TBI Builds

[BB36]

In your last photo, what material did you use for your engine blankets? It looks a little more fabric-ish than the heavy duty truck tarp I have been using. looks good.

 

[BB36]

After a month of riding in our no snow low snow deep wet powder winter, this is how Dan 2023 300sx has been working out.

300 with a used 2019 or there about ARO 120 kit.

In Sept when the conversion was started the thought was be through and lets address all the issues.
1. rolling resistance on the ARO kit was horrible, you had to drag it around the shop, would not roll. Disassembled the kit, narrowed all the wheels, replaced the fat little upper idlers with narrow aluminum wheels we machined a few years back, respaced the rear tall idlers to run in the center of the area between the lugs, spaced the drivers to minimize drivers rubbing on the rubber drive lugs, put the driveshaft and drivers in the lathe and cut the faces of drivers to run true, some new bearings, bolted it back together with bending and spacers so the suspension would run fairly true and minimize hyfax rubbing. And when back together you could push it around the show like you would expect with the track rolling and quiet.

2. second item was mounting the ARO kit as close to the bike frame as was reasonable. To get that done we machined a lot of unnecessary aluminum off the cast aluminum mounting plate. Not hard to figure, just shove this piece back into the ARO frame and start grinding/machining/hacksawing where there is interference , when done you will have to make a shorter adjuster bolt, and drill or elongate the holes for bolts that clamp this thing together. When done the whole kit moves forward and you can run two links shorter chain on the bike to kit chain. AND you can run without the power robbing plastic block that comes in ARO/Riot kits. This is covered in quite a few posts the last 3 or 4 years. And I shortened the shocks to be like an S kit.

3. Over the years we felt that all the heat exchangers we had built were unnecessarily big, Dan had made up several u shaped coolers of 1" aluminum pipe and we installed one on his 300 and one on a 250 beta in our riding group. So far works great, minimal expense, minimal weight, and so far 150 degrees consistent, both bike appear to thrive on that temp, but maybe somebody knows better.

4. And heated bars, and truck tarp covering all around, and several tries and changes on plumbing, bar risers, air box stock so far on the 300.
And its quiet, and its now annoying to ride beside the new 450 Ktm in the group and I guess it would be 4 KTM's 450 in the group. Fun, jumps up on top of the snow, everyone wants to ride and then won't give it back.

So for sure one bigbore 450 with ARO kit will go down the road, my 500exc is headed to be somebodies next dirt bike, two words smooth and quiet.


I will try and post pictures of some of these parts etc when I get back to my office computer.

Defiantly post some of the pictures!

 

[MountainRider05]

In your last photo, what material did you use for your engine blankets? It looks a little more fabric-ish than the heavy duty truck tarp I have been using. looks good.

This time I used some neoprene ..like wet suit material.. ive seen some guys use in canada thats been running this type of material.. found it at my local fabric store. So far im super impressed with it. It has a great stretch to it but yet u cant rip it so its nice to conform around stuff.. if i put some more time into it would be sweet to put some zippers on the bottom where they come together and it would look really nice.

 

[SnoWest007]

This time I used some neoprene ..like wet suit material.. ive seen some guys use in canada thats been running this type of material.. found it at my local fabric store. So far im super impressed with it. It has a great stretch to it but yet u cant rip it so its nice to conform around stuff.. if i put some more time into it would be sweet to put some zippers on the bottom where they come together and it would look really nice. View attachment 415130View attachment 415131View attachment 415132

Have you run the bike at operating temps with this yet? I'm curious how it will do with the hot exhaust and resist melting or burning.

 

[BB36]

That looks great. Seems like it would be nicer to work with too

 

[MountainRider05]

Have you run the bike at operating temps with this yet? I'm curious how it will do with the hot exhaust and resist melting or burning.

Yep i ran it this past weekend and it held up great.. i had a couple areas that are just barely touching the pipe on the right side and I kept a eye it all day, and there was absolutely no signs of burning.. my pipe is also Cerakoted which I would highly highly suggest doing the snow just sheds right off of it and keeps that heat in the pipe and doesn’t seem to get to hot on the outside.

