| Author | Message | ||
     Valiant_duke |
Hey yall, Looking to get my feet into the dirt and tear up the backwoods. Now with all of my past history being on the tar-mac, can someone recommend a good used dirt/mx bike? With really no experience on dirt, I am not looking for the biggest, or fastest, just something to get my feet dirty and have a little fun. I was thinking something like a YZ125... any inputs? | ||
| Spikey |
I would look for a Yamaha WR or TTR 250 or 450, four stroke, and better suited to woods riding. Depending on what you are looking to spend KTM makes an awesome line of woods bikes. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The TTR is a fantastic cheap and unremarkable used four stroke woods bike. Like an XR-200, it would be a decent first bike. You will have it for a season and decide to sell it because you don't use it, or sell it to get something else. Nothing wrong with that, you will probably sell it for about what you bought it for. Or just keep it to hand to friends who are "bike-curious". The higher end bikes like the KTM's, and other 4 stroke 350's and 450's, have a dirty little secret. To wring that much performance out of such a light and little machine, they are really stressing the engine. Don't be suprised if your high performance four stroke has a service manual recommendation that the piston be replaced after 10 to 100 hours of use. I bought a KLR-250 (four stroke, street legal, but just barely). It was a lot of fun. But even as light as it was (especially compared to things like a DR-650, KLR-650, XR-650, etc) it was too heavy for a woods bike. Or so I decided, laying in the MRI machine as they diagnosed my torn ACL (which happened off the bike trying to reposition it to retreat to make another run on a muddy Kentucky hillside). Now I have a KDX-200 (KDX-220 is even better), and love it. Stupid light, "enough" power, really easy to maintain, and insanely reliable. My buddies (including some that started with KDX's and liked them) have bigger bikes now... KTM 520's and KTM 450's. Insanely fun bikes, don't get me wrong. But they stress me out. It feels like they are always just waiting to kill me, and parts are expensive, and maintenance is high, and repairs are complicated (relative to my insanely simple two stroke). I would recommend against the MX two strokes. I have a KX-60 for my kid, and it's a little primmadonna of a bike. Really right when it's right, but not right 90% of the time. The KX-100 I got him to replace it seems much better and much less fussy, but time will tell. I see the KTM two strokes as well (what, a 350 or something?). Those look REALLY tempting now that they are getting so cheap. When I got my KDX, it was $1k to $2k for a KDX, or $5k to $4k for a good KTM. The economy tanking has forced everyone to eject their toys, so they are stupid cheap right now. That might be the reason to get the KTM right there... it will be expensive to repair, but insanely fun to ride, and you are buying it for pennies on the dollar. | ||
| Slaughter |
XT225 Yammie is full-sized wheel, comfy bike. Electric start, street-legal. It is becoming our in-town bike too since it's HYPER cheap to operate.  | ||
| Fahren |
Good used KDX info here But then, I wonder why we are always trying to make a "sensible" purchase on something like a dirt bike!!! :-) | ||
| Al_lighton |
IF it is a woods bike, stay away from a MOTOCROSS bike. a YZ125 would probably be a very poor choice. They gotta shriek to do anything fun. You want something torquier for the woods and such. Air cooled XR Hondas in several sizes are bulletproof and are about the most common thing out there. I have an XR400 and it is a great desert bike. I beat the crap out of it and it just goes and goes. Joanne has a TTR125, good learning bike but you'll outgrow it quickly, I'd go bigger, 200-250 minimum. I have a DRZ400 as well that is set up as barely street legal. It'a a bit more civilized than the XR400, and pricier and more fragile too. But still a fun desert bike. | ||
| Invisible_monster |
What kind of riding are you planning to do? Are you talking dual sport riding or trail only riding? Your profile says you are in AZ so you probably aren't going to be doing any real tight woods like we have out here in OH. Lots of guys like the Yamaha WR250R for dual sporting. You can find used 2008s in the $3000 range fairly easy. Very easy maintenance schedule on them. Completely reliable. I've got a KTM 690 Enduro R for dual sport riding and I love it. I almost bought a WR250R instead but the KTM was just too sexy to pass up! I use it for back road, gravel road, 4 track exploring around the area and it has been perfect for that. If you are planning to be purely offroad the Yamaha WR450F is a great bike. Relatively mild maintenance for a true offroad bike. There are a ton of these on the used market as well, they are known to be very reliable. As another stated, the other brands all offer their version to consider. If I was in AZ and was looking for a pure off road bike I would look at the WR450F or something from KTM. Check out ADVrider or ThumperTalk for endless info on this subject. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I have a little dirty 125 that is all sorts of fun and hooligan - SIKK 125cc about 160 lbs wound out is about 45-50 and in the dirt it is like an overgrown BMX it was 1800 new - I have since nearly run that through it in gas. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I should have checked the profile.... good point! I think you want a desert bike, not a woods bike. So the KDX is probably not your best choice. In AZ, I'd go for a barely street legal dirt bike. It'll do fine there. Even if you don't plate it, it will be easier to resell. And I'm guessing that AZ would have some killer on road / off road dual sport rides. The stuff we ride is stuff you (literally) can't walk on without sliding down, and is (literally) through deep woods and up narrow creeks. A "long" straightaway would be one where you can see more than 30 feet. | ||
