crf450x or trail ready crf450r

[mw10403]

Topics been put to death but i'm not sure what to get, a crf450x thats already made for trails(expensive heavy) or a crf450r(cheap light) and build it into a woods weapon. if i build the R it would come close to the cost of buying an X before i put upgrades on that, who has experince with a woods weapon crf450r? is it better to just get the X? or build the R

[mlatour]

Depends what your intended usage is (racing / recreational / type of terrain etc.)

 

The X has a wide-ratio gearbox and an electrical system able to run a cooling fan.

Edited July 4, 2018 by mlatour

[drumiv]

7 hours ago, mw10403 said:

Topics been put to death but i'm not sure what to get, a crf450x thats already made for trails(expensive heavy) or a crf450r(cheap light) and build it into a woods weapon. if i build the R it would come close to the cost of buying an X before i put upgrades on that, who has experince with a woods weapon crf450r? is it better to just get the X? or build the R

I have a '07 450R turned woods bike, and it's an expensive proposition to do. How much was done to the one you're looking at? Mine is an awesome woods bike, but took a couple years to get there and lots of cash. It should have; gear change(13/50ish), oversized radiators and or Super Cooler water pump, oversized gas tank, armored up, +130z. flywheel and or Rekluse. Suspension set up for woods. Kick stand is nice, as well as a stabilizer. Mine has everything mentioned. People knock doing this, but if that's the bike you have, well.. Having said that, I love the bike. 

Edited July 4, 2018 by drumiv

[Kompact]

Why do you need a 450 for the woods? Of all the bikes on the market a CRF450 is about the last thing I'd buy for woods riding, many, many better options out there.

[Thefishman]

16 minutes ago, Kompact said:

Why do you need a 450 for the woods? Of all the bikes on the market a CRF450 is about the last thing I'd buy for woods riding, many, many better options out there.

^^^ This. When I lived in AZ I had a CRF450R that was perfect for the desert/dunes. I now live in Washington and took my bike for a ride in the woods. It was terrible. It was too heavy, the tall gearing had me constantly on the clutch, it had way more power than I needed for tight woods trails, and I was exhausted! I said no más and went out and bought a new KTM 250 XC-W. I'll tell you holy crap! It was night and day different. The thing felt like a mountain bike compared to my 450 MX bike. I was much faster and less exhausted. I didn't have to work nearly as hard and it was more enjoyable. I'm not telling you to get a new KTM two stroke, but I'd think twice before getting a 450 MX bike for woods riding. This is how I look at it: you don't use a flat-head screwdriver to unscrew a Phillips screw do you? I mean sure it'll work, but it'll be more difficult to do so; the same concept applies to riding an MX bike in the woods. Use the right tool for the job. 

[Dave Regenhardt]

I rode a trail prepped 450R. They didn’t have the X when I bought mine, but I never felt the Bike was anything but right for 10 years. I rode that bike everywhere. Mexico. California. Desert. Woods. Everything. The Bike was perfect. 

[mw10403]

16 hours ago, drumiv said:

I have a '07 450R turned woods bike, and it's an expensive proposition to do. How much was done to the one you're looking at? Mine is an awesome woods bike, but took a couple years to get there and lots of cash. It should have; gear change(13/50ish), oversized radiators and or Super Cooler water pump, oversized gas tank, armored up, +130z. flywheel and or Rekluse. Suspension set up for woods. Kick stand is nice, as well as a stabilizer. Mine has everything mentioned. People knock doing this, but if that's the bike you have, well.. Having said that, I love the bike. 

Sick bike! i am looking at a similar one but 2 years newer, it has most of all the Armour i would put on it, a rekluse and similar gearing but i would change it. is it necessary to upgrade the rads and water pump? i would be doing the suspension, gas tank and steering stabalizer on both bikes as well as the tires

[hondaxr650rrrr]

I ride both a 2stroke 250 and a 09CRF450R. They both work in the MI woods. The 250 is lighter but I love the torque of the 450. I have no need for a wide ratio trans and prefer close ratios. Getting the suspension dialed is the most important thing. Most places I ride can be done with the stock tank and a 40 mile range.

[mw10403]

22 hours ago, mlatour said:

Depends what your intended usage is (racing / recreational / type of terrain etc.)

 

The X has a wide-ratio gearbox and an electrical system able to run a cooling fan.

recreation, sand/sand dunes gravel pits wide open trails and logging roads not really doing hill climbs or really tight technical stuff or low speeds lots of wide open so i'm not worried about the transsmission

[drumiv]

6 hours ago, mw10403 said:

Sick bike! i am looking at a similar one but 2 years newer, it has most of all the Armour i would put on it, a rekluse and similar gearing but i would change it. is it necessary to upgrade the rads and water pump? i would be doing the suspension, gas tank and steering stabalizer on both bikes as well as the tires

Thanks. The radiators and super cooler w.p. came on the bike and so far I haven't had a boil-over even in the Florida summer heat. I should say this isn't the best tight, single track bike. For that I have a '17 Beta XT. I just saw your last post and this bike would definitely be a lot of fun in those scenario's. Tighter stuff, as stated above, a 2t 250-300 is the weapon of choice. I have both so best of both worlds. Good luck.

[CFR Donkey]

Just do what I did!  Get one of each!

[Dylan71Bronco]

I had a modified 450x for 8 years... I wouldn’t go with the CRF platform for a single track woods bike. When the trails are wide and fast, it was fine... in fact great in some instances. (That was in California riding Sierra Nevada foothills (mostly Jeep/buggy trails), Hollister (fast and wide), Carnegie (lots of climbs)). When I moved to the tight Southeastern US pine forest single track (very tight SINGLE track), the CRF felt like trying to fence with a broadsword. It was just the wrong weapon for 80% of the trail. I loved that bike, but it was awful in the tight single track. I just didn’t know how bad it was until I got a ‘17 Husqvarna TX300. Night and day handling difference. I would not recommend the CRF platform for a competitive woods bike (in any woods).

 

(Additional note/disclaimer: all of the CRFs I owned 250 and 450 were 2005-2007 model years. Thus, some things may have changed.)

 

[mw10403]

4 hours ago, Dylan71Bronco said:

I had a modified 450x for 8 years... I wouldn’t go with the CRF platform for a single track woods bike. When the trails are wide and fast, it was fine... in fact great in some instances. (That was in California riding Sierra Nevada foothills (mostly Jeep/buggy trails), Hollister (fast and wide), Carnegie (lots of climbs)). When I moved to the tight Southeastern US pine forest single track (very tight SINGLE track), the CRF felt like trying to fence with a broadsword. It was just the wrong weapon for 80% of the trail. I loved that bike, but it was awful in the tight single track. I just didn’t know how bad it was until I got a ‘17 Husqvarna TX300. Night and day handling difference. I would not recommend the CRF platform for a competitive woods bike (in any woods).

 

(Additional note/disclaimer: all of the CRFs I owned 250 and 450 were 2005-2007 model years. Thus, some things may have changed.)

 

 

16 hours ago, drumiv said:

Thanks. The radiators and super cooler w.p. came on the bike and so far I haven't had a boil-over even in the Florida summer heat. I should say this isn't the best tight, single track bike. For that I have a '17 Beta XT. I just saw your last post and this bike would definitely be a lot of fun in those scenario's. Tighter stuff, as stated above, a 2t 250-300 is the weapon of choice. I have both so best of both worlds. Good luck.

Thank you for the input! I've decided on a 2008 crf450r with many trail mods already. I don't normally ride single track and i never do it competitively so i'm not worried about that, my friends dad bought a new KTM 300 xc-w and that will defiantly be the bike i buy after this one