Most reliable 250f?

[BlaineKaiser450]

Since my 450 is almost finished im thinking about getting a 250f (in quite a while) just so i can ride more tracks and stuff. Id be looking for reliability mainly. I dont want to put any money other than standard maintneince into it also. I would like a honda but i heard that they have valve issues. How big is this "issue"? Thanks

[250r rider 88]

my buddy has a yamaha and its one of the most reliable ive seen compared to all our riding buddies bikes, all he has done is normal oil changes and always rides with a clean filter, no valve adjustments as of yet or anything else, the bike is also all stock as well no pipe or anything

it is a good reliable bike i will say that

[Ruby Soho]

the yz250f is the most reliable hands down.

as long as you keep up on its maintenance it'll be fine

[DJJ450r]

I have an 09 yz250f and so far so good, i went with yamaha because I heard there the most reliable.

[ZeroLogic]

Deffently Yamaha.:o

[SRH]

yamaha

[ATVMX905]

ya im a honda fan but yamaha hands down has the best reliability.

[whitebros400]

i heard that the crf250r's are good to and very fast

[powermadd400ex]

Originally posted by ZeroLogic
Deffently Yamaha.:o

[KXRida]

Yzf is the way to go. After seeing the headache all my buddy's with crf's go through, I'm glad I have a yzf. I have roughly 40 total hours on mine (yes since 05) and valves are 100% in spec. It's not unusual for yzfs to have valves in spec for over 100 hours. Keep up on your oil and filter changes though, esepcially with high compression. Other than that, gas oil, and go ride.

[I-7]

I've had my 2005 CRF since 2004 and since then I had to have the valves replaced once... a horrible horrible experience. Other than that it has been great to me and I love it. No matter what brand, as long as you keep up with routine maintenance, you will be fine. My friend has a yzf250 and beats the hell out of it, but it still holds up extremely well. If it was up to me personally, I would buy the KTM.

[mxtuner]

ktm or yamaha. I got a 05 kx250f, wont stay together for **** it seems like, has had alot of problems. Newer ones suppose to be better though they say.

[UNBROKEN]

Originally posted by whitebros400
i heard that the crf250r's are good to and very fast

someones tellin u some BS , lol there nice bikes but def dont have the durabilty as yamaha motors

the new crf250 is sex along with the new crf450 lol. in person and out there racing easily the best looking bike on the track. as far as reliability i couldnt tell ya. Honda makes great engines in most things. The new crf450 I want to ride one it has to be a rocket! The 450's only weigh 11-12lbs more than the 250's. The CRF over the YZ... the CRF has more suspension travel too

[Ruby Soho]

the honda's handle/perform great, but there reliability isn't the greatest.

if your looking for reliability go with the yamaha, their handling is pretty good as well, not the best but also not the worst.

the kawasuckies have weak engines, and handle like crap IMO.

suzuki i have no experience with, but i hear their time bombs

the ktm is fast, but the honda out handles it all day long

[whitebros400]

just watch this about the honda. i couldnt find the video where they compare all the 250's. tomorrow they compare all the 2009 250's.
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[outacontrol]

have a ktm 250f and couldnt be happier!!

[Honda TRX250ex]

IMO and i dont care what others say but the crf. all four stroke motors need valve adjustments and need to be maintained.
You should just rode a few bikes and pick from what you like not what other like.

[jesseweaver]

as for performance i cant tell you much cause ive only really ridden my yami hard, but reliability the yamahas great. i was always a honda guy and loved their reliability but my yamaha never has any problems. if i had to buy another 250f itd be a yami no doubt.

[250r rider 88]

i will say this the new kawasakis are beautifully built machines, fast as hell, great suspension travel and by far the best cornering, and that comes from the mouth of a former arenacross champion and one of my best buddies

that being said the new CRFs are winning the shootout for all around bike, because of their ergonomics, motor, and suspension

break it down by category and it looks like this:

Overall: Honda, Yamaha comes in a close second
Motor: KTM, the new honda motor makes alot more low-mid range power just as a side note
Motor reliability: Yamaha
Cornering: Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha close tie for 2nd
Suspension: toss up it depends on the rider alot

these are what im seeing in all the tests and from my buddies opinions as they are buying their new bikes for race season

[KXRida]

The honda's aren't bad but it's all ones personal opinion. Nothing was said about four strokes not needing valve adjustments and maintainence. That's a given for any four stroke motor. When valves start sucking down through the head and ruining a large portion of the motor (I've seen this countless times on the crf250r's as well as the 450s) that is just uncalled for. Also, as far as suspension, I'd say the 11.8'' on the yzf is adequate enough for most riders. If you absolutely need the extra .6'' more power to yah.

