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Picking a first dirt bike

hmmmmm.....you sure it wasn't the rider that made a stock DRZ w/battery and lights pull away from a 200cc 2 stroke?
 
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I bought a 2000 YZ250 as a "first dirtbike" after riding street for 4 years. It was a learning experience and a blast to ride. Plenty of power. I rode a 125 and it felt like i had to shift it every 5 feet.
 
I've never ridden a DRZ400 (40 hp?), but I used to own a DR350S (35 hp?), and my 200s would just destroy it in acceleration. But really, power is overrated on the dirt, unless you are drag racing buddies up hill climbs. My 200s would go up the biggest hills at Carnegie.

A 200 is fairly shift happy. The power is not nearly as broad as a 250, especially the top end. This is on WFO trails, roads, and hills. Just leave it in second or third for single track. Oh BTW, a KDX has six speeds in the tranny and will go faster than many other more powerful bikes. Not that I recommend going 90+ on dirt roads.

I have owned, um, three (?) Kawi street bikes and two KDX200s so I recognize the concern about quality. Some of the Kawi fasteners are cheesy, the KIPS powervalve system is overly complex/difficult, but it's a bulletproof motorcycle.

The KDX suspension is good enough for a beginner to intermediate rider. I raced plenty on it. It got much better with firmer fork springs. The 95 and later forks are better; don't be fooled by the 93-94 upside downers. The 95 and later frame is better too.

1 of my riding partners has a kdx200 fresh rebuild with some mods. My 400 was pulling on his 200 all day long.
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Maybe your partner needs to learn carburetion or his tire had no knobs or your gearing was shorter, or maybe you and your 400 have a better power to weight ratio. After all, you've got twice the displacement; it would be pretty pathetic if you were slower.
 
if you guys were to buy an early 90's model of the following for around 1-1.5k..

would you

a-buy a cr250
b-buy a kx250
c-buy a rm250
d-buy a yz250
e-buy either of the above for the best deal.
 
My first dirtbike was a CRF250R 2004 got it for $2500 and put in about $500 into it and learned a lot about fixing them/what goes wrong.

I've only got to ride it like 4 times so I'm not great on it. Its an awesome bike, but I make a lot of mistakes on it and usually end up hitting the throttle (saves me but gets me into to trouble sometimes). Its hard to ride sometimes, but I'm starting to get the hang of it..............I think.

I'll have to grow into it a bit, but I kinda wished I purchased a CRF150 first. Slightly cheaper brand new, the kickstart fires up easily, easy to ride, damn near indestructible, and just overall awesome bike.

The new ones go for around $2500, but if you put down like $1500 then the last $1k will be like $100ish for a year at like 12% financing is it? Iono, something like that. Even when you get a stronger bike, you can still use the 150 to work on the fundamentals :)

I'll more than likely end up buying one next year.

--Nick
 
if you guys were to buy an early 90's model of the following for around 1-1.5k
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Hon, Yam, Kaw, Suz, in that order. You can't beat the evil empire for long term reliability.

I'd go with whichever one had the best suspension that year. But nobody remembers which 250 had the best forks in 1994.
 
Var said:
if you guys were to buy an early 90's model of the following for around 1-1.5k..

would you

a-buy a cr250
b-buy a kx250
c-buy a rm250
d-buy a yz250
e-buy either of the above for the best deal.
Click to expand...

f-KDX200


WoodsChick
 
The 1990 CR250 offered to you for $1100 would be a good deal. You could resell it for the same amount next year if you want something different.
 
My900ss said:
The 1990 CR250 offered to you for $1100 would be a good deal. You could resell it for the same amount next year if you want something different.
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yeah it seems as though it was a good deal. There are others out there with stands and gear that are late 90's, which have the aluminum box frame and updated suspension for only a few hundred more. I will pm buellistic since he didn't reply back here and see if he'll budge on the price
 
Ya,I would save up $2500 and get a better bike.
I always lean toward Kawi's because the linkage on the rear suspention makes for a nice ride and they have always had a good motor.03 and newer Yammi's have a awesome motor but are red sticker witch matters to you city folk.Up here where I ride dosent matter,we ride red year around.I love a red sticker bike.
I have 2 friends with CR250s 1 97 and 1 2005 and I have rode both bikes.Both had good power.I think the 05 was a little stiff for me but thats just adjusting the suspention to what you like.
I cant say anything about a rm I have never rode one but read and hear good things.

Hurry up get a bike,WOOHOOO!!!!


Dont take the kdx out of the mix.They might not have the best suspention but they are better then some bikes that coast more.They hit the woops pretty good.

Ramoneguro, Its a hual for you but if you wanna ride up this way will be happy to help ya out.I had my son riding black dimond trails on a kx65 by the age of 10.
I'm not saying I'm the best rider but a few basics and you'll be able to ride mostly anywhere.
 
that looks like a killer deal.

I was just lookin at this.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/466573775.html

you think it would be wiser to put up a little more money for something that has been seviced top to bottom(whether it's a yam or honda) or just buy cheap and deal with problems as they arise?


also I heard the forks in the cr hold up to abuse better?..
 
nope, I'd go with the Cr. None of those things are difficult to replace, but if they're fresh it gives you a chance to ride it for a while before doing all that again. All forks hold up pretty well and changing seals is an easy job. I sold my 91 in 02 for 1400 and that was a good deal at the time...

if you are planning on hitting trails like Clear Creek, Stonyford..etc, put another 120 dollars into some cycra handguards.

probably want a tall/soft seat as well.

figure on a new top end (about 100 dollars and 2 hours work) a year on a 250, and other than checking the pads/fluids for the brakes, it looks ready to go. the stock suspension will probably be a bit stiff for trees as it doesn't look like he's had it valved/sprung, but overall looks like a good deal on a nearly ready to ride bike.
 
That's what's known as a seat-sucking downhill.

hey Var look at Sacto craigslist, too. There's a newer, cheap CR250 there too. And a KDX200.
 
wtf.. I never new sac had a different CL. crap
 
what's a spark arrestor. does my bike need to have one?

also should i worry if a bike has exhaust without rejetting?
 
It is in your muffler, so yes you need one. Jetting... with a "slip on" not unnecessarily, with a full pipe then yes. All bikes have exhaust when running so I assume you mean an aftermarket exhaust system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_arrestor
A spark arrestor is a device intended to prevent combustible materials, usually sparks or other tiny flaming debris, from escaping into other areas.

They are most commonly used in conjunction with motor vehicles (inserted into the muffler), as well as improving safety within fireplaces, and various electrical wiring. Often, it mimics a net fashioned from tightly interwoven wire built to resist bits of ash, sparks, spontaneous electrical shocks, or other such dangers.
 
I have to say from my own experience that my Honda is more reliable then the Yamaha. But the Honda is a little small for you. Although it climbs with the big boys. I bought the Yamaha so my friends could ride it and Trevor put it through it's paces on the track and was impressed. If I had it to do over I would have bought another Honda.
Now the Yamaha is Lucas's anyway:teeth
 
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