Need help to pick out a bike for my wife and I

[Gun Shot]

Good afternoon all,

My wife and I are interested into getting back into dirt riding, and we'd love to get some advice. We're in a financial situation right now that will not allow us to get seperate dirt bikes, so for the time being, we will have to share the bike we buy, and it will have to be used.

According to the sticky above, you guys will need at least the following info to offer any assistance, so here goes! Keep in mind my wife and I will have to share this bike!

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important): I am 5'10, 185 lbs, and my wife is 5'3-ish (maybe 5'4 tops), 130 lbs.

2) How physical / aggressive are you ? I am fairly agressive, I want power at my fingertips. I like hauling butt, I like screwing around doing wheelies, and stoppies and such when I get the wild hair up my butt to do so. My wife is a conservative rider, she's not all about speed, but she likes having power on tap just in case.

3) what do you plan to ride: We live near the mountains, and we'll have the opportunity to ride anything and everything. I want a good all around bike that can do everything, but I understand you must give and take... I'd like a good balanced bike due to all of our options, but I can see us mainly hitting trails, woods (mountains), tracks, and fields. High elevation, 6,000ft and higher.

4) Do you have any riding experience? Very limited - I haven't ridden in the dirt since a vacation 3 yrs ago, and before that it had been 15+ years. It's been long enough for me to forget more than I can remember about dirt riding. My wife has been riding probably 10 times in her life. We both have the MSF course under our belts, and limited, basic street riding experience.

5) Do you think you will race? I'm not really a racer, but I like to have 'enough' power on tap to hang with others while going fast, or getting challenges....whatever that means.

6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? I am mechanically inclined, I absorb info like a sponge, however I have limited dirt bike mechanical experience right now. I plan on doing my own basic maintenance (oil and filter changes, and the like), and I will take it to a mechanic for the big stuff.

7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? I would like it to be a Honda, because that is what my wife wants, and we have no engine preference. She's pretty brand loyal, and has always owned Honda's, and from what I've read dirt bike wise, it seems like a wise choice to let her get the Honda and hopefully keep her interest peaked. I personally don't mind what we get, so Honda it is.

8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? I have a dealer not even a mile up the street, and he sells Honda, Kawi, Suzi, KTM, and others...Nearly all but Yamaha. I will not be buying new, only used. They do carry a boat load of used bikes, fwiw.

9) How much do you plan to spend on a bike? We're really scraping together funds for this, so it needs to be as cheap as possible, and it will need to be used. I would like to keep it under $1000, but I think we could go to $1500 tops. I know with today's prices in the multiple thousands for brand new, we won't be able to touch new.

10) anything else that you think would help form an opinion? Used Honda, it will be shared between my wife and myself, under $1500 (preferably cheaper!), no engine preference, it will need to handle my ragging. FWIW, I am 27yrs, and my wife is 26. Let me know if you need any more info, and thank you very much for your help.

Justin

 

[Gun Shot]

Anyone out there?

Found a guy at work (sheriff's office) that has a 2003 CR150 for sale, listed at $1,800 , or $2,000 with a two bike trailer included. Is this a good or bad deal? Don't believe I see too many 2003 model bikes out there for $1800 or less, but I haven't been looking at 150's either (I don't know what to even look for at this point!)Do you think a 2 stroke 150 would fit me and my wife given the information in the post above?

It seems like digging up information on dirt bikes is a hell of a lot harder than street riding :) .

Justin

 

[bikepilot]

The CRF150 is an air cooled 4-stroke. Basically an XR100 with a face lift. It would suit your wife fairly well, but you migh find your self short on power, suspension and brakes. Frankly, its not possible for one bike to fit someone your size and your wifes size. Some one isn't going to be able to touch the ground or the other is going to be super cramped. I'm not trying to be a downer, just realistic. Its like you both trying to share a pair of shoes. On tight trails you'll like the CRF150, its nimble and entertaining and can be ridden fairly quickly. Open trails you'll find its limitations much more quickly.

For reference, my mom is 5'2" and ~105lbs. She can ride all the 80's and 100's quite well and also does well on her DR200 (a very short 200cc dual sport bike.) I'm 5'10" and am fortunate to have a large selection of bikes at my house. My wife is 5'6" and rides a KX100. It fits her very well, but being a 2-stroke MX bike its got a surprising amount of power. The suspension is race quality stuff, though sprung for a 120lbs rider. I don't know how tall of a bike your wife can manage.

