I am speaking of the CRF450 - hands down AWESOME! Now let me elaborate on what I would do to it. 1st - BUY THE OVER SIZE EXTERNAL OIL TANK!! Now on to preparing for those AWESOME Michigan trails with kick stand, lights, light coil, Clark 3 gallon tank (these bikes get astounding fuel economy but the extra fuel is still required), 18 inch rear wheel for MUCH bettertire selection, RAD GUARDS and SKID PLATES, all the "little" stuff to make it "street legal" and then I would either get the tranny upgrade (wr tranny) or spring for one of the "auto clutches" and gear it UP a little (I am getting LAZY in my old age)!! :) :) Its fun to dream!!
I want you to know that my statement that "affordabilty" is my barrior is NOT about intial costs! I have seen MAJOR big bucks go out the door in topend and crank misshaps with both the YZF's and the CRF's - they are just made to "light" (not weight but strength) for hardcore woods riding in my opinion! Another issue for ME to consider is that these modern fourstroke wonders DO NOT take to kindly to having trail trees grab you like 70Marlin is talking about! A real close riding bud of mine, who's CRF450 I have spent some time on :), had a 1/2 inch branch rub his raditator cap and bent the goose neck beyond belief (I was behind him on my KX when this happened) - rebent it with his HAND and the flat surface of a axle wrench to get it home. He had rad protection and He DID NOT run into a tree - it was just a small branch hanging in the trail - we were both SHOCKED!! ALL HE DID WAS BRUSH IT!! If you ride hard, on occasion you WILL have to "throw a bike away" - experience has shown me that this act could easily get REAL expensive to do that with a one of these bikes!
BUt still, IF I could afford one, I would have a BRAND NEW CRF450 in my garage!! Oh heck, I would have 2, one stock - one Woodsy "WOODS WEAPON" :) :)
Woodsy