Yzf - 01-02 were alright. First on the market and could use a little more in the power dept. 03-05 got progressivley better with the normal suspension and motor upgrades. 05-09 uses a redesigned head. 08-09 now use 13.5:1 comp pistons. 06 was when the yzf switched to aluminum frame. Some like the handling, some don't. IMO I like it a little better than my 05. My 05 feels somewhat top heavy.

Crf - we'll start with the 04-05. Awesome bikes... when they run. I like the feel of them. Very narrow and well balanced. I personally like showa suspension over KYB, so I did like the showa on the honda, but anymore it's all about the same from the factory. The motors seem to be geared more towards low-mid power. They pull hard right off of idle. After that they just kinda wander off in the power. The 06+'s are pretty much the same. I am personally not a fan of the "new, revoulutionized" dual exhaust. Sounds more like a marketing crock to me and is just something else to spend a lot more money on.

04/05 kxf/rmz - both are the same bikes for these years. They were so-so bikes. I liked them, but nothing really stood out about them. When you ride it, you feel like you're just going through the motions. I did notice (setting the sag did help a little) that they liked to understeer. Could be a matter of a different offset in the clamps, or suspension, but I didn't like that coming into corners.

06+ kxf - very good overall bike, but I have limited time on them, so I can't really give you guys any opinions on them. From what time I did have on it, I liked it. Very smooth and powerful. If I were to buy a brand new bike, I would be considering buying a new kxf.

06+ rmz - I looked forward to riding this bike so much... and it turned out to be kind of a let down. The motor was not nearly as good as I expected it to be. In stock form it just felt like a dog. It pulled, but for lack of terms, it had no balls. After a few mods to get some air flowing it helps some, but the above models would probably still have an advantage on it. It has the typical razor sharp suzuki handling which I am a fan of, so naturally it was a good handling bike, most suzuki's are.

sxf - two words... power house. In stock form, I think these bikes would keep right with a lot of modded 250f's. I've got quite a bit of time on a 07 sxf and I was almost on the verge of trading my yzf in on one... then the problems set in. I swear every ktm owner I know has problems all at one time. 4 guys I knew had to replace their cranks all at the same time! I dunno if it's a coincidence or not, but it kinda freeked me out lol. With some minor mods, these bikes absolutely rip. By far one of the strongest pulling motors. If you haven't ridden a ktm, you might want to before you consider buying one. It takes a little time to get used to the ktm's if all you have ridden is jap mxer's. The handling is a little different and feels funky for a while. It seems like you don't get has hard of a turning radius on the katooms as you would on a jap bike. If you find you thing with the ktm's suspesnion, you have one hell of a bike.

All bike have their problems, no denying that. The 06 yzf's had quite a few valve problems, but a large portion of them were fixed under factory recall. The yzf's all come stock with Ti valves as well. Keep in mind, for the most part a bike is only as reliable as the person taking care of it. Hope that helps any of you guys.

[Punk'd]

I'm buying an 09 kx250f here soon. That things sick!

[UNBROKEN]

Originally posted by Honda TRX250ex
IMO and i dont care what others say but the crf. all four stroke motors need valve adjustments and need to be maintained.
You should just rode a few bikes and pick from what you like not what other like.

no one said they dont need valve adjustments but the crf250 is high maitnece compared to a yamaha and i speak for yamaha cuz i use to have one for instance go on craigslist 9 out of 10, crf250r say "new crank ' or new valves , new motor , new head, i think honda makes great looking bikes maybe thats what draws the crowd and hondas IMO cosmedically dont show wear as easy as yamahas , i agreee with kxrida with the dual exhaust honda has again looks cool but realy all its doin is adding weight and losing exhaust scavaging which is a lose in power

[krt400ex]

the hondas are reliable if you keep on top of the oil. the yamaha is by far the most reliable...and i would rate the new ("07 and up) kawasakis pretty reliable too

[KXRida]

Originally posted by krt400ex
the hondas are reliable if you keep on top of the oil. the yamaha is by far the most reliable...and i would rate the new ("07 and up) kawasakis pretty reliable too


The problem with the honda's are the heads. They must be too soft or something because they seem to just suck the valves down in the head after so long, both 250 and 450, but yes, frequent oil/filter changes are good, especially with high compression.

[pro-rider46]

Originally posted by KXRida
The problem with the honda's are the heads. They must be too soft or something because they seem to just suck the valves down in the head after so long, both 250 and 450, but yes, frequent oil/filter changes are good, especially with high compression.

if you keep after the adjustments like people should they shouldnt have as much problems as people say they do. Plus 06+ trx 450r uses the same head and i dont ever hear of them with valve problems. I keep after my crf and trx 450 and havent has a SINGLE valve problem. and i ride daily. now i dont know about the 250s, but im sure its not as big of a problem as people claim them to be.

