Bike prices.

[skypig]

A number of my friends have current and reasonably current 4T enduro bikes that are ridden very well and maintained very well . I have not personally witnessed a dramatic failure as described .  I ride 2T  , as that's my preference.

Good , regular maintenance usually results in a good outcome

That's my experience and belief.
I've raced 2 new YZ250Fs. Never missed a beat. (Of course I'm old, slow and mechanically sympathetic.) I've thrashed the hell out of a KTM 525 Supermoto that I bought second hand with similar perfect reliability. Even old guys can hold 54hp wide open on the tar! (Very regular changes of the very best oil I can buy can't hurt, but I believe the main bearings in this model suffer with high revs and perfect grip - still, so far....so good.)

As I've stated, I believe there is:
1. Some risk with buying second hand HiPo 4Ts
2. A rather poor cost benefit of repairing a serious failure of a second hand 4T. (Should the worst happen)

I love 4 strokes, and 2 strokes.
I love mowdabikes.

[Nathan S]

I've lost the photo, but there was an RMZ450 locally, that managed to drop the heads off both exhaust valves at once.

Similarly, a mate's dirt track CRF250 dropped a big end at ~45 hours. There was $4500 in parts alone to make that better. The Hondas have a particularly nifty design feature where a failed bigend bearing takes out both cases and the oil pump, even if the conrod doesn't let go.

As others have said: The way it's used, matters.

[skypig]

I've lost the photo, but there was an RMZ450 locally, that managed to drop the heads off both exhaust valves at once.

Similarly, a mate's dirt track CRF250 dropped a big end at ~45 hours. There was $4500 in parts alone to make that better. The Hondas have a particularly nifty design feature where a failed bigend bearing takes out both cases and the oil pump, even if the conrod doesn't let go.

As others have said: The way it's used, matters.

$4500 in parts! Wow.
That's an uneconomic repair if the bike isn't the current model, marginal (an disappointing!!) if it is.

[BETRIC]

A mates son had a conrod failure on a 03 Huaky TC250 fitted with a 300cc big bore kit on the weekend he told me he was giving it a good rev, managed to punch 2 holes in the crankcase, break the bore liner and even broke the caps that hold the camshaft in the head, the valves lifted the cam as they were driven into the head by the piston as the little end broke on the conrod, my mate is a mechanic and has rebuilt this motor few times over the years, lack a lubrication under the piston was the cause of the failure, I have had a 99 WR400F since new, it was raced for a couple of years then trail ridden since has about 13000km on it, all I have done to it is change the oil, cleaned change the filters brake pads, coolant and had the valves check they have never needed adjustment, is has been registered the last 17yrs and has been very reliable, its worth maybe a couple of grand, its to be retired as I have an a 2016 WR450F on order.

[HVA61]

The reality of the situation is that they are essentially mass produced base line race engines . With the accorded component failure rate.

 As described by Nathan "it depends how they are used".  Dirt track is renowned for being particularly hard on engines


Dave , when you get the new mighty 450 give us a call we are riding most week-ends , it would be good to catch up and have a ride. "Drop by the office "

[fred99999au]

I've been watching Fast and Loud on Fox and on the odd occasion have adopted the low ball technique. Needless to say I'm very familiar with the sound of grown men laughing .                                     

Harko

Must say that I like your theory there Harko. Ive been on the other end of this "grown men laughing" several times at a mates place while assisting in wiring up an IT250H.

The owner had covered the thing with little green cable ties of the variety from the two dollar shop. i.e. the ones that dont hold much.

It was almost like an episode from Ichiban Moto on youtube.

[chrisdespo]

Some of the bikes you see advertised as collectors item make me shake my head in wonder i saw a Kawasaki 250 triple advertised and think to myself they seem to think its a Mach 3 or a H2 back in the day you couldn't have got me to ride one of those 250s even being paid they are rare cause they didn't sell and went about as fast as a c90 stepthru. i put an offer to a bloke for an XT550 i did some sums and thought if you could get it for say a couple of hundred not running it might be ok so i open with 150 and get the old you low ballers give me the sh&ts its worth at least $1600, how so when you can get a runner for around 1200-1500 in fair condition and mate this is a real collectors item! since when, they were a real good bike but in their day couldn't compete sales wise with say an XR500 for suspension and the like but it was basically a roadie if you on the other hand had a RH74 or a number of other bikes well you do have a collectors item. there are many bikes out there that are really desirable and some rare as well but for the most the prices being asked are way over the top not so mucho the restored bikes but the ones that could be a bit of a fun runner and a reliable ride. i guess i will still be shaking my head in wonder at the prices in the future.