hoggyf Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 I bought a ccm 644 a couple of months ago so I could nip out and ride off road when I haven't got enough time to get the trials bike out ( and lack of space to practice) but I've been finding it frustrating, it's bloody heavy even though its relatively light for a trail bike, it doesn't lift the front ( guys on the ccm forum have confirmed they're very front end heavy) so if i blip it, it just spins up. Generally I find its not that much fun, I'm hanging on guiding it rather than riding it. Reason I bought a big bike was I wanted something to greenlane on but could do a bit of road work as well, but think it might be the wrong thing and maybe I should just go to a road bike so...... What does anyone else ride? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombush Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 (edited) Hoggy Just my opinion.. It all depends on what your doing. I assume that you intend to ride for hours at a time over some distance 40, 80 miles or more and intend to ride smoothly (being polite, as opposed to aggressively) then a light 4 stroke is best. not because you cant do it on other things, just whats easiest to live with. As an example of this I used to do quite a bit of laning on a KTM 300EXC (i raced as well) but it was annoying on the road due to the normal 2 stroke desire to be accelerating or decelerating. I tried KTM 200's and 250's they were similar, however i rode more road biased 2T machines (KDX220, DT125, CRM250 etc.) and these were better. On the 4 stroke front i preferred a 400 or 450 because they had similar power to the 2T-300 but were smoother and easier to deal with (also i found that four strokes spooked horses less) after the 3rd / 4th / 5th hour riding. A 250 4T is also good but it stresses the bike slightly more, 600's start to get a bit heavy for me (a shorty). Having said that i laned with a pal that used a KTM 990!! I stopped because i started to feel like an annoyance socially, racing was much more rewarding and also because i wanted to ride legally. Various factors mean that a SAT NAV and lots of route planning are advisable if you want to keep moving. Good luck, if all youve got is a 20 year old XT125... that'll do if your a good rider. Dom Edited May 13, 2013 by dombush 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 On occasion I convert my 4RT for some green laning / trials training 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shercoben12 Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 I would get a Ktm freeride 350 my friends got one and they are exceptional! Oh and that's a very sweet mont you've got there;) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 If I could afford one, a KTM Freeride would be very nice... Instead I bought me a Bultaco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shercoben12 Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 (edited) Check this- most of us couldn't do it on a trials bike!!!! Sounds good as well!- Ktm freeride 350 2013 Edited May 13, 2013 by shercoben12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabmeister10 Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 This... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggyf Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 350 Freeride - I would love to... except paying for it in the first place, did you hear him sit it on the limiter!!!! Love the XL125 looks much more fun How does the 4RT cope on the lanes? can you actually sit on it for any length of time? I am coming to the conclusion that maybe a TTR250 or KDX might be more enjoyable for me but they wouldn't be much use on the road so would mena buying a roadbike as well and SWMBO would do her nut at that - the dilema continues lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony27 Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Funny you should mention the sitting on the limiter before launching at the rock, seems to be the case in any of the other videos involving trials type riding of the freeride & of anytime you see a modern 4 stroke ridden offroad. Would have to wonder what the engine life is when treated like that Having ridden both the KTM engined Beta 450 & the early Sherco 450i in 2005/6 on decent length trailrides I would think they should suit, being a few years old now their asking price shouldn't be too high & neither is that much heavier than the latest models, both have well built engines & the best components available so they should have fared quite well as long as the previous owners have done the filters & oil regulary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 We do lots of long-distance trail-riding in Australia so it soon becomes apparent which bikes are the go for mechanical longevity High performance 4 stroke 250/450 (Yamaha WR/KTM/Honda) will incur approx $1 per km ridden in engine rebuild cost ($6000 per 6000km) Modest 4 strokes are much more sensible for this sort of use (not for racing though). The KTM Freeride will probably prove to be a great choice but is too new to be considered a proven thing. History has shown that the Suzuki DRZ400 has a long service life and as a result is very popular here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 350 Freeride - I would love to... except paying for it in the first place, did you hear him sit it on the limiter!!!! Love the XL125 looks much more fun How does the 4RT cope on the lanes? can you actually sit on it for any length of time? I am coming to the conclusion that maybe a TTR250 or KDX might be more enjoyable for me but they wouldn't be much use on the road so would mena buying a roadbike as well and SWMBO would do her nut at that - the dilema continues lol I only have to do about 10 km's to get to the "practice area", so I don't know how my backside wil be after a longer time in the saddel, but you can always stand up for a while like enduro riders do... As you can see the seat is quite narrow to give enough freedom to move when you stand on the pegs, so don't expect a very comfortable saddel. The engine and frame geometry can cope well with the higher speeds but it doesn't have the longer gear ratio's of a trail bike. You can't expect everyting of course. My road speed is about 50 - 60 km/h because I don't want the engine to suffer to much. Also, riding with almost flat tyres at high speeds isn't very wise i.m.o. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tog Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 (edited) I ride a WR250F with the TRF. It's more than enough offroad. Some of the trails in North Wales are quite technical and I think a bigger bike would be a bit of a handful. However it's not ideal onroad as it's ok upto 50-60mph. However watch what tyres you use as Enduro tyres aren't great onroad. Also, watch the seat height as the WR and a friends TTR are quite high. I think that electic start is a real bonus restarting a stalled bike half way up a technical climb. Edited May 14, 2013 by tog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggyf Posted May 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 Re the WR250F and the DRZ400 This is gonna sound a like a kiddy question but.....can you wheely it off the throttle without too much technique required, i.e. to blip over a log, drop off, gully etc as thats the problem with the CCM, you just plough through it which is great if you're racing but I'm not, I want the enjoyment of riding with skill not speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tog Posted May 15, 2013 Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 Hoggy, If your looking for something to wheelie off the throttle then I think you need to be looking at a 2 stroke. The WR250 will wheelie if you give it enough throttle, but not really whilst TRF type riding as I am never going/reving fast enough and more than my skill level. But not instantly and at will like a 2 stroke, more a big handful of throttle and heavy yank on the bars. One of the guy's that I ride with has a DRZ400 and that seems pretty much the same. I used to have a KDX200 and that was more like what you are describing. I believe the KTM 300 2stroke is a very torquey engine but also with a lot of power like your after. However from what I here they are in a higher state of tune and much higher maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggyf Posted May 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 It's not that I want to ride at Mach 5 , far from it I'm happy bumbling along but when you,re faced with a rock step or big puddle I'd like to be able to ride it like my rev3 and blip the throttle to lift it over it, maybe I'm expecting too much, would love a 300 2 stroke but think it might be a bit wild for me lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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