I am looking at geeting a second bike for me and by purchasing a new bike for my wife and sharing it. Now before everyone laughs I want to get a fun playbike for me and agood starter bike for me. I am trying to decide between the 200 or 220. Which is better for a beginner (her) and which one will be the easier to ride. She will mostly ride fire roads and some easy single track and relatively low speeds. I will mostly use on tght single track for fun. My other bike is KTM EXC 400 so I will have two arrows in my quiver. She has been on 93 XR 200 and it is to small size wise She is 5'4" 112 lBS I was hoping to cut down seat and purchase aftermarket tall for me. Am I going in right direction?
Which Bike for Wife 200/220
- Thread starter Tugsy
- Start date
jaguar
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220 of course because of its low end power. better for beginners and women.
I'd buy the 220. Its got versatility in spades. Toss a Torque pipe on it and you've got a hill climbing monster. Throw on a Rev pipe instead and you've got a powerband that does it all. Low end grunt and a great high end hit. Either way its super wife friendly. Which ever you choose plan on re-working the suspension, its very unbalanced in stock form.
-Maurice
-Maurice
I have a 220 with a torque pipe and my son just got a 200 with a fatty pipe . My wife actually likes the 200 better.When you crack the throttle in lower gears on the220 it goes NOW! The 200 is smoother down low but revs higher.Im sure if she rode more and got used to them either would be fine.
TwoStroker said:
Although i've got no personal experience on this point (going to as soon as the bike is rebuilt and I re-jet it) CC has indicated several times that needle selection plays a major part of the power delivery of _your_ bike. A bike that has a peaky mx like power hit with a CEL needle could have a more sedate smooth sleeper woods friendly hit with a BEL needle.
-Maurice
The needle does play a significant part in power delivery, but it can't make a 200 feel like a 220 and visa-versa. TwoStroker is right, the 220 is very responsive to throttle position at low speeds (even with the stock pipe)- might be intimedating for a beginer. Stock, the 200 has a much smoother more linear power delivery. With either the rev or the tourque pipe, the power is still softer than stock at low speeds. With the tourque pipe the power comes on smoother and sooner, but it is controlable. The rev pipe produces an abrupt hit in the midrange and pulls hard throughout the rest of the gear. I have my racebike set up with the rev pipe, but I ride with the clutch anywhere under 1/2 throttle. You'ld probably love this setup, but your wife would hate it. I'd recomend the 200 with either the stock pipe or the tourque pipe. You and your wife would each get the most enjoyment out of this setup. (Fatty pipes are no longer available for current KDXs, though you might be able to find one somewhere, any pipe made for 95-04 bikes will fit any >95 KDX)
-Nick
-Nick
