Oh my god Becky! Look at...

[thebleakness]

Bleaks new ride!




Here's some info:
FMF PowerBomb and Q2 pipe
also have White Bros. tit. pipe and Carbon Fiber Pro
ASV un-breakable levers
ProTaper top triple clamp
ProTaper fat bars
stabilizer mount and post
desert tank
new white plastic and stock red plastic (on bike now)
Excell black rims on stock hubs
70% tires
new chain and sprockets
really well maintained

Let me tell you, this thing rips! I was riding it around the neighborhood and what a sweet bike! Up till now I thought the KX250F was the most comfortable bike I've sat on, I can honestly say I think this is more comfortable, the seat is almost as plush as that of a KDX.

Started first kick after sitting for 6-odd months, I was impressed. The reason the guy was selling it was because he bought Destry Abbots 2006 KX250F with all his Kawi support and sponsor goodies on it, he said that thing rips more than the 450!

I'm going to take it out this afternoon and for some light trail riding and get feel for where the suspension is at because I'm tearing it apart for a fix. One of the guys I work with (a mentor really) has been wrenching on bikes for the last 50 years and said that he'd help me fix the suspension for woods riding...for free!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going riding!

Here are the bleak steads together...

[m0rie]

Pretty sweet! I spent some time on a 03 CRF450R and it was a beast. I'd imagine it would be pretty nice in the more open desert enviroment down there. Have fun!

[2001kdx]

2 Questions for the proud new owner:

How much did ya pay for it?
Why a four-stroke? Thought you were lookin for a KX250.

I think I'll be doing the same move later this year. You're REAL lucky to be able to keep the KDX.

[thebleakness]

Q1. I payed 3ks for it, it's worth more than that though, I got a pretty decent deal on it.

Q2. I was looking for a 2stroke but could never find one that I liked or was a decent price. The ones I really liked wanted twice more than they were worth or bailed out on the deal right as I was going to pick it up. I had a nice 03 KX250 completely re-done for woods lined up but the guy decided he wanted to keep it after all.

I also love jumping and riding MX tracks. A 4F on an MX track is really nice IMO, everything is much smoother. I plan on racing some MX if I can and definitely going for the WORCS series, that's my main reason for buying a moto bike....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4404156730
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4796958450

I'll always have a 2stroke in the garage, I'll sell a liver to keep it! I love them so much and know where they work better in.

My ride today was alot of fun, I rode a short maybe 15miles near my house to get a feel of the bike. Wow, so much power it's incredible. The amount of power is definitely controllable though, I never thought I was out of control at all. I think that I am as fast on this bike as I am on my KDX and I would be much faster if I fixed some stuff. One being suspension, the current front end is sort of harsh but the rear with some clicker adjustment will work just fine.

I sure am going to have a strong right leg though! Cold starts on first kick but once it's hot it's a beast to kick over! I think that some jetting changes and new gas should help, I'll go ahead and check the valves while my suspension is being re-done.

I really like this thing though!

[AZRickD]

I'd imagine it would be pretty nice in the more open desert enviroment down there.

Don't confuse Arizona with California or Nevada. There is lots of hilly ST out here. 1st and 2nd gear stuff.

And as for the Kharmic sin of dissing the KDX in favor of a thumper? The Coconino National Forest has just been closed due to fire damage.

I wonder if they knew that Bleak's bike doesn't have a decent spark arrestor?

Rick

[thebleakness]

Yep, there sure is. Where I live there really isn't any open desert anyways. Flagstaff is located in the middle of the worlds largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest, there aren't many places to open it up wide and go fast.

Speaking of forests, they are closing up here this upcoming Friday due to lack of precipitation. Funny how I just get a new bike and now I lose all the places up here to ride it. Great...

[quailchaser]

Speaking of forests, they are closing up here this upcoming Friday due to lack of precipitation. Funny how I just get a new bike and now I lose all the places up here to ride it. Great...

Look on the bright side...gives you that much longer before you have to do the valves.

[thebleakness]

Doh! Valves? What Valves? I never saw anything about this thing having valves...

If I can get the weeping fork seal fixed by Thursday, the Buckholz crew and myself are going to head down to Speedworld for some evening track practice. I really want that seal fixed! First time on an actual track and one of the first rides on the beast.

[2001kdx]

You are one lucky dude bleak. I have a line on a 2000 YZ250 that I can probably swing once I make a few hundred dollars, which is easy now that school is out fo summer

Best part about your situation isyou get to keep the kdx, I'm going to need to sell mine. Get to sell it to my main riding buddy though

[Ryan]

you can make your kdx faster than a yz250. I was able to smoke my friends 250Sx, so unless you are going to ride a ton of track i would keep the kdx and put some kx forks on that baby.

[2001kdx]

That's the problem, I like riding track too much. It's not about power, It's about having the right tool for the job. I'd hate it to end up hating the KDX because I was breaking things and using it for a different purpose than intended. Going back to the track in July though, the KDX can keep up easily! Have to remember to get to a legal woods riding area, there is a 2hr minimum drive. There are three tracks all less than 15 miles away from me. Check me out!

[canyncarvr]

Re: 'What Valves?'

The ones you replace every 15 hours.


I rode a 450 a couple weeks back. Beast indeed. Way too much snort for around here. A local rider I know..a ClassA 'Can't touch this!' type rode one for awhile. Got rid of it. Too much bike.

