Initial impression of RX3 for a trail bike rider
 

Greetings Rx3 Riders,

need Feed back guys!

After I unpacked and assembled my RX3, I was to curious to jump on the saddle and cruise all the way to long stretches.

But I am completing its running period for now besides its cold winter here.

Few issues which I am facing#

1 - I am coming from DR250 to this so soon as I started to ride cyclone I noticed the speedometer goes crazy and show misleading speeds, like the bike is hardly doing a 100kmh and speedometer is showing ~133kmh, also feul gauge is not right too..
(I will be reading spud's post about SpeedoDRD which i found already in detail some day and will DIY)

2 - The LED lamps dont have enough juice to light up the road properly (I will go for extra LEDs for this)

3 - Bike is power less completely untill you go above 5k RPM, not like the DR which would throw you like a sling shot from 0 to 100, is it only with my RX or is it a usual case ?

I was directed by john from another FB rx3 fan page to come here and @spud @spudrider can guide or help out to learn more about my new bike.

comments and suggestions are wellcome..

here is my ride.

Hello and welcome!

The RX3 with fuel injection is very sensitive to valve clearance. Be sure you have that adjusted correctly.

RX3 also have sprockets that are better for high speed. For trails most riders have changed to 13t front sprocket, and some have also changed the back sprocket to 46t from stock 44. Really makes the power feel better.

I can not help you about the speedometer, I don't look at mine.:hehe:

You can make the fuel gauge read better by bending the arm for the float. You will find instructions somewhere here.

Good luck, enjoy your RX3!

No, it is not only with your RX3.

The engine is high revving, and runs best (for me) between 5,000 and 8,000 rpm.

Does your RX3 have a carburetor or fuel injection?

In the US, the RX3's have fuel injection. In some other countries, carburetors are used.

jb

nature of the beast
 

jay speaks truth

as i understand, dr is not efi. unless efi is programed for hot performance as in rx3 it is just dutifully following instructions from its computer brain.

not sure if led headlight is included in 17' models but has been reported extensively here that it is lacking

speedo should have been addressed with digital wire solution but don't think it was included on the rx3's as reported by csc dude blog...We’ve got new RX3s and TT250s inbound. The new 2017 TT250s will have tachs and digital speedos (and the price will stay at $2195)

vicky...we are happy to have you. we are not just a fanboy site for csc but we are their biggest fans :D

you have a 250 pushing the weight of a 650...
so it's never going to be mind blowing ...

A DR250 that throws yer like a "sling shot".. must be a
special model we haven't seen out here....



...

hello Jay, thanks for replying, I have just uncrated the bike and doing its running period, will do valves clearance on 300km mark, just 50kms more :D .

this make a lot of sense... I will be looking into this..

:D yes i will do some stuff I see a lot shared by spudrider... (Y)

I have the feul injected one, its idle is at 2k RPM which seems to be a bit high I want to reduce its idle speed but dont know how..:hmm:

yes the DR we still have in the group is far ahead in low end performance, the RX3 responds after 5k RPM and ahead..

I have no clue if my Rx3 EFI is tuned or just following instructions, I did notice the Idle speed is very high .. like 2k RPM which seems not normal..

yes will have to work around these issues..


Thankyou blackBike, will be posting adventures on cyclone soon!!

Frankly I am not feeling bad at all that if it does not responds back like trail/offroad bikes.. I was just asking that if its usaul with RX3 or is it only my bike as its my first time with this machine.

have been riding xr400 and then DR250 lately and they respond at low end far more agressively and I am sure you know what I am saying.

:D:D I understand your sarcasm, I was just saying becuase the difference i felt after acquiring this machine..

