Blitz Review Continued
Lever/bar heights are good for the taller riders (i'm 5'11", so taller riders will love the Blitz) and while the bars are a great bend, and it's nice to see some strong Pro-Taper style bars standard fitment on a china, they are as stiff as a 14 year old boy in a strip club, and offer no flex whatsoever... which also contributes to the bike being hard on the body, particularly the arms...
The overall fit and finish of the bike pretty reasonable for a bike that you can find pretty easily for less than $1500 delivered if you bid smartly on Ebay... and the fact all the plastics and seat can be replaced with Yammie parts straight up is a bonus...
QUICK FIXES AND MODS: Before you do anything, drain the oil, and replace it with the same stuff your dad puts in the mower. it will be better quality than the standard honey, and the gen 3 engine doesnt seem to fussy about oil type...
CARBY: change the main jet from a #132 to a #100... will clean up the top end/full throttle operation...
Thoroughly grease all linkages in the rear suspension, axles, and headstem bearings... there is practically nothing on them... But then neither do Jap MX bikes, and they cost up to 10 times the price...
AIRBOX: open up the main inlet hole in the airbox to roughly twice the size of standard. Dont go too far with the stanley knife, it will lean the mid range out, and be hard to jet the flat spot out...
CLUTCH CABLE: where the cable mounts to the engine, grind or file a tiny bit of the clamp/mount away, which will straighten out the cable angle... standard it has quite a kink in it, which stiffens the clutch pull considerably. Also pays to lube the cable regurlarly.
HANDLEBARS: after you tip the bike over in the garage and turn the stockers into paperclips, bite the bullet and replace them with proper Pro Taper style bars... your arm pump will forgive your spending...
IGNITION: replace the standard CDI unit for a high rev unit... (bout $15-20 on Ebay) makes the bottom end a little crisper, and gives a cleaner spark, higher rev ceiling and a bit more sting up top.
RADIATORS: PAY ATTENTION TO THIS ONE.... The radiators are very weak and flimsy... before you fall off the thing, spend some time in the shed with a bit of flat bar, and some small diameter rod. (5mm worked for me) bend up some outer frames and braces against the frame to give the radiators a bit of support should you tip the bike over. Worth the effort and welding, as compared to trying to source new radiators, it's a lot cheaper and easier... and necessary...
FRONT SUSPENSION: remove the stock fork guards, replace them with yamaha items. Drain the oil, refill with 5weight oil, set at 130mm from the top of the fork leg.
REAR SUSPENSION: Cheats version: grease everything heavily. tighten all the bolts on the linkages without over doing it. set static and rider sag to your weight and speed. 30mm static sag, 95mm rider sag.
Experts version: replace the rear shock and linkages with parts from a Yamaha YZ250F. Modify, or have the exhaust modified where it ducks under the reservoir. (must do item...)
The shock from a 96 model Suzuki RMX-250 will also fit the bike while retaining the standard bottom linkage, but also requires the exhaust to be modified.
OVERALL REVIEW: For the price of this bike, its a great buy for the price. Essentially you are getting a YZ250F copy without the great suspension and outright horsepower. You do get the looks, the size if you are a big fella, decent spare parts back up, good quality fit and finish for a china bike, ass-puckering brakes, and a very comfortable ride over most terrain, provided you keep it in the back of your mind, it is a china, and you will hit it's limits quickly if you are a C-grade or above rider... stick to the bikes capabilities, and its a great ride. unfortunately, if like me you have a couple of Jap MXers in the shed, particularly YZ450F owners, it will disappoint as it feels like a fourfif, sounds like a fourfif, but no, it doesnt attempt to dislocate your shoulders when you crack the throttle... pity...
It's a great beginners bike for bigger lad, or for those like me, a great second bike to play around with beginner rider mates, or the missus if she rides, when you dont fell like being beaten up trying to trailride a fourfifty...It aint a SX model, but it will punt you through the bush pretty quickly, and is a great playbike.
For the fifteen hundred bucks you can get these bikes for, they are a great deal... But sadly, my girlfriends X-moto XB35 is faster, lighter, has identical braking performance, higher top speed, higher outright horsepower, and much better valving and suspension compliance, with the exception of shorter fork travel... The X-moto XB35 250cc version can be sourced for under $1000 on ebay, in either air or water cooled engines, with 19"/16? or 21"18" wheel combinations...
Having said all that, good luck reselling an X-moto, or finding any sort of parts for it, when it does cough in its nappy...
If you know how to ride a bit, are on the leggy side, and dont mind a bit of sorting and spanner work before you get to fire the thing in anger, The 2008 Atomik Blitz 250 is a fantastic buy... and lets face it, we're all buying chinas to save a bit of money and they are a bit of fun... if we didnt, we'd all be buying Jap bikes, and taking our riding a lot more seriously...
China Vs China rating:[/B] 7/10 (good bike but hard on the body.. too stiff)
China Vs Jap rating: 5.5/10 (cant argue with the price, and the blind or stupid will think you're astride a Yammie YZ450F. (until they scream past you...)
