Is a 2023 GasGas MC 250F mod the ultimate vet rider and racer weapon? We take Jay Clark’s creation for a spin at Glen Helen Raceway to find out.
Video By: Mason Owens
Read more from Dirt Rider: https://www.dirtrider.com/
Video By: Mason Owens
Read more from Dirt Rider: https://www.dirtrider.com/
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00:00 Hello everyone, Casey Casper with Dirt Rider here.
00:09 Today we're at Glen Helen Raceway testing a 2023 Gas Gas MC250F project bike built by
00:14 Jay Clark.
00:15 Jay, can you tell us a little bit about it?
00:17 I'll tell you a lot about it.
00:19 As you know, this bike didn't get updated for '23 like the KTM and Husqvarna models.
00:24 So this is the old generation, a generation that we like a lot.
00:28 The only main problem that most of us have with it is the air fork.
00:31 The air fork's pretty dang good for an air fork, but it's still an air fork.
00:35 I like it in a lot of conditions, but overall I would still choose a spring fork.
00:39 And so that's one of the first things we did with this bike.
00:40 I got a good deal on this bike.
00:42 It was a B-racer kit.
00:45 Put a lot of hard hours on it, not very long.
00:47 It only had like 30 hours on it.
00:49 And they had the fresh plastic for it and some good pieces for it.
00:53 So I said, "I'll fix it up."
00:55 And I had these forks off a bike I had sold.
00:58 A lot of times when you sell a bike, you don't get that money back on that set of suspension.
01:03 So it's better just to sell it with the stock suspension, what I found, because you don't
01:07 recoup that money.
01:08 You're better off just to sell the forks on your own.
01:10 In this case, I kept them and I was thinking about selling them.
01:12 And then I bought this bike.
01:13 I'm like, "Hey, I'll just put them on here."
01:14 Racetech went through these forks for me and the shock and set it up for me right here.
01:18 And for me, we talked a lot about this in the past, about how I think for a lot of vet
01:22 guys, a 250F is perfect.
01:25 If you're not aggressively racing and if you do race, you're going to race, say, a place
01:31 like Glen Helen here that maybe has longer motos, that 250F is so good at the end of
01:35 the motos, especially for vet guys.
01:38 Those 450 guys are all sitting down at the end of the motos.
01:39 And that's what these 250Fs are so good at.
01:43 And this KTM, we'll say, platform works so good.
01:48 All we have to do is add that ECU.
01:50 Jamie at Twisted maps an ECU for this bike and it runs amazing.
01:55 There's just no hesitation, no bog, no giddy up, and it just gives a little bit more power
01:59 everywhere.
02:00 We take the backfire screen out of the...
02:02 We run a two-stroke air filter cage.
02:05 The Recluse torque drive clutch, not an auto clutch, but a torque drive, gives it a good
02:08 bite out of the turns.
02:09 The FMF pipe and silencer, those are the main performance mods to the engine.
02:13 We didn't take the engine, open it all.
02:15 Didn't throw no big bore porting at it because it's going to be good, long lasting.
02:19 We probably won't even have to...
02:20 You can put 100 hours on these things without even checking the valves typically.
02:24 And so that's what I really like about these bikes.
02:27 And so I went ahead and made it look good.
02:29 Moto seat made a seat cover to match our DecalWorks graphics.
02:31 Got us a really cool custom look.
02:34 And we got the vented air box door.
02:36 That gives it even more air than just that air filter cage.
02:39 So these things want air, as you know.
02:40 They really like to breathe in that air.
02:43 We got some...
02:44 MX Champ makes some wheels and they've got some wheels on here from them.
02:48 Got those Pro-X chain and sprockets.
02:50 We went up one tooth on the rear sprocket to a 52.
02:53 Give us a little bit more bite out of turns.
02:54 These things run a 14 front and they got plenty of gearing.
02:57 You can almost run a 53 on a stock bike.
03:00 So 52 is a good gearing there.
03:02 And with our tires, we got the MX14, which works amazing here at Glen Helen, especially
03:07 up those hills.
03:08 And up front, we have the Dunlop MX3S tire that's kind of going away, but it's still
03:12 really good tire that we like a lot.
03:14 And on our controls, I really like the ODI Imig V2 lock-on grips.
03:19 Those are really cool.
03:20 And then this bike does have the BrakeTech brakes, which are a lot better than in the
03:25 past.
03:26 And they're actually owned by Brembo now.
03:28 You have to run BrakeTech levers, you know, levers from there.
03:32 So ASV has actually made levers to fit these BrakeTech ones.
03:35 You can't run the Brembo or Magura levers on them.
03:38 So ASV has levers for those that are adjustable and really cool.
03:43 And I guess the only other performance mod I failed to mention is we have some T4 in
03:46 here from VP to give it some really good bite.
