4 Stroke v 2 Stroke Undecided

by Chris H
(London UK)

I have a 2010 CRF 450, a CRF 250 and also a 2006 CR 250 and I love them all.

On tight, more technical tracks the 250f is great because of the easy usable power delivery and handling. For the bigger wide open hilly tracks the 450f is better than the 250f. The CR 250 is great on small tight tracks and also has the power on the bigger open & hilly tracks. If ridden properly it will keep up with the 450f no problems but is much harder to ride at a good pace - but by far the best fun.

In my opinion the 250f is the easiest to ride hard for long periods of time. The 450f is the best to go fast on for a short time. The CR 250 is the most fun and cheapest to maintain.

I change engine & gearbox oil & oil filter every 3hrs, air filter every ride and check the valve clearances every 8-10 hrs. On the 2 stroke I change the oil every 4 hrs & air filter every ride. Every 8-10 hrs of use I give to Keith Thorpe ex Honda GP mechanic to give them a once over and they all seem to work well.

If you are looking to start off a 125 2 stroke is a good starter because if you can learn to ride one properly & get it singing in the powerband you will be able to move on to ride anything.

Hope this is of use to someone.

- Definitely a good help. Thanks for sharing your experience. You're pretty lucky to have 3 decent bikes to your name!

Hayden -