2012 ISDE Six Days - 2012 Bike Prep Questions

G

Graham

New member
Hi All,

I am heading over to Saxony for the ISDE in a couple weeks, my friend is competing for Team Canada and I am his support person.

We were just going through a bunch of things today, and as he'll be riding a 2012 GG250 (His bike at home is a 2011 EC250), we had a couple questions for those of you riding them now.

The elevation for the racing should be 1200ft ASL and I would imagine up from there, but nothing very high as far as we can tell so far. Temps look to be between 10C and 20-24C during the days.

I run the NECJ/NEDJ needles in my KTM at between 500ft and 4000ft here and they work beautifully. We're going to need to re-jet this rental bike when we get there, and I was just wondering if any of you would have a decent starting point for us to work from?

The ISDE incorporates a lot of long road/double track sections, then very tight and technical Special Stages. It's important the bike is able to wind out on the roads, but not be too rich in the tight stuff.

I would appreciate it if anyone can give us a starting point as we'll only have about three days with the bike before impound.

Also, is there anything that are "must do's" on the bike from new? We're bringing all our own skid plates, bark busters, rad guards, pegs, etc, etc. But are there any little corrections that need to be made? This bike will be run 7-8hrs/day for five of the six days and we need it to be sorted out right from the word "go."

Thanks for the input... I'll be taking plenty of photos and will try to get them up here when I get back.


g
 
Last edited:
Take some red loctite with you & Loctite the kickstand bolt. It will come out if you don't.

Wire tie the rad shrouds to the rad braces, as they come out of the grommets a bit too easily when in the sticks.

I have about 30 hrs on mine & that's about all I've had to do. Can't help you much with your jetting question, but they are rich out of the box. You may only have to go down 1-2 sizes on the pilot and one or two spots on the needle if temps are below 20c. More so if it's warmer. Probably also depends which carb is on it; the older AS1 or the new one.
 
3beejay3 said:
Take some red loctite with you & Loctite the kickstand bolt. It will come out if you don't.

Wire tie the rad shrouds to the rad braces, as they come out of the grommets a bit too easily when in the sticks.

I have about 30 hrs on mine & that's about all I've had to do. Can't help you much with your jetting question, but they are rich out of the box. You may only have to go down 1-2 sizes on the pilot and one or two spots on the needle if temps are below 20c. More so if it's warmer. Probably also depends which carb is on it; the older AS1 or the new one.
Click to expand...

All good comments. I'd add a fuel filter to the line to keep tank junk from spoiling your week, some split fuel line or similar to keep the airboot intact where it meets the subframe, saftey wire to keep the plush, stock ProGrips from turning, and a bottle of champagne ;)
 
From what I have read here it may be worthwhile servicingthe fork to make sure the oil levels are where they should be
 
Jetting wise if you have a day to play during setup take your suzi needles. They seem to work well in the Gassers too.

The W diameter with a 40/42 pilot has been reported to work well in 250's by myself and others, but all that is depending on the actual carb, and slide that you end up with in your bike. These results came with 38mm PWK ASII flat top/shallow bowl models with #7 non notched slides. If it were me I'd almost be taking my own carb, jetting supplies, and forks just to speed up the setup and reduce the amount of variables to deal with. Probably not so easy for you coming from the KTM though. Definitely take any needles you have around H/W/J diameters. N3CJ/N8RH etc along with your suzi ones, and if you have the jd kit thats not a bad fall back plan either.
 
Thanks guys,

Brad's 2011 250 is jetted reasonably for our riding conditions here, but he's not quite as enthusiastic about jetting as I am about it on the Ktm... LOL Between us we have a pretty good selection of needles and I have jets of every conceivable size.

Lots of good stuff there, I will certainly look at the fork fluid levels, that hadn't actually crossed my mind. What is the target level we should be aiming for? He's about 165lbs before gear. It sounds like the 12' forks are a much improved stock version over years past, so I'm hoping after reading some of the posts here that suspension shouldn't require more than a few clicker adjustments to get close.

Grips and such will all be taken care of when we add bark busters and all the rest. He is bringing his own grips, pegs, and other bits, so the bike will be set up as close to what he is used to here. I'm sure after the first 7hr day he'll be plenty used to it!

We'll be putting at least 5hrs on the bike before impound, changing oil, getting the suspension to break in, and just putting some miles on the thing. It will be doused in Locktight too...

