Jay Clark is at it again with project bike builds. This time he takes a lightly used 2018 KTM 250 XC and makes modifications to improve its on-trail capability.
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00:00 What's up everyone?
00:06 Andrew Ola with Dirt Rider here and we have a 2018 KTM 250 XC project bike built by none
00:12 other than Jay Clark.
00:13 He put some time and work into this, bought it second hand used and I'm curious to see
00:18 what you did with this thing Jay.
00:20 Give us a scoop.
00:21 Well, a good buddy of mine up in Utah bought this bike and he had a TPI bike, sold it and
00:27 wanted to get something to kind of hold him over until he gets another new bike and he
00:31 found a good deal on this 2018.
00:33 It only has eight hours on it of real time and so that's pretty amazing for something
00:37 that old and the bike had no scratches.
00:40 The pipe, the stock pipe was perfect.
00:42 Stock plastic was perfect.
00:44 So these eight hours, the guys, it wasn't like rato hours where the guys crashing all
00:47 the time.
00:48 So it wasn't that.
00:49 It was just regular hours.
00:50 So, and apparently they just put it around in a field because they didn't scratch anything.
00:54 So the thing is really great shape.
00:55 So I said, we can see what we can do to this thing because I like, first of all, these
01:01 two strokes from KTM 17 and up, this generation, as you know, with that counterbalancer engine,
01:05 they're amazing.
01:06 I mean, you lose the vibration of those old two strokes like we were used to.
01:09 And the old days, did you ever ride those old two strokes and guys were like, these
01:12 things are cool and then you get off and your hands are vibrating and it was like, I didn't
01:15 get what they were talking about, how cool it was, you know?
01:18 Absolutely.
01:19 So anyway, so these new engines are incredible.
01:21 I have been a fan of the 300.
01:23 I think the 300s for most people probably a little bit better, but this 250 is a plenty
01:28 good bike for most riding, especially this tight stuff, like especially out here today,
01:32 I don't know that you're going to miss having a 300 versus this 250.
01:36 So what we wanted to do, the basic mod we did is we cut the head.
01:41 Tom Morgan does a quick head mod to these things.
01:43 It's got the head mod, the piston is stock vertex piston only at eight hours on it.
01:46 We go 80 to 120 on hours, anywhere in there on these motors.
01:51 So plenty of time left on that.
01:53 So we did that.
01:54 And then the stock McHooney, it's not a great carburetor, but we went ahead and we have
01:59 a good modification I do to the slide.
02:01 I have a link to that and I can probably send it to you to run.
02:05 I have a video showing how to mod that slide a little bit.
02:07 And then JD Jetting has a kit and we have it jetted for elevation for him.
02:12 It'll still, it should be okay out here today for you.
02:15 So we have that set up and those are the main performance mods.
02:17 And then the stock rear spring isn't quite stiff enough for most people on this bike.
02:22 So we went ahead and had race tech change out our fluids and put a stiffer rear spring
02:25 in this thing.
02:27 And then the rest of it is a lot of stuff that does look cool.
02:30 Of course, with the decal works, graphics, moto seat, it gives it a really cool look.
02:34 And then after that, it's all protection.
02:36 Enduro engineering hand guards.
02:37 We've got our Enduro engineering rear rotor guard.
02:43 M Designs has their chain guide and bulletproof makes this cool piece to protect the rear
02:49 of the swing arm and the bottom shock knuckle down there, right where the shock and knuckle
02:55 meet.
02:56 That guards nice.
02:57 We ruined those before when we didn't have guards on there.
02:59 And of course, P3 makes the cool carbon for the skid plate and pipe guard.
03:03 So we have those on there.
03:05 Enduro engineering also has radiator guards.
03:07 So we got those on there because the guy that's going to end up with this bike, he's probably
03:10 going to fall a few times, a few times a ride maybe, but he's a cool dude.
03:15 So Wendell's his name.
03:17 So we want to make sure we're well protected.
03:19 And then we have some good IMS stuff.
03:20 We've got the foot pegs, which have got a good footprint, a little bit wider than stock.
03:23 IMS large three and a half gallon tank so you can ride all day.
03:27 And a coolant catch can.
03:28 You can see right here, you see this hose coming out of the frame?
03:31 Comes on both sides.
03:32 Inside the frame, we have a catch can.
03:34 So if this thing overheats or when it overheats, it's boiling into that catch can and it's
03:38 inside the frame.
03:39 You can see it and then it'll fill back up.
03:41 So you're not going to be stranded anywhere over overheating.
03:45 And then after that, got our ODI podium flight bars.
03:50 We really like this champ bend and then Dunlop tires, AT81 in the front and probably something
03:56 you'll familiar with.
03:57 What's that rear tire?
03:58 D803GP trials tire.
04:00 Yeah.
