Posts
167
Joined
2/10/2023
Location
Claremore, OK, USA
I'm currently on a 22 450 and although it's a lot of bike and wears me out a little quicker. I refuse to "bow down" and accept defeat from the bike. I guess that's ego? I personally just refuse to let the bike beat me. I see countless riders going fast on 450s. Even local guys. Riding 450s with seemingly no issues. If they can, so can I.
I'm tired of people saying "get a 250" the moment you say something about hands cramping up, or tips on getting in shape to last longer in a moto. Also with the new tech of the tuner app I can mellow it down some. It's not the bike, It's lack of seat time. If you want a 450. Get a 450 and learn to ride it and ride it well. It will teach you proper technique more than a 250 would anyway. Rant over
I disagree with it teaching you better technique than a 250. It does teach laziness since you can point and shoot it. You can see that all day long just looking at the ruts at your local track with the rut into a sharp J at the end. Smaller engines be it 250 (2 or 4 stroke) and 125’s teach you way better keeping your momentum up into and through a turn. Roll speed through a turn is really important and having 450 power on tap ruins that learned skill. Go ask the fast 450 guys at your track if they just hopped on on and decided to be fast or if they learned on a smaller bike.
Let’s also add that some people don’t gel with a 450 and the way you’re supposed to ride it. You hear them all the time talk about how so and sos riding style really works with a 250 or a 450 better the the other. Personally a 450 isn’t the bike for me and I know that. I’m faster on my 250 2 stroke and regularly beat guys on 450’s. Obviously they should beat me cause they are on a bigger bike right?
I’ll side with AJ on this one. I had a 450 for close to two years, just wasn’t for me. I wanted to like it and tried to like it. Last time I rode it I knew that was going to be it for me and went back to a 350. I see why people like them, but not my style. Best bike I’ve had in the past ten years or so for technique was a 150sx. If you’re not riding once a week or doing some kind of something to supplement it, you’ll be a couple lap rider on any full size bike if you’re doing more than just putting around.
I am 6’1/210 in riding gear , Vet-B rider…I am fortunate to have not only one but two 450’s and I truly love riding them! BUT I also have a 250 2-stroke that I ride all the time to keep myself in the habit of trying to carry corner speed just as the guys above have mentioned! The BEST way to stay sharp is ride a bike that makes your glaring faults very obvious! Every time I go to the track with my buddy and his 16 year old son, I ride his son’s KTM125SX and realize how much I’m relying on the 450’s grunt rather than using proper technique!
Do NOT give up on yer 450! If it’s remotely possible, find a good clean used 125 and ride it too! Learn to keep up your momentum and carry speed and you’ll be amazed how easily you can go faster / longer on the 450 with proper form!
ALL dirt bikes RULE! 🤪 Good luck & don’t give up! 😎 👍❗️
(EDIT : I see that you’re in Claremore Ok! That’s great to see! I’m in Okc and ride OMC and several other Okla MX tracks regularly AND come up to Tulsa to ride with my buddy and his son too! Maybe you could come join in with us sometime!? You could take my YZ 2-stroke out for a few laps! 😎)
KTM 350sx.
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300 2,
Or 350 4.
The smaller the better for true skill.
Bigger 'can' be, lazy, but still fun. (Jumps, hills, seemingly fast)
If you're ever able to ride a bigger bore, with same 'go' as a small-bore, you've got talent!
It definitely comes across as an ego thing. Most riders at the local amateur races don’t need or aren’t using the power of a 450. Heck even pro riders are sometimes mellowing them out. Me personally I ride a 350 and it’s perfect for me. I’ve had 450s. They wore me out and put me in the dirt more than any other bikes I’ve owned. But I had 450s because that’s what my buddies had and you need power! Stupid logic. Don’t let your ego keep you from at least trying different options that may suite you better and make you better.
Mayne you're right honestly. Cause my riding style isn't the smooth kind like Jett or sexton. I'm a jason Anderson where I have alot of body language on the bike and hanging off the bike. Very aggressive style. Like AJ said maybe my style just doesn't suit the 450. Maybe I need to view that way. I just ride a 250 better vs "I can't handle the 450"
Ya bro! What's your bike number? I'll keep an eye out for you at the tracks!
You make a good point when you say some people don't gel with the 450. I think I need to accept that that's the case for me. I have an aggressive Jason Anderson riding style and I try to ride my 450 like a 250 and it just wears me out and I simply can't man handle it like I want to
That's me right now. I've been on the 450 for a year and I'm forcing myself to like it. It wears me plum out and I ride timid. I crashed 2 months ago and got bucked over the bars because I was too tired. Last lap of a 4 lap race and landed in rutted sand. Cross rutted but was too weak to land on the throttle and ride it out. I just landed and was dead weight on the bike and got ejected. Since then as soon as I'm tired I start putting around because I'm afraid to charge
Yeah that is why I don't like 450s. I ride too timid and spend too much time trying to keep the throttle under control. A 250f lets you pin it more and focus on riding the bike on the edge of your comfort zone.
