Rode a 4-stroke 450 yesterday

[TYSTYX]

So, my buddy Krush and I were chillin' in the truck between rides and I notice some rider pull up behind my truck, so I get out and he asks if I had a wrench he could borrow to tighten his shift lever. He was on a newer Kawi 450 , and was shocked when he saw two CR500 2-smokers sitting side by side. We all talked shop for about an half an hour and then he and I decided to go rip some trails. He was 17 and a class B racer and rode fast. Im 43 and havent ridden that hard in a while !! It really felt good to push my 500 to the edge. The trails we rip have big 90 degree, deep ,banked blind turns that just link from one to another and wind up and down hills through the desert. Great stuff...better for a smaller lighter machine, but still fun on a 500. Whenever we got to the straights all he did was eat my roost. When we got back to the truck, he told me he took a huge rock in the shoulder from my rear tire. He said it hurt pretty bad.
( should've been wearing a chest protector.....lol......he's lucky it didnt nail him in the goggles )

Anyways, he asked if I wanted to ride his bike, so I did, since I have never ridden a newer 4-stroke. It was actually pretty smooth and very easy to ride. I was expecting a big power hit, like my 500, but it never came....then I remembered that 450's are meant to compete with 250 2-strokes, not 500 2-strokes.

Then I made him ride my beast. He couldnt start it......couldnt get the kick stroke right......figures.......so I stood on the right side of the bike and kicked it over for him. He took off on my bike like he had stolen it !!!
He rode it hard with no fear, whipping turns and trying to get air off whatever he could. I could tell he loved it, and he comfirmed it when he came back.

After riding the thumper, I can tell you now that I'll never buy one. It just wasnt as fun as a 2-stroke 250, and especially not as fun as my 500.

[britincali]

I rode a YZ450F and a KTM 450SX yesterday, they were both great handling bikes but I was still really happy to get back on my AF.


DEFINATLY felt down on power even though I think a lot of it is mind over matter due to the lack of any kid of powerband, I felt like I was just pinned and shifting the whole time. The big suck factors were the constant stalling, you just cant lug 'em like you can a 500 and the horrific engine braking. I tend to downshift and wind out the motor coming into corners, these things just locked the back wheel up solid when I downshifted, really scarey at times.

[arleybeer40]

How is engine braking scary compared to your a/f 500 that wont turn till the front tire finds a berm to steer it? Not to fun when your running down wide dirt roads in 5th and trying to hold an inside line only to have the front end take you all the way across the road. That thing wont even turn on the throttle either

[dahondaboy]

yes the four stroke is a whole nother' animal. I split up my riding 50/50 between my cr 500 and my xr 600. If you ride on one too long you forget how to ride the other. I love the engine braking, once you learn how to use it in your favor it is awesome! Also the lugging bottom end grunt of the 600 is great for slow rocky or ledgy trails not to mention it is so heavy it rides like a caddy. But then switch to the cr500 and slow mode goes out the window, now its wheelie and roost time! I cant say I prefer one to the other, they both have awesome qualities and few drawbacks. I did ride a crf 450 and it was a lot better than the xr 600 lighter faster, but stiff and hell of a head shake at top speed, I can do 120 on my xr600 no head shake at all (13/43 gears)

[aloha450x]

its nice to hear I made a good decision for once. blew my 450- motor trashed it and bought a 5 hundy motor to drop in that 05 frame. I have heard that they were comparable but the 4 stroke dosent have that madness hit the the 500 has.

[iggys-amsoil]

...can do 120 on xr600 (13/43 gears)

at 13,000 thou rpm. maybe.