Blue or Orange?

[klxMac]

Hey guys, (and gals ?) need a new ride, tired of upkeep on my 8 year old 501 berg. My personal choice options are the wr450 or a ktm 525exc. I've heard nothing but good things about the WR. Anything a guy should know or does anybody have first hand experience on both machines? Looking for the unicorn here, reliability AND power. ?

[jhteneyck]

I would go Blue myself. Although if you went to the KTM form you might hear otherwise. I owned a KTM 450 MXC for a season...was NOT impressed. To much wrenching for me but then again I am not a wrench head either. 2 oil filters and 2 screens every time you change fluid, fork seal issues, brobably fixed by now, I found a lot of vibration in the machine as well. I know people that do swear by the Orange bikes as well. For me the WR is the ticket. Easy to work on, parts are EVERYWHERE and less expensive, I have 2 dealers with in 30 miles of me. I also like the relaibilty of the bike. My buddies are running 99's and 2000's and even an '01 with no problems. These guys beat the bag out of these bikes and the bikes come back for more!! Adjust the valves once a year depending on how much you ride, oil change every three rides or so, air cleaner, and lube the chain....go ride!! ? Notice the color of the "thumbs up" guy...it is BLUE!! ?

[5valve]

both are good bikes, i suggest you try both and decide

KTM: oil clutch, 6 gears, simpler engine design, computer speedo, no rear linkage (less greasing), no frame oil, more oil filters

WR, japaneze precision, 2 cams, 5 valves, greater RPM's, less vibration, cooling water reservoair, the first 4stroke that rocked the world and is still doing so

I went blue because in my country WR's are rare, and I like being in minority with quality

[simon@vic]

i personally would never look back if some one where to give me a 525exc. but i cant see my self buy one soon.

6 gears is a very nice thing. you can have super low first for tight bush and still have good speed in top gear on a road. and 510cc is more the 449cc ?. i personally dont like there no linkage system.

[SMD]

Both good bikes......depends where you can the best deal and dealer. ?

[Oasis_Flame]

For the money, blue seems to be the deal and you can't beat the big power with a few simple mods. ?

[briter]

I jumped from a Suzuki DRZ400K to the WR450. My original choice was going to be the 450EXC, but I just couldn't find one and reasoned that if Austria couldn't sell me a bike in a timely manner, could they sell me parts within a week. I got a chance to ride the 450MXC some months ago, it really performed nice in sugar sand without a lot of steering wobble, can't say that about the Yamaha 450. But power and engineering are all housed in the Yamaha's corner. Little things like the lack of the rubber vibration nut that kept the pipe from vibrating and overheating the side plate on the ktm and the position of the kickstand really bugged me. Plus demand for the ktm machines has really boosted the price, you can expect to pay upwards of $8,000 at your local dealer for a 2005 (if you put your name on the waiting list now!!) Just my 2cents, hope it helps.

[jsuhr]

Hey guys, (and gals ?) need a new ride, tired of upkeep on my 8 year old 501 berg. My personal choice options are the wr450 or a ktm 525exc. I've heard nothing but good things about the WR. Anything a guy should know or does anybody have first hand experience on both machines? Looking for the unicorn here, reliability AND power. ?

I tried both and went with Yellow! Slapped a big bore 450 to feel the Orange power in there and am Very happy too

Orange rattled way too much and WR was not a pleasing ride for me, I dont race but used to and I love to fly but like long rides. I also wanted something that was reliable and I could ride on more than work on. My bike has been nothing but reliable and has tons of power with the tweaks