Underpowered VTR 250?

[DunerzNick]

Hi there,
as the thread title suggests.. A bit of searching on here reveals claims of 160 kmh on these wee machines, however mine is only capable of 130 at best lying flat on the tank (no head wind, perfectly flat), but often only 120. It also seems to have a bit of a flat spot / lag after ringing out 2nd or 3rd and pulling the next gear.
It climbs OK up to 100-110 but nothing after that.
A friend that knows a little more than I do suggested it may be running rich and that could affect the top end performance.
It has only done 11,000kms. And I am about 90kgs.

Am I expecting too much from a vtr? Or does this sound about right for one of these?
Any insight will be much appreciated.

[Marmoot]

I'd say you're expecting a bit much.

It's not impossible to get to 160kph, but I believe not every VTRs can do that, as not every bikes are equal from the factory.

Things that can help include freeing the exhaust (freeflowing? boring the exhaust? changing to an aftermarket exhaust?), if it's carbureted you can tune it to lean up the mixture a bit (but too much would go BANG). If it's injected you might be out of luck.
Check tyre pressures.
And go on a diet.

[hayd3n]

Hi there,
as the thread title suggests.. A bit of searching on here reveals claims of 160 kmh on these wee machines, however mine is only capable of 130 at best lying flat on the tank (no head wind, perfectly flat), but often only 120. It also seems to have a bit of a flat spot / lag after ringing out 2nd or 3rd and pulling the next gear.
It climbs OK up to 100-110 but nothing after that.
A friend that knows a little more than I do suggested it may be running rich and that could affect the top end performance.
It has only done 11,000kms. And I am about 90kgs.

Am I expecting too much from a vtr? Or does this sound about right for one of these?
Any insight will be much appreciated.

my old one went faster
what fuel are you running on??
do you have a fuel filter???? if so replace filter
hows the tyres pressures?
36 front 38 rear

[CookMySock]

often only 120... It climbs OK up to 100-110 but nothing after that.... It has only done 11,000kms. And I am about 90kgs.

Am I expecting too much from a vtr?

No, it should hum along at 120k with only partial throttle. Or at least the Hyo 250 vtwin's do.

Make sure it's not horrendously overfilled with oil, or the chain way way too tight, or something man like that.

I'd suggest you got someone experienced to have a quick look at it.

Steve

[true-to-life]

My VTR hums along at 120. I'm happy with that, reckon I only want to go faster on the track when I eventually get out there

[oldguy]

where would you ever need to go that fast? my 250 wont do 100k/m but hell can it jump and carve up corners, mind you its not a road bike haha. Get out to some nice twistie roads, just ask 1vanvan1, that's where those little bikes start to shine, any monkey can twist the throttle and go fast in a straight line.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Am I expecting too much from a vtr? Or does this sound about right for one of these?
Any insight will be much appreciated.

My partner use to have VTR250, and fastest I was able to get it up to was 150, but I am a fat bastard ... it was happy sitting at 110, fully loaded when we were touring, but it mean she had to think before passing which in a way is good... a lot of peopl on bigger bikes don't think before they open that throttle...

It is a small V-Twin motor good to learn on but not overly fast, and you may be expecting too much out of it. But there are, as suggest, different things to take in consideration, tyres, sprocket size, fuel, filters, exhaust, how well tuned, spark, lean or rich... blah blah blah...

[DunerzNick]

Thanks for the feedback.
Tyre pressures good to know, was unsure what to fill too so I will start there. I run it on BP 98, any probs there?
Im not a speed freak, just for passing situations etc. I have much more fun on the Portobello road.
If still no improvement I will take it to M&V, new sparks, filters, carb tweak etc may improve.

[MSTRS:Me]

It's not done high kms. Not even enough to have worn out some of the parts. Unless it's been badly maintained?
Something else too...depending on how a bike (or car etc) is run in, it will have more or less 'go' than an otherwise identical example.
McJim had a standard VTR250 for all of his learner/restricted time, he's a big enough guy and he had no trouble getting over 150, maybe even 160, on his one.
The Spada variant could crack 170...

[FruitLooPs]

Yeah the certainly do more than 130k, from memory a friends one was neck and neck acceleration with my RG150, maybe a tad faster upto about 100k and ran out to about 150k rapidly but it just hits a magical wall and goes no faster, while the wee RG kept on going.

120 - 130 sounds like yours isn't running quite right.

[DunerzNick]

A friend suggested today it may have a limiter in place...? Where the airbox feeds the carb or the exhaust headers. Have there ever been limiters used in these? Its is an imported bike.
I filled the tyres to the recommended pressures. While it feels a lot better on the twisties properly inflated, it hasn't solved the top end problem.

[JimO]

well its a 250 how fast do you want to go

[humphrt]

Have you changed the oil? If not might be worth a look. Could be over filled. Change plugs...etc. Check coils, mine had vibrated loose and at higher speeds caused a bad connection. Basically do simple cheap maintanance first before changing anything.

Wont have a restrictor on it. Not at 120 anyways if it did you would be hitting the wall at 180 and as the bike doesnt go that fast its unlikely.

[ready4whatever]

Oil, fuel and air filter, spark plugs, type of petrol, check hoses etc, tyre pressure and alignment. I'd say give it a full service and do everything