I am having a hard time deciding on which bikes(brand) to get for me and my son, for a little casual trail riding.....crf150/crf230, ttr125/ttr230 or klx125/kdx200......I have read that the kdx is the best trail bike around, but the fact that it is a two-stroke has me a little turned off.....I have no mechanical skills, and have heard that the two stroke bikes need a little more attention between rides.........SLAYER :aj:
Which bikes for casual trail riding??
- Thread starter Slayer'69
- Start date
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
- 1
You can't go wrong with any of those bikes. The Honda's are the cream of the crop in that class.
IMO the KDX is the best bike of the bunch for you. I had one for two years. Raced it in harescrambles and did lots of trail riding. Never did anything other than usual maintance. Its as trouble free a bike you'll find IMHO. I wouldn't worry about it being a 2-stroke. When not tuned for racing they are very trouble free and a very simple engine design. If you get a KDX new or in good condition the most you'd need to do other than general maintance (~same for all dirt bikes listed) would be adjust the caborator jetting for your basic conditions. Even then, it's very tollerant of changing conditions and its not likely you'll need to do any jetting unless you ride at very high altitude or in very hot or cold weather.
I've not owned any of the others, but have ridden the CRF230. The CRF230 is a very trouble free bike as well. It has great low end power but doesn't have much on top or rev very high. It really is in a different class as far as performance from the KDX. It is heaiver, much less powerfull, much less suspension, and much less powerfull brakes etc. Its not a bad bike, its fairly simple, reliable, grunty motor and has electric start but I wouldn't be entering one in a harescramble race. The advantage of the CRF over the KDX would be the smaller physical size (if your short anyway), the electric start and no need to mix oil in the fuel. I suspect it would also use less fuel, though neither bike uses much (riding hard I burned ~1gal an hour in the KDX)
The CRF would probably be the best for very casual trail riding as it is a little more mild and has the e-start, however if your riding started to involve more chalenging trails or a faster pace you'd quickly find yourself wishing for something with at least more advanced suspension. In my experence the CRF230 is more likely to need jetting to run really well than the KDX (well for that matter, a horribly jetted KDX will still out run a CRF, lol). Honda sells the HRC "power up kit" for the CRF, all it really consists of to my knowledge is jetting for the 230. The stock one is rather lean, making it a bit tempermental when the engine is not fully warmed up.
I know very little about the TTR-230 but I belive it is very similar to the CRF230
BTW re-jetting the carb on either bike requires only a phillips head screwdriver and a 6mm socket or nut driver (main jet) and a small flat head screw driver (pilot jet). Its a very simple thing to do, takes ~5-10 minutes tops.
I've known people who ride each of the smaller bikes you listed and every one of them was happy with the bike. They are quite trouble free and user frindly. They have similar suspension to the CRF230 but with their lesser weight it doesn't seem as limiting. Plus, by the time junior is advanced enough to find the limits of the bike he will probably need something larger. I'd pick the honda top for build quality, the yamaha for ease of use (E-start) and the Kawasaki/Suzuki (same bike different color) for the most natural seating posistion (my wife sat on all of them when we were looking for a bike for her and like the KLX/DRZ 125 the best for this reason).
BTW the KDX220 is virtually identicle to the KDX200 but is de-tuned even a bit more (lower compresion raito, smaller carb, milder porting). I perfer the 200 for its better top end pull, though the 220 has slightly more at low rpm and would be even a little more mild than the 200. Maintance would be virtually the same on either, handling is identicle.
All the bikes you listed are good bikes and I doubt you'd regret your decision regardles of which you chose. If you go with either 230 you may outgrow it eventually but you'll have a fun time getting to that point:)
Good luck and have fun riding with your son:)
I've not owned any of the others, but have ridden the CRF230. The CRF230 is a very trouble free bike as well. It has great low end power but doesn't have much on top or rev very high. It really is in a different class as far as performance from the KDX. It is heaiver, much less powerfull, much less suspension, and much less powerfull brakes etc. Its not a bad bike, its fairly simple, reliable, grunty motor and has electric start but I wouldn't be entering one in a harescramble race. The advantage of the CRF over the KDX would be the smaller physical size (if your short anyway), the electric start and no need to mix oil in the fuel. I suspect it would also use less fuel, though neither bike uses much (riding hard I burned ~1gal an hour in the KDX)
The CRF would probably be the best for very casual trail riding as it is a little more mild and has the e-start, however if your riding started to involve more chalenging trails or a faster pace you'd quickly find yourself wishing for something with at least more advanced suspension. In my experence the CRF230 is more likely to need jetting to run really well than the KDX (well for that matter, a horribly jetted KDX will still out run a CRF, lol). Honda sells the HRC "power up kit" for the CRF, all it really consists of to my knowledge is jetting for the 230. The stock one is rather lean, making it a bit tempermental when the engine is not fully warmed up.
I know very little about the TTR-230 but I belive it is very similar to the CRF230
BTW re-jetting the carb on either bike requires only a phillips head screwdriver and a 6mm socket or nut driver (main jet) and a small flat head screw driver (pilot jet). Its a very simple thing to do, takes ~5-10 minutes tops.
I've known people who ride each of the smaller bikes you listed and every one of them was happy with the bike. They are quite trouble free and user frindly. They have similar suspension to the CRF230 but with their lesser weight it doesn't seem as limiting. Plus, by the time junior is advanced enough to find the limits of the bike he will probably need something larger. I'd pick the honda top for build quality, the yamaha for ease of use (E-start) and the Kawasaki/Suzuki (same bike different color) for the most natural seating posistion (my wife sat on all of them when we were looking for a bike for her and like the KLX/DRZ 125 the best for this reason).
BTW the KDX220 is virtually identicle to the KDX200 but is de-tuned even a bit more (lower compresion raito, smaller carb, milder porting). I perfer the 200 for its better top end pull, though the 220 has slightly more at low rpm and would be even a little more mild than the 200. Maintance would be virtually the same on either, handling is identicle.
All the bikes you listed are good bikes and I doubt you'd regret your decision regardles of which you chose. If you go with either 230 you may outgrow it eventually but you'll have a fun time getting to that point:)
Good luck and have fun riding with your son:)
