Well, here it finally is. Now…..this may not be the review that some of you were hoping for. This review is going to be of a modified Blade 250XT and not a stock buggy. The truth is, I am not that big of a fan of stock anything. devilville……I would modify my sneakers if I thought I could successfully make them make my feet move faster.

Here we go. For starters, let’s list some stats.

The Blade 250XT weighs in at approximately 746 lbs wet.
The front wheel width is 60”
The rear wheel width is 54”
Overall buggy length is 87”
The front tires are on 10” rims and are 21x7
The rear tires are on 10” rims and are 22x10
About 8" of ground clearance at lowest frame point
About 6" of ground clearance at brake disk
Both seats are adjustable
Dash comes with speedometer, temp gauge and blinker lights
High and low beams
Left and right turn signals
Hazard lights
Water cooled
Adjustable springs
Adjustable toe-in
No adjustable camber
Independent rear suspension
Dual chain drive

* Sprockets
My first impressions were pretty disappointing. The buggy was going to need some serious modifications. First of all, the buggy came geared way too high. It came with a 16 tooth sprocket on the front and a 26 tooth sprocket on the rear. I quickly changed that to a 14/33 combo. This was not an easy task. The whole front of the engine needs to be dropped in order to get the front sprockets removed and new ones on. The rear ones are a piece of cake to change.

Now, this buggy has been called a 50 mph buggy…….I have taken the GPS out with the buggy and noticed that the speedo was at least 4-5 mph off. When the speedo said 47, I was only going 42 on the GPS. The fastest I have this buggy when it was stock was 43 mph. And it was pretty slow to get there. It didn’t climb very well either. You could tell the power was there but it just couldn’t be unleashed due to the high gearing.

* Exhaust
The next mod was a new exhaust system. Jabo had a local muffler shop bend a new header pipe for us. The header pipe is made of standard 1-1/2” exhaust tubing. I then installed a SuperTrapp muffler on the header pipe. It’s much louder and less restrictive than the stock pipe and muffler. I run six disks in the muffler. The disks are used to adjust backpressure. The more disks, the less backpressure and vice versa.

* Carb
The next thing I did was remove the stock 30mm CV carb and install a Mikuni TM28 carb. I purchased the carb from www.pro-flo.com No modifications were needed for this. The carb fit right into the stock intake and a 1-3/4” UNI fit right on the flange of the TM28. The jetting was very difficult. The stock TM28 came with a 180 main jet. This carb is used on a stock Suzuki 250 4-stroke bike. When I called the local Suzuki dealer to see what main jet they are running in that bike, he said a 132.5. This added even more confusion to the mix. After dialing in the pilot circuit with a 12.5 pilot jet and 2.5 turns on the air screw, I had the idle circuit perfect. On to the mid circuit. After installing the carb, I could never get throttle response when pushing the peddle to the floor. It would bog and die. After trying every combination possible and reading and reading and reading, I decided to drill out the needle jet. The needle jet that comes stock on the TM28 is the largest jet made for that carb. I drilled the needle jet with a #36 drill and bingo. I had the throttle response I was looking for. I tried various clip positions on the needle. Done. Got the mid dialed in. On to the main circuit. I started with a 180 main…..too lean. On to the 200’s…..too lean….onto the 300’s……too lean. I started researching different needles and their profiles. The best profile I could fine was the 5L1 needle. The 5L1 has a much narrower tip for the last 20mm of the needle. My thought was that the fat stock needle was never allowing enough fuel to pass it. Right now, I have 400 main in. I have the needle clip at the top of the needle(Full lean). I have incredible throttle response now. See the video link below for the speed stats on the buggy.

I installed some other goodies on the buggy that can be seen in the video below.

This buggy is very roomy in the cabin. Plenty of room for two adults. I think the steering wheel position is a little high. I removed the seats and installed two nuts on the studs and then put the seats back in. This raised the seat by 1/2”. Much better but the steering wheel still seems a little high. The ride is comfortable. Maybe a little stiff if anything. The buggy pushes terribly when cornering. I still don’t know why. I think the IRS has a lot to do with that. I want to try and add a little weight to the front so see if this helps. The springs are already adjusted to as soft as possible. This buggy is nearly impossible to kick the rear end out. I also would like to try different tires on the front. The newly modified buggy climbs unbelievably well. This is where you going to see the biggest difference between a 150 and a 250. The 250 torques right up the hill without having to spin the tires up. The 150 needs to spin the tires up the hill to keep the RPM’s up. One thing I hate is the chain tension adjustment. It is poorly designed and difficult to get perfect tension on the chain.

I have yet to drag race the Twister 150 against the newly modified Blade 250 but on paper, the Blade should beat it hands down in the 200 yard dash.

This is my review. I know, it’s not the best, but, I suggest anyone thinking about buying a buggy, try and test drive as many as possible before buying. Buy the one that fits you best.

Enjoy the video! I haven’t been able to get footage of the buggy with the new carb and new sliders. It has been too muddy to take the buggies out and get new footage so some of the footage is old. The file is about 40 mb so it could take a while to download, but I think it is well worth the wait. It takes about 1 minute via cable modem.....okay....maybe 2 minutes.

You may have to right click and save as

http://www.buggynews.com/Videos/review.mpg

That was an awesome video. I can't believe you are doing 5.5 seconds in the 0-30 times. Those signs at the end of the video are pretty sweet.
Great review John, thanks for taking the time to post it and the video. I know how long editing video can take.

Thanks again!

Very well done!! That 250 is really sharp looking, you did agood job picking the mods. KEEP IT UP!!!!

Great job John! You put a lot of work into that...and I for one appreciate you taking the time out...(it kind of helps when the wife and kids are on vacation though )

Great review John, looks like you got that thing going pretty well. Nice job on the video, very pro looking, bet that took a while to edit

Great review I liked the video as well looks like she moves pretty good.

Thanks for the post Blister, and all the info in the Mikuni jetting too.

Love the video too.

It definately helps when the wife and kids go to the in-laws house for a couple of days. Unfortunately, they're back. Back to changing diapers and watching Jungle Book 20 times a day. Just kidding.....I missed my family after not seeing them for a couple of days. My little girl just started walking before they left and now she walks all over the place. They were only gone for 48 hours!!!! These kids are growing up too fast.

Awesome job on the video John. That thing is FLYING now.


-Steve

Nice man, thanks for the info about the carb.