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do you motocross?

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
I got the Moto bug too. My experience thus far has been a couple pit sessions on a friends Cr-250. I wasn't a fan of the inconsistent throttle down low, and then instant slam of exceleration. Other then that it was easy as pie to rip around on.
Therefore I've been looking at 4 strokes, but am not too keen on buying a used one for obvious reasons.
Went to my local shop today and discovered an amazing deal on a left over 2008 RMZ-450. I figure this is way more bike then I need, but if I say off the gas it should ride similarto a 250f, and it only weighs a couple pounds more. Am I retarded for buying such a bike as a first bike? I will save $2500 on that bike over a 09 YZf-250.
That 450 is probably going to scare the **** out of you for a while until you really get the throttle control down. I guess it really depends where you'll be riding. If your area has lots of wide open stuff, the 450 might be a better bike in the long run, but around these parts the trails are all really tight. Trying to drag a 450 around these woods seems unpleasant.

 
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RJM

Monkey
May 18, 2005
258
0
on the rocks
I've been riding since I was 6 on a bike and 12 or 13 on a moto.

As of late I have the moto bug on fire. the mtb has been sitting more than usual.

The key things i notice are mtb makes my moto skills very good not vice versa. the bike is much lighter and less stable that i find myself readjusting to the bicycle. the moto steers in the rear wheel more than a dh bike. so theres another place to readjust: cornering.

It will definetly help in the fitness area. wresting a 200+ lb aligator in the woods is strenuous and beneficial for biking.

Parts are similiar to a DH bike imo. biking is expensive these days. however a moto needs maintenance to keep going more. oils etc.... amsoil seems the best.

What bike? forget a mini!

If you are a natural and pick things up quickly. a 250 smoker is your best value. 4 strokes are fine and will be easier to pick up skills with imo. everything is smoother about them. track or trail a 4stk is easier. The stroke is better for me in the woods. I ride KTM's and have one of each because I cant help buying one for everything. get a good deal on a clean non molested 4stroke to start off with. maintain it well!

A 2stroke is alot of fun if you are up to the power delivery. actually a 2stroke is easier to maintain in my opinion.

Have fun.
 

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
So we got the carb rebuilt and rejetted and the yamaha my dad bought is actually a lot of fun for running around up on our mountain. I'm really not sure I need much more power than it's got to have a good time and ride the trails I want to ride. I can easily get the front end up in second, though I almost stacked my **** up the other day when I was powering up our back hill didn't realize my front wheel wasn't so much touching the ground. Tried to steer a little bit and had just enough time to think "huh, that's odd, i'm not turning" before the wheel touched down again and sent me for an interesting little ride. Managed to pull it out but it had my heart going fast for sure. Definitely some finer points that don't transfer over from DH, although I actually find I'm pretty comfortable the bike already.
if you are still looking for a dual sport there are a lot of good options for pretty much any price range. depending on some of your states laws you can get away with plating a true enduro or in some cases you will need to get a factory street legal bike.

$100-1000: check out XR350s 1984-5 only, KDX 200-220's, XR250R's, zuk DR350, and yam XT350's.

$1000-2000: nice 2 stroke yam WR250, honda XR400, nice kaw KDX

$2000-3000: Kaw KLX300, nice XR400, 4 stroke WR250, 4 stroke WR400-426(lots of bike), zuk DRZ400K(kick only, lightest DRZ), KTM 2 stroke

$3000+ CRF250X, and you can find pretty recent WR250's and KLX250's factory street legal, and nicer newer versions of previously mentioned bikes.

for hardcore east coast trails i have heard of some people running 125 and 250 motocross bikes with stators, deep gears, heavy flywheel and woods suspension. talk to some locals and see what they are running for the trails near there. personally I would stay away from bikes like husqvarna and husaberg because they require high maintenance and expensive parts.
 
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4xBoy

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
7,016
2,849
Minneapolis
My last MX bike was a 06 YZ250 two stroke that was street legal, titled and everything, thought about doing the same to my Trials bike but didn't waste the time.

I am currently using a KTM 525 for a woods bike, not my favorite, but it works.
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
I believe that in VA you can get a street title for a dirtbike, but it will depend on the mood of the DMV lady. To pass inspection it will require high/low beam headlights, brake lights, turn signals, and dot approved tires, all of which add up to about $500 on top of the price of the bike.
 

Morgan

Monkey
Feb 17, 2002
470
0
all lit up
i wouldnt be to worried about getting the 450, take your time and dont get in over your head where you learn to ride it, you know that it will have plenty of power and will have your back as your skills and riding develop, i couldnt be happier with mine, and must say that for being a fairly novice rider the bike allows me to keep up/make it up lots of stuff that i know a lesser bike would faulter with, i find winter to be my favorite time to let the mtb sleep and moto blow it up.....

