SUBJECT:  WHICH JET FITS?

my honda dealer keeps insisting that this jet will not fit my 2004 crff230. they're telling me i need a round, slotted jet and that this one is hexagonaland will not fit. i called another honda dealer and they said the same thing. what's up??
Ben

Louisville, KY

 Refer to our Project CRF230 Honda series and in the jetting section, we not only tell you how to do it, but give the correct Honda jetting kit part number.  Would it hurt you to actually read that?  I think not.

 SUBJECT:  NEEDLE SEAT REPLACEMENT

rick

just wondering apon intalling the power up kit in my 2007 crf230 in the kit with the new needle is a little brass bushing is this vital and needs to be intalled, will it cause improper engine performance, if it needs to be installed what is the correct way of doing this because there was no info on it in your power up kit install
thanks you site really helped me out a lot!

trevor

Vernon, Canada

You don't have to change the needle seat (the little bushing) as it's the same as the stocker, but if your bike is a few years old, it couldn't hurt to replace it when you change the jets.

SUBJECT: PROJECT HONDA CRF230F - UPSIDE DOWN FORKS

Heya Rick,

Great articles on the 230! I am following the upside down forks writeup and I am stuck on the bearing cutdown part. I have all the parts now, but when I took the races down to work to have a friend cut them down, he said the description and the picture do not exactly match. I guess the problem is that it is unclear weather we cut the top of the race down or leave it? The picture shows the top of the bearing cut down to 1.893 and you said to leave the top part uncut which measures 2.047. The final product should measure 2.047 uncut, then first step 1.893, second step 1.879 and the final step of 1.835 that is cut all the way down to the bottom? Also does the length of the step matter? Say .050 on the length of the steps, with the last step to the bottom?

Thanks for any info on clearing this up Rick! The machinist I know is VERY good but very particular.

Tim S.

Tim, if you double-check the article, you'll see that the BEARING RACE was turned down, not the bearing itself.   

SUBJECT:  A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THE PROJECT BIKE

Rick,

Since the 230's inception in 2003 i have been modifying my bike. I tackled the job without the aid of your great site and
produced a similar but slightly different machine. Firstly, the front end problem I solved using a complete set up off a DT200R 89 combined with triple clamps from an XR250. These were then fitted with heavy Eibach springs.

I think XR250 forks may have worked too but these forks were available at the time cheap. Although they are 41mm and not 43mm, they are far superior to stock with their 10.5 " travel and greatly improved handling . The best part for the do it yourselfer is that no engineering at all was required for the fit, just bolt in and enjoy!

Sorry, i did weld on a small steering stop to the front bottom of the headstem for the XR triples. To counter the height increase i used a BBR linkage, and for the rest of the bike i've used; BBR revbox for the better ignition curve a high flow stainless muffler with uncorking package plus the usual alloy bashplate ,barkbusters, renthals etc.

One thing i don't think i've seen mentioned is that when the bike is raised with suspension mods, the sidestand needs to be lengthened by about 1". I did this by cutting the weld on the back of the stock unit, sliding out the tube, then rewelding, fairly simple.

I did try your gearing change but I found the 14 front rubbed on the cover(!) and although first became more usable, I felt i lost the ability to loft the front wheel at speed to clear logs or wheelstand across creeks etc. Anyway, I love it and it never fails to surprise guys on more serious machinery !
Keep up the good work
John

Melbourne, Australia

Congratulations John.  Your approach is different, but effective.  I still think the gearing works better with a larger c/shaft sprocket. We took the cover off our sprocket and were able to easily fit a 15 tooth unit.

SUBJECT:  KICKSTARTER FOR A CRF 230?

hay

i have a 2005 crf230 and i say on another comment that i can put a kick starter on it and i was wondering where i would order the pparts from or where i can get it done
Trey

Landisville, NJ

We haven't tried to put a kickstarter on our CRF 230F, simply because the electric starter has been - so far - bullet proof.  After some investigation, you would have to spend about a grand for parts to add a manual starter.

SUBJECT:  WHICH FORKS FOR THE BIKE?

Hey Rick

I installed a conventional set of CR 125 forks like you did in the first fork improvement article and I been pretty much happy with the results. I got the forks off ebay for one hundred bucks even and was able to sell the stock forks for $125, so I made a few bucks in the process. Not bad huh.

My question is I read where you put some upside down forks on your bike.  Should I consider these as a switch or are the forks I got OK?  I don't really want to spend the extra bucks and time, like I said my bike is OK.  So what do you suggest.

Marty

Torrance, CA

All things considered, your CR 125 regular forks are just fine.  The only place the upside down forks worked better was on the crusher hits, or front wheel landings.  For normal riding, your regular forks were a bit smoother on the small ripple bumps than the USD forks.  You're just fine as is.

SUBJECT:  IS THE 230 CAPABLE OF BAJA?

Rick

I did all of the mods you suggested to my bike, including the forks, Works shock, BBR pipe, good tires, jetting upgrade, gearing up and so forth. Now my question is could the bike finish the Baja 1000?  I'm a senior rider (62 this year) so I don't have any illusions of winning the overall.  I just want to finish.  I got three other friends who would ride with me and there about the same age and skill.  Seriously do you think the bike is capable of finishing.  I have never ridden in Baja or competed in a cross country race, but I would really like to try. So what do you think?

Tony

Austin, TX

No question about it, the 230 is more than capable of finishing the grueling event if it's modified as ours was, especially the CR rear wheel, which has beefy spokes compared to the stocker.  Also, I would replace the standard filter with a K & N and have a fresh filter waiting at every gas stop, as the stocker is quite small.  You can get about 100 miles out of the stock tank, so that should work just fine.  Take it smooth and easy, and the bike will finish.  The question remains:  are you capable?