Hi all, new to the forum and to my gasser, its a 2012 ec300r, picked u up last week and I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed with the power, I was expecting the front to lift when snapping the throttle open in 2nd but so far nothing, its currently done 90hrs and I'm about to do a top end rebuild with a new Athena piston and gaskets but I was wondering if there's anything else I should be looking at? Thanks in advance
2012 ec300r, send help!!
- Thread starter Luke.au
- Start date
pscook
Platinum Level Site Supporter
Jetting! Pop open the carb and let us know what you have for settings:
Also provide your riding conditions (altitude and temp), as these two variables will determine success or failure on your path to enlightenment.
- Air screw (number of turns to seated)
- Pilot jet size
- Main jet size
- Needle number and clip position
- Type of fuel (octane, ethanol free, etc) and fuel
il ratio
Also provide your riding conditions (altitude and temp), as these two variables will determine success or failure on your path to enlightenment.
Jakobi
Super Moderator
Sure is.
My first place I'd look is the powervalve. Pull the pipe and the right hand side cover and ensure the plate is connected properly. Sometimes the weld breaks and the powervalve flaps around under its own accord severely sapping power.
Next stop I'd pull the carb and give it a nice clean and baseline the jetting specs. If you see an N1EF needle start reading and arm yourself to tune the bike.
90hrs isn't a whole lot of work, especially if its a trail ridden 300.
What gearing is it running?
My first place I'd look is the powervalve. Pull the pipe and the right hand side cover and ensure the plate is connected properly. Sometimes the weld breaks and the powervalve flaps around under its own accord severely sapping power.
Next stop I'd pull the carb and give it a nice clean and baseline the jetting specs. If you see an N1EF needle start reading and arm yourself to tune the bike.
90hrs isn't a whole lot of work, especially if its a trail ridden 300.
What gearing is it running?
So I havent pulled the carb yet but apparently I'm running a 172 main, 40 pilot and a NEDJ needle, not sure what clip position, I'm using 98 octane fuel mixed at 50-1 with motul 800 and as for riding conditions, I'd say 0-1600ft altitude and in the 6-28c range as we're just hitting winter now, will probably get down to 0-20c in the middle of it and during summer anywhere from 20-40c,
Edit: gearing is 13-48
Edit: gearing is 13-48
memphis2857
New member
Unless you rev the snot out of your bike, stop using the Motul 800. That stuff has a VERY high flashpoint and doesn’t burn off under normal trail riding conditions. Motul 710 is a much better suited to a typically low reving 300.
Your jetting is in the right ballpark and preceded by lots of GG riders.
I would be checking the power valve as suggested. Something else to look for is a big heavy flywheel weight. Some guys run massive weights which will make the bike rev really slow, making it seem like it has no power.
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(F5)
Gold Level Site Supporter
Always best to clean PV but check movement and slop.
There's a bunch of info on adjusting slop out and disassembly (nyloc nut needs melting) check tech tips on home page plus do search.
Aus pipe should be nickel plated check you don't have a black one which could have cat (that really mullers them)
Pull muffler apart and repack. Sometimes they collapse.
I used to use 800 in my super high revving roadrace bikes. Good stuff. But I find Spectro Gold is fine on the 300. You will always get build up under both covers. Do follow the drain tube on left side. I cable tie it shut and open every so often to drain.
There's a bunch of info on adjusting slop out and disassembly (nyloc nut needs melting) check tech tips on home page plus do search.
Aus pipe should be nickel plated check you don't have a black one which could have cat (that really mullers them)
Pull muffler apart and repack. Sometimes they collapse.
I used to use 800 in my super high revving roadrace bikes. Good stuff. But I find Spectro Gold is fine on the 300. You will always get build up under both covers. Do follow the drain tube on left side. I cable tie it shut and open every so often to drain.
OK, so far all seems good, I've had a look at the piston through the exhaust and it looks fine, no sign of blow-by etc, I checked the PV actuator and while the engine is off/idling it stays against the stop, opens the tiniest bit on throttle blip but closes as the rpms drop, and I pulled off the flywheel cover to check for weights but there's none on the outside of the flywheel, the flywheel has fp8009 and 1h08 stamped in the side if that's important, so I'm thinking maybe its the gearing? 13-48 does seem a little high and the previous owner said he rode a lot of fire roads,
Davehuge
Member
Sounds like a severe loss of power you have, hope you're making progress to solving it.
