Thats not a huge difference
Dont forget to check out the previous comment.

There are very few places I might conceivably want to go that my bike would not take me. I unfortunately don't have the pics from the bad stuff . . .

These are pretty cool pics.
Im surprised that you take your vintage bikes in such hard conditions. Especially the first picture.

As i said in my previous comment, when riding in these conditions, the enduro will often be able to do the job, but it wont like it and it wont be very fun because you have to push it to its limit. (but in my opinion, there is no fun in riding such an heavy bike in the mud)

Im convinced you had some fun, but you would have had more fun with a RM 250 in these conditions or another real motocross bike.
But as you said you probably had to ride on pavement before you got there, and or you cant ride MX on these trails.
Thats why i use a trailer when i want to go somewhere with the RM.
And if i cant go there with a MX, well i go anyway or i go somewhere else.

I would never go mudding with a vintage motorcycle in my case.
No offence , but even if these pictures look very Cool, they also look very wrong to me :P

In the 80's it would have been alright i guess, but now? Perhaps you shall get a newer Enduro like the KTM i showed in my previous comment which is made for that kind of riding .
Although, its your bike and you do what you want with it because you own it and you repair it.

But you will never see me posting pictures of MY DT in the mud

While I will agree to a point the MX racebikes do a better job in most offroad conditions,you must be able to get to those areas,so unless you are going to trailer it with a 4 wheel drive you can not have as much fun.Sorry about your luck.The KTM is an exception but it is a racer as well so it is built with as lightweight parts as possible making for a delicate and expensive ride if you bend or break something.The IT490 & IT465
Are A far better choice than any RM will ever be.A properly equipped DT400 or XT600 will go anywhere and is more durable,has far more range and costs much less to fix than any RM,YZ or CR nevermind that KTM.
Magnesium cases will never hold up in the rough stuff like this either,hit one rock and your done.
[video]

Light weight is why I like the 175 Enduros more than the bigger bikes. I think it's a LOT more fun to ride a lighter bike than a heavy one...

And a good running 175 has more than enough power to get me in trouble! (As well as take me anywhere I want to go)

The only reason I'd get a 250 or bigger is to ride long distances at high speed on the highway...

I have to agree but would say the IT200 tagged is hands down my favorite enduro of all time.

So you think that you cant have as much fun if you cant get there with the bike ?
I guess that depends on who you are talking about, marktosun might agree.
But in my case, that doesnt make sense to me.

Ill have more fun if i drive my car with a trailer to a sand pit, then unload my RM 250 and play in the sand or mud, than if i ride to the sand pit with my DT and struggle to make it up the hills.
If i cant drive to the location with my car, then i'll go somewhere else or i'll borrow my Dads Ford 4x4 truck to get to the location.

And if i break something, i just load the bike back into the trailler and go back home.
If i ride to a sand pit or an off road muddy trail with the DT and break something, i have to call a friend so he can get my car and trailler to the location or a truck (and as you said in some cases they cant even get there). Thats a pain in the but in my opinion.
Its a different story with a newer Enduro bike, but we are talking about motorcycle that are 36 years old and older.

As i said previously, you have to get the right tool for the job.
For me , a 36 year old, air cooled vintage Enduro bike isnt the right tool for playing off road.
But thats just my opinion.
I enjoy reading the opinions of the people on this forum.

As for the It 465 and 490, in my opinion any air cooled bike isnt very good in a sand pit or a mud pit because when you are stuck, you cant use the power of the bike to help you getting it unstuck since it will overheat because its stationary.
So you will have a good time pushing your heavy IT while stuck with the engine off.

Rm 250 still wins by a long shot.

As for the XT600, its a 4 stroke, i dont like 4 strokes because they are heavy as well.

As for the range, i could install a high capacity tank on my Rm , they are available. But for my type of riding that would be useless.

As for the statement about the expenses to fix the motorcycles, the parts to fix the Rm are way more available than any vintage motorcycle. The parts for the yamahas are available at the dealer, but that costs big money.
As a matter of fact, I paid 80 $ tax included for 2 crankshaft seals for my DT at the local dealer.
For the same price i got a complete gasket and seal kit for the engine of the RM at a random mx part shop

As for durability, im pretty sure that if you give absolute hell to a DT250 and a RM 250 until they die in the mud pit (both with brand new engines), the Rm 250 will live longer because its made to run at full throttle in races.

As for the fact that a DT 400 can go anywhere, as i said in my previous comment, it will be able to do most things(not brilliantly), but i challenge any DT400 owner or It 465 or It 490 to come over to Quebec/canada and to try to follow my Rm 250 in the sand pit and mud pit/muddy trails.

And yes, i said try because you couldnt possibly succeed.
Quite simply because the RM is made for that stuff and the Enduros are adapted to that stuff.
Dont forget to bring out a spare engine because you will blow up your air cooled engine trying to chase the mighty Rm at full throttle with your Enduro

(**P.S : this is a discussion for fun, no hard feelings)

Pss i just saw your edit to add the video. Thats a great exemple of what im stating.
This 4 stroke bike is able to do the job (not brilliantly).
A Rm 250 could easily go twice as fast effortlessly on these trails with the front wheel off the ground and with the rear tire throwing rocks at the hills face.

It's the opposite here in the US,Yamaha parts are far more available and cheaper.I paid 18$ for my seals.
The Flighty Suzuki 250 will blow up long before any DT 400 because it is not made to run at it's maximum.
And I do in fact have family in Canadia,So pipe down or I will ship it to my little cousin:haha
One other thing most never consider is the fuel tanks on the older bikes made of steel are far safer as a plastic one will rupture in a collision so once again DT400 all day long:wink
Ps.The video is to show you how rough the trails are,The RM would fold up on the rocks in the first turn!You better keep the Mighty Suzuki in the sandpit and mud!LMAO!!!!!!

1) The RM is made for racing so it is indeed made to run at its max, i dont know what you mean.
The 2 stroke Enduros are known to blow up on long travels at high revs, thats what i read in the reviews anyway, plus they are air cooled so when you are not moving fast , for instance in a sand or mud pit, overheating becomes a real issue.

2) I crashed my Rm so hard so many times. In fact i broke the bike in haft once because i jumped soooooo high and landed flat. Never seen a damaged plastic gas tank. If it was dangerous or problematic, they wouldnt use it in mx races, but they do, so i guess its safe.

The race bikes require more frequent ring changes because they run at higher rpm and compression,that's just the way it is.They are not designed for endurance but speed so every part on it is made to be as light as it can be.It is only intended to last 2 motos at 100% performance.Of course it will run much longer but not anywhere near the much less taxed enduro.When I raced the 77 YZ80,all I got was 2 races out of a set of rings and only if it was not a sandy course!.The larger bores last exponentially longer the bigger they are and I understand the water cooling does extend ring life some but I seriously doubt the topend on an RM 250 will outlast a DT 400
As for the tank,any sharp object can cut into it ,like a footpeg and if you just happen to hit a tree or rock just right it can burst,it happens.