School Bus Death Traps... and Upgrading [uncut upgrade part 1]

[squarecnix]

ghetto huh

[RC62]

I agree, school buses are death traps. You're stuck inside there with all those damn kids... Kids are deadly to one's sanity! LOL

[1paultv]

Oooh...don't do that, if you want more power, don't change the rear sprocket, change the front sprocket. if you drop it by 1 or 2 teeth, you'll get more power and you won't have to add more links to the chain. for every tooth you drop on the front sprocket, you'll lose about 5 mph on top end, but you'll gain acceleration. there's a 5 or 10 to one ratio with teeth on the front and rear sprockets. dropping the front sprocket by 1 tooth is like adding 5 or 10 teeth to the rear sprocket.

[lauriejennifer]

@1paultv Yeah, I'm just looking for a wee bit more acceleration. I can't reach my top speed now as it is.

[nastyevilninja]

@1paultv I'd disagree with that! It's best to go up 2 teeth at a time on the rear and then 1 down on the front if you need any more. Some bikes read the speed off the front sprocket as well so changing that can screw the speedo!

[1paultv]

@nastyevilninja her bike reads the speed off the front wheel. you can read my next comment on pt 2 of this series.

[jhardy66617]

so i cant find the idiot who said that a sprocket change wont effect the spedometer

if you change it just down a tooth in the front or up some in the rear youll be going a different speed then what the spedometer reads, itll also say your riding even more miles, which isnt good if you ever need to sell the bike and youll be doing maintence before it should be done

[lauriejennifer]

@jhardy66617 Just requires a bit of math skills is all.

[1954shadow]

The bus I rode as a kid ran on wood/coal, so, the chance of it catching on fire was astronomical. I was scared as he-double-sticks every time I got on that contraption. I really missed the horse drawn tram that I use to ride on until we got "modernized."

[lauriejennifer]

@1954shadow Haha! I thought you rode woolly mammoths to school?

[easydoz1]

Cold tires plus dog excrement equals. Bad day?

Shamo had more horses, but watch out she bucks.

[lauriejennifer]

@easydoz1 LOL, right?!

[navythomas8]

3w DOT iron jungle DOT com Hey Ya'll Here's a site that you can see what the Taller or lower front or rear sprockets will do for you. Go to the IJ software link and go from there. If you have an owners manual just plug in the info. or look up your gearing specs online. On My KLR I went from a 15t front to a 16T and it is absolutely correct

[lauriejennifer]

@navythomas8 That is a great site for checking out sprocket changes. Thanks, Tom!

[rgaufman]

What happened to your ninja?

[lauriejennifer]

@rgaufman It went to ride the Big Twisties in the Sky.

[Cokecanninja]

Make more videos with your Ninja!!! The engine on this one sounds like a constipated Chewbacca with hemorrhoids.

[lauriejennifer]

@Cokecanninja LOL at your description... But how would you suggest I make a video with the Ninja? Should I try to track down the parts dealer that salvaged it from the insurance company?

[Cokecanninja]

@lauriejennifer It died? I didn't know, that sucks. I'm getting a motorcycle soon, mainly for short trips, it's kinda hilly where I live, and I'm going to occasionally take it on 300 trips. I've heard the KLR can't go that fast, and most of the trip is down I-95, where everyone goes 90-95MPH. But I've also heard that the Ninja can't do hills. Which one should I get?

[jhardy66617]

@Cokecanninja you need to downshift for hills and passing on smaller engine motorcycles

[Cokecanninja]

@jhardy66617 On the Ninja?

[lauriejennifer]

@Cokecanninja The Ninja does hills just fine. You want to talk about something that can't do hills, you should have seen my 50cc scooter! It wouldn't break 20mph uphill. LOL

[Cokecanninja]

@lauriejennifer I mean big hills. My dad's drive way is ~35-40 degrees uphill and about 75 feet long. Of course, I'm getting a 650r, so it'll have more power then your 250 did.

