razorback

Awesome pic!

Great discussion guys and I think the OP will get some value out of it to. laser, I guess I've been changing mine about ever 5-6 hours but mine it not new, just new to me 2011 300 that was ridden pretty hard by a sr. expert ride for about a year. I'm changing it often as a preventative measure but I'm might just change it every 10 hours anyway. I'm bigger and heavier than many riders and climb steep hills so that probably puts extra strain on everything. jon, anal, really? Your a word smith by trade; from the help you have given me behind the scenes, I would say your a pragmatic perfectionist! sting, I agree with your comment about experimenting with different oil. It only holds 400cc so it's really cheap to try different oils and I have 3 qts of different stuff on the shelf waiting to be tried. And BTW clydedave, congrats on the new steed. Your gonna love it!

From forum threads I've read it appears that some folks who use synthetic have a positive experience with it and others don't. Does the use of synthetic oil depend on the brand/type of clutch plates installed? i.e the material used and bonding technique (or whatever the differences would be)? Your comment makes me wonder if newer gassers have clutch plates that handle synthetic well or maybe it's a brand/type of clutch pack installed.

As a new gas gas owner, I've done 3 oil changes (using same brand gear oil) and the clutch is noticeably better and the gear changes smoother on every one. The manual says change at 60 hours and I've only done 1/3 of those so far because I only ride 15-20 minutes at a time around my property and I've only had it a few weeks. However, I can feel a difference every time it's changed! I see many threads on what kind of oil to use but very little on how often folks change theirs so I appreciate the "every 2 hard rides" guideline to compare to. I don't think mine would shift if I waited 60 hours to change it. How many hours would you say a "hard ride" would be for the "average" trialer? 2 hrs, 4 hrs, more?

Good line!

Thanks for the info sting. It was the inner oring on the insert that mated with the cylinder.

<p> <br /><br /> </p> Ha! My neighbors are pretty cool but I also have an old bobcat to maintain my driveway and do odd jobs around the property. One neighbor will comment every time I use it wondering what I'm doing. I told her that the day she doesnt hear something running at my place to come check on me.

This is why we have torque specs and torque wenches. I used to hear the saying "tighten it as tight as it will go then one more round". That was my Dads philosophy and he broke a lot of bolts.

Gotcha! My clutch is definitely progressive then. Now that I have replaced the damaged oring and know what a working cooling system behaves like, it's time to ride. Thanks again.

The smell and pilot light comments are good. I had thought about the pilot light but the gas smell could be an issue. I remember visiting a friend of a friend a few years ago that built an apartment above his working garage and the apartment always smelt like the garage. So it might make the camper unfit for sleeping. Appreciate that tip. The kicker thing and using the top as a place to keep the bike is too funny. I saw the video where the moron strapped his honda to the roof of his car and it fell off but was dragged behind for a while. Haha. No thanks! The caster wheels is really a great idea for doing it by myself. I have a set of queen sized bunk beds in my cabin that I needed to move. I made 4, 8" square dollies, with 3 casters each and moved the entire thing with ease. Brilliant! I'll continue using my front hitch rack and think about this some more. It's not sounding like such a workable solution right now but I'm not completely against the idea yet.

I've got a bike carrier for the front of the truck plus I can pull a trailer behind as well if needed. I like the idea of being able to leave the bike inside when traveling or if I need to make a run to town for something in the truck. Pull the shades down and what's inside is out of site, out of mind. Taking the bars off was the way I was thinking as well and securing it won't be a problem. Is removing bars a common practice for some forms of transport? Like a really small van?

I don't have a nice toy hauler but I've got a 5th wheel camper with a standard side door. Been thinking of removing some furniture and loading up a gas gas pro inside for multi-day trips. Does anyone load bikes in the side door of a trailer and have any tips, suggestions or warnings they can share? Here is what I have:

Hey Chris, it does seem like the shifting takes some technique. I was in 2nd, and slowing to a stop at one point today and was able to find neutral before I stopped. It just slipped right in. Haven't been able to do it since but I see it's possible now. What do you mean by "progressive"? My stop routine was starting to look weird. I'd pull the clutch, stop in 1st gear then lean over and find neutral with my right hand after missing it a couple of times. Then I would lean over to the right to push the kick stand down... with my hand as well. Can't seem to get the heal of my boot to catch the stand enough to push it down. Now when I stop, I just have to manually push down the stand with my hand. Now that's progress! Thanks for the help. Since mine is a year old and ridden by a Sr. expert class rider, it should be coming into it's own about now