..but then...he didn't come off a KDX, so I'm sure he just wasn't properly prepared.

[skipro3]

Hey don't look now, but there's two bikes about to lap you on your KDX!!!!!

(Yeh, I'm a snot..... nice looking riding track though. Are there any large hill climbs on the course?)

>|QBB<[/url]

That's the problem, I like riding track too much. It's not about power, It's about having the right tool for the job. I'd hate it to end up hating the KDX because I was breaking things and using it for a different purpose than intended. Going back to the track in July though, the KDX can keep up easily! Have to remember to get to a legal woods riding area, there is a 2hr minimum drive. There are three tracks all less than 15 miles away from me. Check me out!

[thebleakness]

>|QBB<[/url]

That's the problem, I like riding track too much. It's not about power, It's about having the right tool for the job. I'd hate it to end up hating the KDX because I was breaking things and using it for a different purpose than intended. Going back to the track in July though, the KDX can keep up easily! Have to remember to get to a legal woods riding area, there is a 2hr minimum drive. There are three tracks all less than 15 miles away from me. Check me out!

That looks really really cool. I wish I could ride dirt like that more often, up here in this area it's very very dry and loose. Makes sense though since we do live in a "high desert" up here... I love those little rythem sections, how possible (if at all) would it be to double those? It looks almost possible...

Like I said before, if this turns into my track bike, I'm fine with that. I wasn't expecting this to be a perfect trail bike, just good enough to ride around the woods on with my father and friends when they have the time. I'll be keeping the KDX for the more technical stuff because at the moment it's better suited for it.

I've got the forks off right now and I'm taking it in to the shop tomorrow for new seals and alittle suspension work. I was hoping to go to an MX track tomorrow but no dice, not enough people up here were interested in a trip down to the Valley for evening practice, oh well maybe next week. I'm doing a race on the 15th of July (my b-day coincidentally) and I was NOT going to race it on my KDX. It's a multiple 25mile loop cinder race where it is literally miles and miles of whoops. My KDX was never a fan of whoops or traveling at high speed for continuous amounts of time. Most people don't finish 2 laps much less than the normal 4. It is supposedly one of the most brutal races around. I live about 10 miles away from the course and have ridden in the area many time before I'm still going to get my ass kicked, I'm scared!

[canyncarvr]

What he didn't say was this: 'This is me just coming down from the air I got off the first bumper. I went OVER those guys!!'

That 450 with its Showas will eat up miles of whoops and not even blink.
All YOU have to do is HANG ON!!

p.s.
Can we take up a bit more bandwidth by posting this picture a few more times?

[thebleakness]

>|QBB<[/url]

That's the problem, I like riding track too much. It's not about power, It's about having the right tool for the job. I'd hate it to end up hating the KDX because I was breaking things and using it for a different purpose than intended. Going back to the track in July though, the KDX can keep up easily! Have to remember to get to a legal woods riding area, there is a 2hr minimum drive. There are three tracks all less than 15 miles away from me. Check me out!

p.s.
Can we take up a bit more bandwidth by posting this picture a few more times?

Satisfied?


I'm heading out to ride Whiplash cinders race course on sunday with some friends. For the race I'm going to put a MT44 on the rear, those in the cinders are amazing, almost like having a paddle but can work in the hard stuff as well. Too bad he took off the stabilizer, that would be nice as well...

[2001kdx]

Re: 'What Valves?'

The ones you replace every 15 hours.

A buddy of mine has had his '05 YZ250F since new, and he rides and races a lot of 125B, and not only is he still on his stock piston, he gets the valves checked once a year. Bike ran great from what I can tell!

I can say If I had to have a 4-stroke woods bike, it'd be a 250f instead of a 450. The 250's are very very SMOOTH, it lets you be on the throttle more often, the power is more similar to the KDX, with a wider torque cuvre and bigger rev range. Can't see myself happily buying a machine that would need 1200 hundred dollars or more to rebuild though!

[canyncarvr]

The subject of 'what valves?' was not a YZ250F.

It wasn't a '69 X-head 340 either...just in case someone is wondering.....

[2001kdx]

They're all the same to me. Valve-eatin, sound level-breakin thumper POS's.

"Hey don't look now, but there's two bikes about to lap you on your KDX!!!!!

(Yeh, I'm a snot..... nice looking riding track though. Are there any large hill climbs on the course?)"

SKI, those guys only wish they could take me on my trail bike with conventional forks. Next time, just for fun, I'm going to be sporting my headlight, makes the passing so much more fun

There aren't any hills over there, 'cept for the little guys you can see in th photo.

It is also very possible to double that section, I am doing so in the picture, 2*2*2*2. Great fun

[2001kdx]

They're all the same to me. Valve-eatin, sound level-breakin thumper POS's.

"Hey don't look now, but there's two bikes about to lap you on your KDX!!!!!

(Yeh, I'm a snot..... nice looking riding track though. Are there any large hill climbs on the course?)"

SKI, those guys only wish they could take me on my trail bike with conventional forks. Next time, just for fun, I'm going to be sporting my headlight, makes the passing so much more fun

There aren't any hills over there, 'cept for the little guys you can see in th photo.

It is also very possible to double that section, I am doing so in the picture, 2*2*2*2. Great fun