Which 2015 250f?

Get a quad instead.

Personally I like the KTM 250 and since your coming off a KTM 125 that might make it an easy transition. But lots of the bike shootouts favored the 2015 KX over the KTM...

I don't think you will go wrong either way... Maybe ask around at the track? See if someone will let you sit on their bike to get an idea of the feel?

I rode a 2015 kx250f at lacr the other day...it had pc suspension and it took the inside ruts awesome...I was very shocked at how well it did after hearing how bad it was.....out of the box the kx will be your best bike....the KTM may be easy to adapt to but the forks may need some money put into them.....plus a 2015 kawi can be had rather cheap right now! Just under 6k otd in california anyway.

Thanks for your input, i did a lot of research and talked to some kawi riders and it seems like the kxf is going to be my next bike. I am still a bit sceptical because of the cornering, but i guess i'll take the risk . After all, this bike would not have won that many shootouts if it cornered as bad as some people say.

Still, if anyone has some input, it would be appreciated.

Whatever bike you get, check the steering stem nut. On my new bike, the dealer torqued the nut down so dang hard the steering had allot of friction from steering lock to lock while on the stand. This made the bike handle poorly.

That nut does not need much torque. In fact, u see the team riders safety wire it because they run it pretty light.

Ever thought about a Yamaha?

slackinoff wrote:

Whatever bike you get, check the steering stem nut. On my new bike, the dealer torqued the nut down so dang hard the steering had allot of friction from steering lock to lock while on the stand. This made the bike handle poorly.

That nut does not need much torque. In fact, u see the team riders safety wire it because they run it pretty light.

My new 2015 YZF250 was that way. Freakin took a 2 foot cheater bar to break it loose! Loosened the jam nut and they tightened back up again with little torque on the stem nut. I guess the threads on the jam nut are pretty loose. Once I backed the jam nut even more I was able to get the proper steering head resistance (for me). Made a big difference as the bike didn't try and stand up as much mid corner. Gain just a bit of headshake, however, but still way less than my Suzuki.

I think the old style forks on the new Yamahas are great, probably because they flex more than the other mfgs. While it works well in a straight line I think they flex at turn in when the chassis has torsional loads (or the chassis flexes). Might explain some of the turn in "vagueness" people complain about. Most are raising the tubes in the clamps thinking that the reduced trail solves the problem but in doing so it also stiffens up the forks in general and reduces the moment arm which causes fork/chassis twist. That's what I think actually helps. I think they benefit from less preload as well, as the forks need to extend a bit at turn in to maintain predicable traction. Tried both on my bike and don't feel that initial looseness nearly as much.

Something about the asymmetric attachment of the subframe to the lower main frame kinda bugs me as well. I just can't see how the main frame is being loaded equally and how the subframe doesn't want to "move to the right" off center a tad when heavily loaded by the rider. Not sure what, if anything, can be done about that.

Bottom line, great bike right off the showroom. Just springs for your weight and it's good to go.

My 2013 kx 250f is a "2015" Without BNG or an oversize rotor

get the suspension revalved, and keep fresh tires on it. No problem with corners or handling

Also if you buy a kx and want a little more power

Remove the back fire screen
get it remapped for better fuel with the back fire screen out
keep the stock exhaust it works great

Thanks for your replies.

Here in Austria, yamahas are very rare, so i dont have the chance to try one out, plus, there is no dealer near me. They also are quite expensive.

I had the chance to ride a '15 kx450f today, and was really impressed! First time i rode a 450, and of course the power was great, but i also thought that it handled really well. The Ergonomics also felt natural. And the best thing was how stable it was going over breaking bumps!
The 250 probably handles similar to the 450, at least it should

So i just found a pretty good deal, going to get a 15 kx 250f on friday