new bike please help

[shanejohnson]

i'm looking for a bike for this summer that I can either convert or is already street legal. I will be doing some off roading.


1) your physical size 140 pounds and 5ft 8 inches 17 years old
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? more aggressive
3) what do you plan to ride- street, dirt
4) Do you have any riding experience? no
5) Do you think you will race ? no
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? yes for sure
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? I was thinking 4 because they would be better street wise (i think?) but no brand preference.
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? yes I have all the major brands by me
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike? 5,000$ or less would be great :bang:
10) Do you live in California?nope minnesota
11) Your age? 17 years old
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion
I was looking at DR-Z400SM's but I dont know if that would be a good bike to start on or if it is too big or what.

any advice would be greatly appreciated!
thanks

 

[sensei]

I don't think a pure supermoto is a good dirt bike. Maybe something to take on a fire road or dirt road but not so much trail, etc. If the type of off roading you will be doing is off the road I would suggest a dual purpose. I just went through this process myself.

I plan on doing more dirt than road so I bought the 08 Yamaha WR 250R. Have you looked into something like the KLX250S? http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=206

The 2009's are out and are $4,900 MSRP.

 

[tblrk2008]

WR250R.......perfect for you according to your info.

 

[sensei]

The only thing with the WR250R is the seat height is two inches higher than the KLX. I'm 5'7" and I could not touch both feet on the ground on the WR250R. I was about a half inch from touching on both sides. I took it from the dealer to another dealer that does suspension work for plenty of the local racers. They're going to modify the suspension and lower it about 2 inches. That still leaves me with over 8 inches of travel front and rear so I won't bottom out with the type of riding I'll be doing.

The WR also has a gripper seat so it wasn't easy to slide from side to side to balance on one foot. Dirt isn't a concern...I mainly lowered it for when I'm on the street.

I would suggest going to sit on the WR and see if you're ok at 5'8". It might be a little too high for street riding and a gripper seat. You can change the bike like I am to fit your needs but that doesn't normally come free...well shaving the seat comes pretty free but your bottom may not agree on street rides.

 

[shanejohnson]

Hmm yeah. looking at that bike it looks pretty good. only thing im worried about is my height.. but im sure i could get some people to help me rig it up . thanks for the replys!
i might go look at that bike at a dealer by my house see how it works.

Any other bike suggestions?

 

[justalonewolf007]

Where in Minnesota are you?

I'd say CRF250X...making them street legal here isn't too hard at all :cool:

 

[shanejohnson]

im in Rogers minnesota. Thanks for the input.