Magazine Picks on Best 2006 250F

[karterron]

i had an 02 yzf 250 that i bought used in 03, i didn't even know how many hours were on it when i bought it. i rode it two more years at least 2-3 times a week. the only thing that i ever needed to do to the engine was a minor valve adjustment once, it still ran as strong as the day i bought it when i traded it in.

Key point is racing competitivlely and following manufacturer's recomendations. Sure you can stretch that and roll the dice that nothing happens, but these are race bikes and anytime you stretch what they recommend you roll the dice your motor doesn't go up in smoke. You may not notice a difference in performance, but there is. Even a 2 stroke top end drops off after a few moto's. You may not have noticed it, but it did drop in performance the more time you put on it.

Competitive racers will be happy if all they have to do to their 2 or 4 stroke is a top end every year and a bottom end every 2 years. That's not unreasonable by any means.

 

[BadgerMan]

Uh Huh. OK! ;)

Based on my experience and regarding reliability and maintenance I would rank them this way.

Yamaha
KTM
Honda
Kawazuki (no experience with the new Kawasaki)

:nod:

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Ive heard of many crf 250s need shimming at 5-10 hour intervals, now rich will tell me how bad my kxf is, but i dont hear of kxf riders doing this, just crf ones, .

You need to get out more Marcus. :laugh:

 

[marcusgunby]

I did nearly 70 hours on my kxf, and just oil changes;) thing is the bugger wont sell ;(

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I did nearly 70 hours on my kxf, and just oil changes;) thing is the bugger wont sell ;(

Most people have far worse luck with them than you did, and it really seems to kill the resale value.

 

[marcusgunby]

Dont suppose the few changes to the 06 will make much difference overall? i know from mainaining a fleet of dialysis machines, one relaible one doesnt mean they all are, and vice versa, you have to have a fleet to really know how well made something is, this is where big teams get the jump on normal riders, they soon learn what breaks and how often, then they can see how one brand fares against another.

I wish everyone would stop posting scary stuff on the kxf as i will never sell it, i dont care if its true;)

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I'll save up my posts till you sell your bike Marcus. ;)

 

[jbO250f]

actually the kx250f is rated the best and it handles the best, the only issue with that bike is the sound is crazy loud. it is rated the best , better than the crf250 and it handles better. it is supposedly kawasakis best motorcross bike ever made, the aluminum frame gives it sick handling. :ride:

 

[Rich Rohrich]

actually the kx250f is rated the best and it handles the best, the only issue with that bike is the sound is crazy loud. it is rated the best , better than the crf250 and it handles better. it is supposedly kawasakis best motorcross bike ever made, the aluminum frame gives it sick handling. :ride:

WELL, I 'm convinced. ;)

 

[W00TsP0P]

Can't say much for the ohsixers since I don't have the clout for the factories to give me one to test.
But I can speak for my 04CRF250R. It has never been raced and I am approaching 130 hours and I am dying in anticipation to test out my valve shimming skills. The bike exceeded my expectations when I bought it and it continues to out perform everytime it is ridden. Starts like a dream even when hot, flipped over and flooded.

 

[Okiewan]

actually the kx250f is rated the best and it handles the best, the only issue with that bike is the sound is crazy loud. it is rated the best , better than the crf250 and it handles better. it is supposedly kawasakis best motorcross bike ever made, the aluminum frame gives it sick handling. :ride:

Humm.. put red plastic on it and it is a CRF :p

 

[marcusgunby]

Sold my 05 kxf BTW-im still tempted to get a 06, i looked at a yzf but it looks real plain jane compared to the kxf, i know its silly to go for the looker but hay -love does strange things;)

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Sold my 05 kxf

So does that mean I can go back to being honest about these things Marcus? ;)

 

[marcusgunby]

Yes i spose;) you have to admit the 06 kxf is the closest thing to a works bike released?? i know the next comment, it needs works type service intervals as well :nod:

 

[Rich Rohrich]

you have to admit the 06 kxf is the closest thing to a works bike released??

Marcus - Gasoline is to be used for running the bike, not huffing yourself into a halucinogenic state. :yikes:

 

[Okiewan]

How so Marcus (works bike)? Serious question.

And now not so serious....

It was funny reading the review in DirtRider... about Kawasaki getting the alum frame right the "first time", lol... pretty wise letting Honda work out all the bugs. And "you'd sware you were sitting on a CRF".

