I wrote this review in the hopes it might help someone trying to decide between bikes. At any rate, I was looking between several different bikes. What I knew going into things was that I wanted a 4-stroke performance trailbike. I didn't want a 4-stroke track-only bike because they don't come with...
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I wrote this review in the hopes it might help someone trying to decide between bikes. At any rate, I was looking between several different bikes. What I knew going into things was that I wanted a 4-stroke performance trailbike. I didn't want a 4-stroke track-only bike because they don't come with lighting coils and typically do not have electric start either. So that narrowed down my choices. So now I started looking at manufacturers models, I was looking at Honda (crf230f, crf250x, crf450x), Kawasaki(klx250s, klx300 and klx400), KTM (400 and 450ex/c), Suzuki (dr-z250 and dr-z400), and Yamaha (ttr230, wr250f, wr450f). My favorite type of riding is sandpits so I wanted something with enough power to get me through the sand and up (relatively) steep hills (I'm never going to Glamis living in NH). And I also didn't want to have to modify the bike that I'd be buying to suit my needs, I wanted it to be powerful right out of the crate. This eliminated the ttr230 and the crf230f. This left me with some serious contenders. I passed on the KTMs, though great bikes, I thought they'd be much higher maintenance than the Japenese competition, and they were most certainly priced higher than the Japanese competition. So they were off the candidate list. I was looking hard at the Kawasaki KLX250s and KLX300, The KLX300 was very high on my list for a while during my research phase but I completely over-looked the fact that it didn't have electric start so I wrote that off. Then the KLX250s was quoted as weighing 260lbs dry, AND had the DOT Smog restricting crap on it so I wrote that off. If the KLX300 had electric start, for the price, I might have gone for it. I then looked at the DRZ400 dirt only version (street was 290lbs dry!!) This was too heavy for my liking at 261 lbs dry, and also no kickstart back-up in case the electric start failed. Going to make for a bad day if you are 40 miles away from your truck. Now I started splitting hairs between the CRF250x, CRF450X and their arch rivals the WR250F and WR450F. I ended up writing off both the 450's with the idea that they were just too big for what I wanted to do. Extra power is nice, but it's not always great. Also, each bike had the same fuel capacity as the 250 and I didn't want to have to worry about whether or not I'd be making it back to the truck without running out of fuel or not. don't get me wrong, if I was riding in open areas it would have been the 250s being written off, but I know I'd be riding tight trails and in relatively small areas. So rather than be a big fish in a small tank, I'd rather be a small fish in a big tank and looked at the Honda and Yamaha 250s. Well, I reached the conclusion that either bike would have fit the bill perfectly for me. However, I am partial to Honda having owned several Honda Dirtbikes and ATV's in the past and having them absolutely blow me away with their reliability and build quality. Also, every review I read for the CRF250X raved about the bike as well. Then I saw the bike for sale. So I grabbed it as soon as I could. After one ride on the bike, I know I've made the right choice. It fires right up with a push of the magic button and it weighs in at 225lbs dry (about 240lbs with fuel and oil). Absolutely can not beat that. It'll rip a wheelie in third and (I'm told) is good for about 80mph on the top end. Couldn't be any more happy, I know this thing will last me years and I'll be leaving it primarily stock (You'd have to be a moron to add a loud exhaust to this bike). Just to rub it in the face of all you non-NH residents, my bike is fully street legal with the stock headlight/tail light, and aftermarket mini-mirror, Acerbis mini-brakelight, and mini-air horn. AWESOME. I've never been more glad I left Taxachusetts.
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