Too much time!

All of February and most of March I was dealing with long term COVID even spent a week in the COVID ward, which means total isolation. On top of that a couple of those days my TV didn’t work, well it worked but didn’t have sound. When you’re sick like that you try and find things to think about. Your topics can be somewhat limited based on how you feel. You may already know where I’m going after all this web site is about motorcycles.

First of all I’ve been totally happy with my current collection of motorcycles haven’t bought anything since about this time last year. I bought a Husky FE250S last year which is a 250cc dual sport bike to primarily use as a trail bike, problem was by the time I ended up with all the goodies on it, it felt too heavy, in my mind anyway.  Besides that I found I really enjoyed riding it as a Dual Sport bike. I enjoyed riding it more than the FE350 Dual sport. I don’t understand why the 250 dual sports didn’t sell, it actually has all the power I need. But they didn’t sell and KTM and Husky stopped bringing them in after 2019. Horse power is king I guess. Now I wouldn’t feel real comfortable riding in the sand in the desert, power IS king there.

Some of you know that I have a 2021 Husky TE300i which is all tricked out and only has 31 hrs on it and I don’t ride it. And I don’t have a really good reason except I just don’t ride it.

My first thought was I’ll take my 2020 Yamaha YZ250F t hat I bought for MX practice which I haven’t done much of and use it for trail riding. I had ridden it on the more open trails in Foresthill and it worked great. But there are a couple of things that bug me about the Yamaha, they don’t have much lock to lock steering and on tight trails or switch backs that bothers me a lot. I’m old and my balance isn’t as good as it once was. I’ll also have to soften up the suspension for trail riding.

So at the end of March when I started feeling better and had some energy I started working on transforming the Yamaha. I soften the suspension and took an 1/8” off each side of the bottom triple clamp steering stops, that made a big difference in the lock to lock and I still have a little more room to spare if needed. But doing slow almost lock to lock turns around my house I still didn’t feel quite comfortable. So one day I rode the Yamaha and my Husky FE250 back to back and immediately felt more comfortable on the FE250.

So now that I had convinced myself the Yamaha wouldn’t do I started thinking about what to get. Husky does not bring into CA at least a FE250E, which would be like the KTM 250XCF. If I wanted the Husky it would have to be the MX version FC250. Which would be ok, but I kind of wanted a six speed a bigger tank and softer suspension. I thought about a Sherco 250SEF or a Gas Gas EX250F. Trying to find a 2021 Red Sticker bike turned out to be a problem I spent weeks looking on FaceBook marketplace and Craigslist. The other problem here in CA is in 2022 they eliminated the Red Sticker program on all new 2022 dirt bikes which means they can be ridden on private property only, or just take a chance you won’t get caught riding on the trails. Most of last year new/used Red Sticker bikes were being sold at premium prices. They are still very high and the demand is not there now. I found a Gas Gas that was priced very well in Reno.

The owner told me he was a good skier and his skiing buddies also rode dirt bikes, so he buys a brand new 2021 Gas Gas EX250F, which is like the KTM250XCF. He was a good skier but a brand new dirt bike rider. He says it didn’t take long before his buddies quit calling him to go riding. The Gas Gas bikes don’t come with an hour meter but he thought he had maybe thirty hours on it. He ended up riding up and down Toll road which in a few miles from his house turned into dirt and you could ride it all the way to Carson City. He would ride it to the top of the hill before you rode down into Carson City and back. The tires were so over inflated only the center knobs had any wear the rest still had the tits of them. When I took it apart I could tell he had never been ridden it in any real mud. I’d say the fenders and the skid plate was about it. I don’t believe the bike had anywhere near thirty hours.

Since it was a dirt bike it wasn’t a hassle getting it registered in CA with a Red Sticker.

So what goodies did I decide to put on it? A Rekluse of course, but only had two choices for the bike which would be the same choices for a KTM or Husky 250cc four stroke and like everything else the price was way up there at $1200, gulp. A graphics kit, Fast Way pegs, a mapping switch, Hour meter, XC gear rubber mounted bar clamps, a Trail Tech speed odometer etc, OX 2.0 Hydro Left Hand rear brake. Some of this stuff I already had, like the tubliss rear tire setup I had on my TE300i which also gave me one black rim. I ordered a black rim with a blue center hub which I put on my FE250 which already had a blue hub on the rear. I then put the black wheel on the front of the Gas Gas, etc.

The EX250F comes with air forks and is much softer than the MX bikes. I also installed a set of my tried and true Air Cells on both forks. I haven’t been able to ride it in the dirt yet so I don’t know how well the suspension will work. So for now it just sits there waiting. There are differences between the KTM, Husky and Gas Gas, especially the Gas Gas they use parts from both KTM and Husky, so I’m anxious to ride it. I’m still having a nerve problem in my Occipital lob area that won’t allow me to wear a helmet; hopefully this will be resolved soon. Until then this was just a project to keep me busy.

When I can finally ride I’ll let you what I think.

Doug 21J