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Just my opinion, but I would suggest buying the regular “MX” model of whatever bike you’re interested in. From my experience owning a Yz 250 and Yz250x (current bike) I noticed that the 250x lacks more on the track than the 250 does off-road. The YZ250 is much more of a Swiss Army knife of a bike than its cross country counter part. Same principle could be applied to any other manufacturer moto and off road models. Hope that helps
Take my 24 ec300 (xcw) to the track all the time. Does just fine. Not hitting anything big though. Peep the profile picture
Its easier to ride a XC bike on the track than it is to ride a motocross bike on the trails, the suspension is a small part of that but the 18" rear helps a lot off road and isn't noticeable on the track and if you are racing than you need the 2 gallon tank.
The kickstand is actually awesome, no lifting it up on the stand and when you are loading up bikes you don't have to find somewhere to lean your bike when you forget the straps.
I threw the idea around of getting a YZ250FX or 450FX because I was interested in racing this local GP series that combines mx track and faster trails. I saw a lot of reviews saying that the YZ FX models have very firm, almost mx-ish suspension settings. But then I rode a friends Husky 300, I think the TX? And it was so soft that I just didn't feel like I could push at all, on a track. I even firmed it up with clickers. So, yeah, I dunno. After that day, I sort of bailed on that idea. Maybe the Yamahas are a little closer to the MX settings but I realized that I like my bikes kind of firm, especially the fork. I don't like it to really move a lot and I'm not sure I'd be happy with a bike doing double duty.
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Most people who race off-road like GPs and GNCC type events are more prone to using a MX bike if they are trying to be competitive in a fast class.
Then why is the entire XC1/2 class on fx and x model bikes? Plus pretty much the rest of the PM racers?
GNCC teams will put the appropriate cross country model decals on their bikes even if they aren't actually riding that particular model.
He could still be a top 5-10 guy imo.
All I know is this, when someone shows up to the track in an X model its one of two things. They are about to beat the brakes off everyone or look sketchy as hell and kill themselves out there.
Quite a few 450 MX teams run a wider ratio transmission than what the stock mx bikes come with. A lot also tame down the bikes to make them easier to ride, so basically make them into the cross country bikes with 19 inch rear wheels...
Watch Carson Brown rip a track on a 1986 xr200 and tell me a modern crosscountry bike is too soft for any local track.
I have owned three “X” models recently… 2024 YZ125X, 2026 CRF250RX, and a 2026 YZ250X. While I can’t speak for all “X” models, these three bikes have been excellent practicing on the MX tracks and racing in the cross country woods. For reference, I’m 180 pounds and ride at a vet intermediate pace. The stock suspension on these three bikes handle MX tracks without a problem if you spend a little time dialing them in. On the YZ250X, I have added 20cc of fork oil to help with some bottoming, but the other two bikes were good right out of the crate.
I’m confident you would have no problem riding these type of bikes on a MX track and as some have already mentioned, most vet riders would be better off riding these ”X” type bikes on MX tracks, IMO.
Well, I didn't say anything about XC bikes being able to ride local moto. I just stated that a lot of GNCC guys run moto transmissions with 18" rear wheels regardless of whatever their decal might say.
Everything else is pretty much irrelevant since suspension valving, oversized tanks, protection parts, etc., would be the same regardless of what the underlying platform is.
I could see that being true in AZ (and lots of west coast) XC riding. For east coast or anything where lots of lower speed roots and rocks are involved MX suspension varies from punishing to downright dangerous in the woods.
East coast woods with tight single track I prefer a close ratio transmission, especially on a 250. Not as big of a deal on a 450
I'll also add that Stew Baylor has gone on record (On The Pipe Podcast) talking mad shit about (after he left) how the Yamaha FX transmissions sucked ass for GNCC riders at his level and @KR557 was recently on discussing (obviously being more politically correct) why he chose the F over the FX due to the gearbox (because again, anything else can be made the same regardless of which platform you start with).
I'm not up on what the KTM factory GNCC guys are currently running, but I know that in the past most of them ran MX gearboxes as well.
AFAIK, the XC and SX on the KTM line share the same trans. The 2 strokes have slightly less compression heads, the bikes that get the wide ratio transmission are the xcws, hence the W in the name. Other brands I believe throw their wide ratio trans in their XC lines as they don’t have true enduro spec models like the XCW
While I am not on the same planet as a xc1 or xc2 rider in GNCC, I have never gelled with the wide ratio transmissions either, be it riding woods or mx. I had both an FC 350(5 speed) and an FX 350(6 speed) at the same time and would prefer the FC every time. The FX seemed like it was never in the right spot no matter the final gearing I would try.
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