New to me ‘97 EC250
 

Hi all. New to the forum and to Gas Gas and to 2 strokes. So far I’m very happy with my new purchase. I only got to ride it once though as the clutch gave up on the 2nd day. Got some great advice on advrider and I don’t think it’ll be tough to fix. Got some questions for you all though.
What’s the crossover on advice on here for newer EC250/300s? Looking at a clutch thread for swapping the cr250 clutch and also a jetting thread I see a lot of newer bikes than mine mentioned. Love to know what changed when. Also just standard talk about oils and air filters etc. 1997s don’t get much mention so if the advice for newer bikes applies I’ll be happy to hear that.
I found a manual on here that looks like it could be for older EC250/300 but there’s no year range indicated on it anywhere. I have a 1997 owners manual coming in the mail. Hopefully that’ll have some info in it.
Love the bike! Hoping I can get some info to enjoy working on it. I’ll chat with TheLetterJ on advrider as well as he’s been super helpful but figured I’d get acquainted with you all.

97 ec250
 

Welcome aboard the GGRiders.

If your new toy is in good condition, I am pretty sure you are
going to like it.
Especially the counter balanced engine. I have a 98 EC250SM and
it is soooo smooth.

One of the issues might be finding fork seals for the Marzocchi forks.
I am guessing you have the 45mm and should be easier than the
50mm that are on mine.

There is a thread here on GGRider that has the history of GG that details
some of the changes and when.

Mr. Cook, if he joins in, is just about the historian on the older US
GasGas bikes.

Ask away and we will see if we can help.
Cheers, Jeff

Awesome. Thanks! I’ll find that thread. The bike seems super clean and well cared for. The clutch stopped working the 2nd day I rode but I think I can bleed it and change the trans oil and get it back in business. That or change the clutch out for the Honda stuff, as per a friendly dude on advrider. Probably didn’t get ridden for a while before I bought it.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9af4403d9a.jpg
Figure I should include a pic of the beautiful beast.

I like it! Nice ride!!

Wow!! Beauty!

Might be too nice to ride!!!! You should put that into a museum.

Is that a Mesico Pipe? Mine loves the Mesico much
better than either of the FMF pipes.

BTW. The radiator shrouds are just about impossible to
find replacements for. Do not crash them up!!! :)

The power valve cover is not stock and should add some low
end grunt.

Check your email for manuals etc...
Cheers, Jeff

I know! It’s such a lucky find. The previous owner really cared for it. And knew what he was doing. Thanks for all those documents Jeff. Amazing.

GG History
 

If you have not found it yet....it's a good read.

www.gasgasrider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6427

I should research my VIN.. The story of my bikes history might
not be as accurate as I assumed.

Cheers.

Looks great!:D

Alright. Finally some new developments. Got to work on the bike the last couple days. I bled the clutch. I think it went well but I’ve never bled a clutch before so maybe I should try again. It feels good though and I see no bubbles coming up.
I also changed the transmission fluid. It was probably pretty low. I didn’t see it in the site glass before I changed it but that could be because it was so dark. Or it was low. I see it clearly now that it’s got 1000 cc’s in there.
It still dies when I put it in gear so nothing fixed so far. If I rode it a couple hours with low transmission fluid could I have damaged it? Warped the clutch plates maybe? Hopefully not worse than that.
Ideas on next steps welcome!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5c3f06ffe8.jpg

Little black? Maybe a bit rich.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e9288f746a.jpg

The transmission fluid drain bolt. Not sure if that’s beyond the normal amount of shavings or indicative of wear.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e356264dd8.jpg

After cleaning.

The jetting looks a little bit rich
The wear on the drain bolt looks quite normal to me, depends when the last oil change was



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The Phownix Must burn to emerge

Jetting I'll deal with when I get the clutch working. Hopefully easy enough.

Good to know the drain bolt debris could be normal. Hard to know when the last oil change was. I think I'll try harder to bleed the hydraulic fluid tonight. And open up the clutch and check the plates and basket out.
Anyone using something other than Magura Blood? I hear ATF is good but what brand? If there's a difference.

Weirdest thing, I started the bike tonight after struggling with the Berg master cylinder. Too many broken bikes. And I put it in gear and it worked fine. Rode it around the block and it was bogging a bit or just not running quite right at 1/4 throttle. Wouldn’t idle great either but it would kick into a decent feel with more throttle. Is it possible first of all that it’s just been sitting and lugging too much and too long and it just needs a new plug and to be ridden?

Also maybe the clutch will stop working again when it gets to operating temp?

Maybe I’ll take it out to ride it tomorrow and just see what happens. Is that a bad idea?

Alright. Out at Carnegie OHV. Come by and visit if you’re here. Ha. Clutch seems to be working fine. That’s great news. The bike ran decently at first and I was pretty stoked but then it started feeling like it was out of gas for a brief moment now and again. Only quick and then it was back. Did that a couple times. Always on hills at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. Kinda trying to wind it out at the time. Then finally just now it did that but didn’t recover. Felt way out of gas (tank is 1/2 full). I stopped and it died. It was super hard to start after that. Wanted to run but was deeper and fartier sounding than usual and wouldn’t start. I waited a bit and finessed it and finally got it started and rode back to the truck. It idled pretty well when I got back. Also at the beginning of this day I replaced the spark plug with a new one to try to get 30 minutes on it figuring that would give me some info (according to some youtuber). That’s where I’m at for now. Hanging here watching the gf take a class.

