Posted: 11:21 pm Aug 12 2005
I hate to flame...
but every time I even think of four strokes, I think of my buddy's '03 CRF450R. You know...the one that snapped a rod and destroyed basically the entire motor and some of the transmission.
Maybe it's just that he and I (and the entire KDX riding public, for that matter) have been spoiled on the reliability of the KDX, and we don't really realize the maintainance that 'other' bikes need. As a note, his previous bike was identical to mine...in stock form anyway...a 1995 KDX200 bought new in 1997. He NEVER did anything to his other than fill it with mixed gas, clean the filter, and change the transmission oil. He quit riding his KDX in 2003 when he bought his 450. By the way, when his bikes run, he rides them all the time. When he sold his KDX, it still ran just fine...even with stock, never-been-touched jetting. Since he bought the CRF...well, he's been without a bike for about a year now. He just can't afford to fix his blown up CRF. Actually, for what it would cost to rebuild his CRF (I've looked into this a whole lot), he could buy a used bike.
So there it is...I don't think the new breed of four strokes is reliable enough to warrant the increase in weight and costs that they entail. Please remember that all my friend does is trail ride - granted around here that is more like desert riding, since most of our trails are old railroad grades, meaning lots of WFO riding. But the fact remains, my KDX is still running on the 100% original bottom end, and his KDX was still running on its 100% original engine, and his CRF grenaded after a comparitively short period of time, leaving him without a bike.
but every time I even think of four strokes, I think of my buddy's '03 CRF450R. You know...the one that snapped a rod and destroyed basically the entire motor and some of the transmission.
Maybe it's just that he and I (and the entire KDX riding public, for that matter) have been spoiled on the reliability of the KDX, and we don't really realize the maintainance that 'other' bikes need. As a note, his previous bike was identical to mine...in stock form anyway...a 1995 KDX200 bought new in 1997. He NEVER did anything to his other than fill it with mixed gas, clean the filter, and change the transmission oil. He quit riding his KDX in 2003 when he bought his 450. By the way, when his bikes run, he rides them all the time. When he sold his KDX, it still ran just fine...even with stock, never-been-touched jetting. Since he bought the CRF...well, he's been without a bike for about a year now. He just can't afford to fix his blown up CRF. Actually, for what it would cost to rebuild his CRF (I've looked into this a whole lot), he could buy a used bike.
So there it is...I don't think the new breed of four strokes is reliable enough to warrant the increase in weight and costs that they entail. Please remember that all my friend does is trail ride - granted around here that is more like desert riding, since most of our trails are old railroad grades, meaning lots of WFO riding. But the fact remains, my KDX is still running on the 100% original bottom end, and his KDX was still running on its 100% original engine, and his CRF grenaded after a comparitively short period of time, leaving him without a bike.
) and you try to ride a 4T the same way your gonna break it in no time. I've seen KXF's/RMZ's (250's) come apart with as little as 10 hours on them at the MX track due to the fact that the 14 year old throttle jock at the bars rings it to the limiter and holds it there constantly like he would a 125. That is sure death to one of these machines. They have to be shifted and shifted in the meat of there power. If ridden correctly and maintained correctly (albeit at a considerably higher cost than maintaining a comparable 2T) they can and will last.