Need some Dirtbike opinions

[bad01300ex]

So im thinkin about goin to dirtbikes for a little bit, and ill deff go with honda, and it will be a crf250. My question is, what is the diff between the 04 and the 05? And also is 2004 the first year that honda had the crf250?

[zeppelin]

you say your def going with honda, but for what reason. i dont want to start a flame here or any thiung, i just wanted to let you know that the honda requires the most maintence out of all 5 of the 250f's and it is said to be very inreliable if you dont complete their insaine maintence schedule (checking the valves every 2 rides, replaceing the piston ervery 2 races orsomething like that), i think you would be much better of chooseing a bike that is a little less troube. like i said i dont wanna screw up the thread i just wanted you to know what you were getting yourself into

[ballz2thewall]

I rode dirtbikes from when I was 12 until this past year and had a chance to ride very many dirt bikes, I would recommend a Yamaha. They are very reliable and the ride is great but that's what I think!

Get a KXF/RM-Z250. If you properly maintin them, they have no problems. Don't listen to all the people that trash them, because I guarentee you then don't even own one, or if they do that don't maintain them.

[WOracing]

Originally posted by zeppelin
you say your def going with honda, but for what reason. i dont want to start a flame here or any thiung, i just wanted to let you know that the honda requires the most maintence out of all 5 of the 250f's and it is said to be very inreliable if you dont complete their insaine maintence schedule (checking the valves every 2 rides, replaceing the piston ervery 2 races orsomething like that), i think you would be much better of chooseing a bike that is a little less troube. like i said i dont wanna screw up the thread i just wanted you to know what you were getting yourself into


oh boy...

im a proud owner of a 05' crf250r with no problems so far. has about 35 hours on it. have only checked the valves once and that was after break in. runs perfect, no complaints here

[WOracing]

Originally posted by ballz2thewall
I rode dirtbikes from when I was 12 until this past year and had a chance to ride very many dirt bikes, I would recommend a Yamaha. They are very reliable and the ride is great but that's what I think!

yea and thats why my freind mike's (ssracingny) yz250f grenaded after snapping a rod in half. big hole in the bottom of his case.

Originally posted by MXFourTwoEight
Get a KXF/RM-Z250. If you properly maintin them, they have no problems. Don't listen to all the people that trash them, because I guarentee you then don't even own one, or if they do that don't maintain them.

Accept our local dealer got 2 new 05s in and while breaking them in befor 10 hours were up they were blown up? and yes they can ride and knew what they were doing, they get in the top 10 in the cmrc everyyear.

[underpowered]

i ama die hard honda man but would suggest you shy away from the CRF 250. not sure about the 06's but teh earlier models had problems with sucking valves. if you ride in the upper RPM range they have a tendency to pull the valves through the head. If they do you can replace them with Kibble White valves that last longer, but they still have other problems. From what i ahve heard, the rmz is the best out right now.

Originally posted by banshee91
Accept our local dealer got 2 new 05s in and while breaking them in befor 10 hours were up they were blown up? and yes they can ride and knew what they were doing, they get in the top 10 in the cmrc everyyear. I've gone through 5 and never had any problems.

[Honda400exrox]

Originally posted by banshee91
Accept our local dealer got 2 new 05s in and while breaking them in befor 10 hours were up they were blown up? and yes they can ride and knew what they were doing, they get in the top 10 in the cmrc everyyear.

they were 2006's

[Honda400exrox]

Im with zeppelin, get a YZ250F they are the most reliable 250f's out there

Originally posted by MXFourTwoEight
I've gone through 5 and never had any problems.


Mabe they were faulty?

[Hon300ex]

Originally posted by WOracing
yea and thats why my freind mike's (ssracingny) yz250f grenaded after snapping a rod in half. big hole in the bottom of his case.

evry bike could have something wrong with it but the yamahas are by far the most reliable. 04 crf's were known for bad vavles and i know that i would never buy one because of that. kawasaki or yamaha is were its at

[Hondadudeehhhh]

Originally posted by Honda400exrox
Im with zeppelin, get a YZ250F they are the most reliable 250f's out there

have you ever ridden or worked on one? I didnt think so. Best 250f you could buy is a rm-z /kxf. All my friends race and i'm at every race with them, every day during the summer working on the bikes. They all break down, that is the downfall of owning a race bike. 3 of my buddies own 05 rmz250s 1 owns a yz250f and he's selling it for the crf. I knew 3 other guys who had yz250f and sold them because "they were junk". I wish i knew more about the 06 crf but i i dont know much, from the past they have had their share of problems but what bike hasnt? I also wish i knew more about the 06 yz250f, but i dont know anyone who rides one. You will hear crap about rmz's/kxf's overheating, well spend $30 and get some new hoses, no big deal. From my experience the rm-z was consistanly the top bike at the mx races.

