Lectron - Install/Testing/Evaluation - 2009 250 XC-W

[boisedave]

Hey guys -- Here goes:

Initial Thoughts: I despise jetting. I can get my bike reasonably close -- but it seems never perfect. Good but not great. I also ride with some knowledgeable guys that have helped me out. But there are always some needling little issues -- The bike will idle down low and quit on long downhills later in the day after it warms up; I'll have spooge in the mtns; It will load up and take forever to clean out on the top end after running on the pilot. Stuff like that. Seems like I was always adjusting the idle or aircrew.

Additionally, we ride form 3000' in the winter to 10000' in the summer. Its not uncommon to wake up to 40 degrees at 6000' and then find yourself at 8000' or 9000' in 90 degree heat. I have developed a chart for this, but the issues I mentioned above still crop up. My bike runs good generally and occasionally great. Just not perfect.

Enter these new carbs - I have read just about everything I can and am quite intrigued. The SC and the Lectron might be the answer to my prayers. Altitude adjustment and everything else [mileage, better power, overrev]. What's not to like. So I decided to take the plunge.

APT vs. Lectron: Having read a bunch of the info out there and talked with a few folks here is my unedumacated opinion. I think [or so it seems to me] -- the SC is a slightly more evolved design of the Lectron. A little bit cleaner and modern engineering. Pragmatically, and this is the big point, APT is COMPLETELY altitude compensating, whereas the Lectron only altitude compensates over a range [about 7000' or so]. After talking with Kevin over at Lectron -- he explained that for great performance at high altitude, I might have to lean it out a bit. No big deal.

For me -- the SC seems like a nice product and I may buy one in the future, but I am not the kind to wait forever. Lectron is a bit less expensive and it seems to do 90% of what the SC does -- so I decided to give it a go. Both companies are ding a great job -- I just felt a bit more comfortable going the Kevin's group at this stage. Also -- I hate to wait and didn't want to be wishing as I was doing all this great spring riding.

Inspection and Install:

The carb is a quality component. Machined very nicely. Every bit as "polished" as the stock carb. Arrived right on time and looks cool. Fitment was pretty easy. The cable retention system works great. Intuitive and easy to hook up. My stock cable worked good [just bottomed out the adjusters]. When I replace it, I'll go for something a little longer so I can swivel it to adjust the rod better. For now I will need to pull the seat and tank to do that [3 minutes]. The Lectron is a bit "longer" than stock -- Maybe 10mm or so. I disconnected everything and lifted the subframe to get it in and it slipped right in. The airbox boot is a bit distorted due to the extra length, but its nothing I can't live with. I was able to get a good seal with the hose clamp.

One initial observation I had is that the throttle pull is a bit longer. Maybe 30% -- Just my impression though. I could be completely nuts.

Metering Rod: I'd love to be able to tell you where I set the rod. Fact is I heard they are a bit rich from the factory. So I decided to lean it out by "unscrewing the rod" a bit -- 1/2 turn was what I was shooting for. Unfortunately, I decided to pound my head up my ass and I just sort of played with screwing it in, then out, then in again. I know.... My loose count was that I leaned it out about 3/4 turn.

Initial impressions:

Not going to be able to get out in the desert for a couple weeks yet. So I decided to give it a neighborhood shakedown. Bike hadn't been fired since November and my gas is probably 5 months old [treated with enzyme though]. Anyway -- I just wanted to see what it would do.

Fired first kick [with choke on] and set idle. Impressive -- normally I'd have to kick 5 or 6 times. [Its a completely other story about why I don't push the button!!!] Idled nice. Let it warm up a bit. sounds very crisp -- maybe 30% crisper. Hard to describe -- Just sharper. Gave it some gas on the stand and it sounded awful -- smoking a bit -- just not right. So I shut it off and had the seat off ready to go at the rod a bit when I remembered that the choke was on. Pushed the choke in and fired it back up. Better.