03:48 It'll run just fine on pump gas.
03:50 Maybe we will split it, that kind of thing.
03:52 Okay, so the radiators are pretty straight on this bike.
03:55 But while the suspension was off, we went ahead and sent our radiators to ICW, who strengthens
03:58 them up.
03:59 And we got that done.
04:00 We got the CV4 cap from Wiseco, higher temp cap, so it'll hold a little more pressure.
04:04 And we retained the stock, you know, cast clamps.
04:07 I like the feel of that.
04:09 I would like a rubber mount we talked about in there to reduce some vibration, but I like
04:12 the cast clamp feel of less, you know, rigidity.
04:15 We also have SCAR foot pegs.
04:16 I like to get a good footprint there on the foot pegs.
04:19 We also added the P3 skid plate just to give us more protection down there.
04:23 As you can see, it came out looking really good.
04:25 It wasn't a ton of work because the bike was fairly clean, but made it look amazing.
04:29 And we've got a lot of good components on here.
04:31 And I'm looking forward to riding this thing over the next few months.
04:33 And I'm looking forward to you riding it right now at Glen Helen.
04:35 The track looks amazing.
04:36 We've got good conditions out there.
04:37 So hopefully you enjoy it.
04:39 If it rides half as good as it looks, I'm ready to throw a leg over it.
04:42 Time to gear up and go ride.
04:44 [ENGINE REVVING]
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06:29 All right, we are back.
06:39 Just got in from spinning some laps on the main track.
06:41 GoPro footage, everything.
06:43 Nice hot September day.
06:45 The bike, not like stock at all.
06:49 MC250, a lot of rev in stock form, a lot of soft bottom.
06:54 Jay's bike with the FMF pipe, needy back tire,
06:58 one up on the sprocket, it pulls so good.
07:02 Jamie at Twisted did a great job on the ECU.
07:05 There's no loss in over-rev, but the bottom end is cleaner, it picks up, it starts good.
07:09 There's a lot more tunability with that ignition, that's the biggest thing.
07:13 The stock bike does not have a map switch, so you can order the power parts,
07:18 which gives you map 1 and map 2, but it's just not the same.
07:22 So if you're looking for the best bang for your buck,
07:24 it's probably going to be a toss-up between the exhaust and the ECU.
07:27 Obviously the T4 runs a lot cleaner than regular pump gas.
07:31 Here in California we have a lot of ethanol in our fuel,
07:33 so it's always good to look into that for reliability and longevity.
07:36 And the whole package just works smooth.
07:40 The brakes aren't quite up to Brembo spec,
07:43 the levers help for feel, but brake tech would need definitely a good bleed
07:48 for me to be happy with it.
07:50 The rotors from Tusk did a good job once they seated in,
07:53 everything felt good there, it was just a little bit different sensation.
07:56 Same thing with the clutch, the clutch is not quite Brembo actuation.
08:01 Overall, compared to the stock bike, if I were going to ride one versus the other,
08:05 I'd take this 9 times out of 10.
08:08 If you're a vet guy, this is your bike.
08:11 The 250F is so much more forgiving than the 450.
08:14 It's not quite a 350, but with the mods that Jay did that are really tasteful
08:18 and fairly economical, anybody can do them.
08:21 They're bolt-on, there's nothing super high-tech about it,
08:24 and it's the best bike for a majority of riders.
08:27 Jay and his son Spencer are basically 250/350 only riders for a reason.
08:31 They work really good, and they don't punish you.
08:35 If you have a longer motor, like Jay said earlier,
08:37 after that 10-minute mark, this is the bike to be riding.
08:40 The spring front end, so much better than the Airforks.
08:43 It's just night and day.
08:45 The race tech conversion, even though it wasn't for this bike,
08:48 and Jay had them off the shelf from another build,
08:50 it shows you that you can piece together bike to bike to bike,
08:53 and if you know what works and what you like, then it's plug and play for the next one.
08:58 Overall, I wouldn't change a thing from the tires to the bars to the grips.
09:02 ODI did a great job there.
09:04 Good scar pegs.
09:06 Super fun bike to ride.
09:08 I really like the MX-14 today, chasing outside lines,
09:11 even though it's hot and summer in SoCal.
09:13 They worked awesome.
09:15 And the 3S front, while it's still around, it's my favorite.
09:18 The 34 is definitely better than the 33,
09:21 but for that back tire, the matching pair is a good combination.
09:26 That wraps it up here on this 2023 Gas Gas MC250F project bike.
09:31 As always, thank you for watching.
09:33 Thank you to Jay Clark for providing the bike.
09:35 Thank you to Glen Helen Raceway.
09:37 And if you like this video, please be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
09:40 See you on the next one.
09:43 [closing graphic]