If you want a trail bike don't get any of the listed bikes, get a crf250x.

[moto04racing]

ive heard really bad things about the hondas blowing up

[zeppelin]

Originally posted by Hondadudeehhhh
have you ever ridden or worked on one? I didnt think so. Best 250f you could buy is a rm-z /kxf. All my friends race and i'm at every race with them, every day during the summer working on the bikes. They all break down, that is the downfall of owning a race bike. 3 of my buddies own 05 rmz250s 1 owns a yz250f and he's selling it for the crf. I knew 3 other guys who had yz250f and sold them because "they were junk". I wish i knew more about the 06 crf but i i dont know much, from the past they have had their share of problems but what bike hasnt? I also wish i knew more about the 06 yz250f, but i dont know anyone who rides one. You will hear crap about rmz's/kxf's overheating, well spend $30 and get some new hoses, no big deal. From my experience the rm-z was consistanly the top bike at the mx races.

If you want a trail bike don't get any of the listed bikes, get a crf250x.

i disagree wit almost everything you said. first off all for 06 the rmz and kfx are very different bikes, infact the kfx blows the rmz out of the water (i have not personaly ridden an 06 but all of the mags so far have ranked the kfx 1st or 2nd, and the rmz last). and the thing about what bike hasnt had poblems i am a pround owner of an 01 yz250f( the first year for the yz). i bought it in 02 thinking id ride it for like 2 years untill it blew up and i would get a newer model. well its now 06, i have adjusted the valves once, never given it a new top end or any thing past an oil change for that matter and it still runs GREAT. on the other hand my riding buddies ricky bajo and justin bridges decided that they were both going to get 05 crf's, and they have been kicking them selves for it ever since it is the most expensive bike to maintain and even with proper maintance it still doesnt have the reliabilty you would expect form honda. and im not even going to say anything about the crfx other than it doesnt have enough power to keep my 5 year old brother entertained :rolleyes: one last thing if you want an older kfx or rmz (when they were the same bike) make sure not to get the 04's they are a ticking time bomb

[Mean250r]

well look what all these people wrote, they all have diff. storys about diff companys, bottom line- get the bike YOU want and maintain it.... :o

Originally posted by zeppelin
i disagree wit almost everything you said. first off all for 06 the rmz and kfx are very different bikes, infact the kfx blows the rmz out of the water (i have not personaly ridden an 06 but all of the mags so far have ranked the kfx 1st or 2nd, and the rmz last). and the thing about what bike hasnt had poblems i am a pround owner of an 01 yz250f( the first year for the yz). i bought it in 02 thinking id ride it for like 2 years untill it blew up and i would get a newer model. well its now 06, i have adjusted the valves once, never given it a new top end or any thing past an oil change for that matter and it still runs GREAT. on the other hand my riding buddies ricky bajo and justin bridges decided that they were both going to get 05 crf's, and they have been kicking them selves for it ever since it is the most expensive bike to maintain and even with proper maintance it still doesnt have the reliabilty you would expect form honda. and im not even going to say anything about the crfx other than it doesnt have enough power to keep my 5 year old brother entertained :rolleyes: one last thing if you want an older kfx or rmz (when they were the same bike) make sure not to get the 04's they are a ticking time bomb 04 rmz/kxf's are not ticking timebombs. I had the 1st rmz in PA in September 2003, and I rode it until about march of this year with no problems at all. If you don't know what your talking about, don't post trashing a bike.

Originally posted by MXFourTwoEight
04 rmz/kxf's are not ticking timebombs. I had the 1st rmz in PA in September 2003, and I rode it until about march of this year with no problems at all. If you don't know what your talking about, don't post trashing a bike.

I say go with the rmz/kfxs. Mxtwofoureight is most likey the most person to know the most about these bikes, he has had lots, so i say do what he says and you will be alright.

