2023 Templar X review (awesome)

[arielfall]

After doing a bunch of research on this forum and others, I decided in August to order a X-Pro Templar X.

I ordered the bike directly from X-Pro which was fulfilled by PowersportsMax. $2171 to my door, was not charged tax and that made it the cheapest place to buy one.

I was nervous about the shipping but it came in perfect as can be condition from RL Carriers.

I assembled the bike over the course of a day, taking my time as my OCD compels. I also swapped in a Nibbi PE30 as part of the initial setup.

Fired the bike up and rode it approximately 6 joyful miles before crashing it having forgotten that I parked my car in a different place. Came up the driveway and around a corner, oops! Dropped the bike and broke my left shoulder in 4 places. Now featuring a metal plate over my collarbone and 9 screws. Laid me out for about 3 months, extremely painful, I highly do not recommend.

In recovery, I contacted X-Pro and told them I crashed and damaged my clutch lever, front fender, and shift lever, I was looking where I could buy replacements. X-Pro sent me replacements for FREE! Now that's customer service!

I now have about 350 miles on it.

I have the carburetor as mentioned before, a Nibbi coil, and a 42 tooth rear sprocket and an NGK DR8EA spark plug. Niche X-ring chain 110 links. I also added a Lithium battery which I highly recommend, cranks much faster than the stock or any AGM battery. Sometimes, the starter would lose to the engine compression and stop spinning the engine over for a second, no longer with the lithium. Also saved a few lbs.



With these modifications, I've hit 78 mph (GPS), very impressive considering I weigh 200 lbs.

Cruising at 60 or so mph, I'm finding about 50mpg. The 42 tooth sprocket seems perfect for someone my size. If you're exclusively highway commuting and or are a lighter person, a 40 or 39 might be doable.

Zero issues so far with the bike, nothing has come loose or malfunctioned. All electronics are working perfectly.

I can't recommend this bike highly enough, fun off road, plenty of power for cruising highways and back roads. The customer service was excellent and responsive.

If you're considering buying one, just do it.

Coil (Requires you to crimp a connector)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZCWS5BX...roduct_details

Battery
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091NYZMDP...roduct_details

Carb (Jetted 130 main and 42 pilot, clip in slot 2 from the point)
https://www.amazon.com/NIBBI-Replace...3-0e5c1a776d5d

Sprocket
https://www.amazon.com/JT-Sprockets-...s%2C101&sr=8-1

[vividpixel]

I guess I'm not the only one to make a silly mistake on their Templar and end up getting some metal implanted for the trouble.

Still on the stock carb and coil here, along with an oring chain, so nowhere close to that top speed!

[arielfall]

Originally Posted by vividpixel

I guess I'm not the only one to make a silly mistake on their Templar and end up getting some metal implanted for the trouble.

Still on the stock carb and coil here, along with an oring chain, so nowhere close to that top speed!

Yep, about 30k worth of metal! Not the bike's fault at all. All on me. Was looking forward to riding it the whole time during my recovery.

[Mikd]

For the price I'm not sure this bike could be much better.

[ChopperCharles]

How many actual CC? What does this have over the modern 250cc X-Pro DLX fuel injected bikes?

[vividpixel]

@ChopperCharles: Templar X is a 249cc, has 19 horsepower, and 6-speed transmission. It's more of what you'd consider a dirtbike. Adjustable suspension, knobbies, giant rear sprocket, and plastic that is way less likely to break off. Has sturdier foot pegs, shift lever, and handlebars compared to the Hawk.

My riding experience is split between the CSC TT250 and Templar X 250. Small stuff the TT250 (possibly Hawk) does better: the TT250 manages slightly better when transporting a passenger thanks to its firmer suspension. I would prefer the TT250's wildly imprecise fuel gauge to having nothing at all. Fuel door doesn't lock and you won't find hazard lights on the TempX, but the headlights are turned on or off with their own switch and are not tied to your ignition! TT250 has steering lock for antitheft as well as the ignition cover, but neither of these can be found on the X.

The Templar is significantly louder! And the choke is located on the clutch lever rather than down at the engine, which is good because the Templar needs the help more often. Templar X also has no kick start plus can only be started with a brake pressed.

If you're asking carburetor versus fuel injection, well I've gathered that comes down to whether you plan to do performance mods and whether you're comfortable with a few extra sensors that can go wrong.

[Texas Pete]

Remove the welch plug from the oem carb. When adjusting the air/fuel idle mixture screw** when you turn clockwise you decrease the setting (air input in this carb's design) so the fuel mixture to the motor richens up. Doing this will reduce the amount of time on idle you need to hold the choke before you can release it. If you go the opposite direction you add more air and lean out the setting so it will take more time holding in choke before the engine likes running on its own. Also adjust the valves properly.


** assumption is that an owner knows how to properly set the screw to start with. You will have about 1/2 a turn of optimum position in either direction before it will start to induce a bit of lug. Instead of keeping it in the center of that optimum zone, go in closer to the rich edge to reduce the choke time on cold starts.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by vividpixel

@ChopperCharles:
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And the choke is located on the clutch lever rather than down at the engine, which is good because the Templar needs the help more often.

This just means you are jet too lean. If you already bumped the pilot jet one step and shimmed the needle, adjust the airmix screw as T-Pete suggests (open it up a bit more-counterclockwise).

If you are already two turns out, bump the pilot jet to the next size. You could shim the needle if you haven't done that yet, but it is more likely to be the pilot jet or airscrew setting.

My Templar needs choke in the Winter when it is cold but doesn't need it for more than 10 seconds, or less. In Summer, it doesn't need choke at all if I have been running it the same day (maybe just to start, then no choke). If it is cold, brief choke just to start, then not needed.

I like to run more rich. It runs cooler and it is easier on the piston and rod bearings.

[vividpixel]

Originally Posted by Thumper

This just means you are jet too lean.

I don't want to derail someone's thread with my non-issue, just figured it's a valid out of the box comparison (TT250 on stock carb vs TemplarX on stock carb). The spark plug was very sooty black in the Templar which everything I've read indicates too rich, so that's interesting that it could be the opposite, but it's not enough of an annoyance for me to worry about. The TT250 spark plug is less-dark-black with a hint of light gray, so I'm actually surprised TT250 is the one not needing choke.

[oouthere]

That normally means the pilot jet is a little lean (cold starting issue) and your main jet is fat (black plug).

Originally Posted by vividpixel

I don't want to derail someone's thread with my non-issue, just figured it's a valid out of the box comparison (TT250 on stock carb vs TemplarX on stock carb). The spark plug was very sooty black in the Templar which everything I've read indicates too rich, so that's interesting that it could be the opposite, but it's not enough of an annoyance for me to worry about. The TT250 spark plug is less-dark-black with a hint of light gray, so I'm actually surprised TT250 is the one not needing choke.