A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Our TTR Guru, Brian, penned a wonderful post on another web site on this very topic - and more.

I have taken a copy and now show it here:-

Some Ideas on Preparing Your Bike for Trail Riding

One of the best ways to ensure you enjoy your trail riding is to make sure your bike is reliable when faced with the harsh environment which trail riding sometimes puts it through. Riding alone is not recommended, as this could endanger yourself if there was an accident on your ride.

Firstly members of the TRF must ride legal motorcycles on legal carriageways; this means your bike needs to be street legal. It has to have lights that work as well as brake lights, horn, legal number plate, legal exhaust, and a rear reflector and road legal tyres. (Note that a daytime MOT certificate will have different requirements).After the legalities have been attended to, check over the following:

Levers
Don't have them too tight on the handlebars they will snap off if you fall off. A good quality brush guard usually helps protect them in a fall. Carry spare levers. Cables Dirt and water gets into the clutch and throttle cables making them notchy and stiff. Work them whilst squirting in an appropriate cable lubricant. Light controls reduce fatigue.

Waterproof the sparkplug
If you don't know when it was last changed, fit a high quality new one. Fit a new waterproof sparkplug cap and seal all sparkplug lead joints with silicone sealant, i.e. the stuff that seals round the edge of your bath.

Wheel Bearings
Jack the wheels off the ground, grasp the wheel at the top and bottom and push and pull. If there is any free play replace the bearings and the seals. Bearings are only about £5 each, as are the seals.

Brake pads
Mud and water equals grinding paste, which wears out pads and discs quickly. Road pads are useless, fit sintered ones instead. Clean the brakes after every ride to prevent them from seizing.

Chain and Sprockets
Always keep them in good condition. A hooked sprocket will wear a chain very quickly.Apply oil to the chain after cleaning to prevent corrosion and to help preserve the o-rings.

Engine Oil
Change it as described in your bike manual or ask for advice on the forum.

Air Filter
Clean or renew regularly, you will be amazed at what finds its way into the air box.  Check and oil with the correct sticky filter oil.

Toolkit 
Include spanners to remove wheels and adjust chain etc, pliers and screwdrivers. Also carry tyre levers, valve key, puncture outfit or spare tubes and a bicycle pump. You could also carry items like spare chain joining links, plastic zip ties and a role of insulation tape. Always carry a spare spark plug for your bike and also the right spanner to fit it.

Protection
You must wear an approved crash helmet when riding. Suitable gloves, eye protection (goggles or visor), knee and elbow pads, and a good pair of MX-style riding boots are recommended.  Either wear clothing with built-in protection, or use a body armour undersuit.

This will all seem like common sense to most but it might give a few ideas to the novice trail rider.

Some more tips - preparing your bike properly has many benefits:

• Improved life of your pride and joy
• Better handling
• Enhanced reliability
• Also washing your bike after the ride has benefits, checking the machine is in good working order i.e.: no bolts undone, wear and tear of chain and also lubricating a clean one is better.  Remember that it is an offence to ride with a dirty number plate.

Punctures can be a problem but with the right preparation the risk of a puncture can be reduced. Doing the following will help:

Use heavy duty inner tubes
These will help to prevent punctures from hard impacts where the tube is pinched onto the rim or heads of spoke nipples. Using duct tape around the rim to cover the spoke nipples will also help. Don't run HD inner tubes at very low pressures as they will move within the tyre and rip out the valve stem. This is quite a common occurrence!

Enlarge valve hole
This will allow the valve to move giving some warning that the tyre is starting to rotate dragging the tube around with it. The inner tube can be realigned by letting the tyre down and rotating the wheel backwards until the valve is straight.

Good tyre security bolt
Vital for holding the tyre in position on the rim especially when running with low tyre pressure, without it the valve is likely to be ripped out of the tube if the tyre slips on the rim. 

Tyre pressure
Running the tyres with reduced pressure will improve the grip, but let the pressure go to low and you risk a compression puncture. Don't refit the retaining nut/ring on the rim of the wheel after changing tubes or keep it wound right up to the dust cap.

Chain and sprockets
Upping the size of both chain sprockets will help to reduce wear also make sure the closed end of the chain link clip is facing towards the direction of rotation.

Exhaust make as quiet as possible (road legal!) - repack if necessary.

Suspension
Lower ride height if need be and soften so that full travel is used.

Spares to Carry
Tube - 21" front if you can only carry one as this will do for the rear. 
Chain - short piece 2 to 3 links + joining link plus chain splitter.
Spare levers for your bike - clutch/front brake.
Tyre levers two minimum, decent spoon type.
Tools spark plug spanner, pump or CO² cylinders, pliers, screwdriver (Pozidrive & plain), spanners to remove both wheels, tow rope, cable ties, some spare nuts and bolts with washers, spare inner cable kit to fit throttle and clutch & elastic bands (cut from old inner tube).
Spare Bulbs if travelling at night. 
Small first aid kit.
Recovery Service - If your a member of a recovery service, it'd be handy to take your membership card with you on the trail.
Chocolate bar.
Wallet or some money.
Can of tyre inflater.
Mobile phone.

Washing the bike after a ride. If using a power washer keep the lance away from the wheel bearings, suspension bushes and chain. It really helps to have some Pro-Clean to spray on before that final rinse to move any stubborn stains! If you can, take it for a ride after to help dry off and warm the chain. Lube the chain so it's ready for your next ride and won't go rusty. Spray the bike with Pro-Care, Duck Oil or WD40 to dispel any remaining water.  

Hi Andy

This is what a complete TTR toolkit looks like including retaining rubber strap.

It's surprisingly useful except the wheel spanner is the wrong size. It is 24/22 and should be 24/17. I found this out a long time ago when I had a front wheel puncture and no way to undo the front axle 

Hence I got these made up 

Brian

Some extra advice given to an owner who had entered his TTR in the MCC Lands End LDT:

• ·         Go through the TTR before the event and make sure all the engine, exhaust, etc. bolts and screws are tight. Amazing what can work loose or drop off in a long event!
• ·         If you don't double up on cables (running a new spare cable parallel to the existing so it's an easy side of the road swap if you have problems) then carry a cable kit with the right wire and screw on nipples (the kit in the little round tin) and put a good selection of 6/8/10mm bolts, washers and nuts in with it.
• ·         If you haven't got heated grips then consider fitting them. It can get very cold on Exmoor in the wee small hours!

I agree with you Terry but I am pretty sure that your TTR, like mine, is well maintained so rarely will issues arise but the list may help riders who like to ride but may not be so mechanically sympathetic 

My tools are mainly used to help my riding companions some of whom don't carry even simple tools like an axle wrench.........   

Brian

PS It is surprising how much can be done with the tools in the standard TTR toolbox!

TTRfan wrote:

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I agree with you Terry but I am pretty sure that your TTR, like mine, is well maintained so rarely will issues arise but the list may help riders who like to ride but may not be so mechanically sympathetic 

My tools are mainly used to help my riding companions some of whom don't carry even simple tools like an axle wrench.........   

Brian

PS It is surprising how much can be done with the tools in the standard TTR toolbox!

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 Agreed Brian, I've had the TTR since new & it is in good shape, I'm a mechanic by trade ( service manager now ) so yes it is maintained & it always seems to be others that have issues.

PM or preventive maintainance works wonders, all four of my bikes get loving care LOL, ridden hard but not trashed.

Terry