[sprocket15]

I haven't been on a motorbike in over 8 years. Back then I had a GSXR 600. I've ridden very few dirt bikes in my life. I have a couple of ATVs that I use for fun around my property and decided to pick up a dirt bike.

I decided to go with a 2013 CRF250R... mainly because the condition and price were excellent. I do not MX, it is more for ripping around in the country but maybe someday I'll build some jumps/course on my land.

What I'm trying to do is make this bike a little LESS zippy on the low end and a little more stall resistant when going through tight turns.

I've seen many recommendations to add a flywheel weight BUT I cannot for the life of me find one for this model besides the Steahly 5 oz....which seems like it isn't worth it.

I've also seen recommendations for the Rekluse Core EXP 3.0 Clutch.

So what I'm asking is....

Is there a flywheel weight for this model that's 11 oz or more that I just can't find?

Would the Rekluse fit my needs alone?

Or should I find someone to "reflash/remap" my throttle or get a preset tuner?

Or is there another solution I missed?

Thank you all for your time and assistance. It is much appreciated!

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

The issue with the weight is the same issue I have with my 2020 450R , there are clearance issues which means you can only enlarge the flywheel area by so much , and it seems for yours 5 oz. is the size , my bike is 9 oz. , so not much more , but I can say , it made a dramatic difference with the 9 oz. it took away the massive engine braking and acceleration torque my bike had ,it really smoothed it out

In your case , you are limited to 5 oz. , but you (much cheaper than a Rekluse) can also try , or add to the weight , a Steel Clutch Basket , it will act somewhat like a flywheel weight , in the way of it adds rotating mass , which helps smooth out the engine (I personally do not like Rekluse clutches for various reasons) , you can also mess with the gearing , you can up the countershaft sprocket to a 14 and go bigger on the rear , this will give you the same basic ratio so you don't loose the top end you like , but will take some of the hit away , for example , on my 2020 (I am going on 62 in 2 months and still ride moto , on a 60hp bike) I need the bike to be much smoother than it was stock .... so what I did was go from 13/49 (stock) to 14/52 , it gave me close to the same overall ratio , but what it really did was take away a lot of the hit right into mid range , even though I kind of killed the benefits of this by adding a Full Titanium Yosh system , which pretty much woke the bike right up again , but it is still smoother than it was stock , it would rip your arms off before , now it just feels like you arms are slowly being pulled off , which is a bit more tolerable ...

So if you want to keep the costs down , then I would say , go for the weight , also the steel clutch basket (Barnett and a few other companies make them including Steahly) , re-gear the bike (I will post a gear chart below so you can compare different combos to see what might work better for you) , then if all that does not do it , then go with the Rekluse , and even less expensive compared to the Rekluse and will kill off some of the hit as well would be a re-map ..... but the weight and the steel basket will definitely help with the stalling issues as well as the torque issues

Hope that helps some

Gear Chart :

[sprocket15]

Thank you for that awesome write-up! I'm trying to understand sprocket gear ratio correctly... If I want to DECREASE throttle response/acceleration i would LOWER the ratio, correct? Example numbers....going from 3 down to 2 would decrease throttle response? This bike is super fast (acceleration) in my opinion, would going from 13 to 15 in the front WITHOUT changing the rear be too much?

It seems like a steel clutch basket and a 5 oz flywheel will run me around 450...half way to a Rekluse. If I'm going to spend more than a couple hundred I'm comfortable going to 1000 if need be. Or will the Rekluse not solve my problems?

No Rekluse, flywheel weight, steel basket, bigger countershaft sprocket, remap? Any suggestions for a remap? I've called every local place in the St. Louis area and no one does this. So either send it off to someone or spend 750 on a vortex....I think I'd rather send it off.

[JimDirt]

The only thing the Rekluse will help with is stalling , it will not really do anything for torque/hit ..... Going to a 15 would be way too much , you would really end up frying the clutch because it is too high ....1 tooth on the front is equal to about 3 teeth on the rear , larger rear gears you down (going from 48 to 51 would be lower gearing) 1 tooth larger on the front will gear you up , so that would be like going from a 48 to a 45 rear , that is why usually you change the front and rear to keep somewhat the same ratio overall , but alter the torque curve like I mentioned with my bike , going up on the front and down on the rear keeps the overall gearing close , but takes away the harsh hit ... Sometimes you have to experiment to get the results you want

I have hanging on my wall , a 47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54 rear sprockets and 12,13.14 fronts sprockets , I buy 120 link chains , and a couple extra master links , that way I can cut or add about any combo to test different ratios , when I get what I am looking for in feel , then I usually stick with it , so I take the 120 , count the links I removed , and just cut to that length (# of links will vary depending on sprocket combo) and get new sprockets and chain in those combos once the chain is worn , I have never had a issue running 2 master links on my bikes , even for the track , so if you do the standard 116 for example (13/49-116) , you can add to get the larger rear sprocket to gear you down , or larger front to gear you up , , or smaller rear to gear you down , or both larger

