[bootup]

im not a pro, and never will be. i just ride for fun, started 2 months before. should i rebuild my 02 450? should i spend like 7-800 euros on it? or sell it and buy a newer, but the thing is, not many 450's are around here.

[JimDirt]

I had my 02 from 08 till 2020 when I bought my 2020 450R , I guess it depends on what your wanting to do in the sense of riding .... I am 62 , and I do my own suspension and all other work with the exception of cutting valve seats ..... I had tons of time and testing on my 02 , and to be honest , it was a good bike with the changes I made to improve handling , I added a 03 Airbox , which gives you the easier to get 05-08 air filters ... and I used 03 swingarm linkage , which helped the handling a bunch and I re-valved the suspension (myself) .... Everyone that rode my 02 said how great it was compared to other older bikes .... heck , it outhandled my friends 2020 YZ450 , he actually sold it after riding my 02

With all that said ... I got my 2020 and I have almost doubled my speed ( I ride top B , bottom A class now , compared to bottom/mid B with my 02) , the bike made that much of a difference , I was blown away as to how much better I ride and how much more confidence I have on this new bike , I have a little over 85 hours on it right now , .... and while on that subject , I had over 400 hours on my 02 after the last piston I put in it , and it started on the 2nd kick 90% of the time , so by no means was it inadequate or lacking much , ..... But compared to a modern bike (ya gotta love a E-Start and fuel injection) the 02 is no comparison , the new bikes are just technically so much better in every way except cost

So what I am getting at is , if you are happy with your riding , are not looking to be the next Roczen (I still am at 62) , and are just out to have fun , and are not concerned about being super competitive (you can still be competitive , but the newer platform makes riding so much easier and they are just harder to keep up with when riding a older gen bike) then the 02 is fine and stick what you are comfortable in investing in it as far as time and money goes , and it will last a long time , as long as you keep up on maintenance ... but , when major malfunctions happen , then the choice is more towards replacement and newer , just because of the availability of those older parts ... pistons and cranks are easy , but cases , swingarms , things like that , much harder to find GOOD condition parts that are 19 years old ...

If you want to improve your riding without actually investing a ton of time training , the new platform makes it real easy to go fast because the bike instills confidence , which will allow you to push a bit more and go a bit faster in a place you could not on the older platform

Example ..... on my 02 on the track I normally ride , my lap times were in the 3:20 range , without training more , or doing anything different , other than feeling more confident riding with the new bike ... my lap times are now 2:50 on the same track in dry slick conditions .....just from going to a new bike (literally going from a 02 to a 20 , no other changes in my lifestyle or physical fitness *actually I am in worse physical shape now then I was a year ago , just because of all my medical issues , which were and are pretty serious* , so just going to a new bike made a world of difference , and EVERYONE I know that has watched me ride the new bike , or ridden with me has said I am twice as fast on it (especially in the last few weeks) then I ever was on the old bike

I just rode my buddies 2022 *last weekend* (he also has a 21) 450R , and I was going as fast on it as I do on my 20 within about 2 corners of the track , as soon as I figured out the characteristics of the bike , I was right at home going fast on it , I am battling with A riders now (no joke) , and they are not getting away from me , just within the last few weeks I found I could go faster here , and do this better and do that better ... , just because I thought I was going fast before , but was still in the old bike mindset , and just now figured out that I was holding myself back and what I thought was fast .. is slow compared to where I am at right now

I have had the bike a year and am just now realizing , I have been putting around on it compared to what the actual capabilities of the bike are , as I was stuck thinking , I can only go this fast here and do this like that , because that was formed from riding my 02 for so long ... now I just get on the track , and pick my pace and stay at it till I am done .... yesterday we did 3 - 10 lap moto's , , today we did 1- 5 lapper and 1 - 10 lapper , as we wanted to save our energy so we can ride Saturday/tomorrow and Sunday as well , so this last week , I rode Saturday/ Sunday /Wednesday and Friday/today and will be riding tomorrow and Sunday , as I have so much confidence in my bike , that it translates to riding with more confidence , which is what makes the difference of getting around the track , and actually riding around the track , and makes it so much more fun to ride , that all I want to do now is go ride my bike , as that is the point of all this ... to have fun riding ....... so again , my point is , if you are having fun and don't mind having to get a lot of used parts , because stuff for the 02 is getting harder and harder each year to get ... go for it .... if you can afford it , and am ready for a change (it sounds like that is what you are contemplating) , then go for it .... either way , you do what makes you happy ... as long as you are riding ..

So , in conclusion ... if your happy with everything , and not concerned about keeping up the bike and don't mind putting in a little more effort to find parts ... keep it , ride it and have fun ...., but I can say with honesty , that I had no idea what I was missing going to the new gen bikes ( I would highly recommend a 2020 , or a 22 , The 17-19 , have handling and other issues , as does the 21 ... But I am so glad I bit the bullet and bought new .... the change was dramatic ... and well worth the 5 years of payments I am making ...