Tm has aluminum frame.. To ridgid for woods? 19 counterbalenced engine! And gas gas steel frame slightly porky... Price is close.. My husky dealer sells gas gas.. 250 or 300 gasser or tm.. 18 gasser is carryover are blowout pricing.. Tm u almost have to go 19,,,,estart and counterbalenced engine..
I had an aluminum framed Yamaha and rode aluminum framed Hondas and Kawasakis and I could tell they were more ridged than my GASGAS or Italian Husky but I don't get the same feeling about my TM. My two main riding buddies, one on a Beta 300 (A-vet) and the other on a GASGAS 300 (B-vet) both commented that they couldn't tell that the TM had an aluminum frame by riding it and expected it to be ridged but were pleasantly surprised. The GASGAS guy has mentioned several times that he would probably buy a TM for his next bike.
I'd pick the TM but truthfully have not ridden either one. The CB is awesome on the husky/ktm so I'd still want that, the electronic powervalve would be a win for me, and TM isn't as risky as GG... Have to say, checked out the TM prices and they seem inline with everything now. Really, pick up whatever gets you the most excited about riding lol
I've spent less money setting up my TM than any new bike I've ever owned. Mine came with a 2.9 gallon tank, I put radiator guards ($100) and transferred my trusty bark busters and bought a rear spring for $139 and put a set of used .48 springs that came out of my YZ450 and that's it. If I bought it all new it would be less than $350. Everything on the bike is ready to go, if I had an imaginary wish list I'd pick Brembo Brakes, billet triples, KYB forks and KYB or Ohlins shock, Excell rims and billet hubs, Kehin carb, cylinder ported and set up for race fuel with a dual map switch. All these things are already done, I might lean out the main jet one step when summertime gets here but so far I haven't even had the need to re-jet it. I usually re-valve the suspension but it hasn't done one thing wrong so I don't know what I'd tell the suspension guy to do. I forgot to mention that my GASGAS riding buddy sent his cylinder head off a couple days ago to get it set up for race fuel hoping to close the gap between his bike and my TM... he's a faster rider than me but I think it bothers him that my bike runs better than his and not by a little bit, lol. Mine in map 2 will smoke his and in MAP 1 its ridiculous.
I picked up a 16 TM 250 en last May and I would say that it is awesome. The suspension is set up perfect for the woods , I weigh 170lbs and am a B class rider. The motor is perfect, lots of low end but will scream on the top end with almost no hit. Bon Joes cycle has been able to get any part I need quickly and will take time to help with everything. Obviously I would choose the TM. The 19s are supposed to be even better
The Brembos on my old wr250 Husky, my new TM and every KTM I've ridden have always been far better than any nissan brakes although Beta and GasGas have nissan brakes that work surprisingly well. I've never understood why Yamaha and Kaw and other Japanese bikes can't get it right. It's a function of the diameter of the caliper piston related to the bore size of the master cylinder yet the first thing you have to do if you buy a Japanese bike is buy an oversized rotor, a better brake line and if you're really serious aftermarket Brembo calipers. It wouldn't cost Yamaha any more to change the diameters of their braking systems to get their brakes of par with GasGas or Beta, all they have to do is copy GasGas if they can't figure it out by themselves. In the last 9 years I've owned 2 Hondas, 3 Yamahas and 2 Kawasakis and 1 Suzuki and the brakes were either terrible or I spent $400 or more to make them OK but not great. When you start weighing all these little things against the cost of a new bike the TM is not really that expensive. My en300 doesn't need a re-valve, a pipe, braking mods, footpegs, hubs, triple clamps a cylinder head mod, cylinder porting or an oversized tank. I'd have a lot more money in a yz250 if I brought it up to the TM standard. Granted I probably can do without the billet bling but it does give me a little confidence because of the solid feel of a well put together bike.
I'd go TM EN250 or YZ250X if you want to save a couple grand. TM is going to be my next bike when that time comes, but most likely will go with the EN300FI. Dealer support is growing, which is great to see.
Yamaha had a few years when their front brake was good- it was when the went with the newer brake line routing in 05- but after a few years the changed to a smaller caliper and fucked everything up. Best way is to go for the 05 and newer brake line and an 99-06 brake caliper with a oversizded rotor.
The 99-05 still wasn't near as good as a Brembo. I recently rebuilt a master cylinder on a 2000 kx125 and the master cylinder bore was a fraction smaller which gave it a bit more leverage, I guess that with an oversized rotor might have been ok.
What i dont like on the brembos i had- the really need a frequent service... the nissin brakes are much more uncomplicated- but yes- i pure performance they are better.
