What Trail bike to buy?

[Fazermike]

Hi guys,

I know you have heard this all before but I am currently on the look out for my first trail bike and need some advice!

I had my first "off road" experience recently at the Yamaha off road experience at Golding Barn.
I have been road riding for over 30 yrs which has included touring and a few track days but I can't remember the last time I had so much fun on a bike!!
I really liked the WR250 Yamahas they had there (although they were restricted) and was wondering if they are good for green laning?
I don't really have anyway of transporting the bike so it would have to be ok for the road too.

Here are some of the bikes I have been considering :-
Yamaha WR250 of 450
Honda CRF250 or 400
Kawasaki KLX 250 or 450
And maybe a KTM although I have heard they are expensive to buy and so are the parts also they have reliability problems?

Any advise would be most welcome!

[Brick_Top]

Mike,

I'm in a similar situation to you, and have come to a few conclusions having researched this question the last couple of days.

obviously the first question is what is your budget?

secondly the choice between a 250 and a 400/450 is going to come down to how much the bike weighs.

I'm not sure how strong you may be, but picking up a 250 out of the dirt several times in a day can be hard work, and 400's are a different story again with their respective weight.

Uncorked WR250's are MORE than fast enough for trail riding, infact they kick out similar performance to an old XR400, the suspension is also very high quality.

How often are you prepared to spend time maintaining the bike, because most of the ones you have listed will need that.

There are many rumours about the CRF250 having massive reliability problems to do with the valve train, would put me off personally but have no experience of my own with any of these bikes.

KLX 250 has fairly shoddy motor/suspension, there are much better bikes to get for the money.


KTMs are expensive to buy, but they are very well put together and perform exceptionally well. They are reliable but the service intervals can leave a great deal to be desired.

Personally I want a 'beginner' trail bike that has enough power to be fun, require the minimum of maintenance and come with an electric and kick start to get me out of the shit.

My budget is roughly £2k, and to get a decent WR you'll need more like 2.5-3.5k.

There are a couple of bikes that suit my criteria:

XR250 (air cooled, low maintenance, light, 20hp) NO KICK START
TTR250 (air cooled, low maintenance, fairly light, 20hp) Kick start and electric start.

I'm leaning towards the TTR, as it has everything I need in a trail bike, and can be derestricted with minimal hassle.

It's supposedly got better suspension than the XR, but a little more top heavy due to the battery.

I'm not interested in the XR now really, because if it goes horizontal and I've got to kick it over for 30 mins to get it started again, that'll be the fun over! And just starting out means I'm gonna be dropping the bike a fair bit.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,

Con

[Fazermike]

Hi Con,

Thanks for your input

My budget is about £2500 And I have seen a few WR 250s going for less than that on ebay.

I am not really sure whether to get a 250 or a 400/450.
Just a bit concerned if a 250 will be good enough on the road as I will be riding to my off road venues!

You said that all the bikes I mentioned need plenty of maintenance,
do you mean oil and filters or ajusting tappets and the like?

I know that the YZ 250/400 need plenty as the are more highly tuned for competion use.
Are the Honda CRF models unreliable then? I though Hondas were renowned for their reliability?

The KLX range is not much cop then? I used to own a KL250 trail bike which was slow but went on forever!

I just read about the TTR250 on the MCN web site and it sounds like a great bike! although they say you need to be 6ft plus to ride it!
Anyway here is a web site dedicated to it! www.ttr250.com

Mike.

[Fazermike]

Just found this head to head test of the TTR250 against the Wr250



https://www.dirtybiking.co.uk/features/features_biketest_ttr250_v_wr250.htm

[Imonster]

[Blue_SV650S]

[tatters]

Most 250 four-strokes are gutless and even the better ones are too unreilable your better off getting a 400cc four-stroke like a XR400 WR400 DRZ400 400EXC etc for a first time offroader suited for road work.

The regular oil changes etc are due to small oil capicaty on alot of theses bikes my KTM EXC oil changes can be done at over 500+ miles but since the engine only holds 1L of oil l change it after every other ride to be extra safe, same again with gearbox oil on my two-strokes.
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Past:NRG50,AF1125(x2),NSR125RR,ZZR250,CX500,VFR400,KR1S,ZZR600(x2),CB400N,YZF1000(x2),KH125,Z200,FX400R,CBR954RR(x2)GPZ500S,GT550,VFR750F(x2),RD350N,XR650R,CBR600F,CB250,KDX250,YZF750R,CRM250,400EXC,KLR650,TTR600RE,DR350S,R100GSPD,RGV250,VMAX1200,DL650,KZ750 Present:G650XC,C12,CRF450X,1190ADV

[Blue_SV650S]

[colin1]

[Fazermike]

[Blue_SV650S]

look into ttr250, that will give you road manners and reliability. .... it will also give you a nicely tractable engine for the lanes - reasonably priced too

electric foot too (unlike many of the bikes in your original list) which just makes life so much more comfortable.

just don't expect to be winning any mx races or enduros on it!
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The purpose of life is to fight maturity.