Thanks,

g
 
I don't ride a 12....but a cool thread non the less. If you can if keep this thread going once u get across the pond, and provide updates.....time permitting.
I think it would be cool follow a club rider through the 6Days....real world stuff.....no fluff tell it how it is.

Good luck.
 
The first thing you should do is remove the cable actuated choke. Just replace it with the standard pull up knob like on the older bikes. If conditions are wet and muddy water and grit can work their way into the cable and eventually the carb, causing a stuck throttle.
 
You may want to actually take the fuel valve off and check the screen in the tank. We have two 2012 300's and they both came with the little screen bobbing around in the tank. As someone mentioned with the side stand, I tried red loc-tite and it still kept coming loose. I finally took it off. If you're renting the bike, I'd use green loc-tite. An option for suspension is to take your own. May want to slit the carb vent hoses to help prevent getting clogged.
Good luck and bring home a gold!
 
I'm pretty sure that Gas Gas is renting 2013 models, not 2012s. They will have the new plastic.
If you're not taking your own suspension, take the correct springs. The spension is awesome when it's sprung for your weight.
 
Thanks,

All good stuff that is getting added to the list. I meant to type 2013, still having a hard time coming around to the idea it's 2012 already...

Bringing his suspension is not an option, we've got a pile of weight already.

Browsing the suspension forum here it seems like he's right in the ballpark weight wise for the stock springs, so pretty sure he'll be OK there. The springs in his 11' are stock and are correct.

Interesting about the side stand, that is something we'll do for sure. Having that come off or get loose would be very frustrating.

I'm going to pack a laptop over, and I should have reasonable Wifi access at our hotel, so with luck I'll be able to keep this thread updated with all the goings on. Should be pretty interesting to be part of, really looking forward to it.

The list keeps growing... at some point there has to be an end in sight...? Lol

g
 
Graham said:
Thanks,

The list keeps growing... at some point there has to be an end in sight...? Lol

g
Click to expand...

You can tweak, twist, modify until you're blue in the face. If you take some loc-tite and go to town with it, change oil you'll be fine. Maybe get the jetting specs from GG factory for where you'll be riding. But these bikes are damn good out of the box and require very little in my opinion to be competitive. Good luck.
 
Plate No.# ??

Graham said:
Thanks,

All good stuff that is getting added to the list. I meant to type 2013, still having a hard time coming around to the idea it's 2012 already...

Bringing his suspension is not an option, we've got a pile of weight already.

Browsing the suspension forum here it seems like he's right in the ballpark weight wise for the stock springs, so pretty sure he'll be OK there. The springs in his 11' are stock and are correct.

Interesting about the side stand, that is something we'll do for sure. Having that come off or get loose would be very frustrating.

I'm going to pack a laptop over, and I should have reasonable Wifi access at our hotel, so with luck I'll be able to keep this thread updated with all the goings on. Should be pretty interesting to be part of, really looking forward to it.

The list keeps growing... at some point there has to be an end in sight...? Lol

g
Click to expand...

Graham,

which starting number /which class do you have ? I will be back from vacation on the 27th and planning to drive to the stages on the 28th to take a look to the fast guys. Thats appr. 400km oneway for me.
 
I'm not sure what his starting number is yet, he's in the Club Class, not the Trophy (Pro) class. Our impound is near the end, but I'm not sure if that has any correlation to start numbers.

I see David Knight just pulled out today with health issues... bummer, was hoping to see him ride in person. But there will be all the other top guys, the US is sending quite a group over. As mentioned I'm taking my pro camera gear and will try to get as many good shots as I can to post.

We leave Saturday, just tying up loose ends now. Has come fast!

g
 
Graham, look me up at the US pit area if you're having any problems.

I'm team manager for the GoFasters US Club Team where Johnny Meier will be riding a GasGas as well.

In the past the GasGas ISDE rental bikes come jetted fairly close for local fuel and elevations. Usually you just have to play with the air screw and clip a little to make it right.

As far as the cable operated choke cable goes I'd leave it in place as it gives the rider a chance to richen up the "Wide Open Throttle" slide position when driving down long road sections.

It also comes in handy if the organizers put a special test immidiately after the start when engines don't have enough time to warm up. In Chili, in 2007, the first special test each day was less than 200 meters from the start and it was about 10 minutes long in deep whooped out sand. Cable chokes where the hot set up there.

Steve Berkner
 
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