nicos

mine is a 2011 280 white with black frame just like yours! posted that just to show the carb vent!

http://bsteady.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-gas-gas-raga-250-specifications.html like this!

interesting! mine came with a delorto and a kehin in the box which I fitted myself! its been awhile so I stand corrected...!

I was chasing a lean condition on my bike for ages when it was only a couple of weeks old and thats when I discovered the front right stud was loose in the cases causing an air leak! Nick at trials uk told me it was common on the ragas with the mag cases and advised me to helicoil all four! regarding the carb bowl vent,the way it is routed from the factory is straight down behind the shifter and onto the skid plate. I also re routed it with the rest of the carb vents to keep the area under the engine cleaner but it would bog and run rough if stopped at an angle especially pointing down for a while so put it back the way it was!

I would have advised to helicoil the cylinder studs since you had everything apart ! hope they hold up for you(mine pulled the threads out since mag is soft so was advised to helicoil all four) also run the float drain on rhe carb downwards so it can drain when needed otherwise it will die at steep angles!

starts first kick after fitting a flywheel weight on mine but went up one size on the pilot to a 48 as well!

Hi dabster! Rubbers are new,removed them when the bike was a week old! Still have the original shorter bolts so gonna put everything back to standard! Bit worried with the cases breaking ,big repair job...! Thanks for the info...!

Hi everyone, are these rubber inserts between the engine and bashplate to absorb vibrations or to absorb impacts to the bashplate? asking cos havent put them back ever since i fitted a linkage protector to my 11raga, and after seeing a thread on soft mag cases cracking,i'm beginning to wonder if these rubber blocks are transfering the shock of impacts to the engine? the linkage protector is sandwitched between the bplate and frame so the space between the engine and bashplate is increased by about 5mm so i guess these rubber inserts are gonna be loose fitting anyway? thoughts anyone?

put the thicker of the two base gaskets on and an S3 flywheel weight and the 280 is perfect! I also run 10/43 gearing and kept the quick action throttle! I am 87kg though...!

Hi Dabster! I was chasing a lean condition by changing jets needles and slides when the actual problem was the leaking base gasket caused by the loose stud! mag cases are soft so the best long term solution was to helicoil all four! I've managed to get the jetting pretty much spot on,runs very well! they do have a tendency to knock abit even when the jetting is near perfect so was advised recently to go to a cooler plug and that has made a difference as well! I changed the spring to the 10% stiffer one which was the same length as the original in the end and assembled the rebound cartridge properly(it unscrewed itself off the top cap)and added more oil in the compression side cos the air gap wasnt right. all this and a good bleed of the cartridges has made a big difference to the feel of the fork!

had mine since new and still love it! no paint coming off anywere but had a stud pull the soft mag cases threads out and spent alot of time messing with jetting thinking that was the issue! fixed all threads with helicoils and now runs sweet! rebound side fork cartridge unscrewed itself off top cap which was an easy fix while changing to a stiffer spring. thermo switch stopped working which was also an easy fix. nice bike to run and maintain,go for it...!

yup changed the rear last year and agree feels more alive now! gonna fit the stiffer front and make a spacer to suit if need be,if anything,more ground clearance is a bonus!

dabster I also found out today that there are three different part numbers for coil spacers! Tim from splatshop promptly answered my e mail regarding spring lengths but said they never had any complaints from customers who baught the jitsie stiffer springs! after I mentioned its for an 2011 raga he asked if I was sure the standard spring was 330mm. havent checked yet and gonna look a right goon if thats not the case...! anyone know the spring length in the forks of a 2011 raga...?

dabster,did you notice any difference with the stiffer fork spring or didnt you leave it in long enough? I am mostly interested to see if you noticed the front end staying higher in its stroke. thanks! the raga has a preload adjuster on the right fork leg. you should be able to fit this on your fork since they are identical otherwise!

Nick from trialsuk got back to me today saying that the jitsie stiffer spring is indeed shorter than the original marzocchi spring by 30mm. I asked what jitsie had to say about it but he didnt get in touch with them as of yet. I imagine a teflon spacer would do the trick but not too keen on trying it at the moment. will look for another supplier and take it from there!