TXC250 vs TE250

[Zomby woof]

I've been looking for a street plated WR125/144, but haven't been able to find anything yet. There are both TXC, and TE 250's available near me that are street plated, so I may have to consider that an option.
I'm not a 4 stroke guy.
I know little to nothing about these bikes, other than a local guy who had a pretty lightly used TE that grenaded on him, so they make me nervous. Truth be told, all the late model 4 strokes make me pretty nervous. The bikes I'm seeing are 08/09 TXC, and 09/10 TE, all 250's, and my use would be riding from home to the woods, about 10 minutes, maybe a few times a week at the most. If suitable, I might run the odd hare scramble. What kind of hours are safe? What do I look for, and should they make me nervous?

 

[Zomby woof]

Hmm. Nothing eh? Doesn't matter anyway.

A wise man once said, "I would never buy a used 4 stroke race bike". That guy was me, and somebody was thoughtful enough to remind me of that. I don't know what I was thinking.
Back to looking for a WR.

 

[henson802]

I have a 2010 TE250. They are great handling bikes but a little underwhelming power wise if you are used to 2 strokes or bigger bore bikes. Also, my 2010 had pretty bad response on the throttle, some initial blebs if I twist throttle quick - even with a JD Tuner. Maybe it's because of the Mikuni fuel injector, they aren't the best from what I hear -- the later models I do believe switched to the Kehin. And prior years to 2010 are carbed - which maybe better if you are familiar with jetting.

Longevitiy kind of depends on how the previous owner rode it, whether they pinned it at high rpms constantly and frequency of oil changes. There seems to be a pretty big variance on the durability of the bikes engine. Some have grenaded early and others have put thousands of hard miles on theirs without grenading. Regardless of model, it's a dirt bike and so maintenence is pretty crucial for longevity. I do believe the prior models to 2010 are better for durability - a little heavier tho

If I had an option, I would have gone with TXC model and modded for street use .. TE are corked up from factory to meet emissions, and even when uncorking, you can have issues because everything needs to be readjusted (for Fuel Injection / 2010 model at least).

Can you plate a 2 stroke in Canada? Are you looking only at a 250? A TE449 maybe better , it's got gobs of usable power and would probably last longer as a commuter/weekend hero type bike. It weighs around 15lbs heavier, but once you get going it's hard to tell the difference...