I pose this question because I have noticed soooo much debate about what bike to get and this is my theory. At what point does the bike really matter? I ride with a group of about 8 riders. Two 02ish KX 250, a 04 CR250R "that is my baby", a late nineties YZ 400, I believe a midish 90's YZ 125, a Raptor 350 "yes that is a quad and their is a couple more", a 450R quad and a 400 EX quad. I am hands down the slowest of the group and I am fine with that, I am 30 yrs old, overwheight and ride for fun so I am pretty much eliminated from the "friendly racing we do". I will say that on any given day the guy on the 125 can outrun the guy on the 400 and even sometimes holeshot him. But somtimes my buddies on the 250 two bangers destroy everyone. I have seen the 125 outrun the 250 two strokes also. The guy on the 350 quad is a natural at it. He beats everyone occasionally too, although the stupid quad throws up so much dust that once you get behind him you are screwed. Do yall see what I am getting at? It is a coin toss as to who is having a better day. So what I am getting at is when do you think the equipment really matters. I think that most of these guys may win a C class race and probably would be competive in the B class. So when does the bike really matter, I know that sometimes you want certain characteristics and that is important but if a guy on a 125 holeshots everyone then isn't it really the rider? We have traded bikes around and it seems like no one is really faster on a certain model, they just like certain traits a little bit more. I will say I hate the quads though. They beat you to death, are heavy and I find only fun on trails. I guess my final point is that it really is all about the ability to pull the trigger untill???????????????????????????????????what riding level???????????????????????????????????????????????