Finally gona buy one

[Gemini_9]

I've always wanted a dirt bike. In the 8th grade, I was told if I brought my grades up and passed, I would get one as a "good job" gift so I worked my arse off and passed the 8th grade, but my parents never kept their word and I never got my bike. Here I am, several years later and have decided, screw it! I'll go ahead and buy one myself!

This will be my first bike so I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I'm 30 years old now and I'm about 5'10 and pretty thin of 130 pounds. I can be a bit of a daredevil, but cautiously. Don't wanna kill myself out there lol. I'll probably be riding mostly on some trails near the house here and maybe take it to a track now and then... and would be nice to just take it to work once in awhile, so I'll need something with a headlight that's street legal. Not a must, but it would be nice. Closest thing to a motorcycle I've been on is my bicycle, so I lack experience. Nothing that's going to throw me out of the seat, but I don't want to be puttin' along. I'd like something with some get up and go. 2 stroke? 4 stroke? 200cc? 250cc? I don't even understand those numbers! I have no plans to race, since I'm a noob and will most likely be riding by myself. I'm not the most mechanically inclined person so I may need some assistance with repairs. I could probably change brake pads, air filter and other minor maintenance jobs, but nothing serious for me. As far as I know, the only dealer nearby is a honda dealership, but I've seen some places online that will deliver.
Maybe order something online from bike2go,com? I can't really get anything too expensive, so I'm looking at maybe around $1500 or so.

Any advice? :think:

 

[ellandoh]

sounds to me like you may want a KDX 200 , 220 , OR 240

 

[Gemini_9]

KDX. Hmm. I don't know of any kawasaki dealers around here. Not sure if I could afford a brand new kdx tho so I'd have to go used.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

The first thing that you need to learn is the difference between a two stroke and a four stroke.

The four stroke is type of engine you would be most familiar with, it is what your car engine would be. A four stroke engine has a "cam" and valves and a lot of moving parts.

A two stroke engine requires that there be oil mixed in with the gas. The advantages of the two stroke are that they are lighter, fewer moving parts (less maintenance / easier rebuilds) and they can produce almost twice the power for a given displacement as the four stroke. The disadvantages are that they smoke, they are not environmentally friendly, and the power they develop is very "peaky" which can be difficult to control.

You are not going to find a bike that meets all your "wish list" items. Let's talk about street legal for a second: what you are talking about is generally referred to as "dual sport". Many states do not allow two strokes to be street legal at all. In California it not only needs to be a four stroke but it needs the proper emission control stuff as well.

IF you ride this bike off road, you ARE going to fall. It isn't even the question of "if" or "when" it is "how many times" and "how hard". Mirrors and turn signals take a real beating in such falls. If you get a dual sport bike, do everyone a favor and remove the mirrors and turn signals before you go off road so you don't litter the trail with them.

Tires on a dual sport bike are another issue. To be safe and legal on the road the tires need to be "DOT" approved. Such a rating really limits your choices on tires, and basically a tire that is best for dirt won't survive long on pavement and a good pavement tire sucks in the dirt.

All the people I know who have dual sport bikes do NOT use them for commuting to work. What they do use them for is a brief transition from one trail to another using a public road. There are a lot of organized "dual sport rides" that requires a street legal bike, but on a 500 mile ride only 20 miles might be on a public road. Everyone trailers their bike to the starting point and back home.

Budget is another issue you will have, especially for a dual sport bike. To get a dual sport bike under $1500 you will need to buy something 20 years old, but if you do that you had better be doing all your own maintenance work or the repair shop bills will kill you.

The MX track is certainly not where you would want to take a dual sport bike. It would be too heavy and probably not have a suspension suitable for the jumps.

For non street legal, bikes will come as "off road" (also called "trail") or "MX" versions.

The MX bikes are full race, no frills. They will be lightweight, long travel suspension, high performance engines (either two stroke or four stroke), seat height of 38 to 39 inches and will be expensive. They will not have a headlight or even a kickstand. Examples of MX bikes are the Yamaha YZ line or the Honda CRFxxxR line (with Hondas you have to look at the last letters to establish what type of bike it is). A new MX bike will retail for around $6k to $7K. The high performance engines need frequent rebuilds.

The trail bikes are heavier, limited suspension travel, a four stroke low performance engine (you can get away with ignoring them for a while) and generally a lower seat height (34 inches). They often come with electric start and a kickstand. A new trail bike will retail for around $4k

Obviously, a used trail bike will cost a lot less than a used MX bike of similar years.


If you really want a dual sport bike then I would recommend a Yamaha XT250 or a Honda CRF230L, although you will have to be pretty old to get into your price range.

A good trail bike for you would be a Yamaha TT-R230 or a Honda CRF230F. You should be able to pick up one of these in your price range that is around 5 years old. These would be great bikes to start on but I suspect that you would want to upgrade a year or two down the road.


Don't forget to allow budget to buy all the support equipment and riding gear.

Must have:
Helmet
Boots
Googles
Gloves

Highly recommended:
Chest protector
Knee pads
Riding pants

Rod

 

[Gemini_9]

Wow That's allot of info that really helped. Thanks man I really appreciate your time. You really gave me some great stuff to work with.

I found this website that sells bikes for around $1500 brand new :whoa: . Nothing fancy like a Honda or Yamaha, but I was wondering if you could take a look for me and tell me if it's a decent deal or if I should stay away. The link is:

bike2go com
(sorry I had to type it that way. Some spam killer thing won't let me post any urls)

I don't know anything about bikes yet, so maybe you can tell me if that 1500 dollar bike is junk or not :think: .

 

[In come tacks]

I wouldn't buy one of those. It is a new bike that's 200cc and puts out less than 15hp.
Wanting one bike to do it all is asking too much. Get a pickup and an aluminum ramp to get you around and carry the mx bike.

 

[YZ__rider]

My advise would be to stay away from Chinese made bikes, they are cheap for a reason. I have facts that support this opinion, but I wont go into that at this time. With that being said, I would probably look for a Honda XR250. If you can find a CRF230 in your price range, that may be another option. The KDX 200 or 220 was a good suggestion..by the way, they dont make the XR or KDX anymore...you would be buying used. You really need to learn what to look for when buying a used bike or take someone who does...there are folks selling bikes out there who will take advantage of your lack of knowledge.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

Like others said, stay far far away from the cheap bikes! I know two people who have bought those, and both bikes are collecting dust in garage because some stupid part broke and they can't get replacements. The bikes are fragile, to the point of actually being dangerous.

Stick with any of the name brand bikes. A ten year old name brand bike will be cheaper and easier to maintain then one of those cheap bikes brand new.

Rod

 

[Gemini_9]

lol okay. No cheap bikes. I figured if it's too good to be true, it probably is. A used bike is fine by me and would probably be better than buying a brand new one. I'm sure I'll probably crash and tear it up since it's a first bike and would kick myself in the pants if I wrecked my brand new bike. I don't have a pickup though, so I may look into getting a hitch and small trailer for my cavalier lol