Oh man, I won't go back to a 250 2 stroke!! I love the bike. Everyone whines about the starting problems. Me, I can start mine within 3 kicks if it's been sitting a month. 2 at the most after a crash. If you're racing it the starting could be an issue cause there is definately a routine to start it that could cost you precious time. I havn't had a single problem with mine either and it's been the most maintenance free bike I've owned. Change the oil regularly, clean the air filter and ride it. I ride motocross tracks, big bear single track trails, Glamis, and lots of Ocotillos Wells/Superstition area. I'll definately be holding on to it for a few more years or at least till I've got my suspension on the Exploder done. I'm really anxious to see how the new CRF450s do. I was at the track about a month ago and Transworld MX magazine was there testing one. They were better riders then me and could do the 1 jump that I'm still too scared to do. The bike looked REALLY nice adn smooth but I was able to pull it coming out of a corner the 4 times I had the opportunity to. I was surprised by that because the '00/'01 YZ426 will pull mine out of a corner so I'm sure it would have blown it away that time. Then again I"m used to my bike and know how to ride it so I'm not taking that as a bad sign cause as far as I know that could have been the guys first couple laps on the bike.
'99YZ400,
'92 Ford Exploder lifted work in progress,
lifted golf cart