Sure it is, If your hero as a kid was Ram Man and you've based your idea of fun on a saturday night on emulating him. or you're a serial killer.
This was my first real dirtbike and it was awesome. With a heavy flywheel and good midpipe, I could crawl up steep hills without stalling. A good rider on a well setup bike will keep up just fine with anyone on a fancy new bike. I only sold it because I wanted a bike to do supermoto with, so I bought a 525EXC. In my search, I found alot of people looking to switch from the 525 to a 200, because they wanted something lighter/easier to ride.
I started riding dirt 4 years ago on a kdx200. Worked great for me. Light weight, and good torque all the way down to idle. Very controllable and parts are cheap.
I bought a YZ250F 4 or 5 years ago with the same intentions as you, I figured it would be perfect for getting better at riding and a cheaper way to have fun on two wheels. Then I never rode it. This year I'm riding the damn thing or selling it. Part of the reason I've never ridden it is the closest track is two hours away, but I think the biggest thing is being intimidated by a completely different kind of riding after 20 years on pavement. Any tips for riding one for the first time? Habits to avoid carrying over from roadracing? How not to annoy fast guys?
The one I rode had a flywheel too. I have kind of a hybrid older exc 300 with a bunch of newer late model updates on it. Everything on that bike works for me so well I like better than my 16 husky. It actually has more torque but a lot less top end than the husky. Most of the stuff I ride you need more torque if you are a bit lazy like me . If I’m riding in a group and it’s more heavy handed on the throttle I take the top end bike. When riding alone I prefer the torque. It also has a recluse clutch, one off rear hand brake I made that also has a working foot rear brake. Makes life easier going into right hand turns for me with a jacked up hip. When riding at a faster pace you don’t think about getting sore much as I’m too ashamed of how slow I am
After one year of riding dirt I can tell I still try to lean into a turn instead of keeping the bike under me and leaning out countering the bikes lean. Its damn tough to break that habit and I've ate shit in the sand corners because of it too, you knife the front tire in and over your ass goes. Other then that, grip with your legs/ knees as much as possible or your going to get arm pump like a mofo and that shit sucks. If you're going on ORV trails make sure you can actually use what you buy. I think around here MX bikes are closed course only. They aren't allowed on the trails.
Electric start is your friend - you'll be picking up the bike a lot when you start and kicking it back to life every time gets old fast. My vote goes to 2005+ WR250F.
Seems like half of you are giving legit advice, and half of you want to see me kill myself on a CR500.
i have a 2003 wrf250. thing is bullet proof . electric start good skid plate, pir front tire michlen rear . set up right its torque horse . and i weigh about 210 with full gear. as for gear good dirt helmet ,chest ,protector,good boots. knee pads isnt a bad idea either. as i said that yamaha engine is bullit proof if you change oil anf filter regularly. and try to stay away from ethnol. that shit will gum up your carb in no time unless you run all the gas out of the carb ,when you park it.