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General Discussions & Announcements General Announcements, General Questions, e.g. What bike do I buy?, etc.


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  #1  
Old 03-24-2008, 11:06 AM
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SpeedyManiac SpeedyManiac is offline
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Default Took a ride on a CRF450X this weekend

Hi guys,
Went for a ride with my dad (96 XR250R) and a friend of ours (07 CRF450X), Peter. The ride was mostly two track (dirt roads and quad trails) with patches of snow, ice and mud. Also found some fun hill climbs in a burned out area where a forest fire went through last summer. My 250's been running like a champ since I rebuilt it and it was a great chance to test my new Fasstco Flexx bars. FYI, the bars are great and I love the mounting system for bark busters. I don't notice the bars moving much when I ride, but they do move a little which should help with arm pump. My suspension was way too stiff for two track cruising with my dad (it's still set for blitzing sand whoops all day long) but the faster I went, the better it worked. I still absolutely love the GasGas 250 engine with the smaller flywheel and motocross ignition. It's tractable down low, but still RIPS. Rolling the throttle on will loft the front wheel in most gears.

After a good ride we came back to the staging area and Peter wanted me to take a ride on his 450 to see what I thought. I hopped on it and firsts thing I noticed was it's more top heavy than my Gassers, Honda makes a better seat than the 07 GasGas, the bars were in my lap (I have a BRP SUB mount so my bars are high) and electric start is really cool. I took off across the field and found the X's engine to be a lot mellower than my 250. It definitely takes a different riding style on one of these thumpers! I only rode around on it for about 15-20 minutes, but it was enough to get a good first impression.

Likes:
-very plush suspension. Not sure how it would be on rough trails at race pace.
-easy to ride engine. Very smooth.
-electric start is great for thumpers!
-very comfortable seat

Dislikes:
-power is a little too mellow for racing.
-doesn't carry it's weight well. Felt very top heavy.
-cramped ergos (I'm 6'0" with long legs).
-engine braking
-no hydraulic clutch
-brakes weren't as strong as my 07 EC250, but they are stronger than my 01 EC200.
-doesn't handle as well as the 07 Gassers

So, in summary, I thought the CRF450X was a pretty fun bike, but wouldn't be my choice for racing. Maybe if it was uncorked it might be better (this one was bone stock) but in stock form the power is too mellow and the bike is too heavy. For recreational riding it would be a great bike, but for competition it's just not ready yet.

I would be intrigued to give an 08 FSE450 a go to see how it compares though.


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Old 03-24-2008, 03:30 PM
jeffd jeffd is offline
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Les weighed one of these without fuel. 270.

jeff
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Old 03-24-2008, 06:50 PM
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Well, for weighing that much, it doesn't feel that bad I guess. I still can't believe people think they're awesome race bikes for the woods. I could see with some modifications it would work okay in open terrain at sustained throttle openings, but for woods work I still think GasGas has the best thing going!
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Old 03-24-2008, 07:20 PM
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Skidad Skidad is offline
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A few months ago Dirt Rider tested this bike. I was shocked at the listed weight, the thing is a real porker. And it also comes with a puny gas tank which will really limit it's range. Puzzling to me what it's really good for.


Skidad in MA
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:21 PM
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Very heavy, and they feel very wide to me as well. One of the traits of the GG I really like is the compact chassis. This is hard to do with a 450 4-stroke. All seem tall and generally quite large, although I never tried a new 450 GG.
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Old 03-24-2008, 10:47 PM
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I didn't notice the width too much. The seat height was fine (my inseam is 33") but I found the bars were way too low. I definitely thought it was too top heavy. I think my dad's XR250R carries its weight lower.

I'm definitely interested in trying out a GasGas 450. Anybody demoing them?
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