Stebob-got your mailing address. I will try to mail the grab bar Friday. I have no use for it since i puts the racks back on the Lakota. It was never installed.Free is good. About the 250ex-It does have more snap off the line. It is hard to believe,229 cc motor, 22mm carb. It hit the rev limiter real quick. I rode it fairly hard thru the middle of 3rd gear. I still prefer the lakota over the 250ex. There really is no adjustments on the 250 for shocks. it vibrated a lot. Shaft drive, i don't see much way to change the gearing. I think the top speed is about 47mph.1st gear seemed to hit the rev limiter by about 8 mph.I would think a 250ex would take a stock Lakota for about 50 yards then the lakota would pass it by. I think the 250 ex is alright if you don't push it to hard. You should try to ride one Stebob. I think you would agree the Lakota is better. I don't think the Lakota could have won the shoot-out because it is a older machine. That would not look good against honda's new machine.

 

Mojaveaddict, I went to Web Cams, but didn't see anything for the Lakota. They had 2 for the Bayou but 14mins. said that he ordered one of the 2 and it wouldn't work. Since they are for the Bayou, do you know which one would be a "hotter" cam than what the Lakota has stock? You also mentioned the Mojave carb. I have heard of this but no one has any idea how to jet it. I know that reading the spark plug is really not very accurate, unless it is black and caked really bad. I own the Clymer manual for it. It seems to really detailed. The guys at my local Kawi. dealer recommended it over the Kawi. manual and it was 25 bucks cheaper. What do you think.

 

Why, you have my deepest appreciation for that. It is a direct bolt on even with the tail light right? I am very surprised at the 250EX. I recall reading that the Lakota did beat it in a drag race, but I don't think they ever mentioned the 250EX was ever out front. I figured they would have been sure to add that. My Lakota seems to run pretty good off the line. My opinion of course, but I have my buddies 400EX off the line for about 10 yards and he pulls by, he does not smoke me by any means, utill we reach top end speeds. When he has ridden it he commented on the low end. I can pull some pretty heavy loads, while my buddies 400EX can't pull his dad around the yard. 250-260lbs. But hey, if the 250EX runs that good, my hats off to it. Maybe one of my friends will get it and we'll have another to ride with us.

 

Stebob, I would think the smaller Bayou cam (first one listed) from web would be similar to the Lakota stock cam. The hotter grind should be a little bigger. They are going to regrind your cam so you don't have to wory about it fitting your engine. I suggest you call Web and tell them what you want. They can do custom grinds. Just remember that the more power you get from a cam the more it moves up the rpm range, weakening the bottom some. So i wouldn't go to wild. And you will need new valve springs if you get a cam that needs high rpms to work.

Start with stock jetting in the Mojave carb, many times it is fine. If you wont to get the jetting right, just keep going up on the main jet one size at a time until it skips at wot while up at some speed. Then back down to the next smaller size, (the last one you tried before the skipping started). This should be about right but check the plug after a good ride and see if it is too black. if so back down one more size. Again the carb is like a bigger cam, you will gain power but loose some of the crispness on the very bottom.

I am not real familiar with the clymer manual because all i have is the Kawi and I really like it. I have the Mojave manual and my riding buddy has a Lakota and the kawi manual for it. I do most of the work on his bike. We are going to put a Mojave carb on his soon, I will let you know what jet we end up with. As for the Clymer manual, it is probably just as good and you already have it so I'm sure you can get the job done with it.
The Lakota is a great machine and can be made to run very well and is a lot of fun. Just don,t expect it to be a race machine even with mods. It has a utility engine and is restricted by the fact that it is only a two valve design. but if you don't like a manual clutch, the Lakota is about as good a trail and fun recreational bike as you can get. Oh yea, don't pay any attention to the mags that try to say a 250ex is better than a lakota, what a joke that is.

 

Stebob, I would think the smaller Bayou cam (first one listed) from web would be similar to the Lakota stock cam. The hotter grind should be a little bigger. They are going to regrind your cam so you don't have to wory about it fitting your engine. I suggest you call Web and tell them what you want. They can do custom grinds. Just remember that the more power you get from a cam the more it moves up the rpm range, weakening the bottom some. So i wouldn't go to wild. And you will need new valve springs if you get a cam that needs high rpms to work.

Start with stock jetting in the Mojave carb, many times it is fine. If you wont to get the jetting right, just keep going up on the main jet one size at a time until it skips at wot while up at some speed. Then back down to the next smaller size, (the last one you tried before the skipping started). This should be about right but check the plug after a good ride and see if it is too black. if so back down one more size. Again the carb is like a bigger cam, you will gain power but loose some of the crispness on the very bottom.