Vicky, Welcome aboard.
I would ride it for 1000-2000 km before doing anything drastic as far as changing things. The motor , brakes will get better as they break in but in the end it's still a 400 lb 250. Change motor oil and check valves and just enjoy it as is . I've got over 12,000 mi on mine and it runs as good as when it had 2-3000 miles on it. I've gotten use to the speedo and gas gage being off and just go by my GPS anyway. It's a tight little motor that does need breaking in before you start making it sing. But mine will go for hours on end with throttle nearly pegged on the freeway till I have to stop and get gas. It's faithfully carried me on many wonderful camping trips for thousands of miles without a single break down other then loose nuts and bolts. So you'll want to go over them every so often especially on the luggage and engine crash bars as they seem to come loose the most , especially if you are doing rough trail rides. Have fun and enjoy getting to know your new RX3, rj

+1 to this. Such a huge difference in engine response and character from mile 1 to mile 1000. Almost feels like a different motor after its broken in. If you commute on freeways at 100kph/62mph I would say keep same sprockets. If you do more in town city riding or trail riding, you will find the bike much more to your liking switching to the 13t sprocket as others have mentioned. I do a mix of freeway city and trail riding. 700 miles/1000 kilometers on dirt last year and 1200 miles on freeway and in town roads. I have the 13 tooth sprocket and love it. Not really any downsides to it except higher speeds above 120kph/72mph it is little buzzy but not terrible.

Really Good to know...
 

its really a relief from users like @rjmorel and @superdude that you guys actually have used it to fullest and are happy with it..

yes I will sure complete the break in before hitting the snowy tracks of north this season..

:thanks:

A question, Vickytulla.

The top speed on your RX3 should be a little more than 130 kph.
Does the DR250 also go that fast or is it geared lower?

That would confirm the different feel when you go from a stop or low speed.

havent checked both head to head but I have taken the dr to really long tours.. and on lonely roads at times I was able to go beyond 120kmh when the altitude, and wind directions were in favor..

but at times it hardly went above 117kmh even trying to push further was hard...

after running period is over we will be going on long weekend trip both rides would be taking part so I will sure post how this interesting new Chinese Adventurer works out with an older Japanese thumper.

being optimistic i dont want it to out perform dr on dirt if it gives me a comfortable wide seat and good high end on long highway streches and still some what works out at the tail of a dr.. I am GOOOOODDDD :yay:

I think your expectations comparing it to your DR250 are spot on. I think it will do everything but the hardest off road sections better. I think you'll be very pleased.

Built for comfort
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuI4KpsX_-4 This video is a little slow, but the gist of it is he did one heckuva hard race on a stock RX3. He mentions in part 1 (there's 2 parts) that his bike and a Triumph Tiger were the only ADV and stock bikes. He said that it took all he gave it, and it didn't let him down (somewhere around minute 9). He brought a knife to a gun fight, and came out alive and well. Just goes to show the naysayers what this bike can do.

Indeed cant agree more... I really like this video... :)

Guys what about Idle control
 

My bike is an EFI RX3..

I noticed the idle speed stays at arounf 2k RPM... and bike if left idle while u r standing ona traffic signal picks up heat quite quick;ly as engine is constantly doing 2k RPM ..

I want to adjust its Idle around 1~15k RPM just like any other bike..

can ano one giude me how can I do it? or any thread where this is already discussed...

picture attached of meter..

It "looks" like it's about 1800 rpm, and as far as I know, totally normal. At least that's what mine is at.

mine also

Cold start is like 2.3RPM
 

on a cold early morning ride to office i notice it stays at 2.3 for a while i think its controlled by the efi unit which lowers the RPM later on when engine is warm enough..

good showing... but don't make it into something it's not..
heckuva hard race!...We will have to agree to disagree on the meaning of hard or
yer to easly impressed....
hard to me is 2foot logs/rock shelves ie.. Elzberg/Romaniac/roof or Africa type terain...
With that terain.. I would agree with fast but yer prob get a R1 though most of it with the right tyres....

I have seen a Wee storm go though some pretty gnarly terrain so it is possable for the RX3...




...

Indeed, cant agree more...

I am still not able to get out of trails even though I am loving its ride as it improves day by day .... and I am sur eit is going to be my excellent cruiser for long tours..

but we do a Offroading (prety na$ty) ofroading bi-weekly every month...
and we throw, flip and skid our ride in sand , mud dirt like on every next ramp..
I dont take it there I know I will bring it back with a broken parts...

What I forsee is that I might have to but a pure trail for offroading fun days,,

I just found out that same motor which RX3 uses comes in a trail called GASGAS .. which is very interesting.. light weight body, efi, 21 wheel front and 25HP .. nice.. very nice

Not seen the GasGas with the Zongshen motor yet....
they were using the older carbed Yamaha WR250 motor but
Yamaha has run out of them & wouldn't sell GasGas there new
reverse head injected motors . So GasGas had to find another
motor for the 250/300 4T six day bikes.....
don't know if theres still a 300cc version . the 300 was a WR250
motor with the Athena 290 kit fitted at the factory...

