New rider needs a bike

[zscullen]

New to the sport and hoping to get some good advice on what to buy. When the local bike shop tried to sell me a 450x I kinda figured that I needed some additional opinions. After reading the forums I'm thinking CRF230 or TTR230 just wanted to put my details out there to see if anyone agrees. Thanks in advance.

1) your physical size (both height and weight are important)
6'& 195lb

2) How physical / aggressive are you ?
I'm not aggressive plus most of my riding will be with my sons 7 & 9.

3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ?????
Mostly desert. No dunes.

4) Do you have any riding experience?
None

5) Do you think you will race ?
Nope

6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work?
Very mechanically inclined, but will leave the major stuff to the expert.

7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)?
Honda or Yamaha.
4 stroke (green sticker)

8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry?
Several, all brands

9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike?
Under $3k but could go higher


10) Do you live in California?
Yes

11) Your age?
41

12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion
While this is mainly for me I'm going to be buying three bikes for myself and my two sons 9 and 11. I'm probably going to either get two crf70s or a crf70 and a crf80. A TTR90 is on the list too but I haven't seen many used ones lately though.


1) your physical size (both height and weight are important)
6'& 195lb

2) How physical / aggressive are you ?
I'm not aggressive plus most of my riding will be with my sons 7 & 9.

3) what do you plan to ride- MX/SX tracks, woods, fields with friends or ?????
Mostly desert. No dunes.

4) Do you have any riding experience?
Very little

5) Do you think you will race ?
Nope

6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work?
Very mechanically inclined, but will leave the major stuff to the expert.

7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)?
Honda or Yamaha.
4 stroke (green sticker)

8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry?
Several, all brands

9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike?
Under $3k


10) Do you live in California?
Yes

11) Your age?
41

12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion
While this is mainly for me I'm going to be buying three bikes for myself and my two sons 9 and 11. I'm probably going to either get two crf70s or a crf70 and a crf80. A TTR90 is on the list too but I haven't seen many used ones lately though.

 

[runs2rch]

Your about my size. After a few rides you will be over the 230. Get at least a 250x/wr250. The 450x is a great bike too.

 

[2 strokes for life]

I would say a Honda 250X or 450X, Yamaha WR250, WR450, KTM 250XC-F, or DR-Z400E would all do great. The DR-Z is the cheapest. Also, a used Honda XR400 is bullet proof.

 

[Moparman1539]

I would get the CRF250X or WR250F because they are lite, have tons of torque, and you can go nice and slow with your sons.

But if you wanted reliability, you could get an XR250 or XR400. Plenty of power, low maintenance and VERY reliable.

 

[ropethebike]

I am no expert by any means, but seeing that you indicate your price range to be $3K or less I highly doubt that you can buy a "well maintained" 4t bike such as the crf 250x in that price range. I may be wrong though.

I say the XR 400, if you can find a reasonably clean one.

Good Luck........

 

[zscullen]

I might need to revise my budget.

I found a brand new '06 250x for $4800 OTD

 

[motoxgurl47]

Yz450f

If you are looking to do desert and trail riding, I think you'll be best off with a YZ450F or the CRF450. They are awesome bikes and can be used for many different styles of riding. The Yamaha is way more reliable but the Honda has more power. For your children, I would definetly go for a TTR90 and a TTR125 for the oldest one. Good Luck! :)

 

[2 strokes for life]

Go for the CRF250X. Thats not a bad price and its a good bike for you.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

My suggestion is to buy used, as I suspect that you will be wanting to upgrade soon.

The crf70 would be great for the 7 year old and may last him 3 or 4 years. If the 9 year old is a rank beginner it would be good for him, for a bit.

As long as you ride with the 7 year old the TTR230 would be just fine for you.

Depending on how quickly your kids advance, all three of you could easily outgrow the bikes fairly quickly. As soon as you start riding anything close to being serious trails the TTR230's suspension will really hinder you. Someone your size and weight should really be on a full size bike.

If your primary interest is just to have a green sticker then I would recommend buying a bike that is 2002 or older. Note that there are a number of four strokes that are NOT green sticker eligible so be careful. Any bike, two stroke or four stroke, that is a 2002 or older will get the desired green sticker. A 10 year old YZ125 can get down in price and can give you a really thrilling ride.

If your budget allows then I would go for a WR450F or a WR250F, but to get a green sticker you will need to be 2005 or newer. Note that the 2003 & 2004 were NOT eligible for the green sticker. I don't believe that any of the YZxxxF bikes are green sticker eligible.

Be advised that you will find a lot of used bikes for sale that have never been registered in California. While this isn't an insurmountable problem it will require at least one trip to DMV and another to CHP with the bike, and then a follow up visit to DMV without the bike. Factor in what your time is worth waiting at DMV/CHP when comparing the price of a bike with title verses one without title.

Rod

 

[zscullen]

I really appreciate all the good responses.

I went down to check out the 250x today and had a good conversation with the sales guy. There were a couple of points that make me pause with this bike. He thought that the slow speeds of riding with kids would overheat the bike. I was also surprised at the maintenance on this bike. Oil changes after every ride, valve adjustments and replacing the top end after 30hrs. For my riding style he steered me to a Suzuki DRZ400E, likening it to the bulletproof XR400 and it's lower maintenance requirements.