Should I get a 450?

[hboe52]

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important)-5,10 180 pounds
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? 10/10
3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ????? Mainly MX with some Arenacross during the winter.
4) Do you have any riding experience? yeah, been on my share of bikes
5) Do you think you will race ? Every weekend
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? I do all my own motor work. Can't do suspension or anything else.
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)?Im riding a 03 cr 125 right now, Im really thinkning about moving up to a 450.
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry?
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike? Can't afford a new one, under 2800.
10) Do you live in California? Naa
11) Your age? ***14***
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion- Ive been on a 250f for a while and recently swithed to a cr125. I LOVED the lightness, If I get a 450 I want to get the lightest possible. Im looking at a coupld YZ450s and CRF450s around the 03-05 years.

 

[Bodge]

i think a 250 2 stroke would be better. it would be more like the 125 2 stroke.

 

[jb_dallas]

Going from a 125 2t to a 450 4t is a huge increase in weight, horsepower, and maintenance. At your size, I would imagine the weight would be a big factor in the handling of the bike. I would warn to be careful buying a CRF of those years. They tend to have weak valve trains that require even more maintenance than the competition. The 125 will be much cheaper and easier to rebuild. For a 4 stroke of that age, you had best know what to look for or take someone who does. Keep in mind that people are not always honest when selling a bike.

 

[Patman]

Going from a 125 2t to a 450 4t is a huge increase in weight, horsepower, and maintenance. At your size, I would imagine the weight would be a big factor in the handling of the bike. I would warn to be careful buying a CRF of those years. They tend to have weak valve trains that require even more maintenance than the competition. The 125 will be much cheaper and easier to rebuild. For a 4 stroke of that age, you had best know what to look for or take someone who does. Keep in mind that people are not always honest when selling a bike.

Please address these statements with factual information not just personal opinion.
Weight difference.
"Weak" valve trains on CRF of those model years.
Maintenance costs of properly maintaining a CR125 vs a 450.

 

[hboe52]

I understand a 250 two stoker will be lighter than a 450, I was stating I want the lightest 450 as i can get with my money. I am buying a brand new bike in this coming summer. I will be getting a 250F or a 450f. I've had experience on a 250f and I just think I should try an older 450 one so if i did get a new 450, I know what the horsepower is like and how to handle one much better than jumping from a 03 125 to a brand new 2010 450.

 

[Patman]

hboe52 it seems like you have a good understanding of what you want as well as some experience with a few different displacement bikes. I would suggest if you are looking at a used 450 look for the one that is in the best overall condition and don't worry about specific details that one brand may or may not have. Since you do your own engine work I'm sure you would be looking things over before using a bike with unknown history in a race situation. I would suggest doing a little searching here on DRN on the various bikes you are considering.

 

[hboe52]

The biggest thing to me was that im 14 and my riding buddies don't see me on a 450. But I saw dungey, him being a larger rider, move from a 250 to 450 and have instant succsess got me thinking a lot more. Im no pro but my parents starter homescooling me(the reason is not for MX) and I have been riding every day.

 

[Patman]

I never thought ago but skill and to some extent size should determine what bike. You seem to have things covered for a 450 IMO.

 

[hboe52]

Ok, Im currently looking at mabey buying a 2003 CRF450 withHotcams titanium valves, good tires,comes with extra set of plastic, sprockets, and filters. and a 2003 YZ450f with new plastic with Metal Mulisha graphics, FMF powerbomb header with Titanium 4 silencer (dented) Works Connection reservoir covers, skid plates, Radiator braces, aftermarket triple clamp, SDG seat cover. It has leaky fork seals, needs tires soon, and needs rear brake pads. Based on that what can you guys tell me? I looked it up and the YZ is 2 pounds lighter than the CRF. Both priced around the same.

 

[Chili]

If your sole focus is on the weight of the bike you are making a mistake buying a 450. The weight difference between those bikes will be negligible.

 

[Patman]

Like Chili mentioned if you are worried about weight you are looking at the wrong class of bike. As far as which of the two you listed? Who knows. The only way to make an accurate suggestion is to physically inspect the bikes. If you don't know how to really inspect a bike before purchase then I'd question a lot of what you have posted so far about skill and doing your own engine work.

It's not about the add-ons on a bike but the actual condition of the bike. If there is no documentation about the last time the engine was opened and what was done assume it never happened. If that is the case plan on doing it when you get it home. Having a failure when you are on the face of a jump would be the last thing you'd want.

