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Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Are you looking new or used. Any notion of plating it? How much are you going to use it?

When it comes to dual sport or off-road my thinking is off-road first and road very little. so my choices would tend to lend very nicely to off-road only.

A used KTM 300 or 250 2 stroke is a great bike and can be picked up pretty inexpensive. Easy to work on and way less to rebuild or maintain than a 4 stroke. Great for just keeping out on the land or trail rides at Red River, COTR, and Barnwell, or even the odd occasional Hair scramble or enduro if you want to mix it up with different terrain or see what its all about. Tons of used ones floating about. IF you pick up a 08 KTM XC-W (wide ratio transmission great for off road) or later you can bonus with an electric start. The other soft spot for me would be a YZ250. Clean and used. IF you stick with 04 or so and up and you get aluminum frame, good suspension, and with a update plastic kit it will look like a 2017 or better. I have seen some really nicely done ones. Even older metal framed ones 2000 to 03 are still pretty good and fixed up still very cool.

If you are looking to plate or any type of road work a 450 or 650, but if you want anything single track or nasty I would rock a 450 or newer 350 KTM. The 350 is a great spot between a 450 and a 250 off road, but will still do the trick for short dual sport or connect easily between mountain trails. A 450 can be super fun as well but a little cumbersome in the woods (I owned a plated 06 450exc) and it has seen many a single track mile as well as seasons of enduro. All while plated. Everything from mild to wild. The more fit you are (health wise) with a 450 the more you will enjoy it. They can wear you down on a hard day of single track.

If you want to hit nasty single track with road connect only or no dual sport days a 250 4 stroke is nice light and the newer version can climb like mountain goats. 250xcf or yz250xf. Either can be plated it TX pretty easy. Both are very nice. If you do keep it long enough to wear out a top end at BB kit would be sweet!

I have a KTM300xc (updated E-start and linkage suspension vs. linkless of the xc-w) and a v-strom 650. If I were to buy another bike to replace the 300 and I wanted to race I would go the small 250xc or 250xf route. I don't think I will let go of that 300 any time soon unless I got a 17 or newer with the new frame and counter balanced (way more smooth motor). If I wanted a dual sport the KTM350exc would be the bomb and they go back to 2013 so picking up a clean used one would not be a big deal.
 
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Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Plating is the process of making a dirt bike road legal. It's not a must in Texas, but having one plated will make riding a lot of places easier since you don't need to trailer it between trailheads.

I'll agree that the gold standard for light dirt bikes is the KTM 300. They weigh less than most other dirt bikes. I recently sold mine because I really didn't ride it. I have 11 acres and a KTM 300 can make that much property seem really small. Trailering it four hours to a place where it really shined was just too much time to invest on a weekend.

So my thought is buy cheap and make sure you want to invest the time. Then upgrade.

m
 
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Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

I have a 5 acre pasture at my place

Hello new friend! :rofl: :rider:

Probably listing a price range would be good as well. Are you wanting to set up a track and rip it or just putt putt around the property?
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

hehe, I don't know. Probably just putt around initially. Maybe take it to some other properties and run around a bit. The various motocross trail parks sound kinda fun too.

I'm old and not looking to go crazy. I'm not even sure I'd ride it that much.

I like the cheap idea. 3k or under, I guess. I'm surprised at how expensive dirt bikes are compared to used street bikes already.

Since you already have the AT - I would look for a Dual Sport in the 200cc to 400cc range so you can get from point A to B without having to put it on a trailer and have something light enough that would work well on trails - if you want to stay with a Honda, something like the CFR 250L if you want to step out of the Honda brand there's several Kawasaki & Suzuki bikes that are similar
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

There's a nice 2010 WR 250 in the FS section here on TWT right now...
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

To me, a dirt bike means a dirt bike. Factory plated 250s are dual sport motorcycles, not dirt bikes (except KTMs), and I would not recommend one to anyone that is 260 pounds anyway. A WR250R is an underpowered overweight 300+ pound pig if you compare it to a real dirt bike. If you want a small factory dual sport then that same bike is one of the very best choices out there.

You need to narrow down what you want or else prepared to get bombarded by 50 different folks with 50 different perspectives of what a dirt bike is and what suits you.

A license plate is great in Cloudcroft or Colorado, or anywhere you can connect single track trail via public roads. In Texas, a plate on a real dirt bike makes little difference unless you live within a few miles of a riding area, which are few and far between anyway. again my perspective, as I have seen many $11K KTMs out putting around dirt roads you can drive a Camry down, and those guys have big smiles on their faces.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Don't waste your time or money on that cheap chinese junk. I get the sense that you're not sure what you need or want just yet. We've ALL been in that spot a time or five! For the $1200-2000 doller range, I would look at picking up a well loved 2 stroke like a yz125 or kdx200/220. They are just a blast to ride, relatively cheap, easy to maintain, easy to ride. After you play on that for a few months, if you decide you want something different it's no biggie since you can sell it for what you paid for it. With that experience under your belt, you will have a great amount of confidence it what you want and can feel better about spending bigger bucks to get it.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

I'm in the avoid the China bike crowd. You could get a better bike like what Jcstratt says. There are a lot of choices KDX, YZ, XR, TTR, WR.... You get the idea. You might find someone near you that has a few dirt bikes and or dual sports that would let you try them out to narrow your search.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Asking which dirt bike to buy is like asking which oil to use.