No doubt it's a great bike, but let's not give up too many props for the R&D, which mainly involved buying a CRF and breaking it down :p

 

[J.B.426]

No doubt it's a great bike, but let's not give up too many props for the R&D, which mainly involved buying a CRF and breaking it down :p

No doubt Kaw did some of that. I was looking at the KXF250 and CRF250 frames together and they are pretty different though, the geometry of the spars as they come down to the foot peg and the welds on the cross sections, or lack there of on the CRF. Check it out, kind of interesting. Of course Honda did all the dirty work on the twin spar design.

You have to admire how Yamaha went a totally different direction with their aluminum frames though. We'll see, I guess, if one is better than the other.

The Kaws are great looking bikes this year, and the Hondas have always been great looking. Myself, though, I like the Yamahas right now.

 

[marcusgunby]

Okie i guess it maybe just me but with wavey disks, showas suspension, works like braking power, very high compression pistons, anodized clamps, renthal bars, To me it seems like the std 06 kxf is more trick than langstons 05 factory bike?

 

[zcookie49]

Honda tore down the Yami to build their bike back in 02 as well, I would imagine.
I got a chance to look at the 06 KXf, CRF, YZF 250f's, all together at the dealer the other day. I agree that the Kawi has nice looks. But, attention to detail definately goes to the honda and Yami. For instance, both the crf and yzf have oil filler caps, plastic, easy to use to fill. Where as the Kawi has the old style, use a quarter to open filler, that eventually gets chewed up. Not a big deal, but attention to detail.
yeah the Kawi has lots of goodies, but so do the other bikes. Honda has the renthal bars and the double pipe, the Yami has the oversized pro tapers w/ adj trip clamp, titanium foot pegs and rear shock, etc.
Shame on Suzuki to throw up their bike with Bold New Graphics.
. Looking at the Kxf and the RMZ450 frames, I was impressed that Yami went different with their aluminum, (unk if it is better than perimeter or not), continuing to be the innovaters they are as opposed to being immitators... just my thoughts.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Okie i guess it maybe just me but with wavey disks, showas suspension, works like braking power, very high compression pistons, anodized clamps, renthal bars, To me it seems like the std 06 kxf is more trick than langstons 05 factory bike?

I'll get excited when they address the fundamental design flaws rather than bolting on pretty parts.

 

[zcookie49]

yeah, I was wondering about that. From what I have heard, the motor on the kxf/rmz seems to be the most problematic/unreliable of the bunch. Kawi changed most of the bike, which everyone seems to love, but the motor appears to be carried over (with some tweaks) . One of the test articles I read even stated that the exhaust pipe is the same from last years, that you can bolt up last years to this years. I am not a motor expert by any means, but I am guessing that if you changed a motor completely, you would have to make a change to the pipe, no?
Just an observation.

 

[marcusgunby]

its a rework of the current motor.But the yz one is and its about a zillion years old, to be fair its a good design but it sits tall.

 

[john3_16]

Kawasaki was the first to build a perimeter frame for MX bikes.....Honda was the second (or was it cannondale) to use a perimeter frame..The diference was Honda's was aluminum...Who copied who ? I guess both manufacturers can claim one copied the other. But Kawasaki was the first utilizing the perimeter frame on a dirtbike.

All the manufacturers have been building aluminum perimeter frames for years in their sportbike lineups...So it's not like none of them had any previuous experience building one...

 

[zcookie49]

agreed.

 

[motodawg]

My son, fastpuppy (DW2002), has ridden the '06 YZ250F and declared it to be the 250F to have. Seriously, he now races intermediate and has picked up quite a bit of speed in the past few years. We have an '04 250F and 450F which have been raced hard since I bought them new in the fall of '03 and they have not let us down. The 250F had a Wiseco come apart last summer, but the 450F had never been apart until a week ago when we gave up and did a topend just for fun. Seriously. The valves and cylinder were perfect. No excess wear, no leakage, simply... like new. Slapped in a new piston and rings, geared up and went arenacross'n for 2 firsts and a second last weekend.
However, while he also wants the new YZ450F we would like to find more info. BECAUSE he was up against a new KXF450 at the last two AX's he raced in and they are just damn fast. Period.
We will buy the Yamaha's regardless, but from what I've seen at the track so far Kawasaki may have the baddest, stock 450F out there for 2006.