Do it all bike

R

redbone

New member
I've been riding a 4-stroke for a while do to the ability to dualsport it. I came from a 300 2-stroke and I dearly miss it. Question I have is- do you all think a 300 will be a good do all bike? Usually the dualsport rides we do don't have a whole lot of black top but there is some. Say in a 100 mile loop maybe 20 road miles max. I know the 300 is a great enduro bike which I do a lot of, but the pavement scares me.
 
Sure, just carry oil, and on the road sections vary throttle and tap the kill button occasionally. I refuse to ride a big 450F just to accommodate some pavement, just don't see the compromise thing. 20 miles isn't bad for two stroke performance in the woods.
 
We have a guy who commonly dualsports a KTM 300 XCW with stock gearing. If he keeps it off the pipe he gets about 35 MPG. Couple that with his 2.9 gallon tank and he has all the gas he needs for our typical "Cruel Sport" rides (a good amount of single track with hardly any pavement -- usually).

His silencer packing gets really smokey after a good, long pavement run, though.
 
It depends on what you really enjoy about dual sports, and what dual sports you enjoy. If its just getting out then fine a big four stroke is more convenient. If its a serious trail ride, a race without checks, then ride a race bike. I only do two serious dual sports for that reason, like what Rick calls "Cruel Sports". I don't like cruising dirt roads and if its a lot of pavement why not just go for a street ride on a proper bike for the job then?
 
Rode one 150 mile day back in July 2010 in the Colorado high country. I was on my 300 gasser with 13/49 gearing and oversize tank. We did a lot of gravel roads, even more dirt and rock jeep trails, some single track, and at least 30 miles of pavement (22 miles in a single stretch). The bike cruised easily around 50-55mph and could top out above 80. I had a ball end even though I stood up a lot a better seat would have been real nice. The gearing was a compromise 13/50 would have been better for the trails (above 10,000 feet) and 13/48 would have been better for the road but for my 300 13/49 worked for both. The following summer I took my ec250 and did all trails. It was geared 13/50 and that was too high. This year I'll run 12/48 and switch to 13/48 if we do one of those sight seeing days with lots of roads.
 
GMP said:
Sure, just carry oil, and on the road sections vary throttle and tap the kill button occasionally. I refuse to ride a big 450F just to accommodate some pavement, just don't see the compromise thing. 20 miles isn't bad for two stroke performance in the woods.
Click to expand...

What does tapping the kill button do on long road hauls?
 
gasser said:
Rode one 150 mile day back in July 2010 in the Colorado high country. I was on my 300 gasser with 13/49 gearing and oversize tank. We did a lot of gravel roads, even more dirt and rock jeep trails, some single track, and at least 30 miles of pavement (22 miles in a single stretch). The bike cruised easily around 50-55mph and could top out above 80. I had a ball end even though I stood up a lot a better seat would have been real nice. The gearing was a compromise 13/50 would have been better for the trails (above 10,000 feet) and 13/48 would have been better for the road but for my 300 13/49 worked for both. The following summer I took my ec250 and did all trails. It was geared 13/50 and that was too high. This year I'll run 12/48 and switch to 13/48 if we do one of those sight seeing days with lots of roads.
Click to expand...

You'd better this year. We(wife and I) have plans already for August in the high country.
 
Loads up the topend with a little extra premix without the burn.
I did the same thing an on my WRA 250, that was dual sport.
 
desertgasser300 said:
What does tapping the kill button do on long road hauls?
Click to expand...

Its refered to as cold fuelling. The kill button stops the spark which in turn allows the fuel charge to wash and cool the piston while delivering some added lubrication. Pretty common back in the day on bb air cooled bikes running desert races.

On the topic I run my 250 with 13/50 gearing everywhere on a days ride. It'll see some open fire trail, some black top, and as much single as I can fit in. The rest is just linking sections of trail. The gearing is too short to comfortably run down the hwy though. I can hold the 100km/hr speed limit but the engine is working around 7000rpm to do so and just feels a bit better backing down to 90km/hr.

My 300 with 13/48 cruised a bit better and at 80kms/hr would only just be coming onto the pipe, so at 100kms the bike was just buzzing nicely. Its still not something I ever found enjoyable though. It was a means to an end. Then again I don't enjoy riding the 450F down the hwy either. They're called dirt bikes for a reason :D
 
Not sure on the kill button thing. I do not jet LEAN. And after 25 years of riding HARD I hope to god my new Gasser does not burn down because I do not hit the choke or the kill button!!! I have seen moto guys who take jetting to the extreme and yes on a fireroad have burnt down there bike. But they were jetted lean in the first place. NEVER burnt a Husky 125-150 or 250 down and have held all of them WFO for quite some distance. Hope the Gasser proves to be as tough or tougher as now that KTM is involved with Husky I'm done with them! The previous Gassers I have owned (200-250 and 300's have proven to be very tough, except for early model transmissions (pink 97) All opinion I guess. My 300 has a plate but the truth of the matter is if a state Highway Patrol with a brain pulled you over and had enough brains to know you had a 2-stroke and the laws, they would pull your plate right there and revoke your title and make you register the bike as offroad only. At least in my state of Minnesota. But all that aside with that 6-speed tranny and proper gearing sure should work fine and well why not be different!!
 
I'll do it occasionally on a long road or transfer section where I'm in 6th gear for miles. Either that or just vary the throttle more, depends on how much of a hurry I'm in. I'm not jetted lean either, but it does not hurt. In the woods its a non issue.
 
I usually just slip the clutch in and give it a few blips of throttle to take the load off the engine and give some more fuel. That and as Glenn said, just vary the throttle a bit.
 
I don't know.. I have a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke DS.. A 2 stroke just eats more gas and I'm not for mixing oil on the run. It's just more of a pain that I'm not into. I have a 525 09 Beta RS and it's great for most all offroad and street.. Maybe if you went offroad and you wanted more of a cross between a 2 and 4 stroke you might try a Beta 350 RS.. It's got some quick reving for a 4 stroke and you don't have to deal with the gas and oil hassle. It's fast too. For me I like the big bores for a street legal dirt bike. I'd like a new Beta 498 RS if I was to get something new. I'll just continue having another 2 stroke for the times when I want a braaaap!! I think if you still have to have a 2 stroke for on offroad you just have to take the plunge and get one to see. It may be ok if you
want to go through the extra trouble.. it's a guaranty you have to get a big tank. I'd get a big tank even with the 4 stroke but the 2 stroke for sure. I think this bike might be more middle ground and it's an excellent bike...just for street legal dirtbike riding like you seem to describe. .. a 4 stroke with some 2
stroke type tendencies...A couple of my buddies love their 350 Betas.. one for offroad and mx and the other for ds and offroad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1iyctisFSQ
 
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