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Where is the fire breathing full mod Ducati 450?
Where is a race tuned beta 350 2 stroke shooting for 60-70hp?
How about a full mod triumph 450 or 250?
Nothing seems to have been done with any of the “new” and unique offerings.
Yawn.
They realized the audience cares more about electric start, airbag protection, and which tires last the longest.
But to answer your question, +1 tooth in the rear.
That would be cool to see some of the new bikes built up. A lot of those build articles/vids sometimes end up just seeming like an advertisement for parts though. It can be entertaining but a lot of them, just lack substance and just talk about what is on the bike. I used to really like those types of write-ups but now I have sort of gotten interested in things like Keefer does where he addresses a complaint or area of a bike with a possible solution. Even if I don't have the bike, I just like reading about ways to make a Honda chassis more compliant or getting the Kawi engine to perk up etc. Stuff like like that is interesting and feels more real-world. I did like MXAs built YZ250f and YZ250 2stroke, not long ago, however. And I wouldn't mind seeing a full-mod Ducati test, if it was done with some substance and not just a parts catalog ad.
They 100% are advertisements. Jay Clark does the most builds, and his are almost a copy and paste of the previous build every time. That's not an insult to him, he's got a fun job and found a way to make a living doing it, but that's exactly what's going on. He's currently partnered with Twisted, Race Tech, and the race winning brands group (Wiseco/JE/ProX/Rekluse/etc) so he's going to crank out as many builds with those products as he can. A few years ago when the All Balls Racing Group was under different ownership everything he built was basically their catalog; Hotcams, Vertex, Cylinder Works, Pivot Works, etc. Companies want to get some "organic marketing" on a new product or one that they feel is not selling as well as it could, so they get a bike build done featuring that product. Now you have 4 pages in a magazine, or a full podcast, video or typed article on Vital of your product where people are reading and trying to find an edge from a trusted media source... Or you could spend X amount on a banner ad or one page ad in whatever magazine.
The other option is the media guys want to ride something fun, like a sweet two stroke or a mod 250, and want to get one built for them to ride. I've heard a secondhand story (please don't take this as gospel) about a media outlet requesting a project bike from PC. Supposedly PC said sure, that'll be 5 grand. The media outlet said something to the effect of "well we thought you'd give us that in exchange for the advertisement" and Mitch replied something to the effect of "uhhh, we race, that's where our marketing money goes".
Occasionally you'll find a privately built bike wind up as a build in a media outlet, it's just more and more rare it seems like.
Keefer literally has a full column called "Garage builds."
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I cant lie.
I went +1 on the 250 xcf I had. Should have been like that from the factory.
Don't sleep on the Vital Bike Builds subforum. There are some great real world builds and discussions that aren't paid advertisements like the media ones. This popped up yesterday, CR500 with billet cases and transmission:
50% of the time, it works every time
“We did everything on this 350 build that we’ve done on every 350 we’ve built for the last ten years. We did everything under the sun, sent the ECU to Twisted Development, Decal Works graphics and seat cover, and Dunlop Tires. Thanks to Dunlop for sponsoring this video.”
Followed by 2 minutes of warming the bike up in the pits, 2 clips of it on the track, and then 10 minutes of rambling about tunable ECUs and acting like it’s the first one to ever exist.
Agreed 1000% with you and some of the other sentiments in here, which kind of is what I was getting at with saying where’s the unique builds.
They’ve had no problems doing the 5000th yz250 builds, the 900th 350 build but no beta 350 mega 2 stroke build?
Nobody’s curious if there’s some big power hidden in a Ducati Desmo valvetrain?
Idk like you all said it’s copy and paste year after year and a total advertisement. Such a joke and such a shame.
I can’t speak for the other brands, but the Beta 350’s are in short supply. I’m sure the magazines don’t have bikes that they can tare into.
I really enjoyed the MXA Pro Circuit KX250 build.
