Motocross Product Review: R&D Power Bowl 2 Eliminates Bogging
Now a days, it seems like there is an endless supply of after market accessories and “bling” available for dirt bikes. Some aftermarket products are all hype, simply backed by high dollar advertising, while other products are absolutely phenomenal investments for vast improvements over stock parts. It’s tough to know where to throw your hard earned money. The R&D Power Bowl 2 is one of those products that has a lot of hype surrounding its performance. Does the Power Bowl 2 actually stand up to the test and work as well as claimed? We decided to perform a motocross product review to see if the Power Bowl 2 was “for real”.
Amongst team Chronic MX’s arsenal is a trusty 2009 YZ 250f. It may not be the fastest bike we own, nor the coolest, nor the most advanced…but it gets the job done and is one of the most fun bike’s to ride. The bike has great suspension, good handling, is extremely reliable…and has more than enough power via it’s BPM race engine, FMF megabomb, and Loudmouth air intake system. Unfortunately, the issue with the bike is a severe tendency to ‘bog’ at the worst possible times on the track. Like when landing hard off of a big jump. Our fuel injected four strokes definitely don’t have that issue, nor do our dialed in two strokes. The bogging is actually the only major problem we have ever had with our trusty YZ 250f.
Prior to this review, we had already invested in a JD jetting kit, which helped a bit, but regardless of how well we jetted the bike or adjusted the fuel screw…the bog still existed. This is where the R&D Power Bowl 2 comes into play. We had heard it was an excellent solution, and wanted to test the feedback that it would solve the 37mm Keihin carburetor’s dreaded bog. We ordered the R&D Racing Power Bowl 2 and installed it with relative ease. The directions were clear and easy, and getting a hold of R&D Racing with any technical questions was a breeze. The replacement of the detent spring could have possibly been explained a little better. The stubborn circlip holding the detent spring together was our only trouble at installation…be ready for several attempts when re-installing that clip. Also, be sure to work in a clean setting with lots of light, and be prepared to completely remove the YZ’s tank, subframe and shock, for easiest carberator removal. The Power Bowl 2 looks really trick…a black anodized body with a R&D logo, combined with a silver accelerator pump and a brass adjustable leak jet. We chose to keep our existing JD jets and needle in place. R&D had recommended going back to stock jets and needle upon installation, but we prefer the quality of the JD needle over the stock Yamaha needle. Leaving the JD needle in, we made very few adjustments, other than just moving the needle clip one notch leaner and reducing the main jet from a 185 to a 180. We also reduced the pilot jet to a 40.
The R&D Powerbowl 2 was for real…the bike ran much smoother. The infamous bog was almost completely eliminated. Though the original JD kit may have helped performance…adding the R&D Power Bowl 2 was truly the final solution to dialing in the fickle FCR carburetor. The product works and was worth every penny. We had to play with the fuel screw a little bit to get the response perfect, and finally set it at approximately 1 3/4 turns out. R&D Racing explained that one of the key secrets to eliminating our bog issue is their ‘zero tolerance’ jet chamber. Unlike the stock float bowl, the main jet chamber on R&D’s Power Bowl 2 is completely sealed, to prevent fuel from moving away from the main jet during heavy landings or bouncing. R&D also explained that the ‘impact bog’ we were experiencing was further reduced by using the modified anti-cavitation accelerator pump design combined with this improved jet chamber. By reducing the cavitation in the stock accelerator pump, the hesitation and bog was finally gone. The temporary lack of fuel caused by air pockets in the jet passages was virtually eliminated with our new modified carburetor. In addition, adjusting the leak jet is now a very simple task, eliminating the need to completely remove the carburetor each time a leak jet adjustment is performed. There is no question that R&D’s Power Bowl 2 helped the overall performance of our 2009 YZ 250f. Throttle response seemed instant, acceleration was strong, and the impact bog was fixed. R&D Racing’s Power Bowl 2 works extremely well and was a solid investment towards improving our YZ 250f’s performance. Cheers, Rocket 88.
