Hop up the power, then tame it with a flywheel weight???

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wanaride
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Hop up the power, then tame it with a flywheel weight???

Post by wanaride »

Please help me understand something...

I've heard about how great flywheel weights are, and after riding a KDX200 with a FWW, I have a better understanding for how they reduce wheelspin, but...

It seems counterproductive to do carb mods, install a new reed cage, and possibly do other power enhancing mods, only to follow it up with a device that intentionally softens the power delivery.

I am able to loft my front wheel over logs on my bike (and I don't have any real engine mods yet), but I couldn't do it on my buddy's FWW-equipped KDX200. Maybe I just didn't know how to ride his bike, but both bikes were similarly equipped with the exception of the FWW. And his bike stalled more easily than mine did in slow speed stuff!

What am I missing?
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m0rie
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Post by m0rie »

Does your buddy still have the stock jetting in his bike?

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Post by 89kdx200rdr »

i usually run one when it's really muddy. later in the year when it kinda dries out i take it off. the steahly weight with the lockup tool is really easy to put on and take off. unlike your experience my bike stalls easier without the weight on.
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bradf
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Post by bradf »

I put the FWW on because I have been riding on snow, ice, and snot mixed with ice. It really helped keep the power delivery smooth and safe. I also changed from a CEK to a CEL to tame the mid range for the snotty trail factor. Once the conditions improve I will remove it.
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Post by canyncarvr »

Wana: I keep forgetting if you have a 220....or not. I think you do. There's the 'wheel loft' part. That's easier on a 220 than a 200. A 200 will still do it just fine, though. Well, imo, according to my personal experience and all.

You're right if you define the terms narrowly. 'Make more power' in several ways only to 'reduce' power in other ways.

That's not it, though. 'More power' is not always a good thing. The definition of things gets pretty picky.

Wheelspin = no traction = wasted energy.

OK.

BUT, there are times that controlled wheelspin is necessary to get you where you want to go. A low-RPM 2nd-gear bit-o-spin will at times work much better on a hill than a locked up traction situation. Other times, if you're in 1st gear on the end of some hills, you be screwed, cuz you will either loop or sit-n-spin..going nowhere. If you were going a tad faster, in 2nd gear the bike having to work harder due to the gearing will equate to less wheelspin, more pull and a whole lot less of the being screwed part.

Don't know about you...but I'd much rather be standing at the TOP of the hill than sliding backwards down that hill (at five feet from the top) in a pile of slippery clay goo that I can't hope to stand up on! Ha! I've been there a few times! :oops: Both places.

So, it's not so much power, but power delivery that's the big deal. RB's carb mod does more to smooth out the power application than anything else. The DF3s had the same effect (for me, anyway).

You 'hop it up' and then you control it!

Another boring anecdotal blahg:

Was at the dunes last Sunday. Got to ride with a new DR400 Kawazuki (4-stroke quad). Flat out drags? My Banshee would leave him w-a-y behind. Hill climbs? Smoked him. But...on runs up dunes with a bunch of acceleration bumps at the bottom? His suspension is better. He stayed on the ground better. The more I was in the air, the further ahead of me he got.

Once it leveled out, I smoked him summore!

So...I had more power, but he had better control. When it came to a situation where control mattered...he was throwing sand in my face.

I should'a NEVER agreed to assist him in setting his new machine up. We ended up far away from where it was...and it worked much better! PooP! :lol:

I like my Steahly FWW a lot! The stalling issue is only due to comparing two different animals. Compare a bike, with/without, that bike will be much more resistant to stall with a FWW. There is no comparison on my 200. Without it, just a touch of brake on downhills without being full on the clutch would kill my bike. With the FWW on, it doesn't ever happen (unless it's a severe case of operator error). I also appreciated the controlled 'loft' I have when negotiating uphill obstacles. Without the weight, I'd have to use too much throttle to get too much loft, to end up on by backside. Now, it's much more a matter of, 'Gimme some UP, please!'

Kind'a like if it was a 220!!! :?

Which...after all of this, I did (yet another search) to realize you DO ride 200.

Still, you cannot reasonably compare different bikes and expect them to be anything but different. My riding buddy's 200 (same year, same miles, same mods) always ran different from mine. Sometimes better, sometimes not.

re: changing 'profiles' with needles.

I gotta say I love reading about a rider who has put the time and effort into carb tuning to know that those pesky little needles are just plain FM!
Hhhmmm.....'snot mixed with ice'? I don't recall riding in front of you..... :roll:

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Post by wanaride »

CC, as always, thanks for the detailed and helpful reply.

Yes, I wasn't being fair when I said his bike stalled easier than mine. I stalled his bike because I wasn't familiar with how to ride and clutch a bike with a FWW. (He told me that he never stalls it!) Like you said, my 200 won't stall so long as I have a death-grip on the clutch, but if I'm riding slowly and the clutch isn't pulled in, yes, it WILL stall.

Your comments on controlling the power delivery do make sense. The FWW isn't taking the power away, it is simply controlling the rate at which the power is delivered to the rear wheel.

Once I get over the financial sting of a Scotts damper, Lord willing I'll be calling Steahly.

BTW CC, now that I've seen the pictures of the areas you ride, it's no wonder you log so many miles. If my riding areas were that beautiful, I'd never come home!
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Post by canyncarvr »

You know....life is short.

Considering the overall advantages and experience....think just how little it would actually COST to pack yur stuff in yur truck, drive out here for a week...and I'll do the best I can to send you back home with at the VERY least a good dose of monkey-butt.

Pick up Inda on the way!

If you're staying for a week...bring a paddle tire and jets for the sand (on the beach. LOTS of Oh-2).


...just to give you something to think about! :wink:

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Post by cicone »

You might want to bring some of this along for the trip!

http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/whatisamb.html

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Post by Indawoods »

Gold Bond does the trick!
Kinda cool there is a product specifically for it though! :lol:
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