I just so badly wanna be one of those guys that rides the 450 really good. But I'm pretty muscular because I do a bit of the bodybuilding lifestyle and have put on some decent size and I think that hinders my riding too. Too much blood trying too get oxygen to the muscles. I'm gonna ride this bike through the rest of the year and get a 2024 250f most likely
Give a 350 a go. You ride it like a 250.
Hahha, only on Vital!
Not making fun of you Mjones, I'm no expert either, but '450 teaching proper technique' hahah
I started my adult riding on 250f after a super super long pause and I can tell you, those 125s or super minis are rolling past me, since I'm too used to the potential power of stop and go... I don't want to but... I'm super impressed with the roll speed of many 125 riders.
Talking to local 450 riders of same skill level as me, 'I put in 3rd gear and leave it'. At least I need 2nd and 4th on my 250f
When I rode a 250f I could rail ruts cleanly 9/10 times and come in with plenty of speed. Mid pack B rider. Now on the 450 ruts seem to be more challenging for me. The abrupt torque of the 450 offsets my balance and I tend to feel I need better throttle control and carry more momentum on the 450. I feel the 450 makes me a better rider and teaches me proper technique where as the 250f I can ring its neck and hammer the throttle and just man handle the bike in the corners. That's why I feel the 450 teaches, atleast me, better technique. But I might go back to a 250f next year. We'll see. I'm about to start riding a lot more so I might really get use to the 450
I just view the 450 as a challenge. I see plenty of guys riding 450s and going fast and I wanna be one of those guys. I'm not necessarily slow I'm a decent local B rider but the 450 just wears me out and is a tad bit intimidating. So I see it as a challenge to overcome and get to the point where I'm comfortable and confidence on the bike and can charge forward in a moto instead of riding timid and scared of it. I'm really stubborn like that. I got to the point where I was getting everything out of a 250f. But if I'm being honest with myself I would very likely be faster on the 250f and have more fun. But I wanna win this challenge on the 450 first
When you are tired and lazy(and old), you depend on that 450 boost. No way in hell a 450 teaches you better techniques. Oughta be fit for a 450, but that is not an argument either, 4 lap locals and alot of power make proper techniques secondary.
The 250 and 450 need to be ridden much differently. The 250 needs to be pinned, and the 450 needs to be lugged. Riding technique is much more important on the 450 due to the additional weight and inertia.
Pit Row
Old 200SX...YAT, it's a tweener. I'm mixing it up with 250 thru 450! No Choice
Agreed
It's in the contract
125 2-smoker.... change my mind.
Oh man I'd love to build an 04-06 kx125!
I gotta an 04 kx125 mayn. Engine is done, just waiting on me to paint the frame, etc...
I'll run it with the hi-performance STIC Super X2 carb. It'll shift in the meat of the power at any point of the rpm range. No more narrow 125 powerband.
This weekend for me proved this point, I just got off a ‘22 KTM 250 XC two stroke. Hold the throttle wide until entering the corner, hammer the brakes then accelerate out of the corner as hard as I could. Bought a new ‘23 450 XC and raced it this weekend, tried to ride it the same. I got a sweet holeshot then proceeded to stall about 30 times. 😂 Bike was awesome but apparently my brain didn’t tell myself to change the way I was riding for the 4 stroke and I paid the price.
For me I’m torn. Washed up vet B rider. Local A back in my 20’s. My closest track is 3 palms in north Houston and mostly sandy. For there I love the 450. For every other hard pack track (Rio, iron dog, Murphy’s) I prefer the 250 or even a 125. The 450 is boring with more traction. However the sand at 3 palms makes me love it. Just depends what you ride mostly. I can see both sides.
Murphy’s is pretty sketch with less traction lol. Especially in the afternoons.
What’s your suspension set up like?
I wore myself way out just doing single track poker runs in the PNW on my 250 that was set up for hard pack MX in So Cal.
Once I got that figured out, it was a lot better.
That’s why I would get there early and leave by noon when I lived out that way! Haha
Have you looked in to different throttle cams? I had some a few years ago, G2 I think was the brand. I used the mellow one on a 450 and really got on with it good. And yeah, I used to start a race in 2nd gear, change to 3rd and leave it until the race finished. Occasional faster tracks I would click 4th once or twice per lap. That was it.
This was actually near the end of my racing years and I somewhat thought this style of riding did teach me something new. Knowing 3rd was going to lug through the turns at quite a fast pace, I learned to corner better than ever.
Yes I had an upbringing on two strokes- I raced everything from a KX60 to a RM250 and every class in between, before moving on to the four strokes in 2002.
Post a reply to: The ol 250 vs 450 talk