I do not recommending going less than 13 on the front , you can go to a 12 , but only for slower easy riding where you suspension is not working hard , what it does is put the chain too close to the swingarm pivot point (think triangle versus a wedge , less pitch on the wedge puts less focused end and more pressure on that smaller end) , so when you compress the suspension it makes the chain dig into the slide , and eventually into the swingarm , and it will actually cut thru the swingarm , what you also want to do is try to keep your wheel centered as close as you can to the adjustments , that way as the chain stretches you can adjust without running out of room

But more importantly ... axle placement on the swingarm (forward , rearward) , affects steering , traction , and weight bias front to rear and stiffness of the rear suspension as well as affects sag , all these factors come into play when changing ratios , so if you have the rear wheel slid way back in the swingarm , it will soften the suspension and add sag , so if you were at 100mm sag with the axle centered , sliding it back towards the rear may make your sag around 104mm , which will affect steering (less steering because the rear is squatted and the front has less weight so it is stiffer and farther up in the stroke than when the wheel is centered) , , sliding the rear forward , will stiffen the rear as well as shorten your wheelbase making the bike steer quicker and might change your sag from 100mm to 95mm for example , which would make the rear higher (stinkbug effect) and take away top end stability (headshake) .... , so everything you change effects something else in some way . so keep that in mind when trying to achieve your goals

With all that said , I would say

Rekluse for Stalling ....Flywheel weight and steel clutch basket for stalling and hit ....

Gearing ... up on front , less torque , but affects overall , so bike may be sluggish and stall more as well as increase clutch slipping/wear , so going down (larger) on the rear will compensate for the things taken away from front larger change , its all a balance of what you are looking for and what the changes will actually achieve and affect , take away hit , it adds clutch wear because you slip the clutch more to not stall , so compensate by going up on rear to get closer to where you are stock , but with less hit , go smaller on the rear and you increase everything , so you slip the clutch more , as well as have more top end speed but less torque , but it affects power delivery everywhere , so then you have a Bonneville racer instead of a dirt bike , capable of going Mach 12 but taking 3 miles to get to that speed and you will need a push to get going unless you are only riding downhill , so that is why changing both will get you where you want to be without sacrificing too much of any one thing .....

As far as remap , I would contact Tokyo Mods , they should be able to do it for under $100 , and you tell them what you are looking to achieve and they should be able to get you there , and are usually a quick turn around ...

Hopefully I helped and that makes sense ...

[sprocket15]

So I think I will start with a 14T front and 51T rear?, new chain, and call up tokyo mods for a remap and explain what I'm looking for. The bike has a Pro Circuit TI-5 full kit and I think the rest of it is stock outside of wheels and handlebar. From there I'll just keep riding more and learning more and then maybe look into the steel basket and flywheel weight. Does it sound like I'm on the right (logical) path?

[JimDirt]

Yes , I always go the cheapest route first , to get the most bang for the least cost output ... so in your case , re-gearing and a remap would be the least expensive of the options , then if it is not quite what you were looking for , then add till you are content ....sometimes a few small changes make a huge difference ... , you might still have to experiment with the gearing , 1 tooth on the rear can make a completely different experience , so if it's close with a 14/51 , spend $20 or $30 on another steel rear sprocket (I always run steel , they last longer and are usually half the price of aluminum) . so if going from 49 to 51 made it better but not quite there , try 52 and see if it does the trick ... you usually will have to dial it in a bit and gearing is about the cheapest performance or power delivery change you can make on a bike

For each rider what you need or want will be different using the same as someone else , the changes I mentioned work well , but applying them to your specific needs may need some tweaking one way or the other , due to rider skill level , terrain ridden , riding style , rider weight (a light rider needs/wants less torque than a heavy rider to do the same thing , a light rider will feel like he is being torn apart at the shoulders with a lot of torque , a heavy rider will not feel it as much due to their weight needing more power to pull them thru the same situation , so it will feel smoother) , there are lots of variables , you may like the 14/51 , or it may be better but not enough and you may opt for 14/53 , you won't know till you ride it and go , yes I like this , or , I like this but ... and go from there ... , but it should not make the issue worse ... if you geared down the front , it will have more torque .... Things to ponder ...

[sprocket15]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. You've cleared up so many of my questions and I really appreciate it. I called Tokyo Mods and they can set me up mapping wise just as I explained to them.

[JimDirt]

No problem glad to help or at least help guide you in the right direction ... That is what this place is about ... riders helping riders

Keep us posted on what you do like , or dislike about the changes , that way others can learn from your experience , as everyone's experience is different , as each rider wants certain things , and hopefully you are now on the path to getting those things resolved ...