Complete Newbie

[Maclyn]

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important)
6'1" 298Lbs (before lunch :| )
2) How physical / aggressive are you ?
on a bike? no idea on a 4wheeler pretty much anything looked like a good idea to try once or 10 times
3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ????? North west FL panhandles, woods, hills sand...
4) Do you have any riding experience? not that I think is applicable
5) Do you think you will race ? nope
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? if I can.
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)?
think a 4 stroke would be easier for me to maintain?
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry?
there are all kinds around here so brand is not really an issue
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike?
at the moment I have exactly 12.37 set aside fro this. and yes that is a decimal before the 37. Point being I plan to save what I need to get the bike I need. which is why I need to find out what I need.. :D
10) Do you live in California?
THANK GOD NO!
11) Your age?
30
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion.

if you made it this far...Basically I don't know if a dirtbike would really be my style but I've ridden 4whelers a lot, and had a blast, just moved to FL and there are a lot of trails in thsi area apparantly, not real interested in getting another 4wheeler but thought that a dirt bike might be something entertaining. I want to spend very little right off, but have no idea what a bike should run me, what size I should get, if it should be 2 or 4 stroke...etc...if I like it great! I'll save and buy something newer and nicer...if not well like I said I want to get by on the cheap for a year or two...if it's doable...

and yes I know my extra weight makes things more difficult...also. fat jokes are fair game because well...lets face it I'm fat :P

Thanks!

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

Assuming that the "four wheelers" you have ridden were sport models with clutch and standard gearbox arrangement then you should at least have the basics down for operating a bike. The transition to a twist grip throttle instead of the thumb throttle might take a little getting used to but I would expect you would get the hang of it fairly quickly.

For your size and weight you are going to need a full size bike, either a 250 two stroke or a 450 four stroke.

Let's talk about maintenance for a bit: Bikes that have high performance engines (MX bikes) need frequent maintenance, and it doesn't matter if it is a two stroke or a four stroke. A two stroke, however, is much easier to work on and there is less to do. It is common for a MX bike to require a top end rebuild after 20 hours of operation. A top end rebuild on a two stroke can be a new piston and gasket set, which is ~$200 and a few hours of work. A top end rebuild on a four stroke will often include head/valve work, which can end up costing a lot more and just the time for the tear down and reassembly will be much greater.

"Trail" or "off road" bikes will typically have "low performance" engines. They have lower compression so they can operate on the cheaper pump gas and all the engine components are generally heavier, beefier so they last a lot longer. Keep the oil changed and the valves adjusted and these bikes will run forever. These bikes are heavier, cheaper, lower seat height and generally have limited suspension travel. They are very good for a beginner rider, and reasonably good for general trail riding but are not adequate for a MX track.

The cheapest entry in dirt bikes for you would be a 250 two stroke, about 10 years old. There are lot of these bikes out there and most of them still have a lot of life left in them. You should be able to pick one up for around $1500 in reasonable shape. Look for a Yamaha YZ-250 or a Honda CR250 or similar bikes.

Assuming that the ATVs you have ridden were all four strokes you may have a bit of difficulty learning to tame a two stroke. A two stroke is capable of delivering almost twice the power of a four stroke of equivalent size, but the power can be difficult to manage. A four stroke, on the other hand, is much more forgiving and easier to deal with.

If you would rather stick with a four stroke then you can look for a Honda CRF450X/CRF450R or Yamaha WR-450 / YZ-450. The difference between the bikes listed (separated by / ) is that the first bike is more of a trail bike built on a race bike frame and the second is a full MX bike. The trail bike versions have electric start, headlight, kickstand and wider ratio gear box. The bikes listed are all around $7K to $8k new.

If you wanted to get on something right away and plan on upgrading in a couple of years then you might want to look at a Yamaha TTR-230 or a Honda CRF230F. These are the trail bikes I mentioned earlier, which would be great for you to learn on but you will grow tired of them fairly quickly.

Rod

 

[YZ__rider]

That is some good advise from Rod. With your limited budget, my suggestion would be an older XR400. I have a 2001 XR400 and the bike is bulletproof and reliable. It wont have quite the harsh learning curve of a 250 2 stroke. I have newbie friends that ride the bike and they seem to handle it well. The only issue I can think of is your weight (not a shot at you), although one of my friends is 250# and the bike seems to handle his weight just fine. Suspension adjustment may help as well.

 

[Maclyn]

well any coments on the weight would be fair game.

as far as the bikes go you more or less confirmed what I was thinking. I guess my next question would be, looking at a trail bike, do I need ot look at suspension upgrades or any other upgrades right away? or will I be able to rid ethe bike right off and just worry about upgrades down the road?

also I appriciate the help, I know that until I find a specific bike any answers will be pretty generic be necessity

 

[Okiewan]

You'll need heavier springs in whatever you end-up with ... that doesn't mean you won't be able to ride it in the meantime, the bike won't handle as well as it should.