 

[hboe52]

I understand everything about that. I was just going over the + and - of both. I always look for stuff like loose spokes and I always pull the filter and stuff like that to check for maintnace. Also the obvious stuff like cracks and mess like that.

And for the weight, again just looking over the pros and cons of both of them.

 

[wake_rider]

Is there a particular reason you want a 450f over a 250 smoker? If weight is a big issue to you, a smoker will physically be lighter, and they 'feel' much lighter while riding. So if weight is your issue, maybe open your field of search a little. If you're particularly looking for a thumper for a reason, then don't look at weight as much of a deciding factor. Just as responses above have stated, looking mostly at the overall condition of the bike as well as doing your research on that specific bike will be the best case.

 

[hboe52]

It is definatly not a deciding issue. It is one of the many things that I look at. Just because i stated weight doesn't mean im very concerned over it, just adding some pros and cons of each bike.

 

[Patman]

Considering how close every color of 450 is these days a few pounds here of there is not going to make any notable difference to 99% of riders.

 

[dirtracker]

Is there a particular reason you want a 450f over a 250 smoker? If weight is a big issue to you, a smoker will physically be lighter, and they 'feel' much lighter while riding. So if weight is your issue, maybe open your field of search a little. If you're particularly looking for a thumper for a reason, then don't look at weight as much of a deciding factor. Just as responses above have stated, looking mostly at the overall condition of the bike as well as doing your research on that specific bike will be the best case.

Yup the weight of the bike should not be a deciding factor.It should be your skills and what you are looking for in a bike should influence.Yes a 450 is heavy but you dont carry the bike at your back.There are times I feel that my 450 is lighter compared to my 250f when I ride it.
I can only feel the weight of the 450 after I lay the bike down in a crash.
Even a 125 2 stroke will feel heavy and wear you down if you keep fighting the bike when you ride.
I have no troubled riding a 125 to 450 bikes i dont care either if its a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke there are positives & negatives. I use the positive sides for my advantage for what bike I choose to ride.

 

[jcroley]

Read Jody's 2 stroke manifesto, then if your so worried about weight, buy a damn 250 2 stroke,riding a 450 is compariable to jumping a full size truck, they are big, heavy and awkward as hell!. Beind only 14, i hope your parents are loaded, because fixing a 450 when it lets go, is going to cost more than you paid for the bike. Do yourself and your parents who will be flipping the bill a favor, buy a 2 stroke!

 

[Patman]

Jody is the ultimate authority? :whoa: Maybe in his own mind and those of the small little circle of sheep that live on the MX(B)AAAA farm.

The '06 CR250 was what 215 pounds (depending on who's sacale was used) the CRF450R goes at maybe 5 pounds more? (depending on whos scale of course).

 

[wake_rider]

Jody is the ultimate authority? :whoa: Maybe in his own mind and those of the small little circle of sheep that live on the MX(B)AAAA farm.

The '06 CR250 was what 215 pounds (depending on who's sacale was used) the CRF450R goes at maybe 5 pounds more? (depending on whos scale of course).

Yeah, going by Jody's rambling is not the wisest idea. That being said, the physical weight of the thumper is not the issue but if you're riding a 250 smoker all day then riding a similar weight 450f all day, you will clearly feel the difference in weight. Even if there is negligible weight differences, fighting the thumpers centrifugal forces of the extra rotating mass has it's effect on you. There's a reason that most off road racers choose smokers over thumpers, and that's a large part of it. The cost of fixing the bike when things go wrong is another aspect. If you have the financial backing, go for it. If not, maybe think twice.

 

[jcroley]

Just trying to enlighten the young kid to not run out and buy a 450 because james stewart has one. Everyone fails to relize that it is still 90% rider and 10% bike that makes you fast in this sport. 4-stroke's are for a lazy rider, 2-strokes will make you a better rider, being that the kid is only 14, he needs to race the school boy class on his 125, and that should teach him its not the bike that makes you fast. I dont know where he is from, but i know in my distict 14/glmx, school boy is super fast!

 

[wake_rider]

I agree with everything you said that time. Riding a smoker will make you a far better, much more capable rider. The reason RC and Stewart were so fast on their thumpers is because they rode them like 2strokes. They would have never been able to ride like that had they not started out on smokers.

 

[coobeans]

i think a 250 2 stroke would be better. it would be more like the 125 2 stroke.

Actual i have a 03 kx 250 and i raced my buddies 07 450
and he maybe had a couple of feet on me untill 5th gear he pulled me. but i would recomend a 2 stroke