04:01 As a trials guy, he grew up with this tire and these tires, guys don't understand why
04:05 you'd run a trials tire on a dirt bike.
04:07 And the guys that don't understand are ones that haven't done it.
04:10 So they haven't done it and they work really well on the trail.
04:14 There's a few places maybe they're not ideal.
04:16 You don't want to hop on say a track and you got to be careful on fast flowy sections.
04:20 You could have a little bit of wallow.
04:22 But other than that, on all the tight stuff, they work amazing as you know.
04:26 And the durability is pretty good.
04:27 They last well and they work pretty good, even worn down.
04:30 So we like those.
04:31 The only place maybe they don't work as well would be in total slimy, slimy mud.
04:34 It would have to be pretty slimy to pack up or in snow.
04:37 I found out that if you get them in snow, they pack up.
04:40 In snow and ice, that's kind of tough.
04:42 So we got our Power Core from FMF as the muffler and we went ahead and cleaned that up really
04:48 nice.
04:49 Luke at MX Refurb is a friend of mine, Luke Santos, and he polished that out for us.
04:52 Henson clutch cover.
04:53 It's a lot stronger than the stock one and we have had guys crack the stock ones when
04:57 they crash.
04:58 They land right on rocks and can do that.
05:00 We have our Uni air filter in here.
05:03 It's a two-stage filter.
05:04 We got that in there and we got our gas mixed up with some Klotz R50.
05:07 We're ready for you to go ride this thing, man, and see what you think.
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06:04 Alright, so we just finished up a ride on Jay Clark's 2018 KTM 250 XC and man, what a fun bike to ride.
06:12 I mean, it came with one of the most obvious modifications, the trials rear tire.
06:16 Man, that thing was hooking up like crazy out there.
06:18 We were riding on some rocks and just had no problem driving up them and it really gave me some flashbacks to my past as a trials rider.
06:26 So, a lot of fun with that.
06:28 If you ride in slick terrain or if you just simply want a little more traction, trials-like traction, I highly recommend trying it out.
06:34 Just the soft compound alone, as Jay mentioned earlier, as the tire wears down, it doesn't necessarily lose a ton of traction.
06:41 I mean, it loses a little bit, obviously, as the knobbies get worn down, as the knobs get worn down,
06:45 but again, just the soft tire itself is going to help you hook up.
06:49 So, that was a really cool modification and I was glad to be able to try that.
06:53 The engine itself, for a 250, I was really impressed with the amount of low end it had.
06:58 I know Jay mentioned in some notes he sent me that the modifications Tom Morgan made were aimed at improving low end power.
07:05 A 250 two-stroke doesn't necessarily have as much low end as a 300.
07:09 300s just naturally have a little more torque due to the increased displacement and that's just the way they're tuned.
07:14 So, again, with the impressive amount of low end for the 250 two-stroke, I was very pleased with that.
07:20 I think, perhaps, having slightly richer jetting would help that even further.
07:26 Jay mentioned that the jetting for this bike is set up for around 6,000 or 7,000 feet.
07:31 So, it was a touch lean for what we were riding today.
07:34 Jay mentioned he rode the bike too.
07:36 He was totally fine with it and I was too, but if this were my personal bike, I would prefer a little bit richer, namely, just right off the bottom end.
07:44 But, again, even with the slightly leaner jetting settings, it still had an impressive amount.
07:49 So, I was happy with that.
07:51 As far as the suspension, Jay mentioned it's set up more for trail.
07:55 For me, it's a little on the stiff side.
07:57 I'm just a pretty light rider in general, but I really enjoyed its set up as far as riding it more cross-country.
08:05 So, I felt like once I got up to speed and the more whooped out areas, the bike really soaked everything up well.
08:12 I felt like it was maybe a little bit set up more on the performance side.
08:15 But, again, as Jay mentioned earlier, it's set up a little stiffer just as far as the overall set up.
08:21 So, really impressed with the suspension set up.
08:23 As far as the other modifications, the Bark Busters from Enduro Engineering, those are always welcome.
08:29 We don't have the gnarliest brush out here in SoCal, but there's plenty of overgrowth out there.
08:34 Lastly, the ODI Champ N-Bar is super agreeable.
08:38 I mean, I hop on and it just feels super comfortable.
08:41 So, the grips from ODI are great too.
08:44 Aside from that, as Jay mentioned earlier, not a crazy over-the-top build.
08:48 It's mostly in the engine, the suspension, and the pipe, of course, and the trials rear tire.
08:53 Obviously, the rest of the bike looks great with the DecalWorks graphics.
08:57 Super pumped on the bike overall.
08:59 Anyway, thank you guys so much for tuning in.
09:01 If you're watching on the Dirt Rider YouTube channel, be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
09:05 And we'll see you next time.
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