The official XT225 thread!

OK so I have done the searches and though there has been a good deal of XT225 info passed about (though usualy just a link to www.xt225.com ) I think it is time for a single thread to coalate all that has been and yet to be learned about this awsome little bike. I also own a DR650 and my decision to purchase that bike and not a XR or KLR was largely fueled by the simplicity of browsing through the wealth of data in the DR650 thread. I believe I am not the only one either.

I believe that the XT might just be one of the other relatively under-appreciated thumpers out there and a single thread where interested parties can come to research would be awsome and hopefully generate more interest in this great little bike so that hopefully in the long run we might all reap some benefit from it (namely a better aftermarket and possibly Japan realizing that the rear disk braked xt250 would be highly appreciated).

I asked the very same question to an ex Honda rep today.

Honda has to be convinced they can sell 10k of a model before they'll offer them here.

So I will start by mentioning that my verticaly challenged girlfriend just recently purchased a 05 XT only partialy at my nudging and I have begun the adventure of tuning this little bike to get as much performance out of it as I possibly can. The XT225 site is great but this is where I hang out and hopefully we can expand the bikes influence in the dual sport market.

It is obviously a bargain bike and some of the stock parts scream this as the handlebars, grips, levers, footpegs, spokes, rims, tires, jetting, exhaust, controls, and how it's all put together from the factory is shite!

So my girl had a minor get off on it her first day and bent the handlebars and tweaked the triples. She was not hurt except for a mildly bruised knee and ego yet this was fortunate for the bike as it required me to begin my mods. I had to find alot of fixes myself as though there is some good info it is still slim pickins out there.

Here is what I've done so far:

Handlebars replaced with Pro Taper 7/8" black CR high bars. Very nice.

Levers replaced with MSR dominator YZ levers. Perfect fit and fit nicely behind the new Acerbis black brushguards. Used very slim rubberized washers for the levers to create a better fit and smoother action. Also drilled out the return spring hole in the MSR brake lever as it was to small for the stock spring.

Did some minor rerouting of the front control wires and general harness for future ease of disassembly.

Fitted a set of KTM folding mirrors. The left is regular thread and the right reverse but KTM makes a handy little bracket that replaces the rightside master cyl bar clamp with one that accepts a regualarly threaded mirror. Awsome mirrors. Gonna put them on my DR too.

Replaced the majority of bolts with stainless steel allen heads.

I have to split this up because it keeps timing me out:huh

Woking on the jetting right now. Have got a 140 main, holes drilled in baffle, slightly disected snorkel and will be adding at least a 42.5 pilot jet, punch some holes in the airbox cover, after market filter and whatever else I can come up with. End result will probably be a aftermarket pipe, larger carb and aggressive jetting. Probably get a 1 tooth up countershaft sprocket as well.

Tried to mount some old XR600R pegs to it as they have a similar setup and it worked, kinda... but I just said fuck it ordered the ebay ones.

Shite!!!

Anyway bike runs great right now though future jetting will surely smooth out the top end power. Future mods will include Excel rims and spokes. Round off the spoke holes in the hubs as one of the reasons they have issues is the sharp edge and soft metal of the hubs. Honing them dull and installing beefier spokes should solve most of the problem and routine adjustment will stave off the effects of loose spokes rounding the holes larger.

I've gotten to put a fair amount of mileage on this bike while fixing and testing it. Hot damn this thing is fun and I must say I'm slightly jealous of my girl. I might have to get one myself. I've done alot to this bike yet I can tell that I have barely tapped it's true potential.

Keep tuned as ther will be plenty more info to come.

Good idea for a thread! Especially since my registration at XT225 seems stalled . . .

Got a new '06 on Tuesday. I'll be installing the Stewart "ebay" pegs today.

And here she is. Last night I finaly drilled out the rest of the baffle. Wow! what a difference. The oversized main jet I installed was causing it to bog slightly at near full open throttle. Now it pulls along nicely at all but wide full open with just the slightest bogging. It now has the freedom to push as much air as needed but the airbox is still quite restrictive. Going to be installing the aftermarket filter and airbox filter plugs. That should give it as much air as it needs.

Installed the pegs. Very simple procedure -- you just have to watch the position of the spring. There's a thread with picures over at the XT225 site.

I bought one for my GF. I ride it more than she does though.

Greetings all, I have been over on the xt225 site looking for part numbers for jetting my wife's new 2006 Xt225 and finally on my own site of www.kawasakiforums.com I got an answer. But I will be back here to see what goodies you all come up with for getting this bike to be an even better machine. Laters.

