Bike decision time, i need a directional push

speedybeedy · Aug 19, 2014

HI, I have done all the reading on this I think my brain can handle so I'm down to a 2013 ktm sxf 450, a 2013 kx 450 or a2009 husaberg 570.
There all within 700 bucks of each other and have similar hours, from 40-60 hours on the bikes, I know the 450 do not come with hour meters but these 2 bikes I know there approximate hours.
Anyway Its going to be mounted on a 2014 TS ST that I just picked up.

Type of rider I am, I ride a 2013 ktm 300 xcw right now, its my second one of the year as I put 100 hours of single track on the first one already and I ride them as hard as I can without killing myself. I like the bike for its nimble lighter weight, the power is fun and able to scare me anytime I need it to. I ride as fast as possible before being right on the edge of crashing most of the time,

Type of sledder, Ive been sledding for years and years, last sled was a 2013 xm 163, I thought if I went back to sledding I would buy a 154 as like to spin it around on hills take smaller drops and jumps but also like to climb hills, but climbing on the 163 was to easy, I like more of a challenge working a hill and getting to the top instead of just standing on it and going straight up.

Im 5'10 190lbs with no gear on for the record

So with those ideas in mind I can swing a ktm 450, kx 450 or a 2009 570 berg from 5500 on the berg to 6500 on the 450, I really don't care about having a summer time commuter donor cycle for the road so street legal means nothing to me, and I don't care about headlight or hand warmer as throughout my years sledding I never turn my hand warmers on as it just melts the snow and turns your hand into soaking wet mops that freeze 5 mins later, I just want a bike thats going to be the funnest to ride and I definatley do not want to be under powered, It'll turn me off the sport if I get up there and all I'm able to do it putt around, id sell it the next day.

The guys I'm riding with have bought a 570 berg and 2 650 bergs,

Just looking for some help to make the right decision so I am grinning ear to ear and get instantly hooked.

Thanks for the input and helping me get the right bike.

Rush44 · Aug 19, 2014

Are you keeping the 300 for the summer? Do you have plans to ride dirt on your future snowbike? If you have no plans to ride dirt (or at least very little) I would pick the 450 SXF. If you plan to ride dirt and maybe start doing some track the clear winner is the KX. KX > SXF in the dirt. But the SXF is a better snowbike because of the motor and how it builds power. Also, the KX has air forks and they are not optimal for winter riding.

Owning a 300xcw for summer and a 450sxf for winter would be ideal for me as well. Lucky you!

speedybeedy · Aug 19, 2014

I plan on keeping the 300 just for the summer and having a specific snow bike for winter, I am sure ill throw the tie back on it for summer to have as a spare bike but I'm a 90 percent single track guy so will always have a 300 around, I am also favouring the E start option after reading numerous forums about these kits and do like it on the 300, but I would have bought the KX if it was the clear better option for power, I have read all of your post, good post and keep them up as Im sure there is allot of people stuck on the bike decision and having guys that ride them allot post about there experiences sure helps, so thanks for that.
I am leaning twords the ktm 450 at this point so far.

Wheel House Motorsports · Aug 19, 2014

Seems like most every MX 450 does well on the snow, as someone who bleeds blue, im partial to the yami stuff, and the 14/15 450s seems to be ripping, but the KTM stuff has been working good, and e-start is definately a plus! but honestly, if a guy found a smokin deal on a new or barely used 450, hard to say no on saving money as it gets a little hard to sell a bike after 2-3 seasons of snow use. now that people know how hard they are ridden you do have to consider resale value is not going to be the best ever!

on the note of the large cc bergs, i think the powerband works fairly for poking around on, but i was on a 11 yz 450 and boss man was on his '10(i think?) berg 570, both ST kits, and his launches a little quicker due to the torquey bottom and is more fun when idling around in the woods burping thru tree wells, but the yz would pull it slightly on the longer sidehill pulls, and mind you, the 11 yz is nothing like the new units. something about the super high rev/over rev ability of the 450s make it easier to stay up at peak power where the berg felt like i was always ramming it into the rev limiter trying to stay on the pipe.

food for thought.

powdermuncher · Aug 20, 2014

If you are looking for a new bike the 2014 YZ 450 is top dog right now.
The power and weight Distribution works better than any other bike right now.
Even the KTM limited edition:face-icon-small-sho not that they are bad -- it is just that the Yamaha totally shines in this application.
That said most 450 MX bikes work well even the WR 450 dialled works well.

tillbuilt · Aug 20, 2014

Listening to your story, and the type a rider that you are, I would not recommend the 570 berg even though I am a 570 husaberg fanatic. It's just not the style of bike you want to ride.

Looking at your other choices the electric start hands-down is my choice over the non-electric start bike so in my opinion I would go with the KTM 450. if you're looking at other options the 2014 YZ 450 really is truly a ripper.

With all that said, it is my opinion one of these days you'll be on a 300 two-stroke in the woods with a Timbersed on it. It a seams like you like you are that kind of rider. You may want to keep that option open. All of the real riders that demoed with me last year gravitated to my 2014 KTM 300 XC with a Timbersled SX 121.

Blaser · Aug 20, 2014

Between the 3 bike choices you mentioned, I'd go with the KTM 450. I've spent a lot of time on each of those bikes, and owned Bergs and that same KTM.
The lack of e-start eliminates the KX.
The KTM has more hp than the Berg, but the potential lack of parts availability for the Berg would be the deal killer for me. Berg has been shelved.

