TE vs. KLX vs. CRF-Who's going to win the gold?

I must say after riding a brand new KLX and CRF, I think my TE is going to walk away in this 450 enduro shootout. As mine is still in the barn until Jan., my firends and I have yet to find out.

Anybody got any opinions on this?

I think it will come down to the best rider in the group

The new bikes these days are so close in performance it will come down to personal preference & rider ability

+1

HAAA! that is heavy,, funny, it looks heavier than a TE, but is actually probably lighter- but definately no plates on those- I've seen it done though- in some states you can plate anything if you do the work- Michigan, in Some it doesn't matter what you do-Wisconsin. But if you have a Harley in WI- its OK.... anything goes- lights horns signals mufflers.

But yea- I vote for the best rider on the husky

Just wondering if anyone had any insight into HP, torque, real life examples. I've ridden all 3 in stock form & I must say, while the Kawi seems to be the smoothest, I was not convinced that either are faster than my TE. They just don't have that shoulder-separating feel when accellerating hard like my TE. Both of these guys have ridden my TE and both had the same comment when they parked it-"brutal", and that's exactly how it should be described. Power is brutal on the TE to the point where it intimidates the hell out of them. In fact, neither of them will ride the TE after only 1 ride each. The CRF & KLX are both fast, but I would not describe them as "brutal". I like "brutal". "Brutal" has gotten me out of a few quite sticky situations. After getting accustomed to my TE, they feel more like an old DR-350 to me. Just sayin...but we'll find out shortly.

Hey mxracernumber1 -- How was the handling on your TE compared to the KLX and CRF? Which back is more race ready in your opinion?

well I am just confused now

Thanks Kelly. The new H-berg is selling fast here. No 570s left only 1 450 left, I guess that tells you something.

Ditto on the Berg. Those are super sweet!

Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. Also, we haven't been doing much riding together as of late. We just can't seem to get on the same schedule. They like to go on Saturdays, which is my family day. The SUndays I do get to go seems like they are all doing something else.

I have ridden both the KLX and CRF extensively since I posted this thread however. I can tell you that even when ridden hard, I don't see much of an advantage over the TE with either of the other two frame-wise (unless having to remove the seat and tank to change the plug counts). Also, right out of the box, the TE is NOTICABLY stronger. My dealer did some set up for me, but that was to get rid of the on-road crap. As for the rest, it is stock.

The KLX is MUCH slower than the TE. In a drag, the TE wins in 1/8 mile and top speed. The CRF and KLX won't see 86mph without some extreme mod.'s. The TE will do it stock. I would have run faster, but we seriously need a steering stabilizer. Head shake is one area the CRF and KLX perimeter frames shined. They are pretty smooth at their top speeds, though they are considerably less than that of the TE.

The KLX delivers smooth power, but as both the KLX and CRF have a Cali-friendly exhuast, they are extremely choked up. This makes them dasdardly difficult to crank when it's cold out, or the engine is really hot-which is a big problem for the KLX. It gets hotter than Micheal Jackson at a...well you get the picture.

As far as ergonomics go, I have never been quite at home in the corners on my TE. I've ridden it on a local MX track quite a bit and can say that I just don't seem to weld with the bike like I did my old YZ-125's. However, this is the first modern 4-stroke racer I have owned. I got out of racing well before anyone thought about putting a serious 4-stroke engine in an MX bike. Back in the 90's, real men rode 250's and if you were a real cowboy, you rode a 500. If anyone had told me in 1992 that MX would go all 4-stroke in 10 years (except minis) I would have laughed them out of the parking lot. XR-250's just seamed rediculous on the MX track. I had no idea what was in store. I don't think anyone did. However, I did once draw up a rendition of a 4-stroke mx'er that I thought would be a 250 with the horsepower of a 250 2-stroke, but I had the chicken-pox, was 17 years old and was just doing some crazy thinking. I had no idea someone was actually working on it. It also had a sliding-linkage rear shock-I'm proud to say, I still haven't seen that yet. Anyway, the 2-stroke was bred into me from the beginning. Getting used to a 4-stroke was quite a feat for me personally. When I rode the KLX, I will say that it reminded me the most of my old YZ's of any four-stroke enduro I've ridden to date, ergonomically speaking, but then were these bikes really designed to be ridden like an MX'er??? Engine wise, it reminded me of my old DR 250.

The CRF is good. I know lots of people like them, but DAMNIT! Cranking is a prerequisit to riding. Honda just doesn't seem to understand this. It looks like they could figure out how to make a bike that will crank when it's hot without flooding. I guess, they weren't smart enough to do so, so they just decided to give up and go to EFI. By the way, that Cali-friendly exhaust sounds like an EZ-Go. When it does crank, I can't tell if it's running or not when I'm wearing my helmet. I mean I understand the noise issue, but I bet this bike would crank if it could breath. It's not the worst cranker ever-not by a long shot, but the TE makes this bike look like something's wrong with it-oh wait there is, it's not a Husky.

