2012 Ride Report

[Clay]

So we finally got a sunny day here and I decided to get the 2012 300 dirty. The practice course we have set up is pretty new and really slick so I was waiting for it to dry out a little. We set this place up to be a short three minute loop with all of the stuff I need to practice on....roots, peeled cedar logs at an angle, off camber turns, grass track, etc. It's a good course to get a good feel for the bike.

I haven't wanted to mention this until I had time to ride the bike but back in December when Mark was in Spain he found out that the factory was going back to the counter balanced crankshaft. I had never ridden a bike with this set up but had read a lot of positive comments about it on this forum. Now I know why so many people liked this motor. WOW! I don't think I have ever ridden a 2t with that much torque. It is so strong but smooth and manageable down low but then will rev out if you want it to. What a neat motor. Keep in mind that I was using the stock tires, including the low knob Euro Metzler on the rear. Also, stock jetting was spot on here. I haven't looked to see what jets are used yet but I did not have to do anything to the carb to ride it. Not even adjust the idle. I did replace the lever operated choke with the pull type choke (which comes in the crate on every 2012).

I put fat boy springs in front and rear which I got from Richard at Cannon Racing in Oklahoma (also a GG dealer). I weigh 220 pounds without gear so I went with .50 fork springs and a 6.0 shock spring. I did not touch the shock settings and it felt really good but I did try something a little different with the fork. I backed the compression clicker all of the way out and turned the PFP valve in one complete turn. The PFP valve add pressure to the cartridge. This worked really well....no deflection on slick roots and good bottoming resistance.

What else? The bike is taller which means better ground clearance but it still steers just as good as the 2011 models (which were the best turning bikes I had ridden). Also... the bike is stable at speeds. How do they do that? The bike seems slimmer and is easier to move around on. I still made the clutch squeal but it was at a place on our course between a big oak tree and a barb wire fence. It's really tight and I was almost stopped when it squealed. I didn't think it should do that in second gear but when I down shifted I realized I was in third. When I came through the next time I down shifted and it never happend again. Also, when it did squeal the one time, it was not as loud as it was on past models.

I prolly should mention that I had a Rekluse clutch and Flexx bars on the bike, which I took off of my '11 model. Also a Motosportz steering damper. I don't feel like the bike needs a damper for high speed wobbles but I like to have one to keep the bike from getting away from me if I hit a bar in tight trees. I also replaced the stock 48 tooth rear sprocket with a 50 tooth sprocket.

Negatives? The seat is hard and the clickers and PFP valve are hard to get to on the forks. Richard at Cannon also makes a tool that makes that job easier. I'm not a big fan of the stock rear tire but the front Metzler works pretty well here in the southeast. That's it. This is the best bike I have ever ridden. Yeah my family and I own the company that distributes these bikes in the US but I'm a rider first and I couldn't mislead other riders/racers if I did not believe this.

Did I miss anything?

Clay

[Jakobi]

Sold!

Nice report Clay.. Wheres the pics and vid?

[john01]

Sweet! I guess you forgot the first bike in the USA was to be mine ! Thats ok I won't call the law this time as you have been doing such a good job! Thanks for the report.

[AZRickD]

"Sure, John. You can have the first 300..."

[john01]

I guess I asked for that!

[desertgasser300]

I was wavering before, but now that you said they have gone back to the counter-balancer....Oh' God my wife is going to kill me for what I am about to do!!

[Jakobi]

Do the 200s get the counter balancer too? I'd imagine the 250 would as sharing the same bottom end.

[mrkartoom]

Great feedback. Thanks for posting it.

[GMP]

I think what Clay means is the eccentric weight on the crank behind the primary gear. A true "counterbalancer" has a counter rotating shaft spinning twice crank speed like the '97 and some '98 bikes. The motor clearly does not have this. In '01 they changed to this 8oz. eccentric from a round 10 oz. weight, I was not aware they ever dropped it. I swapped this in on my '00, not a big difference, not as much as the new crank I did later. Factory crank balance and truing will make the biggest difference.

Clay, so your damper tower, was it from the '11 and fit the '12? The numbers you posted seem larger than the '11 bikes, and I haven't been able to pull mine off and measure the steering head.

[Clay]

Kelly sent me two dampner tower mounts. I'm not really sure what the difference was but one of them fit. I did have to space the upper triple clamp just a tad with a washer to clear the mount.
Sorry that's a pretty vague answer. Maybe Kelly at Motorsportz can explain the difference in the towers mounts.
BTW....I really like his dampners.