[ab_714]

So I am picking up a new 250 on Friday and was curious what you guys do before you take them to the track. I'm not talking like full exhaust or suspension set-up yet, I was looking more towards oil, antifreeze type items. I have two jugs of Engine Ice at home doing was looking at draining the radiators and putting that in. Would it be in my best interest to drain the oil and go with a synthetic or semi-synthetic since the bike has virtually no hours on it? Basically just small stuff like that. Any info or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks again,
Adam

[JimDirt]

Actually suspension should be one of the first things you mess with , you need to get the sag correct (and this will tell you if the springs are correct for your weight , which is a major safety factor if your going to be jumping and such on a track , also new bikes have a tendency to have clickers off , just make sure they are set at the recommended setting , sometimes they are backed off all the way , and you will wonder why the bike is wallowing and bottoming on everything , or it could be set so stiff that it beats you to death and you will think the bike sucks , when in fact , it just was not set correctly or not set at all , don't expect just because the dealer did "setup" that it was done correctly , sometimes they just put the front wheel on , and send it on its way

One of the first main things is going to be check every bolt on it and make sure everything is where its supposed to be torque wise , and i would stay away from full or even blend synthetics till you get the rings broken in , otherwise it will burn oil forever , and possibly glaze the cylinder walls , and the rings might never seat

I would also run in the bike first as is before switching to Engine Ice , let everything settle , then don't forget when switching to Engine Ice , to flush the system completely with Distilled Water , as Engine Ice does not mix well with most coolants , but i would do this AFTER you ride it for the first day

Go over your spokes each time you take it out for the first several rides as they will tend to loosen as the wheel seats in from riding

Other than that , enjoy the ride and congrats on the new bike !!

[ab_714]

Thanks for the good info. I'll hold off on the oil and antifreeze for now. I had planned on setting sag as best I could for now, I was more referring to sending the suspension out for a complete redo. Thanks again for the tips. Really looking forward to letting it rip!

[JimDirt]

Unless you need a different rate spring , just run the suspension stock for now , you can get a lot of adjustment out of just clickers , just do 1-2 clicks at a time , and don't do Compression AND Rebound at the same time , do one of them (compression usually is the first to need adjustment) , then if you have other issues , then you mess with the Rebound , track riding can be done on stock suspension as long as you don't constantly case jumps , or over jump and flatland , then it gets a bit harsh , but you would be surprised what stock suspension and a effort put into clicker adjustment testing can do , as you get more comfortable on the bike , and get your speed/confidence up after adjusting to the new bike , that is when you want to do any suspension mods (valving) , you don't want to do it right out of the box till you know what the positives and negatives of the suspension characteristics are,and how you feel about them

Then you will have some kind of baseline of what the bike does good or bad and then you can focus on those items when the suspension is done (by telling your tuner what it does and what you like or dislike about it , always test and adjust with what you have before doing serious suspension mods , you have to know what you have before you can tell them what you do or don't like about it the way it is ...follow ??

When i re-valve , i need to know what the bike is doing (good or bad) , this way i know what direction to go with the shims

And most important , is do not forget the importance of the air pressure , even a 1/2 lbs one way or the other , can make all the difference on those forks , also on the fork as well as shock , i prefer to adjust equally , in other words , if i do 2 clicks in on the Compression on the fork , I do the same to the shock to keep the suspension balanced , same goes for Rebound

[ab_714]

Okay JimDirt I'm ready for my first oil change. Would you suggest a semi-synthetic or full synthetic? Also is one brand better that the other? Pro Honda, Lucas, Bel-Ray? Thanks again,
Adam

[JimDirt]

If the bike is "new" new , then i would wait a bit on synthetic , and stick with petroleum based oils , the rings need time to seat , so if you jump right to synthetic , you will be going thru oil and the rings may never seat properly , they need the friction that petroleum oils offer , as well as the detergents to clean away the breaking in of bearings etc , just go with Honda oil for now (3-4 good rides , maybe more depending on how hard you ride it), and change frequently till you get it broke in a little , then you can mess with other oils , you will know when the rings are seating when it stops using oil every ride or 2 (this is why you need to check and change frequently)