Better work some overtime, your daughter is about to outgrow her bike!Thanks! Definitely keeping him away from fun stuff till he’s symptom free. Daughter and I are gonna tear it up!
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TX2 Racing
- Thread starter portero72
- Start date
Gah! I was hoping this would be the last one. I’ve got the bigger wheels to turn it into a supermini, but not sure where to go as a next step (or if I’ll need to do anything at all). She’s 5’1” now, and doubt she’ll get too much taller than that.Better work some overtime, your daughter is about to outgrow her bike!
supermini ought to be good I bet... heck, I have a crf150r that I 'big-wheeled' a while back and I can ride it ok at 5'10".. its cramped, but not unrideable. If it wasn't such an obstreperous *** to start at times I'd consider bringing it out to do a race.. I think a small bike like that would be fun on some tighter courses.
I've seen folks fit 21/18's to 'em even... hmmm...
Knesek was a blast today! Bummed that I was the only family member riding, but that’ll change soon. Weather was about perfect for a race as far as I’m concerned, with cool temps and a good breeze. Course was as fun as I’ve ever seen it, with a few obstacles thrown in for good measure. I’m sure I did terrible in my class, but I had a blast battling for 2 laps with a guy in my class in the first moto, and with a buddy in 55c in the second moto. I made mistakes both times and they ultimately got past me, but the guy and I in the first moto swapped places a few times, and that’s always fun. Kiddo was on camera duty and got a few shots of me being slow and stupid. Here goes….
Looks good! I've never been to Knesek. Not sure how I'd fare over those tires... was there an option to go around them?
Not for the big bikes; it was mandatory.
You’d be fine, I’m sure. The pit bike race was required to go over the tires (albeit in the opposite direction). It looks more challenging than it was.
Thought you were on the orange version. Nice looking Husky. Great that the weather turned out good, was wondering about that.
I’ll be back on a pumpkin one day. I know mine is functionally similar, but it’s just cool to ride the same bikes as my kids.
I think you made a fine choice, loved my last Husky, it was white/blue also. Trail looked very very nice, have never seen Knesek that green.
Knesek was great. Last time we were there it was 1500 degrees. Much better this time!
I love my Husky, I really do. It’s an amazing machine with stellar brakes, power, zero vibration and suspension that oddly felt better Sunday than it ever has before. but I’m perpetually looking at greener grass with bikes. I did the top end on it last weekend (170 hours) and was thinking that a carbed bike would be much easier to work on.
I’m complaining about awesome stuff. I’ll shut up now.
1500! LOL .. reminds me of one of the races last summer for sure... I forget which, the heat-exhaustion smoothed out the wrinkles in my brain that would've stored the memory.Knesek was great. Last time we were there it was 1500 degrees. Much better this time!
I love my Husky, I really do. It’s an amazing machine with stellar brakes, power, zero vibration and suspension that oddly felt better Sunday than it ever has before. but I’m perpetually looking at greener grass with bikes. I did the top end on it last weekend (170 hours) and was thinking that a carbed bike would be much easier to work on.
I’m complaining about awesome stuff. I’ll shut up now.
Its funny how suspension is like that... I've had days riding my bike where I'm just hating the boingers... and then the next ride, it'll feel great. Just completed a revalve on mine, hoping I didn't mess it up worse!
I'm there on the carb-thing... less complicated technology.
I wanna say the billion degree Knesek race was in ‘23, cuz Luke was still on an 85 (and already faster than me; I remember being passed on lap 2 or 3).1500! LOL .. reminds me of one of the races last summer for sure... I forget which, the heat-exhaustion smoothed out the wrinkles in my brain that would've stored the memory.
Its funny how suspension is like that... I've had days riding my bike where I'm just hating the boingers... and then the next ride, it'll feel great. Just completed a revalve on mine, hoping I didn't mess it up worse!
I'm there on the carb-thing... less complicated technology.
Who did your valving? Mine was done by Race Tech prior to me buying the bike, but I’ve been tempted to go with either their kit or a JBI DIY kit specifically for me. Can’t be that hard, right?
It’s entirely possible that boinger bliss was all in my head. I was having a stupid amount of fun.
I wanna say the billion degree Knesek race was in ‘23, cuz Luke was still on an 85 (and already faster than me; I remember being passed on lap 2 or 3).
Who did your valving? Mine was done by Race Tech prior to me buying the bike, but I’ve been tempted to go with either their kit or a JBI DIY kit specifically for me. Can’t be that hard, right?
It’s entirely possible that boinger bliss was all in my head. I was having a stupid amount of fun.
Did it myself with Race Tech kit. Ehhh... it was really more fiddly and irritating than difficult, if that makes sense.. lol. If you're gonna try it, it's 100% 'do-able' by a regular guy like me... you just have to measure and re-measure your stacks after you get them laid out b/c its easy to make a mistake.
Taking forks apart seems daunting, and messy (oil will get everywhere).. but there's a lot of videos online to watch and guide you. I've done forks before to do springs, seals, bushings and so on, so that part wasn't terrible for me. You do need at the least the special fork-cap wrench and the inner-fork-cap 'socket' (dunno what its called).
My forks are KYB 'closed cartridge' (AOS/SSS), so these tools are readily available, made by Motion Pro (ordered from Amazon). I'm sure there's other brands too.
