gone to the red side

[Mark_England]

after a few years of man handling a yzf400 round enduro type events,,ive just brought a new 03 crf

gonna keep the yzf,, but this honda seems well bolted together and is sooooo light

,,,,now if it only had a leccy start

[SMD]

Mark congrats on the new ride. Enjoy your Honda, they are and excellant scoot. ?

[Math]

Mark,

mx bike in the woods...hmmmmmmm.. ?

This move seems a little bit strange to me. Got a lot of bad comments from friends that rode this bike in the woods. Of course it is light and powerful but they told me that they did feel the bike was almost exclusively built for the track and felt uncomfortable at riding it in the woods. Are you in the woods riding or comp? If you bring this bike in the woods, I'll be happy to hear what your opinion is. Do you think, for example that an hypothetical new CRF450x would be built on the same frame...

[mmxr650r]

Mark,

I disagree wit "Math's" comments...if you are a descent rider, with any ability to handle a clutch, you will do fine in the woods. I ride much single track, and have only decided to add a 9oz. trailtech weight to help in the really tight stuff...as for everything else, you can't beat the reduction in weight (you can change lines in steep up-hills at will)...have fun with the bike!...do add a skid plate, though!

[Mark_England]

yeah i understand the comments about an mx bike for enduro type events however ive just come from a YZF400 so am used to an mx bike

ive only tried the crf round the car park , but i did put it in 3rd and chug around at tickover without stalling

ive put a 52tooth rear sproket on also a renthal chain, works connection skid plate ,bark busters and protaper bars with full waffle grips

it was a toss up between a ktmexc450 and the crf450 . but i decided on the crf purely on its wieght [or lack of it]

i think when they produce the crf450x it will have the same frame with maybe a few extra lugs welded on for coolent bottle etc

anyway im riding in wales tomorrow so ill let you know

[Math]

You know guys, I still think that the best thing to do is to find a bike that suits the rider...To be honest, I have to say that comments I received were comming from guys who never raced on an mx track and most of them never owned an mx bike at all so their opinion is not fully reliable...They are good riders tough...

Personally, I never had the chance to try the new red monster but as I often ride trails where the best bike would probably be a trial, you'll never gonna see me with a mx bike.

I think that in your case, your good experience with the YZ tells a lot and you will probably have a lot of fun with your new ride as they are both good bikes.

As I said before, I would be happy if you could give your impressions on the bike after a few rides

Now go put some dirt on it ?

Friendly,

[Parx_400]

i might add if you are tall you can ride anything. maybe a smaller rider that could not handle so much power would feel it is a track bike. i am tall enought that i can handle any bike. infact i am begging for more power right now. i want a yzf 450, bad.

parx

[Math]

I agree with you Park, In several enduro situations, being tall is a real advantage. I'm 6'1 and weight 175 pounds.

Being tall facilitates the use of an mx bike in the woods for sure.

The thing is that, in rough trails: what makes the diff is the clutch control, good balance at low speeds, good traction at low speed, transmission that can let you deal with the throttle action only (without the shifter) for more than 15 seconds... The emphasis on the mx is more about, easy gear shift, powerful acceleration, good balance as well but rather for the air part of the race, lightness, hard fork angles to accept the landings (rather than for cornering trees...

But as I said before: everything is in the match between the pilot and the bike: I've seen guys doing amazing things on their 125 mx in the woods...

[mmxr650r]

I agree with your thoughts, Math...didn't mean to sound negative. Very true that there are many different ways to look at the feel of bike, and suiting the rider is sometimes hard to do. I can only speak from my recent experience with my BRP (2002 XR650R), as compared to my CRF. I will take the effort of more clutching any day over fighting with the 300lbs BRP. My riding and confidence has improved vastly since I traded for the CRF. The reduction in weight alone makes all of the single track, and rocky desert (and mountains) much more enjoyable for me. Although the CRF will not do what the XR, or WR, will do on the long, straight "fire roads", I decided that I didn't need to be going 100mph anyways...a wipeout at that speed can be disasterous!

Roost on...

[Math]

Don't worry mmxr650r, don't think your comment was negative at all ?

It was revealant of the fact that offroading includes so much conditions.

Here in Québec, it even occurs that we have to build our own trails. Our bikes are in that case used as bulldozers to make a passage between very branchy spruce and fir. Nothing in common with desert conditions for example. This has consequences on the choice of your bike.

In these woody conditions, where the terrain is abrupt and you have to deal with those trees in the way, very few guys are able to ride with something else than a xr, kdx, or wr. We even had to tie our bikes to trees to get a rest during climbing because the terrain was rocky and offered no flat spot to use the stands... It seems that if you can maintain the balance at low rpm and low speed without losing traction or losing the ignition while climbing or "bulldozering" , the faster you will be.

This doesn't suit mx bikes at all.

In many other conditions the mxer will show a lot of advantages: it depends what type of offroad you are doing.

I also have to say that the xrs and wrs are nice on the road...

BTW I also think that too much speed is quite dangerous (still thinking about the trees ). As I just said in the blue forum: I've never tried, but I'm pretty sure dying is not very practicle

Friendly,

[Dan_Lorenze]

Mark, Have a great time with the CRF. They're awesome bikes, you'll be able to get an E-start CRFX with a 6 speed next year...

take care and have fun,

dan

[Math]

Hi Dan,

Where did you get this info?

Thanks

[dangler]

Math,

Check Honda's website for info on the new CRFX's. They have only officially announced the 250 so far but I'm sure a 450 version won't be far behind....Take a look. http://www.hondamotorcycle.com/motorcycles/Off-road/model.asp?ModelName=CRF250X&ModelYear=2004&ModelId=CRF250X4

[Dan_Lorenze]

Hi Dan,

Where did you get this info?

Can't say........ Sorry...

[Math]

Yeah, I knew that honda was showing previews of the 250x on their website, I thought that Dan was talking about a 450x.

We'll see next year...

Thanks anyway ?

[Mark_England]

ok rode the bike on monday

showed up in central wales after a 3hour drive only to find snow , just a little but it was snowing on and off pretty hard

we decided to park down the road and ride up into the hills to try and lesson the risk of getting the van stuck if the snow came down hard.

ok ride impressions

it will turn on a penny (especially in the snow)

its so light it just skips across the bogs

and when it did sink and i had to dig it out it was easy compared to the yzf.

starts very easy, unless it was ridden along a deep river for any length of time then took a few kicks

[i suspect rerouting some of the carb vent tubes into the airbox will help]

it doesnt seem to hit as hard as the yzf but ill reserve judgement on that till the ground isnt covered in snow

as we weent up into the mountains and hills the snow was about 2foot deep the crf had no trouble with this

i did manage to pretty much destroy the back tire due to constant wheel spin in the shallow snow above the slate and rocks

i had a front wheel puncture again running the tires on 8psi then hitting a sharp rock in a deep [freezing] river

at midday the snow was melting in places a started turning to thick slimey no grip mud [walking / wrestling speed type stuff]

this highlighted a few of the bikes weekneses

the seat needs a gripper cover ,, a few times i found myself slipping back as i was wheelspinning up a slippy steep hill.

also my arse is bruised from the plank of wood seat ?[they cud of at least shaved the corners off]

its way too tall geared in first, i added a 52 rear sprocket before the first ride,

can a 54 tooth be fitted

if not maybe an 11oz flywheel wieght or perhaps an auto clutch

i love this bike just need to get it set up right for me

any advice whould be much apprieciated

thanks

[YAMAKAZE]

I guess that after racing my YZ400 in Harescrambles and GNCC's for the last three years, I'll have to cover it up with a tarp on the podium.... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

MX bikes make excellent woods racers. The CRF is absolutely no exception. However, as with any bike raced in the woods the suspension needs to be softened up to make it more comfortable. This year alone, I have watched several A and AA class riders literally destroy the competition on the CRF450(in the woods). Many of last years YZ/WR 426 riders are now riding RED....and Winning races. I am a diehard Yamaha rider...but you cannot argue with the RED Success vs This Years BLUE Blunder....

Bonzai ?

[Math]

its way too tall geared in first, i added a 52 rear sprocket before the first ride,

can a 54 tooth be fitted

if not maybe an 11oz flywheel wieght or perhaps an auto clutch

You know, that is partly why I feel enduros are better for mountain climbing. But hey, even my WR has a way too fast 1 st gear with the original gearing. I use to go from a 16-48 combo for the road to a 14-52 for the mountain...I have two different rear wheels and the one that holds the 48 also holds the street tire (Michelin Sirac) and the other holds a D739 with the 52 tooth.

[Math]

Hi Yamakaze,

I know from pevious readings that you race a lot and I have to admit that I'm beginning to consider my friends as being a little bit lazy on their bikes. As I mentioned first here, many of them are riding XRs and were finding the CRF unconfortable to ride.

Do you think the problem could just be that they are too much used to that lazyboy bike (XR) with its soft suspension, soft power, soft seat, soft shifting...soft everything?

This would effectively make everybike feel unconfortable in their point of view while in fact, the CRF could easily be turned as an excellent and competitive bike in the woods.

What do you think?

[Mark_England]

i think ill see if i can get a 54 rear sprocket