[cokecan500]

@Cokecanninja haha nice description, and nice name too... someone stole cokecan from us lol.

The Ninja 250 was nice, but she can go off road more on this one... Plus, the Ninja died :(

[pulse0000]

I had maybe 3 or 4 school bus drills,and they gave us the same speach.

[lauriejennifer]

@pulse0000 I bet they get sick of giving that speech, too.

[OoxTruExoO]

We had a fire on our bus once, and the bus driver refused to stop and was about to get on to a dual carriageway when a student at the front threatened to punch him in the face if he didn't pull over. We all got off just as the flames kicked up and it stank to hell.

[lauriejennifer]

@OoxTruExoO Wow, that's a crazy story.  I bet bus drivers get sick of the yelling in general and tune it out. It's like the boy who cried wolf. There's a similar story in my town, but with a more tragic ending that involved a train. :-(

[danmoto73]

whenever i see a yellow school bus like that i think of otto on the simpsons :D

a big sprocket will help the wheelies =)

[lauriejennifer]

@danmoto73 Wheelies FTW! :-) But you didn't hear that from me.. *shiftyeyes*

I love the Simpsons.

[afterthetone]

don't change the sprocket - change the bike. Yours is worth more (part ex) in a 'stock' condition than if you've modified it.

[lauriejennifer]

@afterthetone It's really, really easy to change the sprocket back. Of course I'll keep the stock parts of whatever I replace. It's already not stock. I've added handguards, a luggage rack, and a braided line. I've also carefully removed the decals.

[Kodiak31415]

The bus fire drills were a great excuse to get out of class. Along with classroom fire drills and earthquake drills. Even better when there was a minor quake and we got to do it for real, which basically ruined the whole school day. I'm guessing that you guys had tornado drills in the mid west?

[lauriejennifer]

@Kodiak31415 Yes, we had tornado drills. Much the same thing, I imagine. Did you go out in the hall and face the lockers (our lockers line our halls) and crouch on your knees with your arms over your head?? Those were our tornado drills. Fire drills just meant going outside. Man, did THOSE suck in February.

[Fudmottin]

When I went to school, the bus seats had cigarette burns in them.

Wouldn't cold tires be a good opportunity to practice drifting and crash recovery?

[lauriejennifer]

@Fudmottin Haha. Sounds like a nice school.  :-)

Sure, I'll try that. You first. :-P

[BlackPoolLives]

Thinking back to when i was in school, I rode the school bus for about 5 or 6 years and never once did we do a school bus drill. I guess they didn't care if we burned up with the seat material. ☹

[lauriejennifer]

@BlackPoolLives LOL! That sucks. It's required in Illinois for all public schools. Everyone has to do the drill, even kids that don't ride the bust to school (because they may take one on a field trip, etc.). It happens from kindergarten on through high school, a few times a year (usually during gym class or something).

[twistedkeys1]

thats cool its really easy to do too. kinda funny cause i sat on one at the dealer, and i thought you would have been to small for it, cause its pretty tall lol guess not!

[lauriejennifer]

@twistedkeys1 Well, I am on my tiptoes, but it's such a light bike that I don't feel intimidated by that at all. I did at first, but you know how every bike you own seems to shrink after you've been riding it, just because you get more comfortable around it? Yeah, that happened with this one, too. And I'll be sure to vlog about changing the sprocket, too. Everyone says it's easy to do.

[DumbDuck44]

mommy sed its just the long buses that is dangerous so thats why me and the other extra speshul kids rode in the short bus to skewl. =)

[lauriejennifer]

@DumbDuck44 LOL! Hahaha! Who doesn't love a good short bus joke?! How did I miss that in my rambling there?!!

[PrimalVisionsRadio]

get a faster bike 250s suck and sound like shit

[Hotwheelsftw]

@PrimalVisionsRadio y do u have to be a dick?

[csmaster65]

@PrimalVisionsRadio Yeah, get a 125

[lauriejennifer]

@csmaster65 I do wish 125 2-strokes were street legal in the US.