Sure enough, I found some Felpro rubber/fiber gasket material that is almost identical to the original and made a reed block gasket. Put it all back together with a new plug, a freshly cleaned air filter and it started 2nd kick. It's running great at 1.5 turns out. I rode it about 10 minutes to warm it up then changed the oil. Rode another 10-15 minutes and hit some long steep hills (for Arkansas ridge county that is) and it feels great. It does feel a little softer but not as much as I was expecting and it shifts smooth again. This is the first time however, that I have been able to start it while in gear. Normally, there is too much clutch drag but now that the carb is clean and the oil changed for the 2nd time, I can finally park it in gear and not have to mess with finding neutral to start it back up and ride again. This is a BIG improvement since neutral is still elusive to me. Also, I forgot to mention that the inner o-ring was bad. Also, thinking back, my overflow tank tests were flawed and can be ignored. Now the overflow tank only has a splash in it after a fill up and nothing more squirts out plus when I take the cap off, I CAN see fluid in the radiator. The fan cycles on/off at idle so it looks like all is well. I have no idea when the o-ring failed but I'm guessing that it must have caused the hard starting as there would be water in the combustion chamber. It's starting 1st kick when warm and running strong so I think I'll keep it! Thanks again for everyone's help and looking forward the the night trial next weekend and meeting some other trialers.

The pwk28 is typical of other Keihin carbs I've worked on and was very easy to strip, clean and put back together. Here is all the bits clean and ready to reassemble: New low compression insert with new o-rings, bolts brushed clean with a little anti-seize on them. I used Sil-glide on all 3 o-rings and on the copper washers and it's ready to bolt on in pic below. It went on easy and I was able to borrow and smaller 1/4" torque wrench that worked on all 6 bolts! And wouldn't you know it, I pulled the reed block to inspect it and the gasket tore... DANG! Now I have to wait until I get another one. Any good alternatives? I'm sure I could make one if I could find appropriate material. So I'm stuck until I can get or make another gasket. Any ideas? I'll drop by the auto store tomorrow and see what they have in the way of gasket material. How critical is the thickness?

You guys are both awesome! I really appreciate the help. It looks like it's all stock: - Main Jet: 122 - Idle Jet: 45 - Needle Jet: No marking on it that I can find - Needle: JJH with clip in the middle groove - Slide: 3.5 stamped on the bottom - Idle Mixture Screw: ~1.2 turns out - Float height: Looks good Since I've got it, I am going to install the low compression head and see how I like it. Would jetting need to change or just require a mixture adjustment? Here is a shot of the cylinder. Does this look normal or does it look like it's been hot? Man, I still marvel at how simple yet how precise this bike is. Loved removing the rear fender and air box by removing 4 screws and loosening a clamp... and hello, there is the carb sitting out in a big, uncluttered space that is easy to get to and remove. And here is my helper this evening:

Yep, it's a Keihin, Model PWK 28 I think. Gonna pull it off tomorrow, give it a cleaning and play with the needle clip position and see what jets it has in it. The local KTM parts guy says the KTM 300s use the PWK 28 and he has just recently got an assortment of jets in if I need any. Does anyone know what the "recommended" jets are at 0-1000 ft.? I know the recommendation is just a staring point but I'd be curious if they are in fact what would normally be recommended for this elevation.

"Cool new 2013 graphics with the latest GAS GAS logo to compliment the red frame" At least they didn't start the list with this LAME line!

I suspect the clogged exhaust was causing my rich condition. It has been starting great ever since I cleaned the exhaust out but I will probably try your approach when it gets colder. My XR650R starts great if I pull the decompression lever in and kick it over 10 times to "clear it out". Then release the lever and it starts the next kick every time. If I don't follow this process it may never start. Who says bikes don't have personalities?

Great idea Jon! Looking forward to meeting you next weekend.

I've got a 1/4" torque wrench and 108 in lbs would be it's sweet spot but it's just a tad to big to get the front nuts. I've got a small ratchet that fits in there so I may go with the "snug" tightening. Lowering the needle clip will be pretty easy so thanks for the tip.

It does look like I can do that but don't think there is room for a torque wrench when putting it back together. Do you just torque the head bolts by feel or use a torque wrench? If the later, tell me more. Maybe I need a long extension and swivel... maybe, maybe???

Since race gas is such a pain to get I started using non-ethenol premium gas (93 octane) and I'm getting a little pinging on a hard climb. So I'm going to install the low compression head but I can't get the radiator off as it hits the head before the lower radiator mounting stud/nut things clear the mounting holes in the frame. I read the sticky post about the radiator fan replacement and the text and pictures in that post makes me the think the radiator is easy to take off but I'm not seeing it on my bike. What am I doing wrong?

Appreciate the info guys. I had ordered a spanish fly from Adrien on Friday so it's already on it's way but I do like the thought of finding a real USFS approved arrestor as the local forest regulations do require them. I've been riding on public lands for decades however and not once has a ranger ever stopped me to check out my bike except for saying something like "Dang, that sure is a purdy bike" or some such. For now, I'll be riding on private property so the SF should work OK for this dry weather.

The use the stand up and drop weight method which works great on my 2011 pro 300. When I first got it, I stood on the ground and used leg strength to start it which didn't turn the motor over very fast. Using body weight spins it much faster.