Rode around the neighborhood a bit. It ran good, but it wouldn't return to idle smooth -- sort of did that lean hang up a bit. It also felt a touch lethargic on the very bottom. Mid range was awesome. Felt like there was more power. Very crisp and great throttle response. Took me about 2 secs get to clean her out [probably the gas and the time down]. She runs like a raped ape on the top end. Wow.

Went back to the garage and richened up the metering rod a full turn. Took about 6 minutes. Super easy to do. Not a big fan of the screws on top -- but they are quality units -- I can live with them. Started back up and ran better. Idled good, but felt a bit blubbery on the very bottom. Mid and top were just the same. I couldn't detect any real difference. She did have more power on the bottom but it seemed like the throttle response wasn't as crisp.

Back the to garage and leaned it out 1/2 turn. Paydirt. Love it. I spent 5 minutes racing up and down the street. The only time I could get it to bog was shifting to 3rd, crawling to just above an idle and blasted it wide open. It bogged. Rolling it on -- it picked up and went. Just riding it along and evaluating it felt punchier every where. Its hard to really evaluate the bottom end performance until I am in a rocky wash crawling over boulders but my initial impression is that its just crisper. I'm sold.

A couple of observations: Super easy to adjust. Love that I can adjust idle with my fingers. No more fishing into my tool belt for my little screwdriver. Love the power jet. Easy to adjust. I have trials tire on still and on the asphalt rolling it on hard in 2nd gear would make the front tire come up. No clutch. Just rolling the throttle on. Cool.

The only weird thing is that it seems like I have to twist the throttle more to get things to happen. Could be the longer slide. At really small throttle openings, it seems like I had to turn the throttle a bit farther to get things to happen. This sort of confused me at first into thinking the bottom end was off. I sort of realized I needed to adjust to it and once I did that -- things felt much better.

All in all -- so far so good. For me the evaluation will take a year as I move from riding area to riding area. But so far I'm hooked. Stay tuned!!!

 

[Motosportz]

I look forward to a real ride report. Sounds about right about throttle openings, these seem to like more.

 

[john01]

Excellent write up and thanks for taking the time to do so.

 

[erigre]

Thanks for that.
I started to put mine on my 200, but did not feel like getting into the subframe, etc, to get it on. Going to plate my 200 and turn it into my "DS" bike. And now that I'm in CO, that means similar conditions to you in ID. 5000-12,000 and huge temp variations on the same ride. I think the Lectron will be a perfect application and your "test" will help me bust through my laziness and get it on the 200.

 

[454x]

Thanks for sharing Dave. Welcome to the "L" club.

 

[huskybear]

good stuff!

 

[lankydoug]

I got my 38mm Lectron last night and set out to install it while also servicing the shock linkage while I was in the neighborhood. I decided to take a metering rod measurement so that I could measure changes based on the setting as it was sent to me. In the supplied Lectron booklet under "initial metering rod setting" there is a simple measurement C. that is supposed to be between 1.990" and 2.040" for a 2 stroke, mine was sent set at 1.976 After reading everyone's posts of having to lean their setting out a bit I decided to start with 1/2 turn leaner while installing the carb to save a little time. The 1/2 turn counterclockwise netted a .010 gain in the measurement for a 1.986" total. I installed the carb with no problems. I did have to adjust the carb and throttle adjusters nearly all the way out to take up the slack in the stock cable but it worked out fine. I pulled out the choke and rolled the engine over with a slow kick, then gave it one hard kick and it fired right up and idled with the choke on. It gurgled if I tried to rev it with the choke on (as it should) so I clicked off the choke and it set out idling very crisp. It had a slight lean hesitation while cold but as it warmed up the hesitation disappeared. I'm thinking it's going to be very close right where it is, the crappy news is that I did this during a hard wind blowing ice pellet raining storm so it will probably be a day or two before I can give a ride report.

