Trail Rider Magazine

10 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com and all se ngs were done externally, save for the rare metering rod adjustment. The metering rod takes the place of the pilot jet, intermediate circuit and main jet as found in conven onal carburetors. They really were super trick in the day and sure have withstood the test of me. Most bikes that were fi ed with a Lectron are s ll running them. I'll admit, I'm one of those older riders who's had huge respect for the Lectron. But I'll also admit, I had long forgo en how well they worked un l several years back, while waking up one of my vintage Pentons from a decade's long nap. You see, the stock Bing carb had been giving me fi ts. Was it a worn needle jet? The Bing experts on the forums had been poin ng to worn needles and jets. A er dropping coin at the Bing Agency, nothing changed. I was then told to inspect the slide. If there was a "smiley face" worn into the slide, a new slide would be the cure. A er spending more money on brass, needles and slides than I care to admit, then thinking back to what really worked "back in the day," I decided to see if a new Lectron could be procured. Thanks to Al Gore and his World Wide Web, a quick search turned up that Lectron Fuel Systems had not gone the way of the white buff alo. They were, in fact, s ll in business and thriving in Boerne, Texas. That was my reaquaintance with the mighty Lectron and that was the cure for my then 35-year-old bike. First kick starts, hot or cold. Clean, linear power delivery (and that's saying something for a 400cc, piston ported 2-stroke) and yes, simplicity. It's now been six years since the Lectron has been installed and we've never looked back. During this past riding season, messing with the stock Keihin carb on my '13 KTM 300XC-W seemed constant. No doubt that this guy can't leave things alone, but who doesn't enjoy perfec on? By mid- August and into September, I couldn't imagine a be er je ed KTM, no spooge out the pipe and it pulled cleanly with nice bo om-end down low. I had the je ng nailed and proud of it ... un l temps dropped and with our fi rst cold morning ride of the season, the low-speed je ng felt lean. Was it the pilot? Go up a size or two? Should I drop the needle clip one notch? Oh boy, here we go again. Our love of two-wheeled dirt rides here at Trail Rider ranges from past to present, pre y much equally. During fall riding, the vintage bikes get exercised more so, as there are fewer events to cover and there's more me to just play. Our old Penton 400 had been si ng for too long and we decided to fi re it up and go for a rip. First impressions a er not riding this old beast for so long was how well it ran and I knew it was owed to the Lectron. Thoughts immediately went to how well a properly set-up Lectron would work on a modern bike. Internet experts had been raving about the Lectron benefi ts in recent months and we decided to give Kevin Gilham of Lectron Fuel Systems a call. Kevin sure had nailed it with the carb set-up on the old Penton, and I had faith he would kill it once again on a modern bike. A er a fun conversa on and catching up a bit, we placed an order for a complete Lectron

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