Yes it fills a little tall to me in first gear. I'm not sure thats a good thing for woods racing lol. One sugestion I've got so far was to go up 1 tooth on the front for xc racing. What do yall think? I like to know about mx and xc. I think when you put 18 inch tires on the back the stock gearing might work for mx.

 

Going up in front will make it EVEN TALLER. Is that what you want??? Eastern XC is what we call trail riding here in the desert.

 

i went down one tooth in the front to 13T cr250 sprocket.
happy now

 

I beleive your right, but thats why I posted the question to be sure. I've been racing a 250 R since 94, everything been cut and dry so far set up for tt, mx, and xc racing for me for a many a years. Sorry not many deserts on the eastcoast, I love to try to desert racing at least once. My goal for xc is to ride without stalling in narrow and tech. areas . I can tell kicking this beast over and it not starting is no fun. This 4 stroke is like starting over again.

 

So get a cr 450 sprocket to go up or down.

 

get a crf450 or a cr250 13T front to go down from the stock 14t

 

Those of you who have gone to a 13 on the front: Does it make the front hard to handle? Is it difficult to keep the front end down during hard acceleration? Would I give up to much top end for open desert riding? What about going a tooth or two bigger in the rear?

 

I went to the 13T and it works pretty good. Admittedly, the front is harder to keep down, but it's not that bad. You just have to get used to it. The only place where I am still getting used to the 13T is drag racing in the sand. Otherwise it's not a real issue. I don't think that you will be giving up a lot in top end either. My best guess is that You may lose 3-5 mph top end, but you should still be in the low 70's.

I know that some people have gone up 1 or 2 teeth in back and have liked that as well. I think 1 tooth down in front would be equal to 3 teeth up in back. Hope this helps.