 

[Motosportz]

I got my 38mm Lectron last night and set out to install it while also servicing the shock linkage while I was in the neighborhood. I decided to take a metering rod measurement so that I could measure changes based on the setting as it was sent to me. In the supplied Lectron booklet under "initial metering rod setting" there is a simple measurement C. that is supposed to be between 1.990" and 2.040" for a 2 stroke, mine was sent set at 1.976 After reading everyone's posts of having to lean their setting out a bit I decided to start with 1/2 turn leaner while installing the carb to save a little time. The 1/2 turn counterclockwise netted a .010 gain in the measurement for a 1.986" total. I installed the carb with no problems. I did have to adjust the carb and throttle adjusters nearly all the way out to take up the slack in the stock cable but it worked out fine. I pulled out the choke and rolled the engine over with a slow kick, then gave it one hard kick and it fired right up and idled with the choke on. It gurgled if I tried to rev it with the choke on (as it should) so I clicked off the choke and it set out idling very crisp. It had a slight lean hesitation while cold but as it warmed up the hesitation disappeared. I'm thinking it's going to be very close right where it is, the crappy news is that I did this during a hard wind blowing ice pellet raining storm so it will probably be a day or two before I can give a ride report.

Kevin and I have spoke about this measurement extensively. The range that is published on the instructions can be misleading. Mine is out of range when measured but right on when running. The overall length is not a good way to do it and he is thinking about removing that from the instructions to eliminate confusion. The absolute best way to set them is with the tool he makes that sets that actual cutaway to slide ratio...

But even that is very unnecessary for our needs. It does however set the rod at the right point as measuring for the end is not very good way to do it. They come setup real close. Usually a 1/2 turn gets you where you need to be and then it is just idle and powerjet settings to play with. I have found mine runs pretty much perfect every single time i fire it up no matter the temps or altitude (although my altitude only varies about 2500 feet for most my riding.

 

[boisedave]

My ride report is about 2 weeks out. I am finally removing the e-start as I just can't get it to work consistently and I have to replace the shift drim and glide plate mechanism. Better get things squared away before its time to ride.

 

[WVdag]

I installed one on my wr250 turned wr300 have ridden about an hour or so total on the last two sunday afternoons before leaving to go back to work. Anyway, long story short I love it! I can't wait to go all day so I can see how much better the mileage will be, hoping enough so that I can put my stock tank back on but we'll see. As far as power I hope that you are as impressed as I was. I really noticed the difference on the slick snotty up hills in my woods really hooked up in places that normally gave me trouble when very wet, and they were VERY wet on both rides and tractor right up.

 Dave

 

[lankydoug]

Kevin and I have spoke about this measurement extensively. The range that is published on the instructions can be misleading. Mine is out of range when measured but right on when running. The overall length is not a good way to do it and he is thinking about removing that from the instructions to eliminate confusion. The absolute best way to set them is with the tool he makes that sets that actual cutaway to slide ratio...

But even that is very unnecessary for our needs. It does however set the rod at the right point as measuring for the end is not very good way to do it. They come setup real close. Usually a 1/2 turn gets you where you need to be and then it is just idle and powerjet settings to play with. I have found mine runs pretty much perfect every single time i fire it up no matter the temps or altitude (although my altitude only varies about 2500 feet for most my riding.

I was looking for a personal reference point just in case I lost track of how many turns I had gone. I should have written something to the effect as your results may vary.

 

[lankydoug]

I installed one on my wr250 turned wr300 have ridden about an hour or so total on the last two sunday afternoons before leaving to go back to work. Anyway, long story short I love it! I can't wait to go all day so I can see how much better the mileage will be, hoping enough so that I can put my stock tank back on but we'll see. As far as power I hope that you are as impressed as I was. I really noticed the difference on the slick snotty up hills in my woods really hooked up in places that normally gave me trouble when very wet, and they were VERY wet on both rides and tractor right up.

 Dave

I think that one contributing factor to the improved mileage is the better float bowl design and that it doesn't pee fuel every time you lean the bike a bit. I often wondered how much fuel ran in the engine on a bumpy downhill or sloshed out when riding the rocks. BTW the clear bowl is the shizzle manizzle.