 

Biffff

Monkey
Jan 10, 2006
913
0
Right on. My Moto riding up to know, and in the future will be in big pits and wide open spaces. I figure if I could handle the on/off throttle of that 05 CR-250 then a Fuel injected 450 should be easy in comparison. Nice looking bike!
i wouldnt be to worried about getting the 450, take your time and dont get in over your head where you learn to ride it, you know that it will have plenty of power and will have your back as your skills and riding develop, i couldnt be happier with mine, and must say that for being a fairly novice rider the bike allows me to keep up/make it up lots of stuff that i know a lesser bike would faulter with, i find winter to be my favorite time to let the mtb sleep and moto blow it up.....

 

Iridemtb

Turbo Monkey
Feb 2, 2007
1,497
-1
Question, I went to a motocross track for the first time the other day (I took pics of a friend, I did not ride). As I was watching bikes go by and was looking at the ticket office and fences, I noticed a few of the guys, maybe like 5 of the 100 had blue and red clip ons/snap ons plastic pieces on their wheels by their hubs. They were "V" shaped and hooked onto 2 spokes. There were about 6-8 of them on each side of the wheels.

I was just curious what they were, and though they might look sick on my downhill bike.
Can someone please answer my question?
 

Bikerpunk241

Monkey
Sep 28, 2001
765
0
I didn't believe there was something more fun than DH, that is until I realized you can in fact hit jumps going uphill! I thought about going for a smaller bike initially, but glad I didn't because I had something to grow into and learn on rather than having something to learn on and get rid of two weeks later. Currently on a 2007 KX250F, wouldn't sell it for the world.

Sorry, no idea what you saw, maybe a chip for odometer? Timing at races.....
 

MX489

Monkey
Feb 21, 2006
126
0
Can someone please answer my question?
theyre designed to keep tension on the spokes and keep the wheel from exploding on a nasty landing. Really unecessary but in a 30min+1 moto as the pros run the spokes experience extreme stress/vibes and it is simply a precaution to keep them from loosening up
 

Biffff

Monkey
Jan 10, 2006
913
0
Anybody recommend a good Moto Forum to join???? I have no interest in joining the "pinkbike" of moto forums.
 

rider151

Chimp
Sep 11, 2008
32
0
San Diego
Thumpertalk.com is a good one. Lots of industry experts have accounts there, but there are also alot of pinkbike style kids in some of the forums.
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
I sold my 250F and got a 450F about a year ago, both bikes are KTMs. I love dirtbikes, they're so much fun. Maintenance is expensive but it's worth every penny for the sh!t eating grin on my face for days every time I ride it. do it for sure! Just don't go out there and try to be a pro right away, take your time especially with jumping, you can eff yourself up real bad, real quick.
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
anybody do super motard? thinkin about gettin a setup for it.
I have a set of 17's for my 450. It's so much fun but it's also annoying because when I ride around on the street I have to keep it mellow, when the bike is begging you to get silly. I put the knobbies back on for winter recently.




And one of my 250F (sold)
 

Iridemtb

Turbo Monkey
Feb 2, 2007
1,497
-1
theyre designed to keep tension on the spokes and keep the wheel from exploding on a nasty landing. Really unecessary but in a 30min+1 moto as the pros run the spokes experience extreme stress/vibes and it is simply a precaution to keep them from loosening up
Thank you.
 

RJM

Monkey
May 18, 2005
258
0
on the rocks
KTM talk is the best I have found. thumpertalk is decent as well. mostly serious riders and not too much junk comments from kids...
 

seth505

Monkey
Jun 9, 2006
519
0
CA
I ride a kx250 and setting up a crf450 for supermoto/road racing.

As far as the 4strokes, (depending on how you ride I guess)you will need more maintenance on the 250f vs the 450f much like a 125 vx 250 2stroke as you need to make them sing more. A 450 you can pretty much ride where ever in the rpm range and have fun, unlike a 250f or 125 2stroke. I still like riding my 250 alot and even race it against mostly 250f and 450f bikes still.
 

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skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
if you are still looking for a dual sport there are a lot of good options for pretty much any price range. depending on some of your states laws you can get away with plating a true enduro or in some cases you will need to get a factory street legal bike.

$100-1000: check out XR350s 1984-5 only, KDX 200-220's, XR250R's, zuk DR350, and yam XT350's.

