What Bike To Get Next

My wife finally gave me the ok to get a new bike. Although I will probably wait until next spring to do it, I might as well start figuring out what to get now so I can get my order in if I need to. I currently ride an old 86' IT-200 which has served me well as a starter bike but I am definately outgrowing it. I am going to keep it for a buddy/wife bike but I am looking for something more modern and with more power for myself. I ride in Oregon/Washington and mainly do trail riding but am getting into track riding a little bit at a local toned down mx style track. I also ride a GP track sometimes and might ride in desrt type conditions every now and then. Occasionally I might ride in the dunes as well. I am 5'11" and ~200 lbs. I want something that has plenty of power for me when I need it but is smooth and fairly easy to control. I am leaning towards a 4-stroke to gain the e-start and possible on-road versatility to get to the trails as well as a bit more low end. I rode my friends 97' MXC250 two stroke and it felt pretty nice and controllable so I am thinking something with a comparable amount of power.

As far as brands and models I am an open book. Our local dealer is Yamaha and we currently we have a KTM dealer but I hear they may be gone soon. There is a Honda dealer about 30 minutes away. My current short list includes the following:

KTM exc 400
KTM exc or mxc 450
KTM exc or mxc 250 (2-stroke) or exc 200
Yamaha WR250 or WR450
Honda CRF250X or CRF450X

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Can someone tell me in particular how different the exc400 and exc450 feel? Although they are almost the same bike spec-wise aside from the head I've heard that they behave significantly different. I would love to test all of these bikes but it is not very easy to do around here so I am relying on input from the fine folks here at dirtrider. Thanks for any help.

Matt

No comments from my previous post but my situation has changed a bit and I'm about to seal the deal on a 05' 450 MXC at a GREAT price. Just wanted to see if anyone had any last minute comments or advice concerning that bike in general and/or it's suitability to me before I take it home - hopefully tomorrow morning. I've gotten some good comments and advice from KTMtalk but though I'd see what this crowd has anything different to say.

Thanks

Matt

I'm getting it for $5995 but only because the shop is closing it's doors on December 31 and they don't want to be left with any bikes on the floor. The cheapest I've seen them for is $6400 at that motorcycle-brokers place you see on cycle trader. I was told I am basically paying the dealers cost.

Matt

I am LIVID - I called this morning to make sure everything was ready to go for the bike and was informed that although all my credit stuff was fine they "unfortunately" sold the bike for cash. I would understand this if I hadn't already told them I would take it, however, I did go in on Saturday to turn in the credit app and put some $$ down on the bike. They told me I didn't need to put anything down to hold it and then wrote SOLD on the bike and told me to give me a call on Tuesday morning to finish things up. One of the owners even called me on Monday to double check the info on my application he was sending in.

Apparently later that Monday someone was talking with one of the other shop owners and offered $7000 for the bike. I guess maybe the owner didn't see the large SOLD written over the price tag of the bike or maybe he's just a greedy SOB with no character but he took the offer - didn't even bother to call me to let me know. I guess that's what happens when you deal with a shop that's got nothing to lose. Until this day I had a pretty good opinion of them but now I will never support any other business they are involved in.

By the way, since the shop is going out of business at the end of the year I will say that it is MXD Motorsports in Hood River, Oregon. They've got a good sale going on right now on their last remaining items but make sure you pay cash for anything you buy and take it with you or they might just sell it from under you. The only bright side of things is that my friend was probably going to buy the 250SX that was sitting right next to "my" bike which they said they will probably be stuck with after they close but because of their greed they lost that sale. You know, it's not even the $1000 or so I would have saved in the deal that I'm upset about, it's the idea that someone can be so blatently selfish and greedy and not give a sh!t.

Alright, that's enough venting. Maybe I'm overreacting but I don't think so.

Matt

Thanks for the support guys. mtk, I think that the reason I am so pissed off is because I absolutely would not treat anyone the way they treated me and neither would anyone I know. First off, not even a call to let me know that they got a better offer and sold it to someone else? Secondly, I was perfectly willing to put money down, sign a purchase agreement, whatever... That is the reason that I went there Saturday to drop off the credit application rather than wait until Tuesday. I wanted to make sure no one else bought the bike. They are the ones that told me I didn't need to do that and they are the ones that wrote sold on the bikes price tag. Third, we had already verbally agreed on a price and that I was going to buy the bike. If the credit app didn't go through, which by the way is inconceivable, I would have just paid cash for the bike.

My wife and I have a very successful business and the reason it is successful is because we go out of our way to fulfill our customers expectations. We would rather take a hit personally to fulfill our promises to our customers than leave them unhappy. And this is becuase it is the type of people we are, not because we want to project a good image for business purposes. This attitude trancends throughout our entire lives - including to people we don't even know. I would be consumed with guilt if I did to someone what the shop did to me. I talked with the shop owner a bit and he basically told me the only reason they did what they did was because they could get $1000 more out of it. Seems like simple greed to me. I guess there's just different ideas between people about what is ethical or what is not.

What really irked me is that I went into the shop today and the bike was still sitting exacly where it was before. They had taken off my sold sign and wrote up a new one on a green piece of paper. At the same time I heard them calling in a new credit application to KTM. They only have a few bikes on the floor so I wonder if the new buyer even paid cash for the bike as they claimed or if that was his app they were calling in. Oh well, mute point.

Before I bought my first bike from a private seller I called a guy about another bike. It was an XR250 which sell really quickly around here so I told him I would come over immediatly and pay cash for it. The seller then told me that he already had an offer on it and was waiting for the buyer to return with the money and wouldn't sell it from under him. I respect that guy for doing that even though I was offering more than he was getting.

Anyway, I guess I'll just get a WR450 or something and I'll be just as happy - maybe. Incidently, I am going to recommend getting the SX if he still wants it to my friend. Why should he pass on a good bike because of my misfortune? I really guess I don't even care that the shop gets the sale since it doesn't effect my situation at all anyway. What this boils down to for me is a lack of ethics. I don't think that the shop owners are the Anitchrist. I think they made a bad call and are now showing a lack of character by not doing anything to help remedy the situation.

Matt

Thanks again for all of the input here. I'll just post one last update to this thread and then call it done. While I didn't get the KTM and am still very dissapointed by the actions of the shop, my wife surprised me with a new WR450 for Christmas. Up until I had the opportunity on the KTM I had told her that that was the bike I would probably get. I'm sure it will work just as well for me and I can't wait to get it broken in, do the free mods and start ripping on it. Those guys from the KTM shop better hope they are never behind me on the trail though or they will probably end up with a face full of dirt. :laugh: Thanks again for all of the help.

Matt

PS: Any recommendations on breaking in the new bike? Do I just keep the RPMs down and keep it mellow until the first oil change? Will the throttle restrictor keep me within the break-in range or do I need to be careful even with it restricted?