They did have issue with the Zongshen motor at the beginning
from what i have read they now buy the motor as componets
& build them there selfs now.... don't know if they rework them before assembly...

love GasGas... I raced enduros on a EC200 a few years back.... Now have
a Husaburg TE125 thinking of selling i like the more relaxed TTR250 now
I found it dosn't worry if I'm not the fastest anymore... bloody old age thing
I think...







..

AJP with Zongshen power.
 

Not finding anything about Gas Gas, but AJP doesn't hide from where they are getting engines.

http://motoajp.com/enduros/models-features/pr-4-enduro/

I love my AJP PR4 ! And they now use only Zong engines

Here's a photo from the recently posted maintenance tutorial of the OBD meter connected to an RX3.

It shows the idle speed at ~1,800 rpm.

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/...3_8149-650.jpg

jb

Also, no thumper I've ever had idled at 1000 rpms. Thats from 225 to 650cc's. When you say it picks up heat, what is the temp bar graph reading? It should be 2 or 3 bars
I've never seen 4, and i live in a very very hot and humid environment. Think jungle hot. We also have owners living in the desert in the USA, I'm not sure what theirs read.

The only GasGas we have are the trials bikes
http://www.gasgasusa.net/

Some of the other AJP's use Zongshen air-cooled 233cc engines

http://motoajp.com/enduros/models-features/pr3enduro/
http://motoajp.com/enduros/models-fe...r4-enduro-240/
http://motoajp.com/enduros/models-features/pr4-extreme/

my RX3 after warm yp comes down to 1.8 RPM as well... its good

Brothers I saw this GASGAS and I loved this package with RX3 enigne and such a light weigh bike... pure enduro package..:clap:

I wonder if this bike is in production or not..

the engine is NC250 as of RX3 but with a kick starter which is even better


http://www.gasgasmotos.es/image/moto...mi_250_002.jpg

I can't find it on their website. Only a 2 stroke 250 today. Looking at their manuals it seems the CAMI 250 was a 2014 model with the NC250 engine.

Today was an offroad day...
 

So RX took part in it along DRs and Honda Ba'ja and derbi offroad machines..

AND I LOVED IT....

I now have a concurent side to side experience of how different an adventure bike can be from a dedicated daul sports or an offroad bike..

I am glad that the results are way better then what I expected..


https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7f&oe=5909EE77

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...9c&oe=591F8335

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...8d&oe=59174DDC


https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...90&oe=590E2A70


https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d3&oe=58D7C7E0

- RX shared same power response as its Japanese counter parts = 10/10
- RX was easy to maneuver even with bulge of instruments and non moving nose = 10/10
- Feul economy was good, and I had an edge of larger tank means I can play for longer time :lmao:
- Cig lighter and charger is built in so I was able to feed some energy to dying cell and cam.

The down sides#
- LOW ground clearance its hardly 8' and decrease even further on weight
- The Stock tires # they tend to kill you even on road. (is any one else also annoyed by there "no grip at all" ??? )
- Rear brake Locking # the rear Disc is to much sensitive, it tends to lock the wheel by slightest push... I recovered it from skiding like couple of time when used the rear brake.. I dont know how can I soft its response..


I know I am comparing oranges with apples.. but I wanted this to be done so I knw the RX3 bench marks..

That looks AWESOME! Glad to see the RX3 pulled its weight!

I've had no problems with the stock tires. On my roads here, they grip very well. I don't do what you've done there though. The most off-road I get with the RX3 is gravel roads.

The tires skid on road as well special when wet, and if rear brake is applied...

the rear wheel locks immediately and the wheel loses traction completely... which is not very good... will need tires with good hold.. at least on asphalt..

for about a year...
ever since Yamaha run out of carbed WR250 motors to surply to GasGas...

they don't import the road legal version here... "not that I have seen" we get the 6 day enduro version...




..

Prepration for snow mountains tour.
 

Fitted my ride with panniers, trunk and crash guards today...

planning to go North as my rides evil sister just returned from Snow tour.. so its my turn :D