I've been watching too much SX this winter. That combined with the multiple MX tracks near me and even a private track 10 mins down the road have me looking at dabbling into MX. Any recommendations for a first MX bike? I've always liked the idea of a 125 for the low weight and general simplicity. I'm 5'11" and 185 lbs. No real dirt experience outside of about ten rides on a backyard trail on a KLX140.
No real dirt experience outside of about ten rides on a backyard trail on a KLX140. I was planning to take American Supercamp later this year to dabble in it a bit more and get some training. There's also a couple MX coaches near me that I plan to work with.
Good health insurance, proper gear and a tolerance for getting the wind knocked out of you a few times are a good start. After that, any 2001+ YZ125 would do the trick. Tons of parts available, they're cheap and they're easy to look after. You're gonna fall down a lot, at first. But when you get back on the road bike, you'll find your skillz have improved, probably.
All the above, and then some. Go to the schools and get their input, and that of the local coaches, before buying something. Don't neglect considering a used bike that serves a short term introduction of, say, 6 months? There's a world of difference between a 125 2-stroke MX bike and just about every and any other kind of dirt bike.
Yeah I would go used for sure for your first bike. Just get something in good condition as most bikes are more clapped out than any SV. Really pay attention to stuff like the bearing in the rear suspension as nobody services them and will totally eff up the way the bike works. Plan on $500 in maintenance no matter what you buy right off the bat.
In my extremely limited mx experience, a 125 smoker requires a good amount of talent to time the powerband to the launching point of the jumps. I’ve never ridden a 125, but I was constantly mistiming my throttle application on my 200. My buddies 250f that I hated in the woods seemed way easier to launch flat.
No 2-stroke experience? Assuming full-on MX and not getting run over, you might not like this... A 125 MX 2-stroke is gonna be like jumping into the deep end...in the middle of the ocean...and not knowing how to swim. They're pretty much all or nothing when it comes to twisting the throttle, acceleration being accomplished by ensuring you've selected the proper gear and a lot of clutch control. Fun as shit, but you'll be busier than hell just keeping it in the powerband while it's busy trying to buck you off. There are two conditions under which a 125's rear wheel operates, stationary and spinning faster than the ground is passing beneath it. Every other type (non-MX) of 125 2-stroke behaves sanely. In contrast, to include larger 2-strokes, a 4-stroke almost doesn't care what gear you're in nor how much throttle you're not giving it. I've seen a few 125 and less 2-stroke MX riders take a MX 4-stroke out for the first time and they can't stop looking at it, completely dumbfounded, when they finish that ride. As they walk away to go back to doing whatever, they're still looking back at it like WTF was that sorcery?
A couple of the guys I ride with have picked up the Husky TX300 version of this. They sound pretty feisty for a woods bike.
In a lot of off road racing they don't care what bike you race, its just about age/speed. 300's are super common though in off-road.