Ok guys, I've been lurking here at the site for around 2 months now. I haven't really seen this question answered so I would appreciate some intelligent input.
My friend and I decided a while back to get into dirt bikes, mainly for play riding and maybe amatuer racing later on. He bought a '00 yz125 and has thus far been extremely satisfied. I am going to buy a new bike and need some input on the different brands.
I am 25 yrs old, and have experience riding motorcycles going way back. However, I don't have a lot of experience with dirt bikes. I am 6'1" and 250lbs, so I definately think I need a 250cc bike. My friend's 125 definately will pull me around, but I have to wind the snot out of it to make power.
Having read all of the reviews, it appears that the majority of magazines favor either the suzuki or yamaha. However, from reading, it seems that all the bikes are very close in performance.
In my way of thinking, a novice would probably not be able to tell the difference between the nuances of each bike, so the decision should go to ergonomics, styling, etc...is this correct?
Let me put it this way, say suzuki is the best rated...the yamaha is number 2 and the kawasaki is 3...but the reviewers said that they are within a hair of each other, should I buy the one that I think looks the best? hehe, seriously, I hate yellow! I really don't think that I would be able to ride any of the bikes to their potential so why should I care about a .10 lap difference
I personally like the yamaha and the kawasaki. the yamaha is in the lead right now, but the prices are quite a bit higher (due to overwhelming demand?) the kawasaki has the lowest performing engine of all the 250cc class bikes(44 for kawa, 49 for ktm...the rest inbetween) would I be able to notice the difference? or like I said earlie, would I not be able to ride to that degree anyway?
I would really appreciate any help or insight you might be able to offer here.
and no, I don't want a 4-stroke! the 426f and 450r are muey expensive!
My friend and I decided a while back to get into dirt bikes, mainly for play riding and maybe amatuer racing later on. He bought a '00 yz125 and has thus far been extremely satisfied. I am going to buy a new bike and need some input on the different brands.
I am 25 yrs old, and have experience riding motorcycles going way back. However, I don't have a lot of experience with dirt bikes. I am 6'1" and 250lbs, so I definately think I need a 250cc bike. My friend's 125 definately will pull me around, but I have to wind the snot out of it to make power.
Having read all of the reviews, it appears that the majority of magazines favor either the suzuki or yamaha. However, from reading, it seems that all the bikes are very close in performance.
In my way of thinking, a novice would probably not be able to tell the difference between the nuances of each bike, so the decision should go to ergonomics, styling, etc...is this correct?
Let me put it this way, say suzuki is the best rated...the yamaha is number 2 and the kawasaki is 3...but the reviewers said that they are within a hair of each other, should I buy the one that I think looks the best? hehe, seriously, I hate yellow! I really don't think that I would be able to ride any of the bikes to their potential so why should I care about a .10 lap difference
I personally like the yamaha and the kawasaki. the yamaha is in the lead right now, but the prices are quite a bit higher (due to overwhelming demand?) the kawasaki has the lowest performing engine of all the 250cc class bikes(44 for kawa, 49 for ktm...the rest inbetween) would I be able to notice the difference? or like I said earlie, would I not be able to ride to that degree anyway?
I would really appreciate any help or insight you might be able to offer here.
and no, I don't want a 4-stroke! the 426f and 450r are muey expensive!