250-500cc Why?

Power. Its fun.

I have to agree about the power. My very first real enduro bike was a 1975 Bultaco Frontera 360, a bike that I bought new and simply adored. When I was first looking to get a 300 back in 2004, I wanted a KTM, but the salesman at the dealership didn't have a 300 on the floor. I already had a KDX220, so a step up to a 300 seemed like a logical choice. I asked if they could get me a 300 and the salesman said that they couldn't and besides, the 300 would be more difficult to start and ride for me, and that it really had more power than I would need. He steered me into the 250 that they had there instead.

It could be logically argued that I don't need any more power than what a CRF150F put out for trail riding, but "need" and "want" are two different things. I never really liked my KTM EXC250 all that much. It had good power for a 250 enduro, and it handled well for a 250 enduro. But in the end, I sold the KTM 250 (and still have my 220 KDX)....and I still wanted a 300.

I also got to ride a few KTM 300s over the next few years, and I didn't find them remarkably different from the 250 models....but then came that fateful day when I got that chance to go to press day and ride all the wonderful Husqvarnas that the company had to offer. When I rode THAT 300, I knew that it was the bike for me.

And I miss my WR300 now that it's green sticker season.

Yes. It has to do with exhaust emissions. The California Air Resources Board requires that all offroad motorcycles manufactured after 2002 pass an emissions standard, then the manufacturer puts the emissions tag on that model of bike. No motorcycle, two or four stroke that has been manufactured for "offroad closed course circuit racing" gets to have that tag. Their VIN number has certain letters and numbers that identify them as a red sticker machine in the California DMV computer system. These machines can't be operated in certain public riding areas at all, but most areas at least part of the year, and a few areas all year round....just not in my area. Here, in Southern California the season runs October 1st to April 30th, just east in the desert, a couple of areas run out till the end of May. I can take my red sticker bike 260 miles to the north and ride it all summer long on the Kern Plateau in Sequoia National Forest.

Yes. I have two old KDX200s, 1986 models. One is plated so it can go anywhere it pleases, the other one has a green sticker so it can venture onto any legal public riding land, any time. They actually started the program earlier than 2003, but had so many problems with getting the various models sorted out that they grandfathered everything in before 2003. If I had known that was going to happen, I would have bought a KDX220 in October of 2000, but instead I bought a KLX 300 which was a machine that I very much did not like or want to buy. My 2003 KDX220 is of course, just like the 1997 to 2002 models, except that my year model couldn't have a green sticker. Some people were buying older frames for their bikes so they could get a green sticker for them.

That must be a new one. I know there was a law that said you had to have a transport permit if you didn't have your non street legal bike registered for public off road land use. Some of my road race friends didn't like that. They certainly weren't going to get a sticker for their track bikes to ride them on public trails! And none of them ever bothered to get a transport permit either.

Washington just eased up and passed a law so we can plate almost anything. Neeener neener My GG250 will be a street bike shortly.