It's almost hard to believe other popular aftermarket vendors hadn't designed an Estart yet. It baffles me it took this long! I'd love if they designed one for my backup RM250 woods bike.
My buddy Marc that put one in his yz250x says his 1400 dollar kit was 100% worth it for the Rocky, hard stuff we ride. Rode with him Saturday and the kit worked flawlessly. Starts the bike fast.
Greetings Morgan, and thanks for the honest review and videos...pretty refreshing against the constant blind praise I'm used to seeing for everything. I've got a bit of a different situation...I ride/race offroad a '15 YZ250FX as my primary bike and last week picked up an '04 YZ250 meant to be a B bike for the race season and a play bike other times. I hurt my knee really badly on an MX track 13 years ago or so and was off motorcycles for a while completely and didn't ride dirt for 10 years. Got back into it, but it's been all e-start and all 4 strokes. I wanted to try a 2 stroke again and I wanted it to be a YZ...in no small part due to your previous videos on them. I had no real preference for aluminum vs steel frames as I've heard good things about both. I found a woods prepared '04 for $3200 and picked it up last week...it needs the usual TLC. Supposedly has a newish bottom end and lots of good upgrades (18" rear wheel, full GYTR exhaust, Flexx handlebars and guards, Acerbis oversized tank, TM chain guide/slide, etc etc). Suspension supposedly done by Factory Connection for a rider close to my weight (we'll see, they need service so we'll see if it's just stickers or not)...so ALLLLLL of that said....I get it home, and I can't kick it. I mean physically I can...but my knee didn't like it AT ALL. I'm *this* close to swallowing my pride and selling the thing. It's been a tough thing to admit, but my knee just won't allow me to kick a 250 over regularly. No problem on my kids little bikes, but not that one. ...so, estart is definitely not just a luxury for me. It's a necessity. I'd like to get your thoughts on this...I loved the idea of building an older YZ back up, this one is mostly done (supposedly, it's new to me and still lots to confirm)...needs suspension servicing, clutch is dragging, have to check the top end...but after watching this video I'm not so sure I should just sell the thing. It's the older frame, and the older suspension...but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Sorry for the novel here, but I appreciate what you do a lot and respect your opinion. As for the Panthera tiff, honestly knowing the issues, that they're solvable, that the many of them have been addressed, that the company stands by their product...those are all positives in my book...and go towards a higher level of confidence in purchasing should I decide to keep this bike...which I will absolutely need to do if it stays in my garage. It's easy to just stand up front and say the thing is great...the level of detail and assessment you provide, not so easy. Thanks, Tom
First of all, thanks for the kind words and for watching our stuff. As far as what I think about your bike and possibly putting the e start on it, the quick response is heck yeah! . I really like the steel framed YZ’s for off road. The motor is the same as a brand new one so parts are easy to get and the suspension is soft in a good way. The 04 is good because it has the 48mm fork instead of the 46 like my kids 144. . I just got back from absolutely hammering my YZ in Arizona in the dez and at the moto track and had zero issues with the starter. I really do think it’s a great upgrade and reliable. . I have heard of a few more issues on others bikes but it sounds like they are getting them sorted out and the company is standing behind them. The biggest one I heard about was some stators “cooking” and failing quickly. I guess it’s a situation with too much magnetism from the flywheel and so they are fixing the flywheels. . Hope that helps. I absolutely love YZ’s
@@highlandcycles hey Morgan, thanks for the quick and detailed response! Your insight on the 04 in particular is just what I was looking for. So many people get enamored with new tech...but sometimes the older stuff just works. Especially for a c level rider like me. I appreciate you taking the time to respond like that. ...you guys should know what you're doing is having a very real impact. Your videos remind me a lot of the snowmobile shop I hang out in. I almost have to have a beer on the end table next to me while I'm watching. Thanks again.
@@highlandcycles french canadians have a strange attitude anyhow, its almost a culture thing.. my wifes family is from quebec , so i doubt its against yourself but rather a misconnect in the communication , i could go on. anyhow thanks again for the vids!
Great review IMO. I think the mod would be worth it, sometimes you just plain old fall in love with a bike. Also, it is one of those mods you could take off if you want to sell the bike and at least get 40-50% of you investment back selling it individually.
absolutely spot on you $1400 is a lot cheaper than a bike new or 2nd hand you everything now on the bike you love yes it worth it..now ride it Morgan lol😁👍👍🇬🇧
$1600 is a lot, and if your not mechanically inclined and you need to have someone do the install, your looking at maybe double.... A lot for an older bike. I get that an e-start is a must, so easy to say its worth it with that convenience.
Yeah. If you were paying to install it’s actually only an hour or so. It bolts right on. Now the bugs and little fixes would have taken a while but now that I know I could do the whole thing in about an hour. Maybe 2 on the long side.
@@highlandcycles but your the trained professional. I’m sure I would have f’d it up big and ending up costing even more. But I get it. Having an e-start has to be the best upgrade which makes it worth it. Glad I have a new 4t with it. Love the content. Keep up the great work!!
