Posts
1594
Joined
11/18/2006
Location
DFW, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
3/27/2015 7:34pm
Just sold my 300 SX.
I am already thinking ahead on next years choice. Here's the thing, I think those 16 Katooms are going to be sick, but the entire reason im getting off my 300 is because im ready for a more relaxed, short shifting style of riding.
Id imagine if I get the 350, I am going to love it, but ima ride it hard, rev it high, and pretty much be back in my same boat only 4 stroke status.
450, short shifts, long motos, cruising...
Opinions?
I am already thinking ahead on next years choice. Here's the thing, I think those 16 Katooms are going to be sick, but the entire reason im getting off my 300 is because im ready for a more relaxed, short shifting style of riding.
Id imagine if I get the 350, I am going to love it, but ima ride it hard, rev it high, and pretty much be back in my same boat only 4 stroke status.
450, short shifts, long motos, cruising...
Opinions?
I am not riding as much, and want to just cruise. the 350 might be an excellent choice, but I cant picture it having the balls to hit inside ruts in 3rd.
The weight of the 450 was a factor, but its 10 lbs lighter this year...lol
AGHHHHHH.
(my uninformed opinion is all leftover knowledge from a podcast I probably listened to while drunk).
but i'd get the 350. if it were me. i'm also slow.
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AC222 seems to think they are pretty good... and i doubt anyone is faster than he is!!!
With that being said, usually you just gotta throw the dealer $100 or something to put your name on the first one.
AC222 is riding agressive, I aint tryin to do that.
I also consider resale value...more people are going to buy the 450 over the 350, used.
Thank You KTM, Husqvarna, Beta, Gas Gas, etc.
Body weight, your build, intended usage, price & class rules always seem to weigh on that decision.
Losing that last 10lbs. and getting on a new 10lbs. lighter KTM or Husky 450 sounds damn tempting though!
Pit Row
So, there's always that.
Plus being a vet pro practice rider, thats and old never racer, not pro level vet racer
Ryan I've seen you ride, you better just get the 450 haha!
It sounds as if they are going to be on a waiting list
I feel pretty certain that I want to upgrade my 12 to the 16.
Time to call the dealer and put some cash down.
I love my 350 and couldn't imagine it at 220 lbs instead of 236 lbs but 215 lbs is where the 350 needs to be and we would be murdering the 450's but some people already do on a 350
Jason
the 350 will be similar to the 300 in over all power. the 300 (if well jetted) will be snappier off the bottom, have a hair more in the bottom and lower mid, be the same through the upper mid for power with a hair more torque everywhere...... after the 3hunny signs off and runs out of revs, the 350 starts to get serious. at this point some 450s don't have as much giddy-up. i just rode my buddy's new leftover '14 crf450 and to be honest, it may have had a little more roll on torque off the bottom but felt lethargic everywhere else compared to my 350. snap is not in the CRFs vocabulary, it has none. by comparison, the 350 is super snappy and scary fast up top. the crf was just very lazy off the bottom, average through the mid and fell on it's face up top. it is the very first 450 that i thought i could ride to my full potential on tight single track and not tire myself out pre-maturely (and to be honest, the air fork felt pretty damn good.... better than my '15 4CS fork). another friend's '13 450XCF (that i have spent a good amount of time on) is a beast compared to the CRF (both in stock form). the big XCF is less snappy than the 350 but has more power everywhere until you reach the upper revs and then they feel very similar.
off road, the 300 still edges out the 350 especially in "oh chit" moments when you have to get that front end up yesterday. the 2 stroke is just inherently more snappy and lofts the front end in any gear from anywhere in the revs.... it does it better than a 450 and the snappy 350 seems to have more snap than any 450 i have ridden (including another friends 450XCF and a '14 KXF which has a great motor). weight wise, the 350 may or may not feel heavier than the 3hundy to you even in the tight stuff. in the air on a moto track is really the only place i could ever feel it and even then it was only slightly different. what took me quite a while to learn was how to use the engine braking to my advantage vs. it just wearing me out. on the track, the 350 is clearly the winner for me over the 300, it is just so damn easy to ride fast and has enough juice up top to keep up with anything on the track without being overwhelming in the rest of the rev range.
the '11/12 350s were totally different than the '13+ 350s. WAY more motor bone stock on the newer versions.
these days i ride 60/40 offroad/MX, if it were the other way around, i'd be on a 350 no question. to be honest, i think the 350 made me a more well rounded rider, i know i learned a lot from learning to ride it and in some situations, gained speed. i've done the 450 thing and they were just always just too damn much by the end of a long day be it off road or at the track. they just wore me out so much faster (though a 450 is easy to ride). to be honest, when the new bike itch hits in another year or two, the 350 will be a strong contender and i may go that route as i do feel faster in some situations offroad than i do on the new 300. i could live with either a 300 or a 350 and be just as happy with either one.
if you truly want easy riding, the 450 can be easy to ride.... but also exhausting though i'm guessing you know exhausting coming off an SX modded 300. the reason i loved the 350 on the track over my 450 or 300s was because it is so dang easy to ride. much easier than the 300 could every hope to be. you could be lazier with it but still scream it. the 450s have always been so tiring to ride hard, all the extra engine inertia, engine braking and rip your arms off bottom end made me fade much faster on them.
bone stock when my 350 and my bud's 450XCFs were new..... they felt night and day different weight wise he felt it, i felt it. there is no comparison..... lifting off the stand.... yeah, very little difference but the second the wheels turn there is no comparison. the 350 feels lighter, significantly lighter.
show me a 250F that makes 54hp...... even factory 250Fs
the 350 will eat 250s for lunch...... and dare i say it, the CRF450
full drag races with an identical year KTM 450 put my buddy half a bike length ahead of me at 5th gear and visa versa when we swapped bikes to drag race. then i'd click 6th and leave him looking at my back fender (his is a 5 speed).
guys that say they 350 feels like a heavy 250F are either full of it and have never ridden it.... or....... are full of it and never ridden it.
yep, its softer off the bottom than most 450s (i say most because the CRF really felt no different off idle with the exception of lacking any semblance of snap) as well as the lower mid, upper mid its not far off and up top it rivals 450s but will rev out another 2,000 after the big thumpers have hit the rev limiters. sorry man, you are way off base. yes, the 350 will not have the torque curve of the 450s but it can hang with any of them. a 250..... not so much. they definitely need to be ridden differently than a 450 but not nearly as differently as a 250 would require. if a guy can ride a 250/300 2 stroke, he will very easily adapt to the 350... more so than any other 4st.
I really love my 350, but it will be for sale at the end of the summer....to buy a new 2016 350
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