Next, I'm going to bash their graphics and plastics. Once again, graphics onthe Honda are 10 mil, stick and peel-off variety. 30 minutes on this bike and it's hard to distinguish it from a red Kawasaki. The KLX graphics were slightly better. They're using a more durable material that has different feel, but just as with the CRF, they consist of a few black pinstripes, some white and a "450" logo that you need glasses to read. Overall craftsmanship of these bikes just isn't up to par with any Euro bike as far as I'm concerned. I thought the KLX was cool and wanted one until I saw a modern Husky. Side-by-side, the Husky make the Japanese bikes look like they were made in Korea at a Daewoo forklift plant-oh wait....

Anyway, I know the mags love the Japanese brands because they spend lots of big bucks with them. I know that one of the more popular ones just labeled the TE "ghost of XR". However, this only after hopping off of their Japanese test bikes with $2,000 worth of mods and onto a stock TE which was setup by someone who knows absolutely nothing about setting one up. I'm just not seeing the same results they saw. My only beef about the Husqvarna brand at this point as opposed to the Japanese brands is that I can't seem to find a Husqvarna motorcycle dealer who can seem to find parts for a Husqvarna motorcycle with the exception of Hall's.

In closing, buy a race-ready bike that doesn't need parts. Don't buy an $8,000 bike that needs $2,000 worth of after-market parts. The Japanese bikes are exactly trail bikes when you get them. The Husky is ready to Rock 'n' Roll. Just like I told the dealer I wanted it. I know someone who really needs to come ride with me. I'm not calling any names but it rhymes with Slimmy Glueis. I'll give him one of the stock Japanese bikes, but he's going to have to reimburse my buddy for all the rock damage the TE is going to do to the front of it.

Slimmy Glueis lol thats hillarious. That ones a keeper. :smirk:

" I can't seem to find a Husqvarna motorcycle dealer who can seem to find parts for a Husqvarna motorcycle with the exception of Hall's."

Ever heard of MotoXotica? They will usually have it in stock.
I'm with ya on the 4 stroke revolution. My first bike was a tricked
out XR75. After that a YZ80 and I was hooked on 2 stroke. Then a
YZ125 and it was a screamer. I used to ridicual 4 strokers. I never
thought I'd see the day when a 4 stroker could be on the same track
as a two but they've come a long ways. I'm a 4 stroke guy all the way now just because I'm older and like to trail ride for the most part. Jerry

Just an update:

I entered the TE in an ATV drag race this weekend. The local MX track installed a REAL drag stip. 400', staging lights, lasers, etc. The guys on the quads were good sports about getting their hineys spanked by a dirtbike. All that money on all those mods. I know it won't come as a surprise to any TE owners, but those guys were in disbelief that a stock bike took home their trophy. They really thought they had a shot with all their fancy engine work and do-dads. Now, the guys with the KLX and CRF want in on the action, so we're going tohave some cameras rolling and there will be lots of pics to follow this up next time around. My best time was 6.4, but I think I can get it down to 6.0 with a better start. Anybody got any launch controls they'd like to part with???

what gear were you in at the finish...? speed?

I got to 6th right before the finish. I glanced down once or twice right before the line to check my speed. It was 67mph once and 70mph once. The biggest part of the time was spent on my start. I started in 2nd every time and the bike just ripped off the line withthe front wheel high. To maintain traction and control, I really couldn't hammer it like I wanted to until 1/2 way through third. It was a pretty well-groomed clay track and was pretty hard, but a little dusty on top, so getting traction and keeping the front wheel down was a consant ballet. They jumped me out of the gate as you can imagine. Racing quads have 3X the foot print on one tire, and they have 2 tires back there, so while I was fighting to get traction and keep the front wheel at least close enough to the ground so I could steer between shifts, they were off and running. I caught up about 1/2 down the track every time, and by the time I was in 4th, the deal was sealed. It was lots of fun (for me). I think they enjoyed it too because it gave them all someone to try to beat. I guess I finally found a motorsport that fits my level of physical fitness. I just wish there was a big table top in the middle.

Well, I got the MX launch control from Kelly who is now one of my best-good friends. I installed it last night right before a huge storm ran me out of the garage and back into the house. Thanks a million for the help man (everyone should give this guy some rating). The check is in the mail.

We'll find out Sat. night just how well this works on the TE. Enough of my buddies want a piece of me now that we have enough bikes for our own class. Quite in fact, the one with the CRF-X is so uncertain that he can beat me with it, he is bringing his CRF-R just in case. The KLX should be there also. This is a much bigger race than the first one I went to 2 weeks ago when I took everyone out behind the woodshed with the TE. There are going to be lots of people there & it looks like there will be just enough bikes that I'll be racing against them instead of the quads this time. Track is also shorter at 300' instead of the 400' we were racing last time. I'm expecting something in the 4.8-5.4 second range, but we'll find out Saturday night.

There will be plenty of pics-and perhaps a video if I can get the Mrs. to participate.

This is going to be interesting...

nieghbors

I see we're neighbors. Do I know you? You got the suped-up '08 TE 450???