General Discussion Forum

Well....The wife and I have just started out in this little dirtbiking endevour and we have been riding Yamaha's.  I was convinced that I was going to get myself a WR450F and the wife a TTR125L.  I have taken some interest in the KTM's.  The bikes that I have in mind are as follows.

1. My bike - 450 EXC-G Racing

2. My Wifes bike - 250 XCF-W

I would like your input and opinions on these 2 bikes.  We will be riding them mainly on mountain trails through creek crossings and what not.  Also I will be doing a bit of track riding.  I plan to make my 450 completely street legal with a kit from BajaDesigns.  I want to be able to get on my bike in the garage and ride it to the mountains.

P.S. I will never be racing these bikes in the mountains or on the track.  Any track riding I do will be solo or with friends just to get practice for the hills.

try 'em both see wich one sutes you better. the both have their weaknesses and strengths so no one can say.

my brother lives in washington state and has a '05 525 mxc with the street legal kit and he really likes it. he changed the gearing on the bike because even on the highway he didn't use all the gears. the 450 would be a good investment and so would the 250. is your wife an experienced rider? might be worth the time to go to a dealer that lets you test ride so she can make the decision easier.  

Wow, where are these dealers where you can test ride a bike?! I've never seen one like that.

In Hawaii the dealers wont even let you touch the bikes unless they are supporting them on stand and if you want to start the bike you can rule that out becouse thats not going to happen.

         

I have no first hand knowledge of KTM's, but my friend rode a KTM 450 XC (I think thats the right name) in GNCC and loved it!

Well bigdawg what is your build and your wifes build, weight and height.(estimate your wife's weight)I'm 6'0" and weigh 150 pounds and I got a ttr125L that I love but I'm getting a yz250f but I would like to tell you that it's a great bike and was an exelent starter bike asuming that she is a beginer. I always have had fun on it and has always been relible. O and about the wr450f it's a good bike also my dad was looking at it for his next bike it's a big boy so be careful with it and goog luck in your search.

      Mx racer

I am 6'1" 186lbs....I am actually more of a beginer to this than my wife.  She did a bit of riding when she lived in Alaska.  I however am taking to it like a duck to water.  I have yet to find a bike that I cant stand flat footed on.  The problem we are having is my wife is 5'5" 155lbs and we cant find a bike that she can stand without being tippitoed.  A Honda CRF 150 fits her nicely but it is no match for a KTM EXC450F.  I am worried about her trying to keep up with me.  So its a lose lose situation.  We went up to the local KTM/Yamaha/Suzuki dealer today and looked at KTM's and there is just no way she can stand on a KTM 250XCFW.  I just dont know what to do.  If we downgrade her to something she can stand up on .... she wont beable to keep up with me or go over and through some of the stuff that the KTM will.  If we get here a KTM that will keep up and handel the terain .... she cant ride it.  Let me re-phrase that....She can ride it at speed but forget about slow technical riding where she will be using her feet alot.

ok, looks like you are stuck with either a kx100 or sx105, or look into lowering links from that company in the august issue of DR. I cant remeber who they are, the only bikes below 35" seat height are 80s and the ttr crf-f lines .

or make your suspension the squish monster!