Day 13: First Race with 250

There aren't many places to ride around here so one option I found was to "race" in the Virginia Cross Country Series (VXCS). "Racing" is more like riding for me. Just checking out different places and getting familiar with the different terrain. VXCS courses are mostly trails with different elevation changes, ruts, roots, tight sections, MUD, creek crossings, bridges, and sometimes motocross and enduro tracks.

Anyways, this is my second season with VXCS. Last year I ran two races.. Lake Sugar Tree and Virginia Motorsport Park. The 450s were having issues and needed some work so that ended our season. This season, I missed the first race due to the stomach flu; second race, I was on the 450 and had to stop after two laps due to thumb pump.

 Third race was this weekend at Elkhorn Lake and I rode the 250. I was a little skeptical since the rain was relentless.There had to be close to an inch of rain Saturday and almost another inch Saturday night into Sunday. Sunday cleared up until the race and of course it started to rain again. The course was so tacky and slippery. Could hardly get any traction in areas.

Mud is an understatement.


The aftermarket shock was definitely a good move, could tell a huge difference. The ground clearance compared to the 450 was awesome because some of the ruts were ridiculous and I didn't really get hung up on them. Throttle down and go! Ha. Still adjusting to the clutch but think I figured it out towards the end of the race. The Sport Clutch and Rekluse are a lot different than I had originally thought.

My next move will probably be a front bumper and/or grab bar. The stock ones aren't too much help.. especially the front bumper. The stock heel guards were nice but I may look into some netted ones that may not hold as much mud. Not sure if they make those for this bike but I will do some research.

Overall, it was a good time and got to hang out with a few good folks. Had a "battle buddy" during the race so we wouldn't have to fight with our bikes ourselves. Definitely appreciated that. She was on a KFX400 (I think) and was getting hung up in ruts a lot and didn't have a whole lot of traction. She was sliding around a lot more than me, it seemed. But we finished surprisingly in first and second. The other female in our class who normally races and finishes a few laps in front of us didn't even finished the first lap. CRAZY. Needless to say I was pretty stoked with that. Will have to go back and ride this course again when there's a little less mud. Ha.

Took a video with my GoPro, check it out:

Day 5: Rear Shock

Holy smokes.. took the bike for a ride on Day 2 and the rear shock was ridiculous! I got bucked around and was sore for days from my body absorbing everything.

After doing lots of research, we decided to swap out the rear shock for a stock Yamaha Banshee front shock. Cost effective and so much softer of a spring. The swap didn't take long at all.

Stock 250ex shock on left (red) and
stock Banshee shock on right (white).

  

Then we decided to take it for a spin a couple days later. Let me tell you.. SOOOO much better!

Still trying to get used to the super narrow front end
(compared to the 450R with long travel shocks and a arms)

Day 2: Swapping tires and handguards

I swapped the tires off my 2006 Honda 450R.

(No more balloon tires.. wahoo!)
ITP Holeshot HD 22" fronts and 20" rears

And the black/blue Powermadd Star Series hand guards off the 2005 Honda 450R.

Day 1: Buying the 250ex

Birth Announcement: Bean and Sweetheart would like to introduce the newest member of the quad family!

 

Made a seven hour round trip to purchase the new quad. It's a 2006 Honda 250ex. 

Loaded up, ready for the ride home.

A little background that lead me to the 250ex:

After rebuilding and riding a 2006 Honda 450ER for the last year, I decided I needed a smaller bike with less power that I could control better. We installed a Rekluse (semi-auto clutch) in the 450ER and I really loved that for the trail riding. I also liked the electric start but it kept having issues so we installed a kick start conversion kit (really liked). When we got the bike the suspension was on point.. couldn't complain one bit. Elka front and rear shocks and extended a arms (set for cross country racing).

So when I was looking for a smaller bike, the only bike that had a clutch similar to the Rekluse was the 250EX with a Sport Clutch (and with a bonus, it has reverse). And although the Rekluse is an aftermarket product, they don't make them for anything smaller than a 450.