$1000-2000: nice 2 stroke yam WR250, honda XR400, nice kaw KDX

$2000-3000: Kaw KLX300, nice XR400, 4 stroke WR250, 4 stroke WR400-426(lots of bike), zuk DRZ400K(kick only, lightest DRZ), KTM 2 stroke

$3000+ CRF250X, and you can find pretty recent WR250's and KLX250's factory street legal, and nicer newer versions of previously mentioned bikes.

for hardcore east coast trails i have heard of some people running 125 and 250 motocross bikes with stators, deep gears, heavy flywheel and woods suspension. talk to some locals and see what they are running for the trails near there. personally I would stay away from bikes like husqvarna and husaberg because they require high maintenance and expensive parts.
Thanks for the tips. I've been looking for the right XR bike or DRZ, but there are so few dual sports for sale around DC that the prices tend to be a bit crazy.
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
Alright, so I've found both a yz125 2smoke or an xt350 4, both in need of some love but 900 a piece. Neither is exactly the bike I've been looking for, but for the money that's hard to beat.

Which one (or neither)?
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
Alright, so I've found both a yz125 2smoke or an xt350 4, both in need of some love but 900 a piece. Neither is exactly the bike I've been looking for, but for the money that's hard to beat.

Which one (or neither)?
YZ 125 if newer year? Can always put heavier flywheel on it if needed!
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
They're both pretty old frankly. I'm decent with a wrench but I'm not sure I want to try my hand a full rebuild this winter. The advantage of the xt is it would be easy to plate though it might ride like a pig in comparison. If I got the yz the flywheel weight and some bark busters seem to be the essential upgrades. There also seems to be a 1990 kx125 around here for about the same price.
 

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
Alright, so I've found both a yz125 2smoke or an xt350 4, both in need of some love but 900 a piece. Neither is exactly the bike I've been looking for, but for the money that's hard to beat.

Which one (or neither)?
go with the xt350 if you want a bike you can ride around on the street at length, hell you could probably ride one of those across the country. kinda clunky, old tech bike but not really that heavy at 262lbs. pretty reliable if its been taken care of well. this would be my choice of the two and if it isn't a total POS $900 is an ok price. i would definitely do some research about them before going to look at it to identify problem areas and whatnot.

YZ125 if you won't be on pavement for more than a mile or two at a time. should be way lighter and more fun than the XT in the woods but absolutely horrible on the street. motocross bikes do not like to putt around at half throttle. you are looking at a lot more work to make it street legal than the XT.
 
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bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
Alright, so I've found both a yz125 2smoke or an xt350 4, both in need of some love but 900 a piece. Neither is exactly the bike I've been looking for, but for the money that's hard to beat.

Which one (or neither)?
Neither. You can get a much, much better bike that won't need any love at all for only a couple hundred more. My 2001 YZ125 was $1500, and I didn't need to fix anything on it. And this is in CA, where bikes are much more expensive than the rest of the US.

This is a prime time to buy a moto. Go for something at least as new as a 2000, but even a late 1990's bike will be much less hassle than an older one. You figure $900, plus $300 in top end/plugs/gaskets/fluids/etc for the older bikes, then the time to put it together. Don't forget about the missed riding opportunities when it breaks again. $1300 goes a long way for a modern bike nowadays.
 

RhinofromWA

Brevity R Us
Aug 16, 2001
4,622
0
Lynnwood, WA
Man I am always a Rhino come lately....

Pics from this weekend :) I am a born and raised dirt biker. Woods and Desert are my passion. I don't do MX that well Doubles/Triples terrify me. I did do some jumping this weekend. Found this pit on the property we were riding on. I was hitting it in 4th and leaping for the middle where the ground was firm. For those that know me I am not a jumpers and this was BIG for me. 1st landing stung my left wrist. The next 4 attempts (need to make sure a shot turned out lol) were hard but painless.

2004 RM 250 2 stroke...BIG springs. ;)







You'd never catch me doing anything like this on my MTB. :)
 

5150dhbiker

Turbo Monkey
Nov 5, 2007
1,200
0
Santa Barbara, CA
I ride motocross...even got a race in two weeks! Ya...DH is my main sport since I'm just now racing Pro.

Basically, I love motocross too. It's made handling my DH bike SOOOO much easier and got me over my fear of high speed/jumping. I personally think it's great cross training.

As for cost, it's pretty expensive. I only ride tracks and do that every sat. at our local track (Zaca Station). Gets expensive ($20 gas for motorcycle, $30 gas for my truck, $35 entrance fee and $10 for lunch) so yes...it's more expensive then DH...UNLESS you're riding only trails.

I personally love my Honda ('05 CRF 250R) and have ridden an '07 YZ 250F and honestly, it felt just about the same except it seemed a little better balanced in the air. Hope this helps and good luck!

p,s, Don't buy a mini. I have an '05 SDG Speed Mini (110cc) and it's tons of fun but not worth how expensive they are...get a big bike!!!

Here some pics. of me and my toys.


Here I am running over my own foot...TOTAL TALLENT!!!!

On the 110

First lap of the morning so I was totally sketchy hitting the step up.