bboyle9 24 Posted April 26, 2020 So this ride report really started awhile back when I got a hand me down 06 KTM 525 after not having a bike for the better part of 5 years. Some of you may remember me as the slow guy on a DR650, or the slow guy on a DRZ400, or the slow guy on the KLR 650 or the slow guy on a bike that belonged to someone else. Well, finally back in California, and back with a bike. Couple warm up rides, and I manage convince one of my buddies to get a bike and he buys a DRZ 250. After a semi unsuccessful day of riding in OW and Anza Borrego(DRZ 250 stalling issues/hard starting issues remember the issues.... it comes back up) he took the bike to a local mechanic to get it baselined. Valves were out of wack, carb needed cleaning, some dirt in petcock etc. we were off to ride. When the pin that Goofyfooter dropped for me led me down a drive way for the "Hills have eyes" family... i knew we it was going to be a good weekend. Eventually found our way and met up at camp. We went to bed early and Goofy and we woke our buddy up with the ole' rev limiter alarm clock. Now if you've ever ridden with Goofy you know that 9am kickstands up is pretty good. Plan was to leave Football field, hit some trails and peculiar alien tower, up through Randsberg/Johanasberg, over by Red Mountain and Cuddleback Dry lake and out to Husky monument. Wouldnt be a ride without a couple low speed step offs on the pit bike track. Keep in mind, said friend has ridden a bike all of 5 times now. This was going to be his first "long day" so there was a bit of "lets see how it goes" First hill we come up on he manages to get seat bounced and spin the bike back down hill. After some encouragement, some 2 foot paddling and multiple accidental attempts to start up the hill in 2nd gear(didnt work) we made it to the top of the hill and we we're on our way. Bikes were running well, DRZ was cutting out from time to time but we suspected a vapor lock issue due to the cap on the tank. We were stopping and talking lots so making slow progress but still on plans to hit Husky monument. We stopped in Randsburg, or Johanasberg for gas... and after filling up Goofy noticed a couple drips of oil from the DRZ250. The drips were not coming from the normal oil drip kind of places. So my friend, who has not ridden or wrenched on bikes very much, decided to change his oil a few days before we rode...but not replace the oil filter. In doing so he drained the oil without opening fill cap or oil filter cover. So needless to say the bike had a little extra oil in it Back to camp for a mid day oil change, and bike are back up and running in time for a sunset cruise. We managed to get another 20 miles in. Mostly of long straight sandy stuff and some fun whooped out hard pack. Up the next day with little intention of racking up miles but we started on the slab and had good momentum. After hitting Cuttleback dry lake bed... and my buddy and Goofy explored what they thought to be a mirage. (turns out dry lake bed means its only partially dry) we headed south east out of the lake bed and found some the most pristine 2 track i have seen in awhile. We didnt have tracks but we did have service and Goofy was able to navigate us all the way to husky monument. This is pre my shift lever stripping and falling off. Cuttleback (partially dry) Lake Bed My clutch was feeling odd, so we cruised back to camp... the valleys and the trails were amazing post rain no dust Super fun hard pack, with twisties and elevation changes and definitely whooped out in places. One more stop at the pit bike track before loading up the bikes. 106 miles on the day ~150 on the weekend. Awesome place to ride and looking forward to getting back there when this is all over! Credit Goofyfooter for most of the pics 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted April 26, 2020 The Italian TEs were notorious for leaking oil. Over fill the engine would cause this, or the worst was to drop the bike on the righthand side, and you were sure to get a soggy snootful of motor oil in your airbox and filter element, sometimes so much that it was very difficult to start the bike, and then it would smoke for about ten minutes before it cleaned out enough to run. Usually urgently needed to be topped off again as soon as possible. I always carried an extra quart of oil in the car for such occurrences. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TexasDualler 32 Posted April 26, 2020 Those pesky EPA regulations that require the crank breather to vent into the air box! There’s this weird little capped tube thing that you have to drain oil out of every several hundred miles on my 250L. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted April 26, 2020 13 hours ago, dirt dame said: The Italian TEs were notorious for leaking oil. Over fill the engine would cause this, or the worst was to drop the bike on the righthand side, and you were sure to get a soggy snootful of motor oil in your airbox and filter element, sometimes so much that it was very difficult to start the bike, and then it would smoke for about ten minutes before it cleaned out enough to run. Usually urgently needed to be topped off again as soon as possible. I always carried an extra quart of oil in the car for such occurrences. 11 hours ago, TexasDualler said: Those pesky EPA regulations that require the crank breather to vent into the air box! There’s this weird little capped tube thing that you have to drain oil out of every several hundred miles on my 250L. How much overfill was causing your airbox blowback? This DRZ had at a minimum, 50% more oil in the motor than recommended!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted April 26, 2020 54 minutes ago, Goofy Footer said: How much overfill was causing your airbox blowback? This DRZ had at a minimum, 50% more oil in the motor than recommended!! Certainly not that much. It probably took only a few ounces extra on those models to make it blow back and dribble out of the bottom of the airbox. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pokey151 244 Posted April 27, 2020 That much oil might mean your rings are worn and you are getting blow by. You might want to do a leak down test Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bboyle9 24 Posted April 29, 2020 Good call on the rings. Seems to be the oil in the airbox has stopped. He learned his lesson for sure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 146 Posted April 29, 2020 Lots of riding for us San Diego folks up in that area. I like it. Like the riders from up their like our area. But so much has closed signs on it now . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites