[CampX]

It was time.

A bittersweet goodbye to the first bike I owned, my 2005 EC300. She was good to me, and all I gave her was sh*t and abuse.
The 300 was a super-easy bike to learn on, with all the low-end grunt, low seat height, and general lazyboy-couch-like feel to it when you run it slow.
Had it 5 years, and all I ever did to it was put a 12tooth front sprocket on it, guards, and played with the jetting. As I smashed plastic, black ty-straps started appearing all over it, holding things together here and there. Raced it last year, and it has always run good; what a tank of a bike. Suspension never got no love from me, and the last 2 years I was bottoming it out, riding way faster and harder.

So.....sold it 3 days after putting it on Kijiji. Bought a YZ250X 3 days later.
First hard ride on the X today....grinning ear to ear. First and second feel like the Gasser, bull-low first, lots of grunt, super-luggable. I was nervous going to a 250, didn't even have a clue if I'd like it, but all the reviews I read said that whatever Yamaha did worked. I'm sold. I can ride 1st and 2nd like my GasGas, and that makes me happy.
Its got to weigh less than that old pig of a Gasser by 30-35 pounds, no word of a lie. So light and nimble. The suspension.......don't really have a comparison. I was hammering over rock and root strewn trails that would have had to make drop down to 2nd in on the Gasser. Seems to suck up all the bumps and whoops, back tire stays planted and I know already that I am gonna be able to ride way faster.
As for not having a light, or a button-start, my '05 Gasser didnt have those either, no biggie. And the 5 speed tranny, no biggie either, only had the Gasser in 6th a few times. Bit of a jump from 4th to 5th on the X, but once again, its not a deal-breaker.
The price was killer on the X, got it for $6995 Canadian, thats $1500-$2000 less than what a guy could buy a KTM or Husqvarna for. Easy decision for a cheap-ass like me.
I'm gonna have a blast on this thing.