Am I crazy?

[rossi]

Hi All

I previously owned an 06 EC300 from new which I ran for a couple of years before selling it on as I needed to downsize the stable, swapping dedicated road and dirt bikes for a thumper that could fulfil both roles. Since then I have, for the most part, been running big bore dirt bikes - I put 46k miles on a G650X-challenge and am currently riding a Dakar finishing XR650R.

Now the XR fitted the purpose when I bought it because the motor is super smooth and has plenty of grunt for road use, while the bike was manageable on most of the terrain where I rode it. Since then I have moved from UK to Cyprus and find myself riding off road far more, and in much tougher terrain - some of it wouldn't look out of place in a Romaniacs stage. I also do practically no road riding at all. So the XR is no longer the right bike for my riding, but what to replace it with?

I have a lead on a 2011 EC300 which should be at the right price, and would be the ideal bike for riding in Cyprus, but I have one problem. Last summer I fulfilled an ambition by completing an international rally event (Serres Rally in Greece). Now I could consider that box ticked, and it looks unlikely that I will manage another rally in the next couple of years due to family, work and financial constraints, but you never know. Fortunately I have already addressed the problem that resulted in me having to ride the XR 1500km through Turkey before I even began the rally, but that still leaves the ability to complete a rally should the opportunity arise. The question is whether it is feasible to increase the fuel range on an EC300 sufficiently, by a combination of means including jetting/carb/head mods, larger front tank and an auxiliary tank on the tail (nomad tanks) providing the subframe is up to it. All of this to be completed within a sensible budget using available products as custom fabrication is not easily found in Cyprus. Fortunately I am not talking Dakar fuel range here; 160-180km over mostly flowing terrain would be sufficient, and bar mounted nav gear is fine.

Remember the question is not whether the 300 while make an ideal rally bike - quite clearly it won't. The issue is whether it is reasonably possible to increase the fuel range sufficiently in the unlikely event that the opportunity arises to have another go. I'm also thinking that a larger front tank may find its way on to the shopping list, regardless of any future rally plans, just to extend the range a bit.

Cheers

[Brian VT]

My EC300 is the best bike I've ever owned (for it's intended purpose) and will replace it with the same, if needed.
I find it miserable on the road, though. Vibration, engine "hunting" at steady throttle.

[rossi]

Fortunately Serres had minimal road miles - 1500km of against the clock dirt riding spread over 7 days with less than 5% road.

[philm]

Fuel range shouldn't be too much of an issue. You can buy a larger main tank that holds up to 14 litres or 3.6 US gallons. And Acerbis also makes an auxiliary tank that mounts to the forks that holds 5 or 6 litres. If a guy can finish the Dakar on a 125 2 stroke then you shouldn't have too many issues on a 300.

[Dirt Dud]

Put on a smart carb it will get you better mpg

[Caravan Monster]

Originally Posted by Dirt Dud

Put on a smart carb it will get you better mpg

The Lectron carb has worked well on my EC200, also much smoother and able to hold constant throttle on the road than the standard Keihin. With the squish set, it gets well over 70 miles to the tank trail / greenlane riding. The 300 would be able to pull higher gearing for rallying purposes.

[rossi]

70 from a tank puts it on a par with My XR650R. I get more during road only use but not in the dirt. It might vibrate a bit more but that is a fair trade of for shedding 40kg.
Easy enough to add a clarke tank and / or an auxiliary tank if I really need to go rallying.

[3beejay3]

Originally Posted by Dirt Dud

Put on a smart carb it will get you better mpg

+1 Can confirm this.

The key with the SC is to spend a bit of time learning about how it needs to be setup, as it's different than a normal carb. Then spend a bit of time doing the setup properly. Once it's setup properly, it will work fine.

It took me a few tries to get mine set up, it works pretty good now & uses a lot less fuel than the keihin that was on it.

[Moto7man]

Try these guys,

http://mecasystem.fr/

Here is one of their kits,

http://www.rallymanagementservices.c...s-is-available

[Harry]

I came across a thread with a EC300 rally lite. I will try and find a link