Add a bigger battery to the KTM, a carbon fiber heat shield, Fastway pegs and handguards and especially the exhaust end cap- and ride it. It rips.
Blaser

speedybeedy · Aug 20, 2014

Thanks for all the good info, I have eliminated the berg and I guess if I did listen to my own storie I would have realized that Im looking for the most flickable bike with maximum performance, I guess I wanted to make sure that 450s had enough grunt to move the track in a manner thats still a lot of fun.
Interesting post about the 300, It would be easy as I have that bike already, but Im really wierry about lack of performance going with that bike, I guess I could always try it for a weekend and see how it makes out, as the 450 ktm kit will fit the 300 as well, but I really think it would be hard on the 300 as id have it pinned full time I would think

mxracer299 · Aug 21, 2014

I would get a 300sx kit for your bike, have the cylinder ported, head milled, Pro Circuit pipe and silencer, heat the carb or run a smarty. There's a bunch of us running them, especially on a ST they have plenty of power. Then you could just have a snow specific cylinder, head, sx cdi, pipe and silencer and swap parts to have a rideable bike on dirt still.

M5- · Aug 21, 2014

I don't know if other guys are finding this but I seem to be riding my bike pinned all the time now where as when I started snowbiking I was easier on it. My next bike decision will be heavily weighted to a motor that can basically run WFO all day and hopefully last ideally with e start.

M5

Wheel House Motorsports · Aug 21, 2014

M5- said:
I don't know if other guys are finding this but I seem to be riding my bike pinned all the time now where as when I started snowbiking I was easier on it. My next bike decision will be heavily weighted to a motor that can basically run WFO all day and hopefully last ideally with e start.

M5

very true, now that im seeing guys putting big miles on these things, im sure more and more you will be seeing bikes grenading. I know it happens. once i got comfortable on my bike i found myself in the same boat, WFO and bouncing gears. i know at least one time i spent almost half an hour straight WOT bouncing around going up and old logging trail in some deep fresh snow. I was just waiting for a rod to go thru the block!!

If I were to get on a kit again, i would probably end up on a modded 250 or 300 smoker just because the less rotating parts, and lower peak RPM then a 450 mx bike. Seeing as the forces exerted from angular acceleration (rotation) are exponential with rpm, the more power you can make at lower rpm is key. Also, the lighter bikes sure are fun to ride, especially when your only 150# to start with!!

n16ht5 · Aug 22, 2014

Why a 250/300 over a 5002t?

Rush44 · Aug 22, 2014

Ever tried to single track a 500 smoker? The bike becomes nearly useless outside of the desert in the summer time. Most people who have the 500 are using it as a dedicated winter bike.

Robster · Aug 22, 2014

An easy choice of Berg 570 in my book.
As flickable as the others, but with more grunt and more top end power than the others with an FMF pipe and race mapping. 2011 Berg 570 with an LT kit is the best bike I have ever ridden as Snowbike. It truly rips with that endless power and light weight. My wr450 with all mods was not even close in power and mx bikes is just not doing it for me, due to lack of electric start, lights and power for GPS. Not saying that they are bad bikes in any way, but just not for me.

Rob

summitboy · Aug 22, 2014

No offense but i found the 570 was like a wheezing dog lol. Sorry. Not what i would call snappy. Had some torque but was pretty flat. Felt nice and heavy !

Id only do a snowbike with a MX tranny. My vote is the KTM 450 XC. Im kinda partial to the 2 stroke stuff though. Just need KTM to make a 500XC 2 stroke again lol. Although i know of a sweet twin 500EFI 2 stroke that will show up soon in the future. There will be a bunch of turbos for sale ha ha !

Hbmtr · Aug 22, 2014

please tell more about the 500 twin:face-icon-small-hap

Uncle si · Aug 22, 2014

Rush44 said:
Ever tried to single track a 500 smoker? The bike becomes nearly useless outside of the desert in the summer time. Most people who have the 500 are using it as a dedicated winter bike.

Darn, have I been doing it wrong?

rmk8000 · Aug 22, 2014

Wheel House Motorsports said:
very true, now that im seeing guys putting big miles on these things, im sure more and more you will be seeing bikes grenading. I know it happens. once i got comfortable on my bike i found myself in the same boat, WFO and bouncing gears. i know at least one time i spent almost half an hour straight WOT bouncing around going up and old logging trail in some deep fresh snow. I was just waiting for a rod to go thru the block!!

If I were to get on a kit again, i would probably end up on a modded 250 or 300 smoker just because the less rotating parts, and lower peak RPM then a 450 mx bike. Seeing as the forces exerted from angular acceleration (rotation) are exponential with rpm, the more power you can make at lower rpm is key. Also, the lighter bikes sure are fun to ride, especially when your only 150# to start with!!

Would a 250 2 stroke work for a snowbike? I found a great deal on a cr250

n16ht5 · Aug 24, 2014

Rush44 said:
Ever tried to single track a 500 smoker? The bike becomes nearly useless outside of the desert in the summer time. Most people who have the 500 are using it as a dedicated winter bike.

I swapped back and forth with my friends KX500 and actually had an easier time riding his bike over my CR250 riding mountain singletrack. You just have to learn to control the throttle and clutch effectively .

I have a Husaberg FE390, and I would imagine the 570 would work very well , but I think the maint on a smoker would be a lot cheaper

n16ht5 · Aug 24, 2014

rmk8000 said:
Would a 250 2 stroke work for a snowbike? I found a great deal on a cr250

My CR250 has worked awesome in spring snow so far. Lots of full pinned riding from being on a 2moto but its a lot lighter than most of the other Snowbikes I've sat on. I was able to go everywhere my timbersled friends on 450+ cc bikes went when the snow was set up

Bike decision time, i need a directional push

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