First dirtbike

[bassJAM]

1) your physical size - 5'8" and 170lbs
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? - 8/10
3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ????? - woods with friends, but a few of those friends do race and have set up woods tracks to replicate that
4) Do you have any riding experience? - plenty of street time, but only two weekends in the dirt
5) Do you think you will race ? - no
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? - yes
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? - no preference
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? - yes, any and all
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike? - $1500-$2500
10) Do you live in California? - no
11) Your age? - 26
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion
It's pretty hilly where I live, so I've guessing something with good low end torque is good to have, at least while I'm inexperienced and will be moving slowly through the woods. I've been thinking about an XR250 or KDX220, but I wonder how quickly it will be until I want something that will rev out if I want and there don't seem to be any for sale used in my area. The two weekends I've spent riding was on an XR200, which was fun but I think I need some more ground clearance (and of course power) and hated how the thing felt like it wanted to explode when I revved it too high. A buddy is trying to talk me into some of the new 250 4-strokes, but they seem out of my price range and I'm worried they are a little to high maintenance for me; I can work on just about anything but that doesn't mean that I want to.
Any help and advice is appreciated, I really would like just a list of bike I can look into since I know nothing about what's out there.

 

[2strokesrock]

Sounds like you would really like a 250 two stroke.
heres why
they are light.
they have lots of power.
they are easy to maitance.
and they will have the best prefomance for the money.

 

[bassJAM]

I'm honestly a little worried that a 250 2-stroke may be too much for me at first. I've heard their power can sneak up on you, and I'm not the type of person that can hold myself back until I'm ready for it.

 

[2strokesrock]

ok,well then the 250 two stroke might not be a good idea. you might look into getting a XR 400 they are great bikes and vary reliable they will have really smooth easy to control power but they are a little heavier then a two stroke.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

I'm honestly a little worried that a 250 2-stroke may be too much for me at first. I've heard their power can sneak up on you, and I'm not the type of person that can hold myself back until I'm ready for it.

The problem with the power hit isn't so much that you might hold it open to the point where you get in over your head as much as you might accidentally open the throttle too much.

Let me re-state that with examples

With just about any bike if you twist the throttle all the way open and hold it there you will be going too fast for your own good fairly quickly. It may take 10 seconds on a 125 and only 5 second on a 250 but either one will get you going faster than a novice should go.

The bigger problem is when it doesn't take but a fraction of a second to get you into trouble. Climbing a hill is a good example. On flat ground you can pretty much jerk the throttle full open and be OK. You do that on a hill, when the front wheel is already high and your weight shifted back, and you may find that the front wheel lifts off the ground and keeps on going.

Another situation is when you hit the whoops. You are already going a bit too fast and the bump throws you back. You are hanging on for dear life, but your grip is a little off. As your fingers are slipping off the grip they pull the throttle wide open. A bad situation gets worse, quickly.

If you survive the first few times you do that you will learn how NOT to do that.

My advice is to invest in good pads and buy the 250, you will enjoy it more in the long run.

Rod

 

[bassJAM]

Yeah I understand what you are saying...that's the same reason when I got into street bikes I started small before moving up...but getting into trouble on the street is way worse than doing it in the dirt IMO. I've got good throttle control now...but I'm sure it's different when the terrain isn't as smooth as the street. I'll start looking into 250's..there sure are a lot more of them available than the KDX220 I was thinking about.