Arizona Templar

[K'hermiit]

Whats up guys. Been lurking here for ~month researching the Chinese bikes before jumping into one. Well, I finally pried open my crusty wallet and bought an orange X model.



I work 10 miles down a dirt road from home, so I use it to commute as well as for playing on the weekend.

Mods so far:
Nibbi pe30 carb(unfinished version ~$20 cheaper) currently running a 45 pilot and a 130 main jet.

Barkbusters. Non-negotiable.This is the desert, we have cactus...nuff said.
Skid plate
Windshield for the winter season. I leave for work at 6:15am and it's dark and cold.
Extra driving lights. They are wired in to come on w/high beam to keep me from having to fumble with a bunch of switches when encountering oncoming traffic.

Footpegs for KTM cause they looked cool.

I also bypassed that start only with the brake "feature". Here is the quick and dirty way. In the cluster of plugs at the neck, find the two plugs for the r/s switches. You can see in the pic below, I cut the green w/yellow striped wire off at the plug for the start switch. (This wire fed + to the start switch when either brake switch was depressed.) Hook the cut green/yellow to the green wire at the front brake switch connector. (This wire is IGN +)
I used a heat shrink solder connector and it took longer to think about it than actually doing it. About 5 minutes tops. I can now start my bike without touching the brakes.



I have more stuff planned, but it was fun to just get out and ride it today. I am 220 lbs and left the rear spring alone so far. I did crank the all the dampening clickers up, and then backed off ~1/3 of the adjustment as a starting point. For the record they were all set FULL SOFT. This stiffened the suspension nicely. I might need to dial in a bit more rebound in the rear, but it is not far off. I'm sure I will want it stiffer as I get used to being in the saddle again. I sold my last dirt bike 9 years ago, so my skills are rusty af.
With the 13/49 sprockets this thing has some pep! I am honestly shocked at how strong this engine pulls. It LEAPS ahead at the slightest crack of the throttle and pulls clean all the way past 7k. (still breaking it in so I am being conservative with it) I ordered a 40T rear sprocket for testing too.
I have new tires/and tubes to install when I have time to do it. I also plan on making a set of ammo can panniers that I can quickly attach for some local moto-camping. I have 2 40mm cans that are a good size(for a micro adventure bike anyway.)
The throttle cable and I are gonna have a come to Jesus meeting soon. It is just a tad too short and the throttle will start climbing at full lock. Hopefully I can just optimize the routing to give it a little slack.
So there, you have my Templar X 250 life story...I'm sorry.
Seriously though, a big thanks to all of you who have been posting here in the past. That material helped me a lot in dealing with my new quirky machine.


BTW: Not only do 2009+ RMZ plastics fit, but so does the seat! The seat bottom is identical to a RMZ 250 seat. The fuel tanks look to be similiar as well, but I haven't tried one to see.


~K~

[GigaXi]

Looks sweet! Thanks for sharing. I'm also a Templar owner here in AZ.

[K'hermiit]

Thanks man! That's cool I'm not the only desert dweller here.

[TommyD]

Actually, there are a few of us on here from Arizona. We are fortunate that we can ride year around. I won't ride with temps past 110 degrees but I could if I had to.

[bigdano711]

That is one sweet bike.

[K'hermiit]

Thanks!

I can't figure out how to quote people this morning.



I removed the fuel tank again and re-routed the throttle cable to the right side of the frame, and that gave me the slack I needed to keep the idle RPM's from climbing when moving the handlebars over to full rack.

[TominMO]

Great review and first post. Thanks!

[buzz]

I want one.

[Thumper]

Thanks for posting the brake to start elimination mod.
I got used to it but still a stretch!

It would be easier if it was pull the clutch to start, which I do all the time anyway, starting in first gear. Safety Schmafety

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by K'hermiit

Thanks!

I can't figure out how to quote people this morning.



I removed the fuel tank again and re-routed the throttle cable to the right side of the frame, and that gave me the slack I needed to keep the idle RPM's from climbing when moving the handlebars over to full rack.

use the quote button to reply

[K'hermiit]

Originally Posted by Thumper

Thanks for posting the brake to start elimination mod.
I got used to it but still a stretch!

It would be easier if it was pull the clutch to start, which I do all the time anyway, starting in first gear. Safety Schmafety

Originally Posted by alex_in_az

use the quote button to reply

Tbh it was the multiquote that didn't work for me. I selected each one I wanted, but couldn't figure out how to get the text editor to pop up afterwards.



Thank you though!

[K'hermiit]

Drove the bike into work today. That was fun. Well, as fun as going to work can be... I guess.
It ran great. Those tires seem squirrelly. I've got the pressure lowered all the way down to 11 rear & 13 front and they still try and wash out w/o warning. The terrain I'm riding on is very hard pack with roly-poly rocks on top. You AZ guys know exactly what I'm talking about. I have a set of Parker Deserts waiting in the wings, I may go ahead a swap, if these don't settle down with some miles.


For the curious: My Templar X 250 as equipped by me/ including a mostly full tank of fuel. 300lbs

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by K'hermiit

Tbh it was the multiquote that didn't work for me. I selected each one I wanted, but couldn't figure out how to get the text editor to pop up afterwards.
Thank you though!

Originally Posted by K'hermiit

Tbh it was the multiquote that didn't work for me.

What I do is hit Quote, then highlight the quote and copy it, then exit. Then I go into another post, hit Quote, and paste the first quote.

As you can see, quotes can be edited to save space or to just use part of the quote.

[K'hermiit]

50 mile desert moto camping trip. Making it back in one piece? Even better!


The bike did fantastic. Starts easily and runs butter smooth. I did experiment with that 40t rear sprocket, but don't care for it. It is a smidge too tall. Would be fine for a fellow that rode on flat ground maybe, but hills found me downshifting to often. I am going back to the original 13/49 for now. I rarely get to ride over 35 mph...so the stock gearing was fun.

Pics for proof of a good time.

[Texas Pete]

Very cool photograps thank you for sharing. Yes these Templars come fully geared sprocket wise for off road so no need for the serious off road rider to think about changing.

@Thumper if you read this I found a while ago that the front brake isn't required for starting as the way the bike is wired using any brake provides the energization of the signal wire so no more funky hand stretching for me, I just rest my foot on the rear brake pedal when starting my bike now.