[BlaineKaiser450]

how often would i need to adjust the valves? i rode my friends CRF250f and it seemed PERFECT. it felt super balanced and handled well for me. My friend said that he hardly ever needs to adjust the valves. Anyone have any imput?

[pro-rider46]

well if you get one new, break it in and check the valves, then after that check them at like 20 hour or 15 hour intervals.

[BlaineKaiser450]

how difficult is it to check the valves? Would aftermarket valves or anything help cure the frequent checks?

Originally posted by BlaineKaiser450
how difficult is it to check the valves? Would aftermarket valves or anything help cure the frequent checks?

can you check then on your quad? same thing.

[KXRida]

Originally posted by BlaineKaiser450
how difficult is it to check the valves? Would aftermarket valves or anything help cure the frequent checks?


valve checks should be done anywhere between 15 and 20 hours regardless of brand. Get yourself a manual and a nice set of feeler gauges. It'll probably be a little tricky the first few times, but it's pretty straight forward. I usually check mine after about 5 races or so, haha but then again I only did like 7 races this past season. I still check them often though. My yzf has roughly 40 hours on it since new and I know I've checked the valves atleast 4 times. My one intake valve needed an ever ever so slight adjustment. Other than that the other 4 were spot on no problems at all.

The problem with honda's it seems the heads don't hold up and the valves eventually drop down. Aftermarket Ti valves do help, but if you want to drop the coin on kibblewhites, that's up to you. Don't get me wrong, the crf's are great looking, very well balanced, good bike bikes. I just can't get over how many people have valve problems with them. I almost bought a 2004 crf, but ended up going the yzf route.

[BlaineKaiser450]

right now im torn between a Crf and a Kawi. 15-20 hours is acctually a good amount of riding. Oh and for either id do kibblewhites

[KXRida]

Originally posted by BlaineKaiser450
right now im torn between a Crf and a Kawi. 15-20 hours is acctually a good amount of riding. Oh and for either id do kibblewhites


What year for either?

For pretty much any of the 250f's I'd personally go 06+. 06 was the year pretty much all of the 250f's got redesigned/upgraded.

[BlaineKaiser450]

06+ but im looking for a lightly used 07 or 08

[BlaineKaiser450]

anyone got more input?

[honda400-4-ever]

if you put kibblewhite ss valves in a kawi or yami do u still have to maintain the head as much as the stock valves?

[woodsracer144]

ok, honestly KAWI has changed some stuff around since 04 05... my buddy ofr a 09 sx250 ktm and blew the trans the first week took it back went toanother spot for a 09 kxf250 and its been a really nice bike, he got a fmf pipe and some other odds and ends and i've put all the parts on it and its been a really really nice bike, he got areally good deal on it too i think he paid 4500 otd! with another set of plastic and graphics....

are you gonna race it as a mx bike or as a hybrid?

i think each factory is steppin things up... i would take a yz250 if i was you... if you can run them in the 250f class yet...

[UNBROKEN]

Originally posted by honda400-4-ever
if you put kibblewhite ss valves in a kawi or yami do u still have to maintain the head as much as the stock valves?

really depends on the aplication and intended use in a yami for instance the valves are already durable so theres no good reason to put a SS kibblewhite valves in the bike , and if you do and run ure bike hard up to the revlimiter u will def need to change out valve springs due to the ss valve weighing almost double over the stock Ti valve and that will cause valve float at high rpm , if u trail ride the SS valve wont cause a problem

[quad2xtreme]

Originally posted by UNBROKEN
really depends on the aplication and intended use in a yami for instance the valves are already durable so theres no good reason to put a SS kibblewhite valves in the bike , and if you do and run ure bike hard up to the revlimiter u will def need to change out valve springs due to the ss valve weighing almost double over the stock Ti valve and that will cause valve float at high rpm , if u trail ride the SS valve wont cause a problem

I was going to say something similar...if you go with Ti valves you will need to lighter springs. This should save wear and tear on the valve seats.

[honda400-4-ever]

does anyone know the pros and cons of Kawasaki and yamahas 250f's?

[jesseweaver]

Originally posted by honda400-4-ever
does anyone know the pros and cons of Kawasaki and yamahas 250f's?

i have both . both are 2006s. i LOVE my yamaha, best bike i've ever riden. really stable and smooth and handles like a champ. have never had any problems with it eith, not a single one. and thats after a year straight of banging the limiter all day long. just keep up on the maintnence.

i really like the kawi too, but not as much as the yami. i think it might have just a little bit more power but it doesn't come on nearly as smooth and the bike feels a little bit unstable.


both good bikes but the yami is ages better for me. if i'd ever have to buy another 4 stroke bike, it'd be a yamaha no doubt.