If she could swing it a Kawasaki KDX200 would be awsome. It is mild enough for a beginer, but still has enough to entertain an advanced rider (and even win real races). I owned one for quite a while and taught several people how to ride on it. I also won my first AMA race on it:) Its not a honda and it might be too tall for your wife (I've known a woman about your wife's height to ride one, but it depends on her leg/torso raito and aditude towards a tallish bike). Also, the KDX is probably the most reliable dir bike bike made. It last a long time and is just about impossible to break by riding it really hard. Most trail bikes (like the CRF150) last forever with normal trail riding, but I'd break one in a week. The KDX has been unchanged other than color since 1996 so used examples are plentifull and cheep. You should be able to get a clean 1996 or 1997 for 1500 no problem. Honda doesn't make anyting similar to the KDX though.

If she doesn't like the idea of the KDX you might be best off getting a smaller more mild bike now, like the CRF150 and that will give you something to learn on and your wife something she can enjoy for a long time. Once you get more experence and $$ you can buy yourself something bigger and faster.

Honda's likely options are the CRF150, XR200 and CRF230. These are all mild trail bikes that would suit your wife well and would keep you happy for a while, but might leave you wanting more performance eventually.

Just an FYI, historicaly, Honda called their air cooled 4-stroke trail bikes XR's and their race bikes CR's and CRF's (F = 4-stroke, no F = 2stroke). This is still mostly true, but they are now calling some of their air cooled 4-stroke trail bikes CR's as well. For example, the CRF230 is an air cooled, very mild mannerd trail bike with little potential to satisfy an advance rider. The CRF250 is a $6k MX race bike that is capable of winning pro leve motocross races.

I'm don't know exactly what CRF150s typically sell for used, but the price you quoated seems about right to me. Look them up to see what they are new and make your judgement from that.

Another option is a smaller 2-stroke race bike. Examples would be a Honda CR85expert or a KX100. These would have enough power to entertain you and are small enough that your wife could manage the height and weight. The potential trouble would be the motors are rather spunky and might be less than ideal for your wife. They can be taught some manners fairly easily though. A flywheel weight, lower gearing and good jetting makes them quite user frindly. That last part, good jetting is key. Without it they will foul plugs with extended slow riding. My wife is a very conservitive rider yet I chose a KX100 for her. A motor like that of a CRF150 would be a bit better initially, but the KX has a much better chassie (suspension, weight, handling, brakes etc) and has more power should she need it later on. I got the jetting squared away, added 12oz to the flywheel and she's happy as a clam. She plunks along for hours on end absolutlly loving (still has the origional plug too) it yet I can hop on the bike and haul around a harescramble course at a decent pace (though I am a bit cramped on the bike). As this is primarily used for racing and kids typically outgrow them in a year or two, used examples are plentiful and cheep. 1k to 1.5k can get you a decent one. The KX100 has a more user frindly motor than the CR85 and would be the better option of the two. The RM 85 is also an excelent option.

There is one, rather rare, bike that would suit your purpose almost perfectly, its short, light, easy to manage, but has amazing performance potential. It will be hard to find a used one and new, it would be a bit expensive. This would be a Gasgas pampara
look here for info. I suspect this will be our next bike, though probably still a few years out.
http://www.gasgas.com/Pages/2003's/Pampera/pro-280-main-specs.html

good luck and feel free to contact me if you like:)

 

[Gun Shot]

Thank you bikepilot!

That Gas Gas Pampara looks like an amazing bike and a really good fit, I will have to see one up close since there's a dealer near me.

We're heading up to the bike shop after work, I will check out the KDX's while I'm there and have the wife sit on a few. I am extremely open to all makes at this point, so if they are really that much better than a Honda, I will explain that to her and see how she feels. The bikes performance is much more important than make, and she's very reasonable, so if it's clearly better, I'm sure she'll be ok with it.

Thank you for the tips, I appreciate the help. Would appreciate any more tips anyone else has!

 

[YZ125jk]

U should try a crf 230 they would be just the right size for u and ur wife and its a honda

 

[SpeedyManiac]

Your wife needs something like a TTR125L or CRF150F. She might be able to ride a KDX but if she's timid it could scare her away from the sport.

I think you need a 250 motocross bike, like a CR250R, KX250, YZ250, RM250 or KTM 250SX. You didn't mention whether you will be riding trails or motocross, so I was just guessing on the mx bike, although they can be trail ridden.