 

[SnoWest007]

Yep i ran it this past weekend and it held up great.. i had a couple areas that are just barely touching the pipe on the right side and I kept a eye it all day, and there was absolutely no signs of burning.. my pipe is also Cerakoted which I would highly highly suggest doing the snow just sheds right off of it and keeps that heat in the pipe and doesn’t seem to get to hot on the outside.

That's awesome! Looks like it really works great to take on the shape of the bike and keep everything tight and streamline so the snot can shed off of it easily.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

My post about the 300sx using 1" pipe for a cooler needs updating. I didn't post anything about this in early season riding until I was comfortable this tube would do the job. Now after some wet new sno hard going, the 300 got hot. Going to have to add more pipe or not sure what we are going to do.

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

My post about the 300sx using 1" pipe for a cooler needs updating. I didn't post anything about this in early season riding until I was comfortable this tube would do the job. Now after some wet new sno hard going, the 300 got hot. Going to have to add more pipe or not sure what we are going to do.

Maybe use the finned extrusion from edge chassis rmk running boards?

 

[MountainRider05]

My post about the 300sx using 1" pipe for a cooler needs updating. I didn't post anything about this in early season riding until I was comfortable this tube would do the job. Now after some wet new sno hard going, the 300 got hot. Going to have to add more pipe or not sure what we are going to do.

What was ur temps? How much more coolant do u think u have?

 

[AK_SNOWBIKE_CO]

I have a 23 TC250 TBI that I ride on dirt and have been very happy with (113 hours). However, I have seen a bunch of 300s on the TBI facebook group grenade (piston blew apart). I've also seen the 300 cylinders crack near the o ring groove.

Anyone have one blow up snowbiking? I'm on a 450 for snow, but I think going to a forged Wossner or Wiseco piston might be a good idea looking at how the TBIs have been holding up.

Two seasons so far on a 2023 300SX. Using the Two Stroke Performance ERM for changing mapping, FMF pipe. Zero issues. I would only recommend d cast pistons from Vertex or Meteor.

 

[AK_SNOWBIKE_CO]

I rode a 23 tx300 last year stock. Bike rips but temperature issues are the deal I think. I'm looking for a 23 thermostat but no luck, what have you guys used on the new 23 tbi 300s?

Thermobob u-shaped tstat.

 

[GlennRMK]

Just curious how the cold starting is with TBIs? Very annoying that they removed the kicker/option to add a kicker.

The worst thing about my 450 is I don't trust it to start in cold weather, like below +10 F (which is most of the time in Montana). If I put the bike in the back of my truck with cold temps and drive 1-2 hours, it will not start. I take an enclosed trailer just so I can count on the bike starting which is a little annoying.

 

[AK_SNOWBIKE_CO]

Just curious how the cold starting is with TBIs? Very annoying that they removed the kicker/option to add a kicker.

The worst thing about my 450 is I don't trust it to start in cold weather, like below +10 F (which is most of the time in Montana). If I put the bike in the back of my truck with cold temps and drive 1-2 hours, it will not start. I take an enclosed trailer just so I can count on the bike starting which is a little annoying.

Hey Glenn,

My 23 300SX seems to start easier than my 450’s in the cold. However if it’s below 10F I usually always have to jump it with a jump pack. I leave the Noco dongle on the battery and have the pigtail accessible so it only takes a sec to get going. After that initial jump the bike always starts after that. Been riding temps as cold as -20F without issue.

 

[eric82930]

Do you need to jump it because it won't turn over fast enough in the cold? Or is it a fuel delivery issue that needs it to crank forever to get into a fuel injection happy place? Is it possible the battery is just weak?

 

[GlennRMK]

Hey Glenn,

My 23 300SX seems to start easier than my 450’s in the cold. However if it’s below 10F I usually always have to jump it with a jump pack. I leave the Noco dongle on the battery and have the pigtail accessible so it only takes a sec to get going. After that initial jump the bike always starts after that. Been riding temps as cold as -20F without issue.

Thanks for the info. I have a dongle and hook up a jump pack to my 450 most of the time and it still won't start, if it is below 10 F or so. Starts better with jump pack above 10 F though. Cranks fine, just won't go on those cold days.