A dirty bike for mountain excursions and raids.

[palazzi]

After some years, I am planning to come back to dirty riding. My intention is to enjoy with my 10-years old son (he has a XR100) of Sunday excursions through the mountains here in Santiago de Chile. Of course, I would also like to have the flexibility of competing in some of the enduros/raids that are organized locally.

So far I have considered two bikes: XR400 and a WR250. I am leaned towards the four-strokes, but I might consider a Two-stroke. Which bike would you suggest? For the records, I am 6’ and 200 lbs.

Thanks

 

[woodsy]

HI Palazzi - Please forgive me but I simply must respond to your letter in humor. Please remember that the first part of this response is TOTALLY out of fun and a play on your unknowing missuse of Americanized English. I will then try to help you with your search for a Dirtbike (this will be labled Part 2).

Part 1. It does not matter which motorcycle you purchase, if you use it for raids, the group that I ride will consider it a dirty bike. The person riding it will be considered a dirty rat and will have dirt on his face for a long time. You will not want to involve your family in these raids on your bike cause you will then have a family also known being dirty rats!!
If, as you have suggested, you have already been practicing the act of being a dirty rat you would probably be well advised to spend your time riding more of those enduros and less time riding raids there by becoming more of an ex-rat..
By the way, most of the people that are dirty rats that I ride with ride bikes known as rat bikes. Please do not confuse this with whether or not those bikes have tails because this has nothing to do with the matter at all!! Some have soft tails and some have hard tails but they are still rat bikes!!
I have to admire you for your enthusiasim for making conducting raids a competition! I have a dirty rat friend who has conducted many raids and he has found that the only competitiveness about it is talking his other dirty rat friends into helping him!!

Part 2: Welcome back to dirt riding!! You and your son are in for some of the best father and son times possible!! He is at a VERY special age where he can actually enjoy some time with his dad before he starts his "but I dont wanna ride with you this weekend - all my friends are riding without their dads" routine (at least thats how it is in our culture).
You obviously know something about bikes as you have picked 2 of the finest examples to chooose from. If I were in your shoes I would give some thought to your own mechanical abilities and how much time you are actually going to spend riding competition/riding with your son. I would also think about how truely competitive you want to be - ask yourself whether or not you are going to compete for fun or for seriousness!!
The XR400 is the bike for you if you are going to play 80% and race 20% in a non serious way! It has ALL the makings of a very fun bike, lots of grunt for mountain work, newer suspention, extremely reliable, does not HAVE to have high octane fuel (I know I will hear about this one but thats ok - I have put many hours on one with NO spark nock using 87 octane), and it is a proven Honda model!!
The WR250F on the other hand is the world champion enduro bike for a reason! THEY ARE AWESOME!! They are 30 pounds lighter then the Honda XR400, A whole lot quicker with both bikes being in stock form! The WR250 comes with a "golden opportunity" to make it FASTER without paying anything! This option is known as "FREE MODS". Because they are new the verdict is still out on there real reliability. In my opinion, they will not prove as reliable as the Honda because they are designed after high performance 4 stroke technology! Of course you are going to hear form other riders that will say the opposite - when you do - remember that higher reving/higher compression engines are usually produced for racing/not necessarily for long life!!
With the internet, dealer location is no real issue as far as parts go. I have found that Yamaha parts are pricey compared to Honda parts! Yamahas here have a less resale value!
How much do you pay for a new Honda XR400 there? Here you can find them for $4300 us. How about the WR? Here they are $5200.
Now some free advice about your boys XR100. If it starts to idle funny it will probably be the needle jet has oblonged the orvice that it sets in - they are known for this! There is a small 10 mm bolt right at about 11:00 oclock above the spark plug! When you change the oil, after you fill the crankcase with fresh oil remove this bolt and kick the kicker until you get oil to run out of this hole then put the bolt back in(hold the kill button in so the bike doenst start while doing this). This little process will prime the oil pump and make sure that the cam is getting proper oil before starting!
Those little XR's are fun for big people too. If I were in your shoes and could afford an extra one of them for myself to ride I would buy one for myself!! Lots of the MX schools/TT schools here use them cause they are very ride able!! Consider that.
Again, please know that part 1 of this response was all in FUN - nothing meant by it all!!
Here is wishing you and your son all the greatest riding experiences together possible!!
Woodsy
By the way, if you have an opportunity to test ride a variety of bikes before you buy one DO IT and take notes!! Even if it costs you a few bucks it is better to find out that you hate a perticular bike style before you buy it!! My only problem with doing this is I never find one I hate but usually find five or more I love!!!