i'm kinda new to this as a rider of real(read that modern,less than 18yrs old)bikes,last bike i had was an 83 kdx200, felt light, and had its "hit" i would ride tight stuff in my woods, then got my '01 wr 426, and rode the same trails, i thought, man this 426 is slower than my 83 kdx...not so, just waaay more tracktable and predictable. i never notice the weight untill i screw up, then dump it.i LOVE compression breaking, i love the fact that while the kx and cr guys i rode with were shifting gears on the trails,i was just winding out then chugging back down and along,all on one gear. i love 4 strokes, good four strokes!:cool: oh yeah,what jason j says about climbing---SA-WEEET, i went riding up some 50-55 foot steep hard pack hills with a couple of cr guys(125 and a 250) and those guys would get a run at it hard, the 250 guy declined one slope, but these guys seemed to, not if de-celerating, not really accelerating, i'd roll up on the 426 and roll on the throttle all the way up, finishing the last 1/3d of the hill on the rear wheel, but never felt out of control, felt natural as, well good scotch and self pleasure:D