Honda or Kawasaki
  • sct06
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    Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:17 am

    Honda or Kawasaki

    by sct06 » Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:25 am

    hey I'm looking for a 250 four stroke bike and i want the best bike and i want to win. I just moved from a CR 125 and am looking for a power house to win me some races on. I'm in the 125 B classs so I'm lookin to be a pro soon please help me out with this dicision
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    PGer555
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    by PGer555 » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:57 am

    Well since your on a predominatly HONDA website mostly all of your recomendations are gonna be honda. And i guess i am the first to say GO RED!!! you wont be disappointed
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    ncj01
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    Re: Honda or Kawasaki

    by ncj01 » Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:59 pm

    sct06 wrote:hey I'm looking for a 250 four stroke bike and i want the best bike and i want to win. I just moved from a CR 125 and am looking for a power house to win me some races on. I'm in the 125 B classs so I'm lookin to be a pro soon please help me out with this dicision


    Sounds like the CRF250R is a good choice for your needs.

    I'm not sure if you're a Track Motocrosser or a Harescrambler, but although I hate to admit it, I watched a whole race pretty closely on Sunday (walking the course during the race, etc) and one of thing that really stood out to me was that the speed at which riders went by didn't seem to have a lot of correlation to what bike they rode. For instance, guys on old beat XR250R's held together with duck tape and handin' out a whoopin... I say I hate to admit it becuase I have the 450R, and I don't think the bike itself is going to make me go much faster than if I'd of had a 250R.

    What I do hope though is that by virtue of having such a larger more powerful engine is that I'll never really hurt or push the motor to it's limit, thereby having an easier time with maintence, etc.

    All that being said, I do subscribe to the "you can never have too much power" school of thought. I know if I'd of bought the 250 I'd be looking at hotcams and exhausts, etc..but for my kind of racing you do most of it in 1st and 2nd, and the occasional 3rd.
    sorry ya'll, i've got back to the darkside...
    http://pingertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6090
  • cabar500
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    by cabar500 » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:40 pm

    honda's all the way no questons asked.
    cody barrett
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    124
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    by 124 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:00 am

    Unless the 06' fixed the valve issues the 250R has been plagued with, I'd say go green (or yellow; their basically the same). I bleed red these days (CRF450R), but if you're serious about racing and practice often, your gonna run out of valve life real fast on the CRF250R. Replacement parts for durability are in high demand. But, if they fixed the valve issue for 06', then the Honda is the only way to go.

    I ride with a lot of Honda 250F's and if they were serious about racing, they'd be in a world of hurt right now because of the valve clearance issues. My best bud cannot even ride his 05' this weekend because he ran out of adjustment. He bought it in May this year and will be borrowing my cousin's 03' 450. He is not really happy right now.
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    ncj01
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    by ncj01 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:25 am

    124 wrote:Unless the 06' fixed the valve issues the 250R has been plagued with, I'd say go green (or yellow; their basically the same). I bleed red these days (CRF450R), but if you're serious about racing and practice often, your gonna run out of valve life real fast on the CRF250R. Replacement parts for durability are in high demand. But, if they fixed the valve issue for 06', then the Honda is the only way to go.

    I ride with a lot of Honda 250F's and if they were serious about racing, they'd be in a world of hurt right now because of the valve clearance issues. My best bud cannot even ride his 05' this weekend because he ran out of adjustment. He bought it in May this year and will be borrowing my cousin's 03' 450. He is not really happy right now.


    You're scaring me.

    I"m in the middle of talking an office co-worker into buying a bike, and I'm steering him towards the CRF250R...but he's not going to be hip on chronic problems.

    Is this just your experience, or is this a well known big issue?? Is it worse than the 450's?? Wouldn't a set of KibbleWhite's take care of it??

    Please illuminate me, as he's looking to buy probably this weekend. I would advise him to get the 450, but I'm afraid he'd hurt himself, and the 230 is waaaay too small for him...

    thnx>N
    sorry ya'll, i've got back to the darkside...
    http://pingertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6090
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    124
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    by 124 » Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:40 am

    Every Honda 250F (about a half dozen)I know closely except for 1 has the valve issue. My best friend was shimming after EVERY ride and he is a C rider. Per my last post, he is no longer able to shim due to valve stretch. He cannot even ride OR even repair his bike. If you go in and look in the 250F forum, you will see a good number of people with the same issues. It is a known and widespread problem. Honda claims to have made some modifications to the 06' to "increase valvetrain durability", but the jury is still out. I have not heard from or seen anyone with an 06', so I don't know.

    Kibblewhite publically states the stainless parts are not available. My buddy called them yesterday. However, you see that Ken got a few sets (3) sent to him. There is a list and only people who have been on that list are getting them. This is a pretty good indicator of how many people are having this problem. Stock valve parts are obviously an option, but I'm sure there is reluctance to purchase a part you know is gonna fail regularly.

    Don't get me wrong, I think that this is the best 250F on the market...hands down. BUT, and it is a big but, you may be doing CONSTANT valvetrain maintenance...every ride. Personally, I would not recommend a Honda CRF250R to anyone until I knew for sure the 06's were fixed. It's a bummer...

