Thread: 250cc 4-stroke specs; which year to get if I get one?

Originally Posted by JimmyHoffa

Hey. Been awhile since I've been here... But I need you all now more than ever at the moment. I'm considering selling my YFZ450 (as much as I love it) and buying a 250cc four-stroke two-wheeler. However, since I pay absolutely no attention to models and year-to-year updates to bikes, I figured I'd save myself the trouble of researching all this crap and just ask people who know. I'm on a quest for knowledge pretty much every day of my life, so I think I deserve to be lazy and make other people give it to me, just once, to get me up to speed.

I'm looking at Hondas, because I prefer their engineering style. They're also a bit cheaper than Yamahas. However, I have some concerns.

1.) Valves. Are they poop? Every TRX450r's Ti valves are a sad time. Very sad. Inescapable sadness. Sooooo very sad. Is this something I have to worry about with the CRFs? I talked to a guy at the Honda dealer who got "...a few rides out of his Ti valves..." but he also mumbled "I lapped them in just like the service guy in the back told me to." Needless to say... probably not an accurate representation of the durability of the protective ceramic coating on Honda's valves. (I have a feeling that bikes serviced by that dealer also do not accurately represent the durability of Honda's products. )

2.) Which years have the dual exhaust? The reason they did this DOES NOT apply to me. It would just be a nuisance I would have to deal with. I will not buy one.

3.) Any other quirky oddities to look out for? On the TRX450r I had, Honda gave me a tender 400 dollar punch in the face by selling the crankshaft "update" as one part, though they only needed to sell a 5 dollar collar to fix the problem. Also, that collar I essentially paid 400 bucks for didn't really fix the problem, it just put it off for a while. It's kinda like shipping radioactive material to a dying star... You can't prevent the supernova, it'll just happen a little later. I'll be having none of that. One semi-pointless teardown of a nearly new engine was enough for me.

4.) One more thing: I have $2800 bucks. No new stuff. Looking for a few years out (like... '06 or before)

YZ250F is the most reliable period, they have threads on tt seeing how many hours they have on their valves and their are some outrageous numbers.
avoid 04-05 crf250r's, they had valve issues to put it lightly.
but their never was a bad year for the boys in blue.
avoid 04 kx250f's and 04-05 rmz's.
06 on up crf's have duals.

Well then. On to the YZ. Good years? Worse years? What about the KYB forks? (I've heard they're sad to deal with) And most importantly, which years had an aluminum frame? I will not buy a bike with a steel frame. That's so 2004. I've had enough touching up, ugliness, and heaviness with the YFZ. Time for some expensive metal.

Almost forgot: are the valves the only concern with the Hondas? I can fix that. They have many other redeeming features that draw me to them, so if that's the only issue I might still be interested.

just the person ive been wanting to talk to:

anyways, back when i pondered on getting a 250r, the majority vote went with the crf250r, they said they were more comfortable, funner to ride, and IMO, better to look at. a guy over at tt said his brother had a yz250f and rode his crf250r and then sold his yz and bought a crf250r
06 was the first year of dual exhaust.
really, you can just buy a kit to change it whenever you want to. also i believe on hondas, the tank comes out on the middle, making working on stuff so much easier.
but wr was right, you dont want anything 04, 06 and up to be safe, you dont want anything under 06, so you will be fine about having an aluminum frame, a nice, polished aluminum frame
but then again, if it was my bike the first thing i would do is throw a set of ss valves in.
also, my thoughts are not biased, other than the shear fact that i think honda has the edge. i own a yamaha.

btw, what made you decide to sell the quad and buy a bike?

Originally Posted by JimmyHoffa

Almost forgot: are the valves the only concern with the Hondas? I can fix that. They have many other redeeming features that draw me to them, so if that's the only issue I might still be interested.

for the most part yes, you can put some kibblewhites in, but whos wants to put new valves in a new bike?

Originally Posted by JimmyHoffa

Well then. On to the YZ. Good years? Worse years? What about the KYB forks? (I've heard they're sad to deal with) And most importantly, which years had an aluminum frame? I will not buy a bike with a steel frame. That's so 2004. I've had enough touching up, ugliness, and heaviness with the YFZ. Time for some expensive metal.

06 was the first year of aluminum for the yzf, I dont know why people think kyb is so horrible, dirt rider has said the yzf's have the best suspension, and honda switched over to kyb for this year.
Im the opposite, I wont own an aluminum framed bike.

Originally Posted by tjscott2012

just the person ive been wanting to talk to:

anyways, back when i pondered on getting a 250r, the majority vote went with the crf250r, they said they were more comfortable, funner to ride, and IMO, better to look at. a guy over at tt said his brother had a yz250f and rode his crf250r and then sold his yz and bought a crf250r
06 was the first year of dual exhaust.
really, you can just buy a kit to change it whenever you want to. also i believe on hondas, the tank comes out on the middle, making working on stuff so much easier.
but wr was right, you dont want anything 04, 06 and up to be safe, you dont want anything under 06, so you will be fine about having an aluminum frame, a nice, polished aluminum frame
but then again, if it was my bike the first thing i would do is throw a set of ss valves in.
also, my thoughts are not biased, other than the shear fact that i think honda has the edge. i own a yamaha.

btw, what made you decide to sell the quad and buy a bike?

in general honda's are a bit harder to work on from what ive heard, bolts in places where it just takes a little more to get it out but the frame is in the way, and horror stories about their air box.
the are a little bit better in the power departement though, and they turn a bit better according to most riders, they arent suzukis, but they arent as firmly planted as the yami is though.

Originally Posted by wr250f95

for the most part yes, you can put some kibblewhites in, but whos wants to put new valves in a new bike?



06 was the first year of aluminum for the yzf, I dont know why people think kyb is so horrible, dirt rider has said the yzf's have the best suspension, and honda switched over to kyb for this year.
Im the opposite, I wont own an aluminum framed bike.

me, I wouldnt want ti valves period, besides it takes like 30 minutes maximum, also if hes buying used he will most likely be putting in a top end soon and possibly a 13:1 piston

how come? you would no longer have to worry about boot rub, except on the cases

Originally Posted by tjscott2012

how come? you would no longer have to worry about boot rub, except on the cases

harder to work on, for example carb work includes taking the subframe off.