Making the Street to Dirt transition. Help!

[Dirt86]

Hi
As you can tell my the topic i want to make this transition, i want to buy my bike in spring, so i have lots of time, but i want to get a understanding of how to pick the right bike, i just dont want something that i wont like, or i cant maintain, or wont be comfortable for me.

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important)
5'8 usually between 185-195

2) How physical / aggressive are you ?
Pretty Phycial, im sure once i get comfotable with my bike ill ride it hard.

3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ?????
whats Mx/SX? Id want to ride bother woods and tracks. Deff with friends.

4) Do you have any riding experience? I have 2 years of street bike riding

5) Do you think you will race ? Nope

6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? Yes, what i can do my self ill do if i cnat ill take it to a shop.

7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? No brand preferance. I dont know yet, i like the thought of the 2 stroke for its off the line power but i heard they are break down alot and lways need to fixed. 4 stroke is good to i head they have high end power and are just as fun. I love the sound of a 2 stroke tho!

8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? Theres a few but i think id ratehr buy used... im still in school wana save as much as possible.
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike?1g-2500$

10) Do you live in California?Nope.
11) Your age?22

12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion
I am agressive, i ride street bikes, and cars pretty agressive i dont think a dirt bike will be any different. Once i do get comfortable with it, i wouuld like to attempt doing some small jumps and work my way up but i think by that time ill be able to buy something that will be more ment for the - forks and suspentione ext. I was thinking of a 250 2 streoke before but i heard its rediculously fast for a a first bike. so i dont know if i should get a 235 2 stroke instrad. Thats where you guys come into play. Any help and/or suggestions as appriciated.

 

[plynn41]

My advice is to ride as many of your friends' dirt bikes as you can so you can make your own decision. From your post, it sounds like you may not have ever straddled up on a dirt bike. Find those friends that you plan on riding with and impose on them to let you try out their rides. BTW, "mx" means "motocross", and "sx" means "supercross". Good luck!

 

[_JOE_]

If you were a bit lighter I would suggest a 125 2 stroke. They are plentiful and cheap. You could afford to buy a newer model and rebuild it before you ride it on that budget.

At 195 you would be pushing it for any hilly trail riding on a 125. A 250 2 stroke is alot of nike for a beginner. Usually what happens is the rider gets tired and has trouble keeping the throttle under control which ends up sending them into a tree or whatever.

If you plan to spend more time in the woods than on the track you might want to look into a KDX or something. They are more mild as far as power but have the torque to pull you up big hills. You could get away with some play days at the track as long as you don't get too carried away.

After you get used to riding you will probly find a 250 2 stroke with minor mods to be a fine all around bike for you. Trail bikes like the KDX tend to hold thier value well so you could probly sell it for what you have in it once you feel ready to move up.

4 strokes(MX bikes) are fabulous until they break. They really only break if you don't replace every moving part as soon as it's out of spec. This equates to lots of preventative maintenance or big repair bills. Most weekend warriors who ride alot are better off on a 2 stroke. Simpler, cheaper maintenance being the main reason. Trail bikes all hold up much better reguardless of engine type.

 

[Dirt86]

If you were a bit lighter I would suggest a 125 2 stroke. They are plentiful and cheap. You could afford to buy a newer model and rebuild it before you ride it on that budget.

At 195 you would be pushing it for any hilly trail riding on a 125. A 250 2 stroke is alot of nike for a beginner. Usually what happens is the rider gets tired and has trouble keeping the throttle under control which ends up sending them into a tree or whatever.

If you plan to spend more time in the woods than on the track you might want to look into a KDX or something. They are more mild as far as power but have the torque to pull you up big hills. You could get away with some play days at the track as long as you don't get too carried away.

After you get used to riding you will probly find a 250 2 stroke with minor mods to be a fine all around bike for you. Trail bikes like the KDX tend to hold thier value well so you could probly sell it for what you have in it once you feel ready to move up.

4 strokes(MX bikes) are fabulous until they break. They really only break if you don't replace every moving part as soon as it's out of spec. This equates to lots of preventative maintenance or big repair bills. Most weekend warriors who ride alot are better off on a 2 stroke. Simpler, cheaper maintenance being the main reason. Trail bikes all hold up much better reguardless of engine type.

I am not 100% sure what kinda of riding i will be doing more because i live in the city and i would need to drive a little to get to any decent trails and there is a track about a 40 min drive from my house BUT i want to have the option to do booth.

I just got off the phone with my causin and he has a 250 2 stroke. he said its a older one like a87 Cr250, he got into in a accident a few months ago and his backs all screwed so he dosnt ride it. Im going to see if i can get it from him for a big so i can try it out, then i can get a idea of whats a 250 2 stroke is like.

Stupid question but whats the diff between MX and SX

 

[_JOE_]

MX is outdoor. More natural terrian.

SX is stadium. All man made obstacles.

It's good that you can borrow a bike for a while. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Dirt86]

is the suspentioned totally different on a mx and sx?

 

[AABatteries]

MX and SX bikes are the same stock. I don't race, so I don't know if you change the suspension for either, but I imagine there are those who do.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

regarding the maintenance: there are "high performance" engines and then "low maintenance" engines. If you buy a MX bike, two stroke or four stroke, the engine is going to be of the high performance variety. High performance engines run higher compression ratios, use lighter components, push the red line higher and in general run closer to the limit. Great for racing, lousy for durability. If you have a high performance engine you can expect that it will need to be maintained more.

When it is time to do the maintenance, a two stroke is MUCH easier than a four stroke.

Regarding power: Two strokes will rev a lot higher and can produce twice the power for a given displacement when it is in its "powerband". If you let the RPMs drop below the power band a two stroke can fall flat on its face. A four stroke, on the other hand, will chug along at low RPM. This makes a four stroke much more forgiving for a beginner rider.

SUSPENSION: Other than cost, there is no down side to having a better suspension! Bikes tend to come in two basic models: MX and "off road". The off road bikes are a lot cheaper (like half) but they are a lot heavier and have much less suspension travel. If you expect to be going to a track I would avoid the off road models.

I suspect that in short order you are going to want either a 250 two stroke or a 450 four stroke. They would not be the bike I would recommend to learn on, however. If you could borrow something like a 125 two stroke or a 250 four stroke for your first couple of rides you would be better off.

Rod