[sarsattacks]

@lauriejennifer

for some reason some 125cc 2 strokes are street legal in California where I live, even though we have some tough smog laws

[lauriejennifer]

@PrimalVisionsRadio Aww, one of my favorite trolls!! Where have you been, friend? I've missed your comments. Are you the one who called me a fat hippo, or was that another troll?

Anyway, when I s****, it sounds NOTHING like this bike. You might want to see a doctor about that.

[Guybrush1816351]

I read that they make big bore kits that up the ccs to 300 or 330, might be worth looking into :)

[lauriejennifer]

@Guybrush1816351 Yeah, there is a 330 kit, but that means adjusting/replacing the carb, rejetting, new pipe, etc... By the end of the overhaul, you're looking at a faster bike, but with a high price tag-- over $1000. I don't have that kind of money. By comparison, a sprocket change is like $50. And for now I'm just looking at a little more in-town punch. I love the low-end power stuff, I've decided.

[csmaster65]

What bike is she using now?

[lesmcluffalot]

@csmaster65 Kawasaki KLX250sf

[lauriejennifer]

@csmaster65 Yup, what they said. Kawi's little motard. It's a blast! Test ride one, if you can. It's like a little toy.

[TheSuperMotoHooligan]

Gor for it though and looking forward to hearing the results.

[lauriejennifer]

@TheSuperMotoHooligan Oh, I'll vlog about it, for sure! I know I'm not the only one interested in this. I'm willing to be a guinea pig.

[TheSuperMotoHooligan]

I am satisfied with the in town performance of mine. I would like more power on the highway for passing and such. I think a sprocket change would be counter productive for me. It would be reving much higher and result in the loss of numerous kph's in top speed. Which I come near or hit on most highway jaunts. I'm going to start with a full two brothers exhaust in the fall. I can get 3 or 4 hp's out of that with some more torque. On such a light bike I hope it will be noticeable when passing.

[lauriejennifer]

@TheSuperMotoHooligan Well, I can't even reach redline in 6th gear. I top out at about 88mph. So, I'm not getting as much out of the current gearing as I could, because of the small horsepower. Horsepower and displacement are expensive, but changing the rear sprocket is about $50 (US dollars). I can handle that, if I save my pennies for a few weeks. Changing the sprocket doesn't necessarily mean loosing top end, either. But it makes low end SO much more fun! :-D

[kd4ysi]

it depends lj are you wanting more bottom end or more top end power  and shaqdaddy11 she totaled the 250 ninja about a year ago or so

[lauriejennifer]

@kd4ysi Bottom end! :-D That's where the fun is at, in my opinion. 95% of my riding is commuting and curvy back roads (as curvy as I can find around here, anyway). It's all about being super zippy below 50mph. I'm not into being a Straight Line Hero.

[shaqdaddy11]

how come you dont ride your ninja anymore?

[aeroliner750]

@shaqdaddy11 it went to the big ninja cloud in the sky

[shaqdaddy11]

@aeroliner750 ah ok.

[lauriejennifer]

@shaqdaddy11 Yup, what he said. Shamu is no longer with us. :-(

[shaqdaddy11]

@lauriejennifer So do you now like the dirt bike style bikes better then the sports style? is that why you got yourself a dirt bike and not another ninja?

[lauriejennifer]

@shaqdaddy11 I do like like supermotos more than sportbike style for what I'm looking for. I wanted a bike that would still be a blast on the twisties, but that could handle "rougher" conditions better, since I also like exploring, camping, and riding in inclement weather. Supermoto seemed the way to go! It's economical, fun as heck, and can take a serious beating.

[shaqdaddy11]

@lauriejennifer sounds like fun.

[OpCzar]

'To allow for short attention spans, it's being uploaded in shorter bits,'

For the 'short bus' crowd ;-)

[lauriejennifer]

@OpCzar LOL! Love it. Thumbs up, buddy.