| Valiant_duke |
I guess I should have been more specific, thanks everyone for the input. People were right in to assume that I dont have thick woods that I can get it, and I do know of quite a few dirt roads that would be fun to tear down. people are suggesting four stroke, but what is the difference in performance, and style of riding from a 2 to a 4 stroke? What are 2 stroke's good for, if not a cheap dirt bike? ~dont need explanation of difference in motor functionality... Here is what is comes down to, I would like an overall good but cheap dirt bike that I could beat on and just go have fun on, whether its down a dirt road, or through the "woods". Street legal bits just add cost to something I could break, so wasnt looking down that avenue. Thanks everyone, and keep the suggestions coming, learning new perspectives... | ||
| Reepicheep |
MX oriented two strokes are tuned within an inch of their lives, so they make all their power within a fairly narrow powerband (say 6000 to 8000 RPM). Below that, they are weak motors. But within that range, they are freaking explosive, and make almost twice as much power as a 4 stroke (twice the powerstrokes for a given RPM). So a 250 two stroke can make power akin to a 500cc four stroke. And a two stroke can be stupid light, and rev stupid fast. It has no valves and spins no cams and no cam chains. They are stupid simple as well, I can rebuild the top end of my KDX completely with $100 worth of parts and in 30 minutes (literally). The "trail" or "enduro" oriented two strokes try and balance a wider more tractable range of RPMs, and give up some peak power to do so. They also aim more for durability then just pure power and light weight. The Kawasaki KDX bikes and the KTM Enduro two strokes fall into this category. The race oriented four strokes are trying to compete with the two strokes in terms of power and weight, and are doing a remarkable job. But they have a LOT more parts, being stressed a LOT harder. When they break, it can be insanely expensive to fix. And even "normal maintenance" (which on a dirt bike can mean replacing the piston every season) can run into many hours of labor and many hundreds of dollars. The "fun" or "trail" oriented four strokes are over engineered (or more accurately, not under engineered) so are heavier and slower but don't break often. Thats fine for a new rider or for easier terrain, but it cost me a ligament in the woods. Ligaments don't grow back.  A four stroke by its nature will have better low RPM grunt and be harder to stall, but it will rev up slower. A good rider can manage either just fine, but most people prefer one or the other. I love my two stroke, most of my buddies prefer their four strokes. Both are great... | ||
| Strokizator |
Lots of MX 4-strokes out there, both 450 & 250, that are cheap. Biggest reason is that they're due for a major overhaul. I do (did) all my own work on 2 strokes, it's that easy. KDX 200/220 is about the best but there are others. Air cooled 4 strokes generally have long maintenance intervals with Honda XR400 being a good bike. Suzuki made some off-road only DRZ's that are also cheap or you can buy a street legal version and strip off the parts you don't want. I've got a 2007 DRZ 400 with about 10 hours on a 440 kit, hot cams, flat slide carb, etc. that I'll let you have for $3000.00. | ||
| Valiant_duke |
Alright with people suggestions to look at four strokes and watch cautiously the MX type bikes, I have done a little digging and come across the Yamaha TTR-230. (found 2, one '06, and one '07) What are the abbreviations for the other manufactures for 4-stroke dirt bikes? So that I can look into those as well. If some other manufacture is better than Yamaha, where should I be looking? (I know KTM, but they are expensive and more than what I want to pay for this toy) What are peoples thoughts on these bikes (ttr's)? Knowing that I am not racing, but want to both ride trails, and some light forestry, and such. Nothing to big, reliability and easy maintenance are more of a focus, fun, and maybe a wheelie or two... Thanks all for the input | ||
| Firemanjim |
All the manufacturers(make that the Big 4,not KTM etc) have a competition oriented line of dirt bikes, Suzuki would be the RM with the DR bikes being less high strung and maybe "play" oriented--had a really nice DR-650 as well as a sweet RMX 250 as well.Yamaha has the YZ line( racers) as well as the TT line,(play), Kawasaki has the KX/KLX's (race) and the KLR and the older KDX's,Honda has the CR/CRF's(race) and the XR's. I loved the 2 stroke bikes for the dirt as the power was amazing and all were light weight. My son has a really nice YZ 125/150 big bore that is sweet! |