    On the other side...and I hope I don't get lynched for this; but that Slowsuki looks pretty good. A couple guys I ride with have them with no complaints.
  • bombed crf250
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    by bombed crf250 » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:32 am

    my crf is an 05 and i have done the valve/shims about 5 times during a season of racing,although my mate has an 04 and hasnt done his once and it still runs sweet
  • 40oz
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    by 40oz » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:27 pm

    04 X and no valve issues..

    on another forum there have been a LARGE number of polls and threads about this 'problem' and all results point to there is no problem. 1/8 has the 'problem' but that is caused by something else, if you are worried about it anyways get an '06 the seat material has been changed in all '06 models (04-05 were not changed).
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    ncj01
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    by ncj01 » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:21 pm

    40oz wrote:04 X and no valve issues..

    on another forum there have been a LARGE number of polls and threads about this 'problem' and all results point to there is no problem. 1/8 has the 'problem' but that is caused by something else,


    (04-05 were not changed).


    I'm curious too about this "problem."

    I don't keep track of my hours on the bike, but I've now done 3 races, done practice on-course for all of them, as well as ridden every weekend since I've owned the bike...

    ...I've changed oil/filter & airfilter religously, but done nothing else....

    ...and my bike seems to run better and better, it started yesterday morning, cold, on the very first kick, surprised the crap out of me, becuase I didn't even expect it to...

    ...so I ran out and bought the kibbles when I got the bike this past late-summer, with the intention of having them installed at around 12-15hrs, but I'm sure I'm 3+ times past that, and zero issues, starts perfect, runs smooth, etc..

    ...so I suppose I'll keep paying attention to it's sound, performance, how it starts/runs, but I have no intention of doing anything to the valves while it behaving perfectly...

    valve problems?? not here... 8)
    sorry ya'll, i've got back to the darkside...
    http://pingertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6090
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    spaguru
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    by spaguru » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:58 am

    Kawasaki… Why is their color GREEN?

    Being born, and raised, and living in Nebraska all my 39 years has been a struggle for an avid off road motorcycle/ATV enthusiast. Living in Nebraska, we all know that Kawasaki Motorcycles has a major manufacturing facility located in Lincoln. You would think that having a major motorcycle manufacturer in your town would possibly be one of the biggest influences for off road riding areas, but, with Kawasaki it has absolutely no impact what-so-ever.

    As a matter of fact, Kawasaki has never done anything for our city of Lincoln, our state of Nebraska or anything to promote goodwill or support for one of the worst states for off road riding areas open to the general public for dirt bike/ATV riders. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

    Wouldn’t it be a dream-come-true for Lincoln/Omaha Nebraska motorcyclists for Kawasaki to fund and open a public off road riding area? What a gift back to the community it would be for a state with such a poor offering of public places to ride off road motorcycles and ATV’s, one of the worst states in the US for such an activity. Keep dreaming if you think Kawasaki will make a difference for us.

    The Abbott Sports Complex in Lincoln Nebraska is trying to obtain funding from both federal programs and from LOCAL sponsors to build a world class Motocross Facility. Kawasaki has not made any Tax Deductible donations for the project and I honestly don’t see them as any help with the project at all. Lancaster County has donated $50,000 for the project. Isn’t it a shame that Kawasaki does not get involved in such a community project where they are located and is exactly the kind of place their products are used? You would think Kawasaki would jump at an opportunity to help with a national track project so close to where the machines are made… Think again…

    In 39 years of living in Nebraska, I have NEVER seen or heard of Kawasaki sponsoring, promoting or supporting ANY local event such as a fundraising event, community event or even a private event.

    Local businesses, local manufacturing companies, local car dealers, local motorcycle shops and many others, sponsor all kinds of events to support the community such as charity golf tournaments, car shows, entertainment events, home, boat, travel and hunting shows, poker runs, charity events, etc…

    On Kawasaki’s web site, they have recently done something never heard of in Nebraska – offering tours of the manufacturing facility in Lincoln Nebraska. You must, however, be a owner of a Kawasaki product, register for the tour of the plant through a Kawasaki dealer, and the tour is only available on the second Thursday of each month for an hour.

    What a gift back to the community customer…

    The web site goes on to say that the employees take personal responsibility for quality and feels “pride” in a job well done. I know people who work at Kawasaki (the K-Plant) and they don’t feel this way…

    It is clearly evident that the bottom line for Kawasaki is making as much money as possible. I realize that this is the essence of business but I know of no other motorcycle manufacturer that does LESS for their community, or the people who buy their products. What a shame, an embarrassment for the community, sweep them under the rug…

    Maybe the fact that they are located in Lincoln Nebraska conceal these observations and maybe no one has brought these facts to the light of day, or maybe no one seems to care, but I do, and I do not feel as though Kawasaki is good for our community or for motorcycling in general.

    The extent of Kawasaki involvement in the motorcycle rider’s world appears to be support at some motocross and road racing events for Kawasaki motorcycle riders in the form of mechanical and parts supply. In my opinion, this is simply to promote more sales of their products and to appear as “involvement” in the industry. They also attend all the trade shows and other places to promote the sales of their machines. This is the bare minimum a manufacturer can and must do, and they probably would not even do this, if all the other manufacturers did not do it too. It is all about the money. More money. Green money. All take and no give.

    They have a “Riders Club” called ROK (Riders of Kawasaki) but you have to PAY to be a member! For Kawasaki, it is all about the MONEY. Green Money.

    Having formed these personal opinions many years ago, I have always decided to never buy from, or support a manufacturer that does not support the sport of motorcycling. Just like you will NEVER see Kawasaki support their local community or local customers, you will NEVER see me on a Kawasaki...

    Support the sport! Ride safe. Tread Lightly and quietly.
    Todd Joyce
    Louisville Nebraska
    2007 Honda CRF250X
    www.SpaGuru.net
  • CRF916
    Posts: 1314
    Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:00 pm

    by CRF916 » Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:32 am

    Talk about dusting off an old thread. :lol: :)
    0'6 CRF450XXX

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