I’ve recently brought a TTR250 and i think its fair to say i love it!!!
I don’t have any experience with doing my own servicing and maintenance and have a few questions if any of you can help?
I have found a lot of things I was looking for in this forum and I must say it’s made me love my purchase of the TTR even more!
The bike currently has a 14 tooth front sprocket and 44 rear, on the green lanes I often find myself in first gear as I’m not going fast enough for it to sit comfortably in second. I am still learning and this is my first experience of green lanes so I hope in time my speed will improve ( I currently sit around 10mph I think but I’m not sure how accurate the Speedo is). Someone I have been out with has suggested putting a bigger sprocket on the rear and after look through multiple threads on here I definitely think that’s the way forward. Anyway..my question is will a 14/48 be enough of a difference for me? I don’t really want to mess with the chain block, guard etc as I’ve read other people have when changing to a larger rear sprocket. I will only be using the bike for green laning but do have to use the road to link the green lanes up. I’ve done some nice easy green lanes (not to rutty or any massive inclines) but recently have done a route that was more challenging and I did struggle with the low speed manoeuvres. I would also like to be riding along in second as I can’t imagine being in first is doing any good to the engine.
This then brings me on to my second question…
The electric starts works on the button 99.9% of the time but I’ve had two occasions where part way through the day I’ve had to kick start it to get it going. Would this be because I’m riding in such a low gear and low speed that it’s not charging the battery? The light etc would still come on it just wouldn’t turn over. I have stalled the bike often getting to grips with the more technical riding so don’t know if this may have something to do with it as well.
That looks like a tidy bike. 14/44 is standard , which is great on the road, and suggests your bike has not had a hard off-road life
You will definitely notice the difference with a 48 rear sprocket, but will probably need a new chain to go round the extra circumference. You will still have a good top speed, and low speed stuff will be much more controllable.
Going down to a 13 tooth front would save changing the chain, but still have a similar effect on the final drive ratio. The downside being some additional wear on the swingarm sliders. Long term I would go for a 48 rear, a 13 front would be cheaper to experiment with BUT the front sprocket nut can be very tight.
Assuming a healthy battery, the charging system should work fine at low speeds. I would suggest you test the DC voltage coming to the battery using a multimeter. It should be above 13v even at tickover. If not, more delving will be needed to find out why not...
It’s a lovely bike and only had 400 miles on the clock when I got it..Barn find!
Thank you very much for your advice, I’m going to order up a 48 and will test the DC voltage.
Do you think with the bike being sat for over 10 years this could have effected the generator? I know it’s had a new battery put in and a carburettor but other than that everything is still original.
I would be surprised if the generator had been affected. I would be more suspicious of corroded electrical terminals (the 3 wire plug for the generator, plug on the regulator/rectifier, and the negative wire to earth (on the starter motor mounting bolt - NOT the positive starter wire on the body of the motor! Sorry if I'm mansplaining) Is there an earth wire off the reg/rec as well? Can't remember...
Check the voltage at the battery terminals first and work back from there.
Well, it's a lot of explanations for a flat battery
Of course, the engine being sluggish to turn over could be a starter motor problem rather than battery...
Reading back over your first post, I leapt to the assumption that the starter would not turn fast enough, but if you meant it doesn't turn at all - nothing at all, or just a click, then we're in different territory!
Sorry, I've jumped to a diagnosis without knowing the exact symptoms.
Great bike, Regarding the the starting issue, another two possible issues, the bike stand is down and the bike will not start when in gear....rookie error
Or the push start button has some corrosion between the contacts terminals. Use some contact cleaner. keep on eliminating the possible causes
Going 14 / 48 has made such a difference! The bike is much better off road.
I haven’t found the problem with starting yet but the battery has been tested and there’s nothing wrong with it. I did fully charge the battery a few weeks ago and the bike has been fine starting on the button since.
I have found the horn isn’t working so I’m going to sort that out next. I don’t think it has anything to do with it but just in case, process of elimination and it will need sorting anyway, then I’ll start checking the rest of the above.