This has been keeping me busy for the last few months…in so deep but damn it looks cool in the garage
There’s really not a whole lot of availability to do unique builds anymore anyway. 4 stroke EFI era has brought such a large chunk of the bike’s performance into ECU tuning (sure 250s and 350s are doing second injectors) that throwing a GET or Vortex and getting the suspension done is the cookie cutter setup for everyone. Add in your favorite exhaust brand and these setups have been done over and over again
That Honda two-stroke build is bad-ass! What year is that thing?
Yep, magazines back in the day would do a “Built to the Hilt” and have the current offerings built for as much performance as possible. It seems like even Whiskey Throttle, VitalMX, MXA, and Dirt Bike have gone silent on these. The 350 is what everyone wants to see hopped up. Also, the TM144 with a whole lot of stuff thrown at it. For sure the Desmo. The other 450s are all a little boring. Even so, it would’ve been cool to see some coverage of the Pasha bikes and the hopped up bikes from the 2-stroke world champs. The mags are all asleep.
It’s a 2007. I’ll make a thread on it after it’s all finished. It’s been a fun/tough project, my son didn’t want a new Yamaha and I’m not buying a Ktm brand 85, so we settled on dumping a bunch into a 19yo bike. Then we just started jumping hurdles to get it finished. It’s been a hell of a winter finding the right parts that I wanted on it.
I have not done a new build in about 3 years….I have a fleet of bikes I have built that I ride & race…the bikes keep me busy! I”m 100% 2 stroke guy and do most of the work myself, some lessons learned the hard way😂 I want to learn about building a 4T, so I”m being patient until the right one pops up….the best builds are regular guys like here on Vital, most industry/ magazine shill builds are cringeworthy ….the first 2-3 years I followed this site for for the builds and tech sections only….just blew a head gasket on my 96, probably should have used loctite on the cylinder studs 😂
Pit Row
It looks amazing, and the fact that you put the power now/power blade in the carb is such a chefs kiss for period correct mods. Hell yeah.
100%
And then they'll get details of the bike wrong in the video and not do another take, like it doesn't take an extra 5 minutes.
I really want to see someone do a ‘96 McGrath build on a Beta 350 two stroke. Can get plastic in all the right colours, white frame, brushed swingarm, silver rims and a cone pipe.
Cmon vital - vital mx logo in place of the Honda wing and 1-800-vitalmx 👌🏻👍🏻
"They 100% are advertisements." Glad somebody else sees it.
I'd like to do a build, but the bikes that interest me are going to be a parts nightmare. And I would want to ride them.
2008 Husaberg FE 550 is bike I'd like to build. Honda XR-650. KTM 950 SuperEnduro.
I enjoy finding a bike that's mechanically sound but cosmetically beat up and refurbing it. So far I've broke even on those projects. I enjoy the process.
In the old days the mags figured out what worked and reported on that.. it wasn't just a paid ad from FMF/PC etc.
Often times they'd find some trick porting secret or a pipe from a little known company and tell about that. The modern builds are exhausting since they don't really go into why a part works.. just here's a $1000 full exhaust from PC we love it, here's a link to buy
This is one of the best build threads on the site for those interested.
Honda XR250R build e-start- titanium - Bike Builds - Motocross Forums / Message Boards - Vital MX
“It runs a little cleaner off the bottom”
…and a little more hold up.
That’s an extra solid intake spacer! Custom or aftermarket?
That’s a moose racing 10mm intake block, boyesen Xwing, and MSV coil. I put the stat sheet next to a ‘25 Ktm 85 and I was kind of surprised how close it was. With no power valve(and from remembering myself as kid back in the day) they lack bottom end bad, so I wanted to get as much out of it as I could without having to do motor work for my kids first year on a 85. Its going to be a nightmare if we ever have a carb problem at the track because that thing is crammed in there.
Thanks. Yeah they're a great little motor but definitely lack bottom end without a power valve. Reshaping the head will help with that. Carb certainly looks big, hope your jetting is spot on 😅
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