Have you taken the carburetor apart and completely cleaned it and set your float height

Just talked to the mechanic out here. He rode it and said it felt great other than a flat spot in the middle of the rev range. He said to lower the needle one notch. I feel that flat spot too so that’s great info. Not sure it addresses the fuel missing. He mentioned that might be something dirty in the carb moving around.

Have not done that. It’s definitely next. Maybe it sat a while. I have no idea how to set float height though.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...72548a18b7.jpg

Updates!:
Got 45 minutes on a new plug. Definitely rich.

The needle says AJM. Quick google search says 017-414. Not sure what that means yet. More research needed. The clip was at the bottom. I moved it up one notch so the needle should go down and get leaner if I understand it.

Carb is a PWK S54AO JK
Jet sizes- 162 main, 35 pilot
Everything looks really clean in there. Didn’t see any kind of build up/deposits. Gas flows freely.

The bike will not start now. It does that deep popping sound a lot more now as well. It’s like it was in the worst part of Saturday. But now giving it a rest and coming back didn’t help. Wondering what I did that would make that worse. Just lowered the needle and put it back together.

[MEDIA=youtube]kmzpz7oZNQk[/MEDIA]

A video of what it sounds like. I bet someone with some knowledge will get some info from it. Definitely doesn’t sound right but I don’t know what it means.

I might just put the needle back up and ride this weekend. I’ll be at Hollister Friday and Saturday. Cooking in the near 100 degree temps. Ouch. Maybe on the Husaberg.

Unless y’all can help!! Thanks in advance.

From my experience, when you hear a different sound from the exhaust
when trying to start the bike. A kind of thump, pop, thud sound. It is
the exhaust flapper valve getting stuck from carbon build up.

When my EC300 did it. The bike would start and run, with reduced
power when taking off in low gears until you got the revs up then it
would take off. After a couple min. riding it corrected it's self and
returned to normal.

Maybe not your problem, but a possible answer.

Just watched the video.. The thudd...duuuduuu? sound at the end of the video
seemed more to me like the sound you get when you open the throttle too
much when kicking it over.

I know I sure don't like to start my GG's with a tennis shoe. I make sure I a
wearing a decent boot. And I am a bit more aggressive when when I put a smooth
kick through on the arm.. Don't do a quick snap kick down or you can / will damage
the internal starting gears or brake the arm.

Also only start it in neutral. Don't try and start it in gear with the clutch lever pulled.
From my experience it putts too much drag on the motor and won't turn over fast
enough.

Another thought.. You might want to look into getting one of the newer kick start
levers. The old stock ones were rather small and hard to get a good push through on. The one in my attached picture is the steel one from a mid
1990's GG Pampera 280. Much longer. Not sure if these are still available.
I got mine on E-bay or possibly from Jim Snell at Rising Sun. He is a trials
dealer in Indiana. Should be googleable.

My 2 cents.

I meant to type, mid 2000-2005 Pampera Kick lever.
sorry.

Wow. That all makes so much sense. That’s exactly what happens is that sound when I give it too much throttle. Some throttle would make it start before. Now I get that sound. And that low power till it revs up and then running fine later rings true too. The tennis shoes make it hard, that’s for sure. And when I kick it sometimes I feel like the kickstart gear feels not great. Hope it’s not damaged. And the kick start lever is short! Especially compared to my dad’s xr650r.
Thanks man. This all good stuff. Learning a ton.

There is also a YZ250 lever that is supposed to work on our bikes.
Much cheaper and available. May have to search for it, or ask someone
on here what the part number and year YZ it is from.
Best of luck.

Oops found it:

http://www.gasgasrider.org/html/parts_crossover.html

Think I may have narrowed down the problem. I might be putting the float bowl on wrong. I don’t see how though. But I have gas flowing well out the fuel line. Tried it through the float valve and it flows great and the float shuts it off. Put the bowl back on and turn the gas on and it just drips out the drain plug at the bottom. Should flow nicely I think. So the float must be getting caught up on something. There’s a diagonal brass tube, presumably the overflow. That took me a while to figure out where it should go. Maybe it’s wrong but I can’t find a another way. Right now it’s going inside the u shaped float.

Seems like that diagonal overflow tube is going into the right place. The bowl goes on easily. Still no fuel flow though. I couldn’t even blow through the fuel intake with my mouth. Then I blew compressed air in, which I assumed would release a stuck float valve. After this I could blow air through with my mouth but no fuel flow still. I’m baffled by this. My new theory is that this is what was happening while I was riding before. The float wasn’t working quite right and every once in a while I’d suck the bowl dry and the bike would feel out of gas for a sec. Sometimes more than a sec. everything looks clean and new but maybe I just need new float components.
With the carb at 45 degrees the tang is just touching the plunger on the needle. Seems perfect.

I had that same bike back in 2000. That is the best GAS GAS ever made . Nice find ! If you ever decide to sell it.......