 

[454x]

I leaned mine out 1 turn but think I'll end up going back a half. The last ride I went on way up in the snow I had a trail of spooge coming down the tail pipe so I thought it need to be leaned on the low end but then started thinking I was on the pipe so maybe the power jet was too rich cause it comes on past 1/2 throttle and that's where I was riding in the throttle range so I've adjusted the power jet while out riding but lost track of how many turns , any body know the standard setting for the power jet?

 

[lankydoug]

I leaned mine out 1 turn but think I'll end up going back a half. The last ride I went on way up in the snow I had a trail of spooge coming down the tail pipe so I thought it need to be leaned on the low end but then started thinking I was on the pipe so maybe the power jet was too rich cause it comes on past 1/2 throttle and that's where I was riding in the throttle range so I've adjusted the power jet while out riding but lost track of how many turns , any body know the standard setting for the power jet?

Mine was at 1 1/4 turns out (38mm carb)

 

[454x]

Thanks Doug, think I was adjusting the wrong end of the spectrum. Gonna start over on the power jet.

 

[Motosportz]

I leaned mine out 1 turn but think I'll end up going back a half. The last ride I went on way up in the snow I had a trail of spooge coming down the tail pipe so I thought it need to be leaned on the low end but then started thinking I was on the pipe so maybe the power jet was too rich cause it comes on past 1/2 throttle and that's where I was riding in the throttle range so I've adjusted the power jet while out riding but lost track of how many turns , any body know the standard setting for the power jet?

IMHO spooge should never be a jetting tool. Some oils have much higher flash points than others and will spooge on perfect jetting. Spooge is not bad, this means oil has gone through and protected your motor. Jet by plug readings and feel IMHO. I run Amsoil Dominator or Interceptor and I notice more spooge with the Dominator. The Dominator has a flash point of 90 and interceptor at 84. They also make "Saber" smokeless and it flashes at 114. In the past i ran Silkolene and Redline and both where freaking spooge monsters and hard to jet for on some bikes.

 

[Motosportz]

Thanks Doug, think I was adjusting the wrong end of the spectrum. Gonna start over on the power jet.

I'm finding with my bike it liked slightly leaner rod (1/2 turn in my case) and a little more Powerjet. Interestingly I was messing with the PJ just for fun last weekend and notice the PJ being richer makes more roll on lugging power on my bike. My Lectron runs great at most any setting and these changes are not to make it run right but to play with the power. I am loving this carb. Simple, highly effective, and runs so freaking clean / crisp it makes other bikes feel like they need jetting work.

 

[lankydoug]

Since I installed my Lectron I have ridden a few tanks through it an haven't had to touch it. Based on the results I read on this forum I had set the metering rod 1/2 turn leaner from how it came and it's so smooth and powerful I felt no need to change it. The weather finally warmed to 80 degrees and dried my riding area enough so that I could get a good load on the engine in 3rd and 4th gear to test the power jet circuit. It felt a tad rich set at 1 1/4 turns out which where it was set when I got it. I went 1/4 turn in and had an amazing increase in top end. Holy crap this carb works good! It will be a toss up between 1 turn and 3/4 turn out depending how scary I want the top end to be. I strongly recommend a 38mm Lectron to anyone that has a WR250.

 

[Rob09]

Since I installed my Lectron I have ridden a few tanks through it an haven't had to touch it. Based on the results I read on this forum I had set the metering rod 1/2 turn leaner from how it came and it's so smooth and powerful I felt no need to change it. The weather finally warmed to 80 degrees and dried my riding area enough so that I could get a good load on the engine in 3rd and 4th gear to test the power jet circuit. It felt a tad rich set at 1 1/4 turns out which where it was set when I got it. I went 1/4 turn in and had an amazing increase in top end. Holy crap this carb works good! It will be a toss up between 1 turn and 3/4 turn out depending how scary I want the top end to be. I strongly recommend a 38mm Lectron to anyone that has a WR250.

Excellent, mine will hopefully be here by the end of the week! I nearly ordered the 36mm but as an almost full-time supermoto now, you can always use the extra top end so I went with the 38mm. I'm seriously excited now, thanks for the update!