by tutone » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:00 am
The first dirt bike I ever rode/learned how to ride on was a Honda XL 80. That little bike went anywhere. As far as I can remember for the 10 years or so that we owned it, we NEVER did any maintenance on it. My next bike was a SUZUKI "Money pit"; constant maintenance. I haven't owned a dirtbike for about 15 years now and had the chance to buy a 2005 CRF450R for a reasonable price and given my prior experience with Honda I bought it. I have only owned it for about 1 month at this point and am very satisfied with the performance of it. However, after having to replace the water pump seal, air filter, steering stem bearings, and a couple of other smallish items, I am a little scared about having to buy parts ($$$) and general maintenance; head, valves, forks, tires, brakes, special engine and tranny oils, etc... I'm a little worried I can't afford it in the long run. Oh well. I guess I'll just enjoy the Honda performance until then. Which is AWESOME! I only hope this bike is as dependable as my "old XL 80" from "back in the day".
'05 CRF450R