Ride a sport bike..looking for some trail fun.

[Kawi07]

Hey everyone, I ride a 600CC Zx6-r bike. So i have plenty experience with motorcycles. My sister recently moved and bought a townhouse where there is so many trails and seeing all the quads and dirt bikes ride daily...... i cant help but to buy a dirt or off road bike for myself and for my brother.

1) I am 5 8 160lbs - 24 years old.
3) I plan to ride trails and a MX track possibly down the road.
4) 4 year riding experience on a sport bike.
5) Will never competitively race
6) Can work on 2 or 4 strokes myself
7) i am not a fanboy. First bike was a yamaha r6, then got a kawasaki. So brand isnt an issue.
9) I would like to spend a 1000.

I went to a local dealer and looked at the Honda CRF150R, Yamaha YZ150 and TTR230. As well as 250 MX from all 4 major brands.

I am kinda leaning to a YZ150, or any other 125CC class (but they seem to be gone off the market now??) and my brother is leaning towards a 250 moto class. (not offroad).

Can someone help me what bike would be good? The 150R i feel like its pretty small, but the YZ125 is pretty damn big and would get time to get used to. It is hard to backtrack to the model names of the bikes from early 2000's as they seem to have changed since then or simply dont exist. To summarize I am looking for some fun and want to get something real cheap for now since sport bikes are my primary passion.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

You won't be happy with a CRF150 for very long. Too small. Great bike for a teen working their way up to a full size bike, but not for an adult.

I wasn't aware that there was a YZ-150. Did you mean 250? Or 125 two stroke?

A TTR-230 (or any of the other brands of 230s) are trail bikes that are great to learn on and putt around some trails but they will be horrible on a MX track. They are heavy, underpowered and very limited suspension travel. Hitting a jump with such a bike is not a good idea.

A two stroke is harder to ride than a four stroke. A small two stroke (125) is even harder than a 250. Very little of your street skills are going to transfer to the dirt.

A YZ-250F (four stroke) would be a good bike for you, as would a WR-250F. Finding one in your price range will be a challenge.

Your budget doesn't leave a lot to work with. If you can double it or at least half again ($1500) you will be able to pick up something, but it will be fairly old.

A two stroke, such a YZ250, would be a little cheaper, both to buy and to maintain. .

You need to leave room in your budget for all the riding gear. As a minimum: helmet, googles, gloves, boots, chest protector. Highly recommended are knee/shin guards, elbow guards, riding pants and jersery.

Note that while riding pants may seem like an unnecessary expense they will take a lot more abuse than a pair of jeans will. After you have shredded a couple pairs of your favorite jeans you might have paid for the riding pants.

Where do you live? If you live in a state that requires off road vehicles to be registered (such as California) I would highly recommend that any thing you consider be properly registered.

A few things to consider:

1)Very little of your street skills are going to transfer to the dirt.

2) On a dirt bike, you will be going down. It isn't a question of when, it is a question of how many times on this ride and how hard. Protective gear isn't "just in case", it gets used, often.

3) Dirt bikes will take an incredible amount of abuse and keep on going, but they do break. Leave room in the budget for fixing things.

4) You will need to transport this bike. Do you have a truck? A trailer?

Rod

 

[Kawi07]

You won't be happy with a CRF150 for very long. Too small. Great bike for a teen working their way up to a full size bike, but not for an adult.

I wasn't aware that there was a YZ-150. Did you mean 250? Or 125 two stroke?

A TTR-230 (or any of the other brands of 230s) are trail bikes that are great to learn on and putt around some trails but they will be horrible on a MX track. They are heavy, underpowered and very limited suspension travel. Hitting a jump with such a bike is not a good idea.

A two stroke is harder to ride than a four stroke. A small two stroke (125) is even harder than a 250. Very little of your street skills are going to transfer to the dirt.

A YZ-250F (four stroke) would be a good bike for you, as would a WR-250F. Finding one in your price range will be a challenge.

Your budget doesn't leave a lot to work with. If you can double it or at least half again ($1500) you will be able to pick up something, but it will be fairly old.

A two stroke, such a YZ250, would be a little cheaper, both to buy and to maintain. .

You need to leave room in your budget for all the riding gear. As a minimum: helmet, googles, gloves, boots, chest protector. Highly recommended are knee/shin guards, elbow guards, riding pants and jersery.

Note that while riding pants may seem like an unnecessary expense they will take a lot more abuse than a pair of jeans will. After you have shredded a couple pairs of your favorite jeans you might have paid for the riding pants.

Where do you live? If you live in a state that requires off road vehicles to be registered (such as California) I would highly recommend that any thing you consider be properly registered.

A few things to consider:

1)Very little of your street skills are going to transfer to the dirt.

2) On a dirt bike, you will be going down. It isn't a question of when, it is a question of how many times on this ride and how hard. Protective gear isn't "just in case", it gets used, often.

3) Dirt bikes will take an incredible amount of abuse and keep on going, but they do break. Leave room in the budget for fixing things.

4) You will need to transport this bike. Do you have a truck? A trailer?

Rod

That's a great and helpful response.

1. I hope my street skills won't transfer because I hope it's a totally different hobby! By expierience with motorcycles I meant I know the gears and throttle control so I will not crash getting out of first gear by poping a wheelie or slamming on breaks and flipping over handle bars :)

2. Yes I meant yz 125. Thanks to your post I finally understand how to tell between an 2 and 4 stroke (the F is the key right?)

3. Okay so from your post I'm gonna try to find a 4 stroke, keep to power band more equal throughout and consistent.

4. Would a yzf 125 be okay? (Those seem very hard to find).

5. My other options I looked at since your post are surely the yzf250 wr250f crf250 and all the 250 4 strokes motocross bikes.

6. Would a Honda crf230f be a big enough bike? Looks to be closer to my price range. My biggest debate is whether I will be happier on a motocross or a off road bike. Still not sure about that.

7. I am in nj and I believe title registration is required but not sure. Will find out details for sure.

8. Yes I have a budget for gear and repairs. The budget isn't tight so I can spend over $1000 just not sure if I want to since there is a limited places to ride around here. There is a mx track not to far which I would probably visit later in the season once I'm comfortable.
Would this require me to get a motocross bike or would a wr250f be okay?

Basically I'm just looking for some extra fun on 2 wheels and don't wanna spend a lot for now to see how it works out. If its great ill buy a newer and better bike next season. Now I don't mind an older bike. Early 2000s is okay.

I will have a trailer for the bikes. I transport my street bike by renting a trailer to track days.