I am not real familiar with the clymer manual because all i have is the Kawi and I really like it. I have the Mojave manual and my riding buddy has a Lakota and the kawi manual for it. I do most of the work on his bike. We are going to put a Mojave carb on his soon, I will let you know what jet we end up with. As for the Clymer manual, it is probably just as good and you already have it so I'm sure you can get the job done with it.
The Lakota is a great machine and can be made to run very well and is a lot of fun. Just don,t expect it to be a race machine even with mods. It has a utility engine and is restricted by the fact that it is only a two valve design. but if you don't like a manual clutch, the Lakota is about as good a trail and fun recreational bike as you can get. Oh yea, don't pay any attention to the mags that try to say a 250ex is better than a lakota, what a joke that is.

 

Thanks for the info. Mojave. I am pondering whether or not to do the cam. Haven't quite decided yet. I have ofter thought of milling the head too or instead of. I'm not sure on how much durability I would lose by doing that or what kind of gains I would see. I do not really plan on doing many more mods. to my machine, but I would like to pick up some more off idle through mid range rpms. Top end doesn't really matter to me much because where we ride you will NEVER open it up anyway. I kind of feel to leave it alone with what I have done so far. It runs really good. If I want more speed I can always enjoy what I have, keep it for a long time, and go buy a new sport quad. Ah decisions decisions. Thanks again for the info. Mojave.

 

Stebob- Dropped the bar in the mail today, sent it 5 day ground. Yes it has the bracket for the light.I forgot that i have a 11 tooth sprocket laying on the shelf in the garage. Since you never get to top your machine out, the 11 tooth might be good for you. I mail it to you to try sometime next week. It has no wear on it. I only used it for 1 week. Most of my riding is higher up on the rpm range. I think the Lakota is really a good choice to mod because it started life as a utility. The motor has been around forever. Kinda like new corvettes- it harder to improve on the newer tech. They are engineered it pretty well. I saw some paperwork from when i put the cam in. The shop ordered the 40a cam for the bayou. Whatever web sent did not fit. I do not know what they did to my cam. They did say that i did not have to use new valve springs but i did anyway.Today i got a chance to ride the raptor for a hour.The acceleration is wild. It is hard to keep the front end down. I have to keep my weight at the front. Those radial tires really bite. I saw 70.4 on the gps today. I thought it would be higher. I have the throtle screw, screwed in about 25%. I am guessing it will top out at about 74 or 75. I am at 800 elevation. Most of the mags. are now showing the top speed between 68 to 71. It did not seem to be at a rev limiter. I will probably change the front sprocket as the first mod. tHE gps showed 18.5 in 1st and high 30's for 2nd.

 

You have my envy my man. I would love to be able to ride one. Someday I will I'll make sure of that. Thanks, once again :-), for the sprocket. Did it give the Lakota at lot more off the bottom? Does the Lakota have a rev limiter? I have never hit mine if it does. I'm anxiously awaiting the bar. Thanks again, that is really nice of you. What kind of bar is it anyway?

 

stebob-The bar is a Kawaski chrome for a 96 model mojo. It is chrome and not powdercoated silver. I think it was for a 96 mojo. The dealer looked through his books to find a chrome one.I wish that i had thought to put the sprocket in with the bar when i mailed it today.I don't know about the rev limiter, i have never hit mine either.I like to ride hard but not abusive, if you know what i mean. The reason that i did not like the sprocket is because most of my trails are fast and smooth. It was really winding out in 5th. Thought it was to hard on the motor. Do you run syth. oil? My Lakota is red, what color is yours?I am not to fast on the computer. I am going to see about getting a web page. I just bought a digital camera and would like to post some pics.I am currently building a track at my house, with some hills and some high banked corners. My parents have 150 acres next to my 10 acres. I have a lot of trails on their land. My mom is 70 years old and rides the trails on her 2000 Pairrie 300. My little sister has 65 acres 3 miles from my house that i ride on. I saw a post on this forum with a guy that has a manual shift lakota with a web cam.I think last year i saw a guy on here that had a really modded Lakota, bored and stroked, a-arms the whole 9 yards. I wonder what ever happened to him. What is your thoughts on the 400 ex that you ride with sometimes?

 

stebob, I don't think milling your head will give a noticable change. I certainly don't think it is worth the money and trouble for such a small gain. If the head is milled a lot to really raise compression, then the cam is moved closer to the crank and the timing chain is now off a little and your cam is slightly out of time. not worth it. I think you are right on when you say you think you will just enjoy it for a while. Have fun and ride!

Sorry about the double post. Not sure how I did that either.