[400exrules]

wow, im glad im into atv's.......bikes dont sound like too much fun:eek2:

[Hondadudeehhhh]

i dont personally know anyone who rides/owns an 01 yz250f. You make like your's hey thats cool but the guys i know own/ed 04s and absolutely hated them. I should have clarified about the kxf/rmz, im talking about the 05/04. The only problem my one friend had with his rmz was the transmission blew and that was because the previous owner knew nothing about dirt bikes. We got that fixed and since he has only had good things. As for the crf, they are good bikes and yes they did have the vavle problem but the 05 seems to be holding up fine for my buddy Kenny. The bottom line is all of these bikes have had their problems, and from what i have seen the rmz (04-05) were the champs of the 250s. Now suzuki and kawi have split their 250f's i'm waiting to see how those bikes perform personally, not a biased magazine.

[zeppelin]

Originally posted by 400exrules
wow, im glad im into atv's.......bikes dont sound like too much fun:eek2: no they are a blast, its just when some one bring up a topic about them on a quad site people get the idea that they can say what ever they want about them and everyone will believe them because its a quad site what do these guys know about bikes ya know. and to back up my state ment about the 04 kfx/rmz
http://dirtrider.net/forums3/text/topic/123543-1.html
cant find any links to any shoot out but order some back issues of some magazines with 04 250f shootouts they had problems with over heating, transmitions going bad, clutches, goofy supensin the water pump and oil fiter shared the same cover, many a valves have been dropped in this motor, the valve springs arent up to par and have a nasty case of valve float i can go on and on

note i dont think the new ones are bad bikes at all inn fact it sounds like they rock pretty hard, but these bikes were dog ****

[pastfast125]

KTM450SX!!!



:D :D I was gonna buy the yz450F, but instead my mom made me get a quad first. o wait, sry, 250's...lol..umm, KTM250sxf!! or whatever the name for it is..lol, I love the ktms, they are my dream bikes

Originally posted by zeppelin
no they are a blast, its just when some one bring up a topic about them on a quad site people get the idea that they can say what ever they want about them and everyone will believe them because its a quad site what do these guys know about bikes ya know. and to back up my state ment about the 04 kfx/rmz
http://dirtrider.net/forums3/text/topic/123543-1.html
cant find any links to any shoot out but order some back issues of some magazines with 04 250f shootouts they had problems with over heating, transmitions going bad, clutches, goofy supensin the water pump and oil fiter shared the same cover, many a valves have been dropped in this motor, the valve springs arent up to par and have a nasty case of valve float i can go on and on

note i dont think the new ones are bad bikes at all inn fact it sounds like they rock pretty hard, but these bikes were dog **** I got the Boysen waterpump/impellar, run liquid performance coolant, check the valves every 6 rides/races, I touch the clutch maybe once a lap on the 250f so the clutch is only a problem if you abuse it.

[trx400exxracer]

Originally posted by MXFourTwoEight
Get a KXF/RM-Z250. If you properly maintin them, they have no problems. Don't listen to all the people that trash them, because I guarentee you then don't even own one, or if they do that don't maintain them.

I agree

[trx400exxracer]

Originally posted by pastfast125
KTM450SX!!!



:D :D I was gonna buy the yz450F, but instead my mom made me get a quad first. o wait, sry, 250's...lol..umm, KTM250sxf!! or whatever the name for it is..lol, I love the ktms, they are my dream bikes

the Ktm's are super awsome stock the 250sxf's those things are awsome the Ktm's are awsome stock

[bad01300ex]

WOW, i didnt get any response on this last night, now there 2 pages of info:eek2:

im having a hard time trying to decide wether i want to stick with quads or try a bike. Im not really good on bikes which kind of makes me want to give it a shot.

but geeze after readin all this i may just get another YFZ, which im leaning heavily on right now anyway.

[pastfast125]

well it depends on you...IMO real men ride bikes...Don't get me wrong, I love quads, but It doesn't take a skilled rider to go out and ride a quad..A dirtbike on the other hand, you have to have some talent to be able to ride good...Which is why you got a LOT more complements too on your riding...I went on a riding trip to west virginia, and I made it everywhere the quads went, and everybody was tlaking aobut how good I was doing the whole trip, after I went to sleep, my friend told me the next day everybody was going on about how amazing it was that I did all that..I'm not bragging, cuz don't even think I'm that good, but I think you get more of a feeling of accomplishment when you get good on a bike. PLus the flickablility when you are good is awesome. But it's your personal preference I guess. wow that was long, whoops. :D

[Rich250RRacer]

I'm a die-hard Honda owner (look at the sig), and can tell you this, the CRF250 is the best handling, best performing, best suspended 250 on the market, but it does have issues that require frequent maintenence. Like everyone stated, the valve train is the most likely area of failure. Piston and ring life is also very short. But keep this in mind, the other brands aren't much better, especially the RM/KXF. These are all extemely high revving motors and there are going to be failures if they are not maintained constantly. If you are going to go with a 450, again, the CRF is the way to go. The bike has won EVERY shoot out since it was first released, much more reliable, and hands down winner in virtually every category. As a whole, I'm not completely sold on all these new 4-strokes, they require as much or more maintenence as a 2-stroke and are much more expensive to maintain.