My old 2004 EC300 was running with an extremely/embarrassing worn piston and rings (2mm end gap) and 13/48 sprockets, but it still had no problem pulling up the front wheel in the first 3 or 4 gears.
To be honest next time I change the chain/sprockets I'll be going for 13/50.
Inside the left and right power valve covers it's always dirty, black and oily as there's no real seals between the exhaust port and the cavities behind the covers.
Here's a quick list of things I would check, in order of easiest to check first, I know I'll be repeating what others have suggested...
1. Air filter - Wash it and oil it or replace with new.
2. Try a new spark plug.
3. Restriction in exhaust - Silencer blocked? It's sounds simple but is well worth checking, I've experienced this myself on another 2 stroke and heard of other GasGas owners having problems.
4. Jetting - sounds like your jetting is somewhere close, that's assuming there's no blocked jets, does it rev out clean and crisp?
5. Ignition timing - Check it's set correctly.
6. Power Valve - Jammed in one position or not operating correctly.
Whilst trying to track down a problem I've always found it easiest to change one thing at a time then test ride, rather than making a few different adjustments and wondering which one made the difference!
Good luck, don't give up! Once you find the problem (which will probably be something simple) you be rewarded with a missile of a bike. I wish mine was a 2012 and not a 2004
My old 2004 EC300 was running with an extremely/embarrassing worn piston and rings (2mm end gap) and 13/48 sprockets, but it still had no problem pulling up the front wheel in the first 3 or 4 gears.
To be honest next time I change the chain/sprockets I'll be going for 13/50.
Inside the left and right power valve covers it's always dirty, black and oily as there's no real seals between the exhaust port and the cavities behind the covers.
Here's a quick list of things I would check, in order of easiest to check first, I know I'll be repeating what others have suggested...
1. Air filter - Wash it and oil it or replace with new.
2. Try a new spark plug.
3. Restriction in exhaust - Silencer blocked? It's sounds simple but is well worth checking, I've experienced this myself on another 2 stroke and heard of other GasGas owners having problems.
4. Jetting - sounds like your jetting is somewhere close, that's assuming there's no blocked jets, does it rev out clean and crisp?
5. Ignition timing - Check it's set correctly.
6. Power Valve - Jammed in one position or not operating correctly.
Whilst trying to track down a problem I've always found it easiest to change one thing at a time then test ride, rather than making a few different adjustments and wondering which one made the difference!
Good luck, don't give up! Once you find the problem (which will probably be something simple) you be rewarded with a missile of a bike. I wish mine was a 2012 and not a 2004
Jakobi
Super Moderator
All above is great advice by Dave.
Also check the ecu/ignition switch. Wet mode makes they very lazy off the bottom end and not very snappy.
I ride a 250 so my bike is not very punchy off idle. If I was puttering around and whacked the throttle in 2nd I probably wouldn't get a predictable wheel lift either.. but it's not a lack of power.. just the power curve.
I can lift the front in 5th and 6th gears under power only, when in the meat of the power band. Not so much at low rpm. The 300's do tend to come on a bit earlier though.
Also check the ecu/ignition switch. Wet mode makes they very lazy off the bottom end and not very snappy.
I ride a 250 so my bike is not very punchy off idle. If I was puttering around and whacked the throttle in 2nd I probably wouldn't get a predictable wheel lift either.. but it's not a lack of power.. just the power curve.
I can lift the front in 5th and 6th gears under power only, when in the meat of the power band. Not so much at low rpm. The 300's do tend to come on a bit earlier though.
So tonight I finally got to the piston and I dare say that's where my problem was, there looks to be some blow-by on the left and right sides and the ring end gaps would be close to 3mm if not more, hopefully there will be a big improvement when i get it all back together, also noticed that the trans oil was black so that may have been a factor, as for the wet and dry switch, mines been relocated to the bars and there's no markings on the switch itself so I'm not sure whats what, I'll test it out after its reassembled and once I've got it figured out will mark it, I honestly thought it was a faulty killswitch when I got the bike, anyway, big thanks to everyone whose given me advice and I've got one last possibly dumb question, is there a trans oil filler point or do you have to fill through the clutch cover with the bike on its side?
Jakobi
Super Moderator
The piston doesn't look too bad really. No pics of the front edge?
Can you also confirm how you measured the end gap on the rings? It's not often to see them so far out of spec. I ran a set of 250cc rings for 120 hard hours once and had noticeable decline in power which only measured 0.9mm.
