Someone teach me dirt bikes

Thinking about picking up an older 2 stroke just to go have some fun with. I havent ridden a dirt bike since I was a kid. What do I need to know about them, as I dont know anything

 

That's a pretty big question right there. I'm curious to see what responses you get.

 

KX 500..... Get it over with Quick!!!

 

And for the love of God up your medical and accidental death insurance.

 

How much older? I've got 2 YZ250's from the late 90's and they are a complete blast. But if this is your first dirtbike...well, they aren't exactly beginner bikes.

 

If you're looking to concentrate more on the 'just go have fun', get a newer 4 stroke.

 

The 2 older strokes aren't typically well regarded as trail bikes due to their lack of low end torque. You can gear around that issue, but even then you may have problems with fowled plugs, and your clutch hand would be worn out.

I looked really hard, and found a 2005 crf 250f for $1300.00, and it's been a great bike. I love 2 smokes, but don't want to deal with the maintenance on the trail.

 

I was thinking yz125 early 2000. Nothing serious, just something to go screw around on and crash

 

pm me if your looking to sell one.

 

Long time 2 stroke guy here. Get a 2000ish 250 2 stroke, throw a flywheel weight on to it and get a FMF Gnarly pipe (torque pipe) and some reeds. That combo has done me nothing but good. It will be a bit much in the beginning but you will come to love it. As light and flickable as a 4 stroke 250 but almost as fast as a 450 in a straight line. I would stay away from 250 4 strokes for playbikes as those grenades are 1 solid overrev away from a $1500 repair bill.

 

or get catapulted trying to start it.

 

125 two stroke from 95 and up. Easy to work on, very light. Can be fun, they are harder to ride but can be a blast. They start with ease.

 

Trail riding and just playing around? Go buy a clean Honda Crf 230 for $1500. Press the start button and go ride for hours on three dollars worth of pump 87. Change the oil every presidential election. When you are consistently over riding it, sell it for $1500 and buy something else.

 

fowled plugs ??? Really I have a 98 cr and I could not tell you the last time I changed the plug, 5 or 6 years ago maybe. I don't even have an extra plug..

If your bike is fowling plugs maybe you need it jetted.

 

I had an XR400 and XR250 for trail/play bikes and those things were bulletproof. I never did anything to them and they ran every time.

Derick, I'm hanging on to the YZ's for the simple reason that I'm a 2 stroke guy at heart. But if I ever change my mind I'll let you know.

On a sidenote...check Craigslist often for 2 stroke dirt bikes. I picked up both of my YZ's for less than $500 because the owner's didn't have a clue what they had. Both of them had very minor issues that anyone with a lick of sense could have figured out.

Even me!

 

Ktm 300 /thread

 

Dirt bikes are the devil, roadracers are always getting hurt on them.

 

Can't really offer much advice as I'm new to dirtbikes as well but I picked up a little known rebuild project 2002 YZ 125. Rode it for about an hour before it pooped the bed. Being curious enough to tear it apart and knowledgeable enough to put it back together I did a full rebuild and now have a kickass YZ that rips through the terrain.

I don't consider myself mechanically inclined by any means but if I can rebuild a two stroke anyone can. Below is my thread I started back a couple months ago.

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=317883

In hindsight I actually had fun with this rebuild so I decided (well...my wife decided for me) to take on the task of rebuilding a '98 Suzuki LT80 Quad for my girls.

 

That's an excellent thread.