bufftester wrote: ↑04:12 pm Mar 21 2024
The WR250 tranny is the target.
I'm not quite sure exactly what you meant by that? At first I thought you meant maybe the WR250 4-stroke or the rare WR250 2-stroke transmission is the goal to swap directly into a YZ250X to get a 6-speed or better gearing, but then I read something down a bit further about the WR450 5-speed gearbox being able to swap directly into the YZ250X with some minor case clearancing to clear a gear or two.
bufftester wrote: ↑04:12 pm Mar 21 2024
People know the KDX, but the WR and the RMX250 just were'nt around long enough to gain the following they deserved.
My son is currently riding a 95 RMX250, and nobody in our riding group (most of them on XC-Ws and TEs) can keep up with him.
I'm always riding a KDX220, & I resemble that statement, & I absolutely love that... There's only one guy that I regularly ride with who is faster than me, and all the rest of them on late model 300 2-strokes and 2 500 EXC-F 4-strokes as well as a KTM 250 SX & two 250 XC-W's generally all tell me it's all they can do to attempt to keep up with me on the mid speed flowing winding woods trails on my old KDX...
One 300 owner told me those very comments and said "dude you just absolutely float that thing (the KDX220) through the trail,..." At which point I'll say that this is why a smaller bore engine is better, because it's easier to make quick directional changes on the lean angle of the bike from extreme right lean to extreme left lean etc.
The larger heavier internals of especially the 300 balance shaft engines will give more of a gyroscopic effect, so even though the KDX feels heavier when standing still and rocking it back and forth, it's easier to toss around when in motion versus a bigger heavier engine.
bufftester wrote: ↑04:12 pm Mar 21 2024
I agree that the title is a lofty one given all the "Hard Enduro" fan boys out there, but for the other 95% of riders I think it would be a good fit.
Hey I resemble that remark a bit as well! I love the rugged nasty stuff, steep, rocky, rutted, challenging, technical... With a skilled pilot at the helm, the 200's do it well, 150's do it well...but really, the mini-300's do it best! By mini-300, I mean the KDX220R...
After having to ride all three bikes on the hardest obstacles on the hardest trails we've ever hit one year and one week ago, the KDX 200 with the ignition set for the higher RPM rev out / higher peak power ignition timing lower mark was a STRUGGLE to make it up the slow technical stuff although I got used to it on the first steep nasty hill after 2 stall-outs, but it was like riding a 125 motocross bike but just with a smoother Power band transition. The KTM 200 XC-W with the adjustable power valve in the generally most preferred "Langston" setting, unknown static timing setting at the stator plate, with the aggressive ignition curve setting
(since the mild mode is basically nothing anyone would ever want to use unless it was really really slippery and not terribly difficult technical terrain), + one tooth larger rear sprocket, did pretty darn well - but not nearly as good as the KDX 220.
A YZ250X with the Apex Technical Innovations XC-dome cylinder head or a stock head milled down and machined to the same profile would do equally as good as the KDX 220, and comes with incredible suspension stock, the best on the market to be quite honest.
My buddy just switched to a 300 because he wanted better gearing or a six-speed transmission, and said that it was a step backwards for him in riding because he's struggling to do the hard enduro stuff that he easily did on the YZ250X, on this new 300 now... The YZ250X has a slightly shorter wheelbase and is definitely lighter... The cliche "Hard Enduro Fanboy" types don't have an open mind enough to give the smaller bikes a chance generally, and the 300 engines themselves do make the hardener out easier, but with the drawbacks of being a heavier engine, greater gyroscopic effect making it more difficult to toss the bike around quickly, and the longer wheelbase that those bikes have. So don't let someone tell you that you have to have a 300, because there are some young kids and even 70 year old guys alike that will smoke most of the 300 guys on their 150 2-strokes in woods races and even a few doing Hard Scramble type races and terrain on 150's...