Aside from both coming from Tomberlin distribution, Baja Motorsports produces and imports the Dune 150, for at least 1 more year!!! lol
Tomberlin is still producing and importing the Crossfire 150R, but discontinued the Crossfire 150, which is yellow and has no front brakes or reverse...
While EXTREMELY simular to eachother, the Dune and the x-fire have tons of differences!!!
Starting with the mechanics... The Dune 150, from 2006 and on, have a TOMBERLIN powerplant gy6 copycat... It is the 4 bolt valve cover with larger valves, Howhit 150cc motor... Nice motor, with a claimed 9.2 ponies!!!
Crossfire 150R on the other hand, is producing their models with the newer TJ Powersports TJ200 motor, which is still a 150cc motor, but with the reverse gear located INSIDE the engine case... The Dune 150 has a "bolt-on" reverse gear...
Now for cosmetic and structural stuff I have noticed:
Suspension: Front
Dune 150 has notched upper control arms, and lower A arms, with the shock mounting to the cross piece in the lower arm...
The X-fire has a straight upper arm (no notch) and a solid lower control arm, not in the shape of an A with the gap... See first two pix...
I think this is for more integrity, unlike what happened to my Dune 150, where the shock completely ripped the top of the control arm off...
The Dune 150 has a shorter cage/basket over the swing arm... X-fire is easily 4 inches taller over the motor...
Dune 150 has the Seat belts mounted to the second bolt hole under the swing arm... The X-Fire has them mounted on their OWN mounting brackets welded to the frame near the seat.
The Dune has a small brush guard on the nose. The X-Fire has a LARGE guard, with the lights mounted on the nose... The Dunes' are on top...
The Wheel hubs are also different... The Dune hubs are solid and flush with the rim... The X-Fire has slotted rear hubs, and the fronts are slightly recessed, with a pattern wrapping around them....
The X-Fire rear shocks are 2 inches taller than the Dune factory rear shocks...
The X-fire has DUAL CHAIN drive gear... The Dune is single, 31T sprocket...
Which model is better??? I think the X-fire, while being slightly heavier with the extra frame additions and such, has a lot more to offer over the Dune 150... The X-Fire seems to incorporate a lot of "fault repair" in its design over the Dune. They gussetted the control arms deeper, which should fix the shock falling off issue!! lol... The newer motor, backed by TJ name is a huge plus... While the dual chain is a pain in the hump to upgrade, it is much stronger than stock single sprocket on the Dune... Having a taller frame over the motor helps keep fuel petcocks from breaking when hitting large humps, curbs or small jumps... hehehe...
On a scale of 1-10, I find the Dune 150 at a good, solid 7.5... It has TONS of potential, and is loads of fun... Even more fun when modded...
For the Crossfire 150R, it is a 9 . Same price, maybe even cheaper now... More upgraded parts, and shows product development! Can I give it a 10? No way!! There are still issues with seat belts for both buggies, there are still ball joint issues, and there are still power to weight issues... I dont think it is appropriate to put a 10hp motor on a 600lb buggy!!! But that is just me!!!
You be the judge, and hopefully you can get one of these fantastic long travel suspension buggies!!!
John
crossfire left lower control arm shock mount.jpg: 1 Time(s) Viewed, 72.8 KB
Thanks John! I learned a thing or 2! Are you sure the CF150R engine is a TJ motor? How did you determine this? If so, I'm amazed. Tomberlin is the source of the Howhit engines so I assumed the reverse & housing changes were made to their own production line. _________________ _________________
2 Polaris RZRs & a Dune 150. Ridge Runner--Gone. Yerfdog 3206--Gone (but you never forget your 1st!).
Buggy pictures, mods, ideas, how-to's:
http://tinyurl.com/8ltm8
There is a sticker on many of them now that say TJ Powersports!!! lol.. ALL the new Baja Reactions have this engine as well. SOme of the older model X-fires have the Howhit motor with the internal gear, but I have not seen one on a shelf since last year....
I thought it was neat how close they are alike, but how many differences there are up close!!!
john,
i'm in jackson, n.j. not far from great adventure. where is a decent place to look for a buggy. maybe hammerhead or sahara.
i've read that you like the crossfire 150R ,how does the sahara measure up? i saw the revel raven 150 on the website and i really like that look (body style) but they are changing to kazuma. and i don't know anything about them. not that i know anything about any of these but i'm trying!
thanks,
john
you are about an hour or 2 away from a really good dealer, KIDNME motorsports!!!! Tom (kidnme on the boards) is an awesome dealer, and he sells the twisters and all that!!!
Thanks John. i talked with glade and tom on saturday i'm going to go with tom because he is within range even though it put's me 400. over budget i'm going with the (2) 150GT's. and hope to see you at a MBRA meet sometime soon! thanks for all your help and i hope to return the favor with at least a beer in the not to distant future! what type of helmet do you recommend for my 12 y.o. daughter and where's a good place to go? any idea on the price?
thanks again,
john
Articles
lol... The newer motor, backed by TJ name is a huge plus... While the dual chain is a pain in the hump to upgrade, it is much stronger than stock single sprocket on the Dune... Having a taller frame over the motor helps keep fuel petcocks from breaking when hitting large humps, curbs or small jumps... hehehe... 
It has TONS of potential, and is loads of fun... Even more fun when modded... 
. Same price, maybe even cheaper now... 
More upgraded parts, and shows product development! Can I give it a 10? No way!! There are still issues with seat belts for both buggies, there are still ball joint issues, and there are still power to weight issues... I dont think it is appropriate to put a 10hp motor on a 600lb buggy!!! But that is just me!!!