Do you notice the extra weight at all? Also I don’t need lights so thinking about just going without the charging system but would like to use the 4 cell battery because I can get a antigravity 4 that’s only 1.5 in thick that I hope will make getting the air filter out easier?? Seeing what your thought are on that route, thanks again for your feedback
I don’t notice the weight at all. The non charging system one would be good for sure. The smaller battery would be nice for the air filter maintenance for sure.
I plan on ordering two for my kx500 and piggybacking them together for maximum torque. I don't have any tools but I do have a lighter and my pocket knife. When I melt the wires with a flame how many twists should they get before the masking tape ?
There's always going to be people who think it's stupid to do and don't understand why you just wouldn't buy a KTM. This is the bike that I have, I like my bike, and I think this is pretty cool and different.
@@endurotruckererniedesjardins well it’s just dumb. In a sport or hobby that mostly involves spending tons of money, this is where everyone draws the line?
@@Dropsix riding dirtbikes really isn't spending a ton of cash compared to other sports. I know families that spend 30 grand in a season of hockey for 2 kids. Over time the last 3 years I spent under 10 grand on me. And about 4 grand on getting my wife a used xr100 then a used 2018 kx100 and all her gear. So I think that ain't too bad. I spent more on a season of racing downhill on a mountain bike. At the end of the day its about what you get out of the sport. We all have our own ideas about what we like and that's the best part. As for kick starting my yz250.... I've never had a E start bike. So what am I missing? And if my 105 pound 5 foot tall wife don't complain about kick starting her bike. I guess we men better not complain.
I have a 2013 yz250 I love but have been looking into the yz250fx. Did you change up sprocket ratio much? the yz250s transmission is always short feeling, only big reason for wanting a 250fx. Living on the other side of the mountain range , front range area a FI bike be nice.
They are taking pre-orders for yz125's as well as Honda CR250's. I wouldn't find it hard to believe in a year or 2 if they start making them for RM's and KX's.
My son even after I told him to count chain links 3 times before he split his new $100 chain cut off one to many links. Is there a way to safely save the chain?
@@thefixer1776 its fine. 40 years racing mx. I do all my own work since I was really young. I've used 2 masterlinks on a few bikes that I ran a bunch of different gearing for different tracks. Going from a 13 to a 17 toothe front sprocket on my old raptor 660r ice racer. Dam thing pulled 115 miles per hour on ice with over 300 studs in each rear tire. Some much traction it broke gears in the transmission. Chain held up fine
That was NOT dirt-biking. More like rock-biking!! I think it’s worth the price, if you have a bike you love that isn’t kick friendly? I’m 53 and don’t have the stamina of my younger years. Less energy expended kicking translates to more energy towards riding. Thanks for the review 😉👍
I thought u downplayed any issues with the kit and owner should have been thankful for that not upset 🤨 If you weren't qualified to install you would have to consider having to pay someone to install the kit,and the average or even above average consumer is should not install,more for trouble shooting if there is an issue . Once you installed the kit every time you shut the bike off it seems to make an odd noise second video in the parking lot can hear it very well almost some kind of weird gear noise like maybe the sprag clutch
How about you give us an honest list of mods to your bike with prices, there seems to be a lot more spent on it. Let's start with the electric leg, larger tank, lectron carby, 18" rear wheel, side stand, battery. Now here's a list of stuff that I don't know if you have got, but you could put on your bike to make it more like a ktm, suspension, flywheel weight, bash plate, hand guards, lights, registration, quieter muffler/spark arrester, mirrors, wiring loom, turn signals, taillights, switch blocks. Now the stuff you can't put on your bike 6 speed wide ratio gearbox, hydraulic clutch, engine balancer, fuel injection, oil injection. Then you can add the price of labour for fitting and mods because a good majority of riders don't have the skills to do that. To my way of thinking most people would be way ahead buying a brand new ktm.
You have a good point for sure. To make it exactly like a KTM you are right but to make it really good and have a ton of fun on it I don’t think you need all of that stuff. The point is more about getting it to a point that is very convenient and really fun to ride. I have ridden a ton of bikes and I find that the more money you spend doesn’t always equal more fun or more speed at a race.
@@highlandcycles Thanks for the reply, yes I understand what your point is, I couldn't help but notice the parts and mods you already have on bike your are quite expensive, well here in Australia anyway, which would push the price very close to a European bike. On another note have you any research or review on the "stic" metering system for the keihin carburetor? It seems like a very good alternative to a lectron or smartcarb.
@@Ronhickmott I haven't really looked into it much. I actually don't really like the Lectron or Smart carbs that much. I have one on the YZ because they gave it to me and it works ok but I get better performance out of the stock carbs. You have to mess with jets a little more but not that much for us. I generally ride between 4000 and 13000 feet and I don't have to change jets at all with my stock carbs on my KTM's or my YZ before I got the Lectron. The Stic is interesting though.
@@highlandcycles if you want more info, Tokyo offroad has some vids on RU-vid. On the stic web site "hpracedevelopement" price is 125 usd for one model and 200 for the other.
@@Ronhickmott yeah I’ve checked them out. So far my stock carbs with RK Tek heads are performing well enough. They bark and don’t need constant jetting changes. That’s money I’ll use on Gas and Tires.
