My Grandma's Volvo Just Hit 385 Miles Per Hour

Today was shakedown and carburetor fiddling ride number 2 with the WR-250FP, and things went OK.
There was a noticeable improvement in throttle response since the accelerator pump was working this time out, although the settings seemed a bit on the rich side.
The bike performed better than last Sunday, but still can be improved by more testing.

I hit the Pachaug loop with the new carburetor needle and accelerator pump in tow and was very interested in seeing how the bike would perform.
You might not realize this, but the bike will not reach full operating temperature until I'm about 10 or 12 miles out, and it's at this point where the true nature of the carburetor settings can be felt.
It was then that I could tell that with the additional fuel of the accelerator pump squirt doing it's thing, while throttle response was improved, the main jet felt a bit too rich (too much fuel), and maybe the amount of fuel squirted with each squirt of the accelerator pump was a bit too much, as well.
So, after the 64 mile ride was completed and I was back at the truck where my tools were, I installed a smaller main jet and took the bike for a spin.
It felt a bit better and a bit stronger with revving out with the throttle open wide, so that was a slight improvement.
I also turned the fuel screw (also known as the pilot screw by some folks, although others insist it is not a pilot screw when we're talking about this particular design of carburetor) in from 3.25 turns out to 2.25 turns out, and that seemed a little bit cleaner-running, too.
I'll stick with these settings for the next ride and see how things are once I get out about 10 - 12 miles from the truck, again.  ;)

How was the ride?
Pretty dang good, all-in-all.
We got some rain Friday afternoon and some yesterday, too, and a bit more this morning before I loaded up and left.
I wasn't thrilled with having damp rocks and tree roots to negotiate, but, when you wanna' ride, you just go with it.
Since the total mileage was 64 miles, that meant I added the southern section of the Pachaug loop to this ride and it was good.
There were numerous water holes to cross due to the recent rain, but I got by unscathed.
I do like that section much better when it's completely dry since I don't have to slow and kill my pace, so, I hope this water dries up quickly.
Why slow down for the water crossings?
It because I don't know what obstacles or what the shape of the terrain is under the muddy water, Lenny.
If I had it all memorized, that would be a horse of a different color:
Shit brown, to match the color of the chocolate milk-looking water in those holes.

The bike performed well, less-than-correct jetting and stock-and-plugged-up muffler and all.
The freshly-serviced rear shock felt very cushy out there on the bumpy terrain and seemed to work very well, indeed.
Tom from Nasin Machine says he made no damping changes, but it did feel more supple and gave a softer ride than last Sunday.
I liked it.

Just as with last Sunday's ride, I was enjoying the light feel and high maneuverability of a 250cc bike.
On sections of trail that required changing direction while at the same time taking numerous and repetitive hits from the rocky terrain, this enhanced ease of handling was just what the doctor ordered - doing this stuff on the CRF-450X9 was much more difficult and that bike basically dictated you just try to ride through the uglies on the ground in a straight line without the maneuvering out of the way part.
Unfortunately, that's not always possible, and that's when you start muscling the bike around.
None of that muscling around required with the WR-250FP, thank you.

As I mentioned last Sunday, I'm very impressed with the bike's ability to chug way down low in the RPM range as tight trails and rough and rocky climbs are negotiated.
This was one of the great traits the ol' WR-250FY exhibited, and it's the same with the WR-250FP.
Very handy, this is, and I can only imagine how things will feel once an FMF exhaust system gets bolted on.
I'll have to wait until after my trip to DMV for that, though.
Soon.

Knock wood, but I still haven't had a difficult time getting the bike started, hot, cold, or anywhere in between.
That's just fine and dandy with me, and since the 250cc engine is so easy to kick over (as long as you use the manual decompressor lever as you are supposed to), I do not miss or need an electric starter with this bike.
I'll take the weight savings with less parts to have to haul around, thanks.
In fact, I wished the ol' WR-250FY came without an electric starter because I simply never needed it.

We're currently in the dog days of summer, which means hot and very humid weather conditions.
When it's like this, it tends to sap your energy and any water on the ground takes forever to evaporate.
Still, I felt good out there today, had a good ride, made some good moves on the bike, improved the bike's carburetion performance another small step, and had a good time riding my dirt bike.

This week will probably see the arrival of my Baja Designs dual sport kit, the collection of parts needed for DMV inspection and registration.

-John