I'll be all . I have an '04 GS500F but have been considering the XT for commuter purposes. Also looking at the KLR. The GS is a nice bike but the ergos are not real comfortable for me.(my knees don't like to bend like they did 20 years ago.
My commute is 16 miles one way, 10 of it on the freeway. Posted speed of 65MPH. Actual speed of most vehicles is 70. I will be waiting to see if I get any answers to the capability of this bike to do what I need.
Be Safe.

Well after drilling out the rest of the baffle the comfortable top speed went from around 55-60 mph to around 60-65 mph though I did get it up to 75-80 (Not something I would want to do for extended periods though). It still needs to breathe a bit more though as it is still bogging at full throttle a bit. The air filter and filter plugs will take care of that though.

It is also nice to know that both big gun and yosh make full system pipes for the ttr225 which will fit this bike if I ever decide to go that route. With a full system I could probably get away with a small bore flatslide as well

Why is that? cause she's not into it or cause she dosn't get a chance to ride it cause you're hoggin it all the time

I have to be real careful. I turned down a temptation to take it to the local OHV park today. I have to remember. It's her bike, she paid for it. But I wanna ride it something fierce. It's so much fun. I'm half tempted to get myself an old beater xt

I bought it so I have to take it to get tires and service, ride it around the block to keep the battery charged and things of that nature. That and she's been too busy to ride it lately. I haven't done any off road riding with it...yet.

That figures, just when I put mine up for sale they become popular

What kind of MPG are you all seeing with these bikes? Or do you check? I've been looking at an XT to replace the XRL. The XT would be a lot easier to lift onto my patio behind the apartment (long story ). It looks like it would be a hoot to ride in town and it would be much better at the off-road riding area. The XRL is a heavy pig off-road.

Anyone ever have any issues with the petcock on their xt? Once the tank gets near reserve then into reserve it ceases to flow smoothly and starts cutting out due to lack of fuel flow. I've done some agressive jetting so far and wondering if it's sucking more gas through the main faster than gravity can compensate. Should probably adjust float height. Any experiences with this?

Ok so my initial jetting though it increased power and acceleration dramaticly was causing some annoying running issues. I've tried a number of main jets: 135 and 140 mikuni mains and shimmed the needle. The pilot jet is still the stock 40. Well it is running excessively rich at idle even with the stock pilot and a completely opened airbox and pipe. Upon aggressive acceleration it performs great with lots of torque and it moves quickly up to freeway speeds. But the minute you back off even slightly to slow or maintain speed it begins to exhibit the cutting out/bogging symptom.

I am going to remove the shim as that should be the only thing that would cause such a rich idle condition at this point and see how much of a difference it makes. I'm also going to go down to a 130 from the 135 in it now.

I think the biggest problem is the needle though. I've jetted alot of bikes and am pretty familiar though nothing this small. It reacts very strongly to relatively minor changes. I think the needle taper is just to....? As it's coming up under heavy acceleration fuel delivery is constant and smooth but the minute you back off even the slightest it seems to just cut off the fuel completely for the amount of air being introduced. I'm going for max power across the range though so taming it back down towards stock settings though it would solve some of the problems is out of the question. Noone makes a jet kit with a needle for this bike though. The difference between the stock needle and dynojet needle on my DR was amazing. You could just feel all the flat spots with the stock needle and wonky accel/decel characteristics. Just looking at the dynojet needle compared to stock it becomes extremely obvious why. The taper is just plain smoother and less aggressive all the way up as in no sharp taper changes.

Today I go to Factory Pro in San Raphael to throw a bunch of money at a butload of jet and needle options to experiment with. I think if I can get the right needle in here then the rest of my jetting can go smoothly.

That's what you want. Raise the price.

I've bought a used 2003 XT last winter. Unfortunately, it's spent more time broken than running. I've had ongoing problems with the starter (both the motor and the starter clutch pins). It's dead right now... I have a new starter motor on order and the kickstart kit has already arrived, just waiting for a chance to install it.

When it was working, though, it's been a great bike. I usually see low-to-mid-60s mpg on the commute, more when dualsporting. I've taken it offroad a few times, and hung with bigger bikes just fine.

I've replaced the handlebars and installed a GPS 5 on them, with new grips, barkbusters and handguards. I have a spare set of wheels (one set for Distanzias, one set for knobs). I haven't jetted it, because it is primarily my around-town bike (I have a DRZ400 for the tough stuff) and I don't want to sacrifice the fuel economy. I've done the devilduckie upgrade, too. Adds 5mph to the top end, dontcha know.