Using a dirt bike.

[Jesse Jaymes]

@rclouse79 What are your overall thoughts on the 250F? Can you lift the front tire up if/when you need to?

So hard to get a "virtual" feel on any of these bikes. If I had the opportunity to spend just 5 minutes on any of them I would be able to say Yes or No. I know nobody in my area with any of these bikes. Kind of a shame.

 

[rclouse79]

@rclouse79 What are your overall thoughts on the 250F? Can you lift the front tire up if/when you need to?

So hard to get a "virtual" feel on any of these bikes. If I had the opportunity to spend just 5 minutes on any of them I would be able to say Yes or No. I know nobody in my area with any of these bikes. Kind of a shame.

I know the front tire can be lifted up from watching YouTube videos, but I am not the guy to ask. I have mountain biked most of my life and realized that very little of that skill set transfers over to dirt bikes. Last fall I tried to take the crf up a trail rated as intermediate and got absolutely destroyed. I got stuck a couple time and tipped it off the trail on a steep hillside. Luckily my catlike reflexes landed me on my feet down in the creek bottom. I was sweating like a whore in church muscling that thing back on the trail.
After being served up that piece of humble pie I have downgraded myself to four-wheeler trails until I get my skills up if I ever do. I should probably look into joining a dirt bike course to quicken the learning curve.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

made my morning. For sure you gotta have transferable skillz. I didn't start dirt bike riding until 48 years old. It's taken a while.

For a few years I just put it in gear and used the throttle....like an ATV. You REALLY have to use the left hand way more ! Pro Tip

 

[Taudisio]

Believe I have settled and am going to opposite route...for many of the reasons you've stated. I've watched EVERY video of KLX vs CRF.

I am rather certain I am going Honda. I already have a few bikes in the stable. XR400R (Big Bore kit and Mikuni) which can handle exactly these scenarios right now. And KTM 450, which is also probably as capable or more so.

But think I am going to take the plunge on a new CRF 300L. The service intervals are INSANE.

And I am 230lbs so I would think suspension on either bike is going to need swapped. So might as well go with more available aftermarket parts and service.

Saw a dude on my 2023 Idaho antelope hunt on a CRF 300L. Been riding it for days. Over some of the very highest passes and peaks in central Washington. Said he LOVES the bike. Just keeps chugging along.

After market tank will be a first upgrade. Just a no brainer. Most reviews say it is made very well. Fits great. PLug n play.

I was in the same boat. The crf300 rally has a larger tank and was what I was looking hard at. Everything I found was the klx suspension was much better, so that’s the way I went. My weight varies, but I’m about 215 right now. I have not bottomed out the bike and don’t feel like a suspension upgrade is necessary at all. I went up a gnarly trail that I said no way at first glance, but then turned back and putted right up. It was a trail that walking would have been difficult.
I may have an antelope hunt in central Idaho next fall and I would bring the bike for sure, if you are still shopping. I know there are folks who have ridden the Honda around the world and a guy has a YouTube series showing him taking a klx around the world right now. I don’t know if you could go wrong either way.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Adam Reimann from Australia was just in Thailand for 3 weeks w a bunch of old Moto apes beating the brakes off the CRF. All survived.

No biggie tho. They're close. Hope you enjoy your bike.

Those Idaho goat tags are hard to come by. Good luck

 

[IdahoBeav]

My weight varies, but I’m about 215 right now. I have not bottomed out the bike and don’t feel like a suspension upgrade is necessary at all.

Have you checked the sag?

 

[Steve300xcw]

I have not bottomed out the bike and don’t feel like a suspension upgrade is necessary at all.

Not bottoming out doesn't mean much IMO. Suspension is EVERYTHING on a bike.

Check your sag, with you and all your gear on it. Just getting that set makes a world of difference.

 

[Taudisio]

Not bottoming out doesn't mean much IMO. Suspension is EVERYTHING on a bike.

Check your sag, with you and all your gear on it. Just getting that set makes a world of difference.

Have you checked the sag?

I haven’t checked it, it was on my “to do list” and forgot about it. I have ridden with so many different setups, just depends on the day. I have ridden with just a 5 pound rifle, then with gas and the panniers, then with 50 pounds on top of the backpack. I’ll have to check it on my next day off work.

 

[Archerichards]

I'll be buying a Surron LBX for whitetail hunting next fall.
Was using an UBCO but reliability has become an issue.

 

[longrangelead]

@rclouse79 What are your overall thoughts on the 250F? Can you lift the front tire up if/when you need to?

So hard to get a "virtual" feel on any of these bikes. If I had the opportunity to spend just 5 minutes on any of them I would be able to say Yes or No. I know nobody in my area with any of these bikes. Kind of a shame.

I'm 47, 6'-0" 190 pounds, fit and have ridden my whole life. My adult bikes were a ported CR500 and 3 CRF450's with some power mods. All ridden on trails and sand dunes. I'm a good rider an aggressive too. That said for background...

I rode my buddie's wife's CRF250R 10 miles in on a hunt with some gnarly sections of trail. That is one of the things I liked most about the 250, on tight uphill switchbacks, I could plant my inside foot and either drag the front tire around or even lift the tire using the throttle and rip the front around.
we also had a couple spots we had to go off trail, up around blowdown too big to cut. The lighter 250 makes it easier to man handle it when it counts.
My only complaint about that bike is it was set up with a recluse clutch and geared too fast. A stock clutch geared down would have been perfect.
After riding a CRF and a TW, CRF is my choice without hesitation.

 

[longrangelead]

To add to my previous post, after riding the CRF on that hunt, a TW found me and I thought it would be the perfect trail bike for hunting.

I'm glad I rode the CRF first!!!

I immediately built front and rear racks, a chainsaw mount, extra fuel, etc.

It is definitely underpowered, heavy and clumsy compared to the CRF250. Mine is carb. and has been finicky at higher elevation no matter any adjustment. The carb probably needs cleaned but its a pita to remove.
The suspension is definitely not ideal for rough trails either.
Last September I packed out a decent bear using the bike between a trail and the truck.
I'll just say I'm glad it wasn't any further than it was!

As far as the fat tire, I thought it might help with traction in mud, snow etc. NOPE!
It's more of a hindrance than a help. The wider tire wants to grab rocks and roots and jerk the steering that direction WAY worse than a narrower tire.

The TDub is also a drum brake beast. I've been in a couple downhill situations where the drum brakes made it a semi controlled panic "hope I make it". Disc brakes are much more responsive.

In my opinion, the TW is a ridiculous bike by modern standards considering its price point and then having to put another $1000-$2500 into it to make it "equal" to a stock CRF or similar bike.
The TW hasn't been fundamentally changed since 1986 when it was introduced. I know the new ones are fuel injected, but Yamaha thought it was a good idea to remove the kick starter as well so...?

I think the TDub has a place for casual riders and cruisers but leaves a lot to be desired when there is technical or possibly dangerous (high risk) riding conditions with added weight in remote places.

I plan on selling my TW for a CRF250.

pic is 1shoulder/1 hind on front, 1 shoulder/1 hind (bear)on back with some day gear. I hiked my rifle, hide, skull and trimmings to the truck to get the bike.
The way this bike handled the weight on a grown up road bed in one trip would have been two trips on a single track. Adding that much weight to the front drastically hindered the steering, more than I anticipated anyway. Don't know until you try.

Going forward, the front just gets light but bulky stuff.