for a AA rider??? :D

I'll definitely check out that software. If that something you use?
 
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