Cam
Thanks for reviewing this! I have a 2006 KX250F that suffers from this bog with just slow riding. I have been looking at this and some other things like the Quickshot 2 and so on. After finally seeing a more solid review I will be buying this and probably adding a JD Jet Kit. Keep up the great work and I will continue to come back.
Chronic MX
Hi. Glad you liked the article and thanks for following ChronicMX.com. Send me your adress and T shirt size and we will send you some free stuff like a T and stickers
Luckily the 2006 KX 250f doesnt suffer from bogging as much as other models…but unfortunately they all do somewhat. Perfect jetting combined with the R&D bowl will eliminate the problem. Certainly its no fun to ‘bog’ upon hard landings! You may want to try adjusting the fuel screw and jetting first before investing in the R&D bowl…thats up to you. 75% of riders done have their jetting or fuel screw set right. Do you have a fuel screw? If not start there. Dont get the cheap fuel screws b/c they rattle loose. get a good one and learn how to adjust it right. Thats step 1. After that…if you are still bogging, start playing with the jetting. The needle and mainjet and pilot are the most important. Thankfully, its easy to get to the carb on your bike. Some bikes can be tough….like the YZ 250f! If you still have bogging issues after that…then add the R&D bowl. With those three changes and all adjusted right…you’ll be set! Both JD jetting and R&D have phone support and are very helpful. You can call them and they will help you get it tuned right. Tell them Chronic MX sent you! I think they may give you a small discount if you say we sent you (not sure but worth a try). As far as your second question…its not alot of work but you are best to carefully use the manual and work in a clean organized area. The parts are tiny and can be lost easily! All thats needed is access to the float bowl…some bikes require carb removal and some dont….not sure on yours. Good Luck! Cheers Christian at Chronicmx.com. p.s. Be sure to like our facebook page!
Dgonowhere
I’ve been playing around with the idea of getting the R&D Power Bowl for over a year now. I put the JD jetting onto my 2009 KTM 450XCF early last year and that helped a bit and I thought my bogging troubles were pretty much gone, but yesterday I experienced quite a bit of bogging – the colder weather seems to have accentuated it. Thanks for your write-up. I’ve been looking for that extra push to make a decision. By the way do you know what the difference is between the original Power Bowl and the Power Bowl 2? Did that come up in your testing and/or acquiring the Power Bowl?
Chronic MX
Hi and thanks for following ChronicMX. Not sure where you are located but yes…colder weather can certainly affect jetting and settings. One thing is for sure…jetting a bike perfectly is an art and takes alot of time to perfect! You can have all the ‘bling’ in the world and it wont make a difference in that nasty ‘bog’ if it isnt set up properly. As a rule of thumb we try to stick to JD’s exact recommendations and then just adjust the fuel screw accordingly. It’s amazing how much the fuel screw makes a difference. Most bogging occurs is in the low range (pilot)…so fuel screw setting, leak jet setting, and needle are big factors. Some bog can also be caused by a clogged accelerator pump. The big advantage for you if you buy the R&D bowl is that the leak jet can be adjusted ‘on the fly’ without having to mess with the carb each time. We had similar bogging issues on one of our team bikes when the weather got colder and we solved it by simply adjusting the leak jet and fuel screw. Those two adjustments solved it entirely. So…if it just started bogging worse because of the cold…you may be running too lean and need to richen the mixture. Adjust the fuel screw first (Out = richer) and see if that helps. Too far out means you need to bump up the pilot size. Then check to be sure your accelerator pump isnt clogged (they clog easily). If both those attempts fail…look to adjust the leak jet (in = smaller and out = larger leak jet size) or swap the needle in the JD kit from red to blue. Just a suggestion…Good Luck! Call either JD or R&D…both are always available for awesome technical support.
raginyfz450
I was glad to find this very good review on the power bowl as i have been trying to find an informative review for one of these as my yfz450 has a bad bog off the bottom i cant seem to get out and after reading this review and ordering one the difference is amazing!! thanks again i will be following this site for more reviews