Cost of racing, Hare Scrambles

No question in the event of catastrophic issue, 4 stroke is way more to rebuild. But 2 strokes in many cases, need rebuilt more often... i'm racing "A" class, occasionally top 10% overall in national enduro, so not babying my bikes. I get hundreds of hours on low ends, 200+ hours on a 350 piston, 100+- on a 250 piston. 2 stroke guys are doing em way more often that are fast. Literally doing top ends at 20-40 hours..
This all "depends" though. Faster riders? harder on the bike? more frequent rebuilds. MODERN four strokes, can go hundreds of hours, maint free for most riders.

if you can afford it, never buy a bike without E-start. Modern 4 strokes don't even come with kick starters.

 

For me it is REALLY hard to beat the KTM 300’s. The new ones are counter balanced, fuel injected and of course electric start.

Mine now has 20 hours on it and it will be at least another 40-60 before I consider even looking at it.

I just prefer two strokes though. Lighter, smoother and quieter.

JMO

 

Fact.
I put Kris on a old 450SX I had here a few weeks ago. It did great right up until he stalled it or we stopped. Then it had to cool 20 minutes or so to restart. My theory is it was boiling the fuel in the carb. Too much heat from low speed riding on really technical stuff. It was sold the next week and replaced with another 300, just a older one.

 

this is a thing of the past though.. the FI e-start 4 strokes don't have this issue. push a button, your on your way.

 

The price to run at the pointy end of any type racing is always the same:

All of it.

 

this right here, I just started riding in the woods and picked up a new 350 XCF. I would be pissed without that little button, learning to navigate rocks and roots and shit I tend to stall. I’d be toast after an hour if I had to kick the bike every time I stall it

 

Rekluse

 

To go along with this though, it's a good idea to have one of those tiny battery packs that can jump start the bike in your back pack, I know several guys that got stuck in the woods when the battery wouldn't start the bike and they couldn't bump start it.

 

True, I still prefer the two strokes though for me. Especially the counterbalanced ones.
Just personal preference though.

You got the AER forks on your bikes or the Xplor?

 

Probably a good thing it went bye bye. To rebuild the top of that fucker would cost you a couple grand in parts and labor

 

four sets of the AER forks (comes on the xc and sx ktm's), they are decent out of the box once you find a suitable PSI .. but Kreft Moto in Bend Oregon does all my stuff, i opted for the "Revalve Control" he designed. $975 for the forks, but really transforms them and nice mid stroke adjustability (and don't end up spending $4300 for the wp cone valve forks)
He offers the "revalve control" setup for the Xplor forks too

 

i won't even ride my bikes without em. expecially on the 250xcf's, you wouldn't even know it had one till you came to a stop without pulling the clutch in.. but on the 250 4-strokes, i ride the thing like it doesn't have a rekluse. lots of clutch lever use to go fast, but so nice brake sliding in the tight stuff and not worrying about stalling, or late in a race or enduro section, super tired, nasty lil' uphill, don't have to modulate the clutch perfect.

 

rekluse is amazing, and turn up the idle a bit. too low of idle is one thing many new to 4 strokes have in common.

 

Sissy

 

It was fresh, new valves, piston, cam, rockers and Timing chain. It was destroyed when I picked it up. Fixed it for a spare bike to have around....

 

My XC has the AER forks also. They were pretty good to start with but have developed some stiction after 20 hours....
Local suspension guy suggested a few cc’d of oil in the air chamber.
Seems like many prefer the AER fork.

 

Rekluse 3.0 FTW, they're are so bad ass and work so well, try one if you haven't, just saying...

 

funny thing about the aer's.. standing next to the bike, front brake applied, pushing on the bike, there seems to be stiction. This is on all 4 of my bikes, be it the 2016 350 with 440 hours, or my 2019 250xcf with 60 hours. but funny enough, i don't feel it when riding. Butter.
I do have kreft moto micro polish the fork tubes and shock shaft for reduced stiction. $150 or so for forks, and we always use the SKF seals. check out the finish they do . https://www.kreftmoto.com/microfinish

 

Any recommendations for dirt schools for XC/enduro riding? Most of the "serious" schools seem to be MX focused. The MSF ones I'm guessing are going to be fairly basic.

 

If you lived in FL i could direct you to 2 or 3 offroad guys that do 1 on 1 instruction for very reasonable prices, $125-150 for half a day or more..