After wrasslin' the AT on dirt, most anything will feel lighter and more nimble. Reading through these responses, it's easy to spot the hard-core knack-knack riders and those who will get sweet air, but mostly after consuming a dozen donuts.

I think you have to decide what you want to accomplish in the "dirt". There is a chasm of difference in ride, speed and handling between my XR650 and a CRF450. Either are capable platforms to haul around my lard ***, but it boils down to what the end goal is ... riding two track fire roads and local dirt roads or wringing out a MX track and a single track trail up a mountainside.

I want something that I can take to Big Bend ... ease through the baby heads, loose rock grades, sand and ride comfortably back to camp. Not the fastest, but will tractor through, easy to work on and be dead nuts reliable.
 
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Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

You'll be way happier to just accept that you NEED at least three motorcycles. You've got the adventure thing well covered with the mighty AT. You'll have lots of fun riding with small groups of friends on a plated duel sport connecting up two track and jeep trails in places like Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas Hill Country, etc. You'll probably wear this one out soonest. As was already mentioned, if you want to get out there and bang some handlebars in enduro racing or playing around with technical places like Hidden Falls, CTOR, Emma Long, Barnwell, etc....then yeah, the real deal two strokes and 450 dirt bikes are where it's at. These are no joke hot rod motorcycles that will stretch your arms and throw folks on the ground right quick like.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

You have a lot of options. My advice here is to get something that is plated or easy to plate. Not being plated can hurt you if you decide you want to do something where a plate is required, like ride in Big Bend. It'd be a real pain to buy a racing dirt bike and find you want to plate it and then have to go to the trouble and expense and hoop jumping to get the equipment on it and plate it when you could have had one from the get go. Having a plate and not needing it won't hurt you in the long run. But since you are figuring out what it is you really want to do with a dirt bike, it's best to not limit your options of where you can ride right out of the gate.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Made in China - supposedly has a "Honda Clone" engine - could be issues getting parts & service.

Agree. You can argue all day about whether they're good bikes or not. But for certain, the dealer networks are scanty at this point, so getting parts could be an issue.

I'd be in the camp of getting something Japanese in the 250cc range. Austrian would be better, but also more expensive. I also favor having one that's street-licenseable, for the reasons stated. Plus, sometimes, it's just fun to go ripping around the streets on a bike that's about 2/5 the weight and 1/3 the CCs of your main bike. I spent the first couple of my street-riding years on a 185cc and a 360cc street-legal enduro. Fun, easy to ride, and I could turn left and head out across a pasture anytime I wanted.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

Used.

Don't know what plating means.

Probably very little compared to my Africa Twin. I do like the idea of having a street legal one though.
that's PLATED as in road legal, inspected and licensed for street use.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

That's just all kinds of wrong Mitch.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

I'm only 10lbs or so lighter than you and an inch or 2 shorter according to your first post. Be aware that the suspension springs should be replaced with heavier ones, regardless of bike. Makes more difference in a light dirt bike than a big one like the AT.

Since you already have the AT, I think you might outgrow one of the 4-stroke 250's too soon. Don't get me wrong, they'll work, but unless you are on gnarly 1st and 2nd gear trails, you may want a little more lively response when you twist the throttle.

On the other hand, 2 strokes are a whole different beast. If you find a decent deal on a well maintained 200-300cc 2-stroke, the power will probably be just fine. My 2007 KTM 300XC is plenty of power, wheelies no problem, etc.. however it is one year too old to have electric start.

There are some good China bikes out there, but they look like KTM's and are 4-6k new, not 1.5k .

Personal vote would be ktm 250 xcw or exc, followed by 300xcw or exc, followed by ktm, yamaha, Honda 450, followed by kdx200.

Fyi, kdx200 may be my favorite, but they aren't built new anymore, so hard to find a decent one that isn't beat up.

Regarding electric vs kick start- if you don't have bad knees or hips, 2-strokes in general are easier to kickstart, where 4-strokes take a little more technique. Nowadays I'd say electric start on a 4 stroke should be expected, and is a nice-to-have on a 2-stroke.
 
Re: IF I were to get a dirt bike, what should I get?

What I mean is that a 250 is a smaller 4 stroke, but a 250-300 is actually a pretty big 2 stroke. The 300 is pretty close power wise to a 450 4 stroke.
 
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