YZ250F or CRF250

[Mr Hyosung]

Looking at buying my son a larger dirt bike. Probably spend between $4000 and $5000, should get me an '05 to '08 model. Can anyone tell me the good and bad of either model? Cheers,Terry

[skoerbin]

ive ridden a few of the 250 dirt bikes (crf,yz, wr250f and the xr) they are all pretty comparible. found the crf to be a lot smoother and have more power down low than the YZ. the wr has a more relaxed feel, slower off the line and a lot softer suspension, but it is more a trail style bike. xr is nice too but really only on trails. but i mean ultimatly there isnt a whole lot between the yz and the crf. Is he into motocross? or jumping? of just having some fun in everything on the weekend. as an all rounder i like the wr, as a motocross/jumping bike i like the crf. sorry to bring another bike into it haha

[Mr Hyosung]

Thanks for that. He'll be racing motorcross on it in 2012. I'm interested to know which motor was the better in terms of maintenance. All the Honda's for sale seem to have had new valves fitted while the Yammie's are only having adjustments. Do the Honda's need rebuilding more often?

[skoerbin]

well, maintainance wise on any dirt bike will reduce risk of most of the bigger/more expensive or time consuming things.

i would reccomend
oil changes between 5 and 10 hours and replace filter at the same time or maybe every second time if your doing very regular oil changes(from memory they were only about $8 or 10 ea)
with racing id inspect/adjust if needed the valves every 15-20 hours
clean and re-lube everything every ride(chain and all pivot points)
clean air filter every ride
every 50-75 hours or so youll probably be looking at replacing piston/ring,
really thorough clean... pressure hose every little nook and cranny after every ride

if you do most of this stuff, you wont have to fork out big bucks for major maintainance very often. id still look at replacing cam chain ever year and valves every 12-18 months. you can get titainium valves for both but yes the stock honda ones use to have some problems (may have been fixed in recent years tho)

[skoerbin]

keep in mind tho most people over estimate their ride time. eg if you go for an hour and a half ride, chances are you stopped for s drink, a chat, etc so you probbably had less than an hour of actual ride time

[Shadowzone]

I'd take the YZ over the CR but having sold them both that's just my personal preference. There is no real comparable difference other than your own personal preference.

[Swordsy]

From what i've heard, the crf's have a habbit of throwing their titainium valves, but if you replace them with stainless steel ones they'll go forever if you keep the maintenance up to them. They do have slightly more poke than the YZ's, but the YZ's are known for being more reliable.

Me personally, I bought another XR (400 this time up from the 250), But I mainly ride trails etc.

[scotty]

quote:Originally posted by Swordsy

From what i've heard, the crf's have a habbit of throwing their titainium valves,
in an 06 yes they do, honda has revived a bad name because of this, they have fixed it in later models,i still only ride the blue ones thou

[skoerbin]

just saw an 08 yz250f for sale in someones front yard for 5 grand, looked good, so im sure you will be able to find one in good condition with low hours and only a couple of years old for the 4-5 mark!