Originally posted by Rich250RRacer
I'm a die-hard Honda owner (look at the sig), and can tell you this, the CRF250 is the best handling, best performing, best suspended 250 on the market, but it does have issues that require frequent maintenence. Like everyone stated, the valve train is the most likely area of failure. Piston and ring life is also very short. But keep this in mind, the other brands aren't much better, especially the RM/KXF. These are all extemely high revving motors and there are going to be failures if they are not maintained constantly. If you are going to go with a 450, again, the CRF is the way to go. The bike has won EVERY shoot out since it was first released, much more reliable, and hands down winner in virtually every category. As a whole, I'm not completely sold on all these new 4-strokes, they require as much or more maintenence as a 2-stroke and are much more expensive to maintain. Every one hates all up on the kawazukis.

[zeppelin]

Originally posted by Rich250RRacer
I'm a die-hard Honda owner (look at the sig), and can tell you this, the CRF250 is the best handling, best performing, best suspended 250 on the market, but it does have issues that require frequent maintenence. Like everyone stated, the valve train is the most likely area of failure. Piston and ring life is also very short. But keep this in mind, the other brands aren't much better, especially the RM/KXF. These are all extemely high revving motors and there are going to be failures if they are not maintained constantly. If you are going to go with a 450, again, the CRF is the way to go. The bike has won EVERY shoot out since it was first released, much more reliable, and hands down winner in virtually every category. As a whole, I'm not completely sold on all these new 4-strokes, they require as much or more maintenence as a 2-stroke and are much more expensive to maintain.
honda may have won a few the 04 and 05 shoot outs, but in all the 06 shoot outs it has been the kfx or yfz

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by zeppelin
honda may have won a few the 04 and 05 shoot outs, but in all the 06 shoot outs it has been the kfx or yfz

Are you refering to the 250 or 450, I'm not up to speed on the '06 250's yet, but it looks to be another banner year for Honda's 450. The others are getting close though.

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by MXFourTwoEight
Every one hates all up on the kawazukis.

Don't want to hate on anything but there have been some reliabilty issues with the RM/KXF. Not as big an issue as the Honda valve train and piston problems though. Like I stated before, these are very high revving motors and the likelyhood for failure is much greater. If you're not a serious racer and are looking for more of an all around bike, I would go with any one of the 450's or a two-stroke. It would just be cheaper to maintain. Everyone is refering to my bias toward Honda, but read the whole post, because I give my opinion the small bore four-strokes in general, and that's what the guy who started this thread wanted, OPINIONS.

[Quad Boy 660r]

Yes the 04 was the first year, and yes there were some changes to the motor and suspension for 05.
Also, I am holding the Jan. 2005 Transworld Motocross, that had the 2005 250 four stroke shootout in it in my hands and I quote ''When it comes to the overall construction, including the quality of the controls and fasteners, plus ease of accessibility when working on the bikes, the Honda comes out on top."

It won the shootuot, just so you know.

[bad01300ex]

thank you Quad Boy

it took 3 pages of talking to get what i was lookin for

thanks everyone for the help

[SSracingNY]

04 crf's had a valve issue. That issue was they didnt seat right. thats it. That issue was fixed in 05. and if you have valve problems or other problems then maybe its a default or maybe you need to look at the manual and understand it, or learn how to ride the bike proporly:eek2:

[MXridin841]

For 2006 Kawasaki is winning all the 250f shootouts. It only lost 1 but it did come into second behind that Yamaha's 1st place. If you want some real information about dirtbikes and not hearsay go to www.thumpertalk.com

you can get some real knowledge on 250fs from guys on there and see what kind of bike is having problems. I will be purchasing a 2006 Yamaha 250f is the next month or 2 because I think that they are the most reliable bike and 1 of the best bikes on the market right now. However, in this day in age the bikes are so close together in their strengths that whatever you choose will be a good bike. You just have to decide what is the best for you.