200 owners: Why so many variances?

[firffighter]

After purchasing my '03 EC200 a couple of months ago I began to do a lot of research on what others have done with their 200's and impressions from 200 owners on their bikes performance. There seems to be quite a bit of variation with performance and some variations with mods. I realize that many factors play into the equation, and being a smaller cc bike, set up is key.

Some of the common mods are well documented:

* Head mod which many have done and love the results

* Gearing. Seems to be key with the 200.

* Large volume PV cover. Most notice a big difference especially with the smaller cc 200

* Jetting. Key for any 2 stroke, but seems to be a larger factor with the smaller 200

The variations seem to come in performance. Many find their 200's soft on power. Some find them peaky. Some say they have nice linear power. Some have great bottom end but sign off. Kinda all over the board.

If my research is correct, the motor is basically the same for all years.

So, my question is why the large variations in performance? I'd love to hear from the 200 owners with your impressions.




One quick note: I also own a '99 EC200, which is my sons, and have done a back to back comparison. Both bikes are set up nearly identical. Same jetting with LT needle. Fresh topend, gearing is close with the '99 at 13/51 and my '03 at 13/52. Both have large PV cover. Neither has head mod.

The '99 has noticeably more grunt off the bottom. It's pulls really well down low, but begins to sign off a bit past mid. My '03 is soft on the bottom, but pulls hard mid all of the way to the top. I attribute this to the only difference in the bikes, the pipe. The '99 has a FMF Gnarly and the '03 has a FMF Fatty.

Research on pipes reveals that the early Gnarly was known to give bikes a strong bottom pull. The "new" Gnarly is the same as the Fatty with the Gnarly being made with heavier gauge steel. Some even experienced their 200's having a 250 pipe on which made for weak performance.

I'm going to swap pipes just for curiosity.