[tatters]

The gear oil on my CRM250 used to get filthy due to the clutch consdtantly being hammered when riding in deep mud/sand and the oil is so cheap to buy.

[Fazermike]

[G]

Gear oil on my 200 didn't seem too bad when I changed it after a load of use - however being low geared and still pretty punchy in the lower gears I've never felt the need for a lot of clutch abuse.

[colin1]

[Fazermike]

I noticed that no one has mentioned the Suzuki DRZ400 is it not much good for the job?

Only asking as there are loads for sale at reasonable prices.

[G]

DRZ is an ok bike that can handle roads fairly well, go for the E model which is a bit lighter and more lively. CCM404 uses the same engine, but less weight and better suspension.

The DRZ is going to be heavier than the bikes mentioned above.
Personally I have never found a problem with riding a fast bike slowly.

Given the choice, I'd always go for the lightest bike possible - reasons not to go for one are usually reliability, as lighter tends to lead to more servicing.

For road work, given the choice I'd go for a reasonably powerful bike - this way it can work with higher gearing, so you can easily get from A to B and not sacrifice too much low speed usability on the trail.
I believe the TTR does have quite a wide gearbox, meaning it may handle slow on the trail and comfortable on the road better than others.

I've gone on about enough times before, the holy trinity to my mind is:
Power, light weight and reliability.
You have to balance these three - so imagine a pie chart - if you have a very powerful bike (say taking up 1/2 the pie on it's for power) and you want it to be light weight too, then it's not going to be very reliable (will not regular servicing to keep it working well). However, you might instead decide you want to use up most of the remaining half with 'reliable', but that means you're going to have to go with a heavier bike.

I think maybe I shall write an appropriately themed rambling thread on the subject!

I'm moderately confident off-roading (compared to your average new rider, not compared to David Knight ) so am generally fairly happy taking a bit heavier bike on lanes or even an enduro.
However, given the choice, most times I'd take a lighter bike if I can - however if I have to ride to lanes, then even if my 200 EXC was road registered, I'd probably still take the 690 - for the music on the way if nothing else .
I don't tend to go all-out on trails, so I'm not bothered to be only using 30% of a more powerful bike's ability.

[Brick_Top]

[Fazermike]

[/quote]I've literally just parted with £1800 for an 55 plate TTR 250 with 4.5k on the clocks, ready to trail ride with all the bash plates etc.[/quote]

Doh! That would have been ideal!

Starting to think the TTR wud be a good option especially as I need all the gear too!
Just need to find one!

Thanks for all your help guys!

[G]

I'd suggest you get some rides on different bikes if you can; for me something like a KTM300EXC does pretty much everything the TTR can do (unless you want to commute on it, though heard of people using it for this).
While it could be considered 'overkill', not only will you probably be pleased after picking it up a few times, but it'll not only handle the nastier trails better, but a lot more other types of riding you might want to try; while the TTR is going to be shown up as a bit lacking on anything more than trails.

[Fazermike]

Not really in a position to try any othe bike.only been on a Yamaha Wr250 on a motocross track and loved it!

But it would seem the WR250 is not much good on the road and the WR450 is too much money for me!

Not really looked at KTMs because of the price!
But might do a bit of research!
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I would list my previously owned bikes but I don't think there is enough room ! (50)

Current bike: standard 2004 DR-Z400S

[Fazermike]

just had a look at the KTM300EXC.

Are they only two-strokes? If so.. "no thanks" much too fragile for me as I will be on the road a lot when I go greenlaning.
____________________
I would list my previously owned bikes but I don't think there is enough room ! (50)

Current bike: standard 2004 DR-Z400S

[.....]

[Fazermike]

Best keep out of the water then!

Just seen a nice condition Honda XR400 for sale...what are they like?
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I would list my previously owned bikes but I don't think there is enough room ! (50)

Current bike: standard 2004 DR-Z400S

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]