KTM or Honda

[damien pickeringMember]

cant decide between a new KTM530 or a Honda CRF450X :blink:

[Aaron WildeMember]

Both great bikes just get ready for an increase in maintenance if you have stepped off an XR600. As you have not filled in your location i cannot recommend a good local dealer for you to check them out. But Sutto’s would be a good start. Man that’s a safe answer :laugh:

[glennMember]

Hold off and have a look at the 2011 RMX 450, rumour has it , they will be ADR compliant?? I am personally not sure if they will be compliant, but they will be a weapon.

Boony

[Chris SuttonMember]

Hi Picko,
If you are in Sydney drop into the store at Penrith and have a test ride on a 530EXC, I’ve got Demo’s of the whole KTM Enduro model range, just wear appropriate clothing and bring a helmet & licence. “See ya Soon at Sutto’s”
Regards
Sutto

[Craig HattonMember]

picko wrote:

Quote:

cant decide between a new KTM530 or a Honda CRF450X :blink:

Only 1 choice here – go and see sutto

Hatto

[GregMember]

Boony wrote:

Quote:

Hold off and have a look at the 2011 RMX 450, rumour has it , they will be ADR compliant?? I am personally not sure if they will be compliant, but they will be a weapon.

Boony

The 2011 is non compliant Boony, and weapon how do you know that :laugh: :blink: cause its yellow

Picko they are both great bikes you mentioned. Putting down my Honda hat for a minute they both have pros and cons. The only thing with the CRF is the air filters. I recently had a guy from Darwin in a training course that has a 08 CRF450X with he said 254hrs and the valves had only been shimed once. He washed he air cleaners in filter cleaner, then soapy water twice, rinsed in clean water, spun in a lettuce spinner and then dried in a dryer. (cloths dryer in his shed) His theory is the clothes dryer while drying the filter also gets rid of the fine fine dust that remains in all filters after you wash them. The dryer shakes it out and evacuates it out the front as a dryer does. Seems to work for him and I guess makes sense after what we were told by GHR when we went to finke. (they only fit brand new filters because of the fine dust I
mentioned before after washing)
Other then that the CRF’s I have ridden are a fine big, great brakes, nice gearbox heaps of power and feel good to ride, good suspension and they are a Honda.

The Kato, Rocket has a 530 he does a lot of riding and he seems happy with his. It goes great, sounds great and you cant beat a big bore big He did have the rings replaced and rocker bushes at around 110hrs or about there if my memory serves me, Rocket?. I think it was a year model thing soft rings or something.

If you are in Sydney see Sutto for the Kato for sure, as for a Honda dealer the only I would recommend is Morris Motorcycles in Orange bit of a drive

Good luck glad its not me making the choice its tough

TB

[PeterMember]

Both great bikes.
Both are what I call “highly strung” bikes. Be prepared to spend a bit of timemoney on maintenance for both.

The kato pips the honda imho.

Better brakes
Better suspension
More ground clearance
Larger tank
Same weight
Double the warranty

The down side … The orange machine could do with the Fan kit as it runs quite hot. Most things orange tend to be a tad more expensive.

Good luck, either way, Im sure you’ll love your new ride.

[Jarrod LuciaMember]

Did the same same in September this year:)

Settled on the CRF450X for a few reasons, had always ridden XR’s so honda was very familiar, couple of grand cheaper (extra to spend on bling for new bike), CRF has plenty of power for me (more than enough actually ) I reckon the 530 would have been too much for me.

Con’s – none so far, a few people have said valves will go etc, but lets see, I reckon with regular oil changes and good maintenance she should last the distance.

Just my two cents worth.

Enjoy the new bike whatever you get

Sneezy.

[mikeMember]

Try and get ya bum on em for a good ride mate. I would be taking into account ya weight and ya ridin style. The extra grunt of the 530 would be nice and playfull in the open stuff but 450 may be better in the tight stuff. A mates got a 530(08)and it is great fun to ride but i have not had ride on the Honda 450. That’s my 2 bobs worth. Either way ya gettin a new bike so good luck and enjoy the process mate.

[DeanMember]

I have ridden both and they are both awesome bikes :woohoo: The honda was bone stock standard and had a very exciting engine,down side was it only had a 5 speed box and the gearing was a bit short on the open stuff.
The kato had gobs of power and handled everything with ease,I enjoyed riding the 06 450 more then the newer model bikes but it was a close thing. If you decide to go orange Sutto will look after you for sure. take up his offer and go for a test ride to be sure. Both very good bikes.

ollie

[Justin WilliamsMember]

Every thing mentioned so far is spot on… But my 2 cents woth is that the kato has better componets… :blink:

[Aaron WildeMember]

I would take sutto up on that demo. There is nothing like a demo to try before you fork out your hard earned. IMO the KTM530 looks the best. And there is nothing like a bike that will wheel stand easily in top.

[StuartMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

The only thing with the CRF is the air filters.
we were told by GHR when we went to finke. (they only fit brand new filters because of the fine dust)

TB

The fine dust still went through new Unifilters at Finke this year, no dramas checked the valves today & still the same as before Finke.

At around $5K a customer bike at Finke why would they bother cleaning filters, it would cost them more in labour, materials space in the truck than buying new filters at wholesale.

It was no different at the 09 Condo750, new filters all round.

As for what bike, I’ve ridden a 450x (Condo) & would say it is very much the same to ride as my WR only red in colour.

[GregMember]

Reading SB’s post mate me think what about WR450, IMO the most reliable 450 four stroke trailbike with excitment factor as well around

TB

[robert penningtonMember]

have you had a look at the bmw 450 they are only $10000 sell out price in melbourne now

[Author]

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