Very cool bike, I picked up a 06 200XC-w this year for a trip to the 2-stroke world and can say that the bike is awesome. It is a little undersprung for my weight but that is being taken care of. My did not come with a light so TrailTech took care of that little problem.

If you need to tame the bike look no further than a Flywheel weight from Steahly it will allow the bike to lug at prevent some of the flameout possibilites. Thumpertalk has a great 200 only thread that you need to read when you have a lot of time. The thread it at 94 pages and counting! http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=596001

Have fun and good luck keeping up with him!

Dennis

 

Um, what he said.

 

Thanks fellas. I had found the 200 thread on TT a while back, and have received some good suggests from there.

Well, last weekend the cold snap here in NC broke and I took the 200 out to the local off-road spot where several of us hang out on a pretty regular basis. One of the guys spent the week prior cutting about 20 miles of new twisty track through the scrub, snaking and weaving. Since NoBrakesJr was studying for end of semester tests, I took the opportunity to take his bike and "try it out" for him.

So, long story short, this bike is FUN! It's got no problem wicking up the throttle and sending the front wheel skyward. But the power is smooth, with a relatively mild transition from lower to mid and upper RPMs for a 2-stroke. This is not your father's 2-stroke. It's got a very nice power band that is smooth and easy to ride, but it does kick in when you want it. Weight wise, it feels like a feather compared to my 450. I like my 450 and all, but this little bike has seriously got me thinking about selling and getting one just like it. Don't think I can afford to keep both if I got one, one would have to go. I'd love to keep the 450 though, because some of the riding I do would not be suited well to the 200 at all, mainly the open sand forest roads we ride an hour or so south of there, and I really enjoy those rides. The 450 EXC is perfect in that stuff for me, but not really sure I could justify keeping it for the 1/2 dozen or so times a year I ride there.

So anyway, these tight twisty little paths where the "straights" were maybe 30 - 50 yards long, if that, and the turns were a lot of 180's and so forth, you can run this little thing in hot on the gas, come to a near halt, flip the bike around like it's made of balsa, and back on the gas and be in 4th gear before the next turn where you do it all again. It turns like it's on rails, explodes from a near stop like a spooked deer, and stops on a dime. I wish I had the helmet cam on that day, but honestly I thought I'd spend most of the day just figuring it out. Turns out, I love it! And it suits me so well. It's not so crazy powerful like the 450 where it feels like it could punt you off into the weeds with one minor mis-step, and it turns and changes directions so easily by comparison.

As part of the set-up for NBjr (I was there trying it out and setting it up for him after all ), I even went to the softer ignition map, which basically makes it more docile. So I had all that fun and it was even on the "soft" setting. I could definitely see myself on one of these. With the flip of a switch to the hotter ignition map, it can get a nice burst of character. Basically I think it's there so you can run the "soft" when its muddy and traction is not so great, and flip to the "hot" setting otherwise. Nice!

Dangit, I can't stop thinking about how fun this little jewel is.

I've ridden a 300 and I definitely think that is too much bike for me. I'd like to try the 250 version of it, just to see. But based on my 1 real ride on it so far, if I had to buy a new bike for myself today, it would be this 200, one just like it. It's not so wild that it's scary, yet it has plenty of burst and revs to put a grin on your face and doesn't seem to wear you like like my big 4-stroke.

So today, I went to help a buddy do some wrenching on his bike. He has some land and with finals over and done with I brought NBjr along so he could ride his new bike while I helped my buddy work on his bike. NBjr took to it a little timidly at first, but I turned him loose and just let him do his thing on the loop that we laid out for him. An hour or two later, I caught up and rode around behind him and was surprised but pleased to seem him scooting right along and a pretty darn good clip, getting a little sideways in the damp and soft fields, throwing some roost in the turns, lifting the front over sticks and bumps, and in general, looking like he'd been riding for a lot longer than he has. I thought I'd at least have a year or so to stay in front of him, but it looks like my days in front of him may be shockingly short lived. But that's OK, that's what dad's are for, right?

So anyway, I think he's going to do fine on it. Still being a new rider, he's still not ready for the real gnarly trails with lots of technical terrain. But he'll do fine on this bike at the easy riding areas for a while and I think he's going to like it a lot. He already told me he likes it better than the TT-R125 our friend loaned us for him to get his feet wet on. So far, I'm happy with the decision to go straight to the 200 XC-W. It's very ridable for a new'ish rider, yet infinitely fun for a more experienced rider as well. Care must be taken of course, but as long as he's in a safe riding area, I think he's got it covered and he progressed a whole lot in just one day on it today.

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to get me one.

 

The 250 is REAL nice and has the same frame as the 300 unlike the shorter 200 frame....a bud of mine has the two-fifty...BUT...if I were to get a tagged smoker....300 all the way....the fly wheel weight may end up weighing a pound to keep me alive but F it.

 

Hope you can get it tagged. It'd be fun scooting around town on a smoker.

M

 

Oh, after that write up, now I want one! So many bikes, not enough $$$!!!

 

You're probably right about that, but this stuff is not the deep sugar sand like down your way, there are a few deep areas, but not many. Most of it is fairly hard packed sand, definitely a solid clay surface under most of it. Typical pace we run there is 60 to 70 MPH, long 2 mile straights, some wash-outs, stuff like that. Not to say there aren't some tighter more rugged areas, but for the most part you could probably think of it as desert riding with trees. My 450 or a 525 is perfect for that area. I don't think I would pick a 2-smoker for that area. Not to say I wouldn't do it, but I'd be even slower and working harder than normal.

Too many great bikes ... need to go buy some lottery tickets so I can have them all.

 

To Nobrakes, there are no inspections in SC. Just have an MSO or a title and get a tag as far as I know. If you don't get pulled over for doing wheelies down Main St. it wouldn't be checked. Wish I would have had one like this when I was NBjr's age. My first was a 250 CZ I bought with my own money back in (won't go there). Great looking bike!

 

Plated smoker. Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

 

What's that 'growth' hangin' off the back of the pipe? Periscope?