On the other hand a mate drowned his te300 and continued running it with a silted engine and it ran until it ran out of compression. The kick starter turned over like the plug was out of the head.. and when we pulled it down the rings were so flogged out that they would falls straight through the cylinder.
The transmission fill point is up above the countershaft sprocket. It's same size allen key as the drain, and the fill hole is about as big too. Most of us have a bit of tubing attached to a funnel to feed it in. Some use a sealed bottle to help force the fluid in a bit quicker. 900ml-1L does the trick.
You mentioned a faulty kill switch? Does this mean the bike has been running poorly; ie cutting out, spluttering, hesitating, etc.. or is it simply under powered? I agree with above that if it's running poorly as well as lacking go that it'd be worth double checking other faults. You could also consider measuring the trans oil you dropped out to see if its in the range as above.
Can you also confirm how you measured the end gap on the rings? It's not often to see them so far out of spec. I ran a set of 250cc rings for 120 hard hours once and had noticeable decline in power which only measured 0.9mm.
On the other hand a mate drowned his te300 and continued running it with a silted engine and it ran until it ran out of compression. The kick starter turned over like the plug was out of the head.. and when we pulled it down the rings were so flogged out that they would falls straight through the cylinder.
The transmission fill point is up above the countershaft sprocket. It's same size allen key as the drain, and the fill hole is about as big too. Most of us have a bit of tubing attached to a funnel to feed it in. Some use a sealed bottle to help force the fluid in a bit quicker. 900ml-1L does the trick.
You mentioned a faulty kill switch? Does this mean the bike has been running poorly; ie cutting out, spluttering, hesitating, etc.. or is it simply under powered? I agree with above that if it's running poorly as well as lacking go that it'd be worth double checking other faults. You could also consider measuring the trans oil you dropped out to see if its in the range as above.
Davehuge
Member
I have to agree, the piston doesn't look too bad, I doubt it's the cause of the power loss.
From what I understand, the gearbox oil is always black as there's no real seal between the exhaust ports and the cavities behind the power valve covers, then on the right side there's the open hole down into the gearbox. So even if you replace the gearbox oil it quickly becomes black again. Can anyone confirm this is correct or am I missing something?
Good luck, Dave.
From what I understand, the gearbox oil is always black as there's no real seal between the exhaust ports and the cavities behind the power valve covers, then on the right side there's the open hole down into the gearbox. So even if you replace the gearbox oil it quickly becomes black again. Can anyone confirm this is correct or am I missing something?
Good luck, Dave.
Yeah, after replacing the piston I got her back together and went out for a test run and it still feels low on power, I'm going to pull the carb next and go through that, as for the kill switch, I thought the map switch was the kill switch for about a week until I noticed the actual kill switch on the back of the light cluster, it works fine, if I get through the carb and its still down on power I'm going to take her down to a friend whose an ex Honda race mechanic and see what he thinks, was just hoping to get it sorted myself and save some money,
So today has not been a good day, because I was a little intimidated about dismantling a carb I decided to repack my muffler and change the air filter to see how much difference it would make, got both jobs done and tried to start her up, after about 20 kicks I figured I'd fouled the plug so decided to swap it over only to discover coolant on the tip, have since pulled the head and jug off to check the extent of the leak and as far as I can tell I screwed up somewhere because I have a grey slimy mixture coating the piston/conrod/combustion chamber/and down in the crankcase, I'm guessing I had a coolant leak and its mixed with the oil in the fuel, i pulled the drain bolt to let whatever else was in there run out but there is still some sludge on the crank and in the crankcase that I can't reach with a rag, anyone have any idea on how to get it out without splitting the cases? And should I be concerned about the transmission or is that sealed?
Jakobi
Super Moderator
Oh bugger! Is your coolant leak at the head or the base of the cylinder?
Flushing the bottom end out with a bit of diesel shouldn't do it any harm and will pull the remaining moisture out.
The transmission is sealed from the crankcase, however the breather is through the rhs powervalve cover. You'd have to be unlucky to get considerable moisture from there into the gearbox.
Flushing the bottom end out with a bit of diesel shouldn't do it any harm and will pull the remaining moisture out.
The transmission is sealed from the crankcase, however the breather is through the rhs powervalve cover. You'd have to be unlucky to get considerable moisture from there into the gearbox.
