Dirt bike recommendation?

[Dead_And_Gone]

I know several of you have road rockets, and I've had my share of them,
but don't know of any CLR's that are dirt bike officiado's.

Decided to get my almost 13yr old a dirt bike, and ME one also.
Mostly casual trail riding, but occassional track training fun.

Honda's are Sweet, but they are at Least $1,000 more than their
competition.

Not worried about me, as I've ridden both dirt and road bikes since I was
a teen. Though I certainly don't need a $9,000 enduro. I'd
imagine a good 250cc or better would work just peachy for me, but no need for a heart pounding track racing geared bike.

I'm thinking of an 85cc- 100cc for him.

comments? viewpoints?

[Rokk]

i've always liked the Kawasaki's


back in teh day..(14 years ago..sheesh) KDX200 was good, and a lot more drivable than teh KX250, the Hondas are always solid as well, but, as you said, a bit more expensive.

I'd wait till the dealers do there ride and buy programs, take the kid out and each drive one, find the one that most comfortable for him, and get out and chew some dirt

[mapes]

can't go wrong with a hond cr250. For the young un look at a yamaha TTR125....fun bike even for adults!

[Dead_And_Gone]

Thanks Mapes.

[mapes]

Thanks Mapes.

A question though...what type of riding?

fire roads
single track technical
flat track
Jumping....

[Dead_And_Gone]

Trail riding mostly. Some jumps. Mud, dirt, grass, pastures, trees...
Most of the trails naturally have jumps or hills in the trail.

Tons of tracks around, and might let him run some practice laps there,
but that isn't the norm. (Motocross type tracks, curves, jumps, moguls.)

He isn't into competitive stuff, just having fun.

I know Honda is great, but bang for the buck? Worth $1,000 more per bike
to have a Honda? Heck, some off brand stuff is selling for $7-800 for a
125cc. Not that I would buy one of those, but it is an option. Would rather
stick to a new or used name brand.

[mapes]

Trail riding mostly. Some jumps. Mud, dirt, grass, pastures, trees...
Most of the trails naturally have jumps or hills in the trail.

Tons of tracks around, and might let him run some practice laps there,
but that isn't the norm. (Motocross type tracks, curves, jumps, moguls.)

He isn't into competitive stuff, just having fun.

I know Honda is great, but bang for the buck? Worth $1,000 more per bike
to have a Honda? Heck, some off brand stuff is selling for $7-800 for a
125cc. Not that I would buy one of those, but it is an option. Would rather
stick to a new or used name brand.

Well if your doing more fireroad stuff I used to have a Yamaha wr450f. Awesome bike but kinda big for the narrow stuff.

I also cannot talk up how much fun the TTR 125 is.... I know a few serious national level road racers that have a couple of these for flat tracking fun in the back yard.

[Dead_And_Gone]

Have seen nothing but great press about the TT 125's in all the
reviews and columns.
Great bike for him at least. And beats his friends 80cc all over the place.


TT 125 big enough for ME? Possibly a little small.
450 might be a tad robust for some of the slinkier trails here.

Being an experienced rider, I could probably get the most out of the
Wee little 125.

[linemanstud]

personally im a yamaha fan. You cant really go wrong with a bike in the YZ family. I started off on an 80cc honda, but when i moved up to a YZ125, i found i was much happier with the performance on that than my buddies cr125.

[CheebaNinja]

Susuki drz 400 is a nice all purpose bike and u can get em with electric start and street legal or not.They also have a 250 model for the youngin'.You can prolly get a 03-05 drz400e for around 2-3k.250's like almost half that. http://www.suzuki-bikes.com/drz400e.php

[freak93]

if you are getting a 4stroker (400 or 450 cc) and want power and you are buying new, go with the yamaha.

also for your son iwould advise getting a 125 or else he will grow out of it real quick. i got a 125 (4stroke) kawasaki once it was great as if you just an fmf powercore exhaust pipe. without it, it wasn't bad just not great

soon they are going to stop making 2 strokes so i'm not sure if you are going to want to stay away from them or not. they might stop making new parts for them.

thats my

[Hawkeye426]

Look at Yamaha there my personal favs the TTs if your going for trails and the occansional track ridding Ive had experience with both the 125 TT and the yz250 with which I did MX, the 125 would be perfect for your son.

[Dead_And_Gone]

Looks like the TT 125 is the bike of choice for him.

Question. The E model comes with smaller wheels for shorter bikers.
Can you buy bigger wheels/tires and fit them on the same bike when
he is bigger? Or just buy another bike?

I don't have an extreme pref of suzukit/Kawi/Yam for me.. 4 stroke only.
Just the most bang for the buck. A 250 would do most everything
I wanted to do without overkill.
Unless someone tried to sell a +400 for 1/3rd the going rate because they
didn't know better.

After all, May or may not be true but sounds great.
A guy saw an ad for a Porsche turbo in the paper for $50.
He figured it was trashed, rusted, ... But the parts would be worth
towing it off if nothing else. When he got there, the lady showed him
the car. PRISTINE !!! He was Shocked...
She said her husband ran off with his secretary to the Bahama's, and
told her to sell his car and send him the money. So that's what she was
doing.

[mapes]

One of the nice things about the TT 125 is there is a R seris. The R series actually has larger rims. You might wanna check that out.

[freak93]

Looks like the TT 125 is the bike of choice for him.

Question. The E model comes with smaller wheels for shorter bikers.
Can you buy bigger wheels/tires and fit them on the same bike when
he is bigger? Or just buy another bike?

I don't have an extreme pref of suzukit/Kawi/Yam for me.. 4 stroke only.
Just the most bang for the buck. A 250 would do most everything
I wanted to do without overkill.
Unless someone tried to sell a +400 for 1/3rd the going rate because they
didn't know better.

After all, May or may not be true but sounds great.
A guy saw an ad for a Porsche turbo in the paper for $50.
He figured it was trashed, rusted, ... But the parts would be worth
towing it off if nothing else. When he got there, the lady showed him
the car. PRISTINE !!! He was Shocked...
She said her husband ran off with his secretary to the Bahama's, and
told her to sell his car and send him the money. So that's what she was
doing.

lol, o boy gotta love sweet vendetta