New to the site, from N. Illinois

Hello to all.

I'm new to this site as I've somewhat recently come across it on the net.

I've been an off-roader since 1987 when I learned to ride on a 1974 ATC 90. From that time, I've loved riding three wheelers and quads (mainly the fourtrax 250R during the last decade). I've done some XC racing with mediocre success in the quad B class at a couple national level events and some local series as well.

While it is an incredible adrenaline rush to race, I've found that my love of the ride is for the trails. I've traveled with my quad to trail ride in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Tenessee, and West Virginia.

Over labor day weekend 2008, I got on a dirt bike for the first time in my life. It was on the Mio trail in Michigan. My brother and I had just purchased a mint 2002 RM250 as an experiment. We loved riding quads. .. specifically 2-stroke quads. . . and wanted to try something with a modern 2-stroke motor in it (they stopped manufacturing our TRX250R's in 1989)

After that weekend of riding, we came to one conclusion. ... . . . that we didn't like sharing a dirtbike . .. neither of us wanted trade back to the quad on our trail rides. Within a month, I purchased my own bike, a 2003 RM250. Since then, the quads have been starting to oxidize as I just am not getting them out to ride nearly as often.

Anyway, I guess, in a nutshell, I'm new to dirt-biking, but certainly not new to off road riding.

warm welcome, eh? :whoa:

Interesting. I'm the opposite as I tend to get on the forums more during the winter since I'm not busy outside.

Your screen name reminds me of the Dealer Expo coming up in the middle of February.

I attend this event (as press of sorts) for another website. Have you ever made it to the show? Lots of cool things to be seen.

Well if you do make it and you run across some guys wearing "Just-Add-Dirt" shirts, then that would be us.

I still like my quads. It's really two different worlds of riding. The mechanics are night and day. On the quad, large, exaggerated movements are necessary to make it handle, and there is a much larger path on the ground that you need to watch out for. Also, my skill level on the quad is much higher than it is on the bike . ... I can still get down most 50" trails quicker on my quad than I can on the bike, although that gap lessens as the trails get narrower and narrower and as I gain experience on the bike.

On the bike, everything seems so much more dependant on momentum. .. and it's small, quick movements that flick the thing around so fast. The suspension on the bike continually amazes me. ... especially through the Michigan trail whoops . . I've made mistakes that would have thrown me over the bars on the quad and the RMjust completely soaks it up. .. doesn't even kick back. .. just smooth like butter.

So far I've really been liking my RM. I've compared it to my buddy's CR and we owned a YZ for a trip. .. in comparison, for the tight stuff, I really like how "fast" the handling is on the RM. Biggest complaint is that for really tight stuff, 1st gear is too high (I'm planning to run a larger rear sprocket for my next one though) The YZ was low slung and really stable, but it suffered for me in the tight stuff. The CR was somewhere in between . .. but it just felt sluggish in comparison.