That’s great to hear. I’ve done fork maintenance on all my bikes, but never went deep enough to revalve them. I’ll be interested to hear about the results.
I probably won’t do much more with this bike except possibly do a bladder conversion kit for the shock next time it’s due for service. Taking those apart is so messy it makes me mad.
Yeah, I did my shock revalve and bladder conversion a couple of months ago (my bike has the Sachs shock, not the KYB that started coming on 2023 Beta models) . So far, that's seemed good. I need to get back in there to make a mod though.. I missed a step on the re-valve. I need to drill a tiny 'relief' hole in the piston in a particular spot. I just glossed over it in the directions... that was a messy job, I was getting irritated by the end, lol.That’s great to hear. I’ve done fork maintenance on all my bikes, but never went deep enough to revalve them. I’ll be interested to hear about the results.
I probably won’t do much more with this bike except possibly do a bladder conversion kit for the shock next time it’s due for service. Taking those apart is so messy it makes me mad.
I've only just ridden the new fork valving around in the back yard... definitely a difference, but w/out going to do a real ride somewhere.. not gonna say its better. I was mostly going for a better small-bump compliance... trail-trash/roots performance. I think that is improved. How it performs on big-hits and more speed is yet to be seen.
I had to loan my truck to my brother b/c his truck's transmission died... it'll be a bit before its back in action. In the meantime, I can't go anywhere to ride. Killing me b/c the weather is epic right now!
No truck, no riding, no fun!
I’d be peeing my pants to drill a hole in the piston. I’ve seen the videos and always wondered why they just wouldn’t send it pre drilled.
Not everyone needs the hole drilled. Race Tech sort of tailors the setup-sheet you get by your weight, 'class/speed', type of riding, etc... so I think super-fast folks don't need the hole drilled. Slower dopes like me, need the hole to help out the damping curve.
It is listed on my setup sheet, but I just missed it. Only noticed it after I had finished forks b/c I went and dug up the shock-instructions just to keep it all in once place/folder.. read over them again, noticed that bit and did the ol' head-slap "doh!" ..
After several re-valves with a few different "pro tuners" over the years I wish I had bit the bullet and done the Race Tech thing. Would have saved a lot of money/time and probably had equal if not better suspension.
There are up and downsides (to some folks) to doing Race Tech valves.
You are sort of locked in to their 'ecosystem' at that point b/c you now use their pistons which are different than the OEM stuff that you take out. Their valving instructions are specific to using their pistons. So, on boards like this or ThumperTalk, folks often share 'valving stacks' for KYBs, but those are for using the stock pistons (which everyone tends to think are just fine, btw and I am sure they are).
I wasn't willing to just try 'someone's valving stack suggestion and hope I liked it. I figured since Race Tech asks you all the questions about your weight, speed, terrain-type, racing?, trails only?... and so on.. that they have a good feel for what I would want (which any re-valve shop would/should also ask you). I figured what I'm going for is a good baseline from square 1 vs maybe trying 5 different 'user suggested' valve-stacks and hope one is good for me.
I'm fine with being 'locked in' now, and there's still a lot of independent shops that "know Race Tech stuff" and can re-valve if I wind up not being able to come up with a good setting. You can also call Race Tech and get another valve-stack layout directly from them for a fee. You just get 'the one' at first is all when you buy the kit. You also get a lot of spare shims in the kits and if you are so inclined, can experiment altering their baseline valve-stacks.
I'm willing to tear into my forks/shock a -few- times to try stuff though. I don't want it to become a new hobby. I rode around the yard again yesterday and put a few logs in the way (I live on 2.5 acres, so I have about 1.25 I can ride on), it is definitely different and more compliant. I will cautiously say "I like it so far". Still need to get somewhere with bigger hits/more speed though to see if it doesn't just bottom out too much.
My original issue with the stock forks/shock was crazy harshness. They barely moved and deflected all over the place... lots of bouncing around... even with clickers all the way out. Riding it would wear me out in about 20min and my wrists would be aching from the jarring high-frequency hits from even small roots/rocks.
Wow, that’s good info. I’ve heard the KYB stuff is stiff from baseline but a good starting point for fast dudes.
Did you have to change springs?
I think the RX's were just made extra stiff b/c they're intended to be MX bikes. The RE's I've ridden (well, the 24 and 25 models), to me, felt about right for harescrambles stuff. I thought about trying to just copy the 2025 valving with the stock pistons, but didn't know where to get a verified 'real' set of shim specs. People post what they measure, but are they correct?.. no idea. I hemmed/hawed about it a while, then did the Race Tech thing.
Yeah, I downsized spring-rates late last summer hoping that would be enough. Forks now have 2023 YZ250X springs (same length, cheaper than an aftermarket brand) and shock spring is a Race Tech.
Stock values for my 300RX were .46 front and 5.2 rear?
I now have .43 and 5
Impressed with your methodical approach. Doing the research and choosing the oem springs was an excellent move. Details like that usually have positive results.
Have been watching some videos from the TX2 bunch. Really like what they are doing with the format and the attention to detail with the trails. They really are on top of the ribboning and sign placement which leads to a much safer race. Only issue is the DRY conditions everyone is facing. Betting the series will be successful.