125-200cc Should I Change Bikes

Kelly's suggestion makes a lot of sense. I think that the 4-stroke bikes can be more forgiving to ride, and are going to be more flexible.

I still want to ride your bike though.

FYI, one of the guys I ride with (another NJ guy) has a TE250 and it has plenty of power for all of the terrain you're going to ride in. I rode it some down in the pine barrens and expected to be disappointed, and I really liked it. He keeps up with the rest of our crew, including my 300 2-stroke and some 450 4-strokes. In the tight stuff you don't need big power.

Thanks Kyle and Kelly. I thought about the 310 when i bought the 449 last year. I saw they are listed at the same weight though. I guess they feel different when riding.

Kyle - I'll send a pm.

I have a wr300 and ride in South Jersey, I am a SJER member and live and ride in the area of the run, so you know exactly the conditions I ride in. I had a 520EXC before my WR, honestly I loved that bike, it was abit of a handful in the tight but smooth and controllable. I decided to try my hand at some Hare Scrambles again since I was hauling y son to them anyway and after the first run on the 520 the only problem was the weight for me... I really wish I keep it as a DS bike to be honest, but I love the 300 in the woods, I'm 240lbs you can almost ride the bike like a 4 stroke. But in real tight a 144/165 would use so much less energy. On another note, at the Hammer run I rode with a 200 and 250 EXC (2 strokes) and a new 350exc. The 200 and 250 guys refilled 1.5 gallons at each gas stop and I used only .5 each time I could have put maybe another 1/4 gallon in but didn't need to.

Any idea what happened on that first section? A bunch of us left at 8:30 and wound up doing it twice. Had a great time!

Sunday - by the way

Yeah, myself and about half of our crew rode it twice too. Right after the power lines there was a long dirt road section and then you were supposed to go right, but there was an arrow pointing the wrong way and a bunch of guys went left, connecting them back into the first loop. Oops!

Were you with a couple guys with Kawasaki's??? If so I was in the group you asked to take your group picture back on a jeep road and you told us you did it twice....

So, how did your needle test go out there?

Bah, I forgot my needles at home, and then I ended up riding my 610 on Sunday, so I never did test anything.

54 Years old here and riding dirt since im 10 ! my advice is a much lighter bike with a very predictable power band , KTM 350 EXC

No wasn't me - I as with A GG250 and Beta 300 I had the roll chart/ODO hooked up, should have looked at it!

Once again, I thank everybody for their input and advice.

I'm putting the TE 449 up for sale tonight.

The search for a new (to me more than likely) bike begins....