What Bike to get?

[chris123492]

I am going to get a bike but dont know what to get so can you help me?.

Im a 15 year old boy, never riden a motorbike before but i have had a quad.

I weigh 9- 9 1/2 stone and am about 5`6 -, 5`7

Can you provide relevant bikes that would be good for me please.

[stevo as b4]

What do you want it for?
Playbike/Field bike?
Trailie that could be made road legal again in 2years?
Trials bike?
Motocross?
Enduro?
Trackday/teen series race bike?
Monkey bike/pitbike?

Without knowing what you want to do with it or what kind of sport/type of riding your interested in, then it's impossible to reccomend anything? Also putting your anticipated max budget in the question would be a big help to give us an idea of what it affordable or not?

[chris123492]

alright well i want to do motocross, Because we own woods and fields around us so i will be riding on that aswell as some tracks near us.

Well i dont know much about price so id say around £1000?

[stevo as b4]

Well ok, so your realistically looking for around a 4-5year old 125 Motocross bike like a YZ,KX,RM or Honda CR.

You won't get any of the european MX bikes like a KTM, Husky or TM in good condition for that kind of price.

You ideally want a bike that's not been raced, but then there are advantages to buying a race ready well set up and tweaked bike that is known to be competetive. You would most likey get some spares and extra bits with an ex race bike especially if the owner is selling up and leaving the sport.

For MX racing you can't really buy anything other than a 125 2stroke, as the 4stroke race bikes are very expensive to buy and run. However if most of your time is going to be spent play/woods riding then it's possibly worth considering a less focused and more versitile enduro bike like an XR, TTR, or KDX etc. If your riding in places that are shared with other people away from proper off road tracks and venues, then a quiet exhaust sound level is going to be very much appreciated.

Lastly if it's an MX bike you want, and especially if you want to race it, then you need to have some mechanical bike repair and servcing knowledge and the right tools to work on and strip and re-build various parts of the bike yourself. Otherwise it would pay to make very good friends with a decent mechanic who knows alot about fixing and maintaining bikes.

[SamJL]

For £1300 you could be the proud owner of my KTM 200sx

There are loads of MX bikes around for £1000, just find a 125, in the best condition you can, for around that money, and that will do you fine. There all pretty much the same whatever you go for, you'r not going to notice the difference between all the different makes unless your a pretty competent rider. You can pick up YZ125's for pretty cheap, and somthing like that would suit you down to the ground.

My little cousin picked up a 2002 Yamaha YZ125, in pretty good condition for £800
____________________
2009 CBR1000RR
2004 KTM 200SX
2004 KTM 65SX

[G]

Any 125cc (2 stroke) proper motocross* bike in good nick as above, but also consider an 85cc bike too - some see them as 'kids bikes', but the reality is that they're pretty tall and can be ridden very fast. They are also very light - which is considered a good thing.
(Ie CR125, RM125, YZ125, KX125, as well as the 125SX and other European models.)

As an idea, the 125cc motocross bikes can easily have over twice the power of a road 125cc bike and half the weight - with low gearing they can be very fast bikes, though do tend to be a bit 'peaky'.

[chris123492]

Thankyou everyone for your replys.
I went to the shop today and they had a 125 and 85 in stock i sat on the 125 and could hardly touch the ground :l, but on the 85 i felt alot more comfortable so what im going to do is buy a cr85 and ride for about a couple of months, just to get used to riding and i wil probally grow by then then i will get a 125 or 200, depends how good/crap i am. Thanks again for the help.

[G]

Once you're used to riding, not being able to touch the ground isn't much of an issue - however it can be quite unnerving when you're not used to it.

Note that the 200 is only a slight improvement on the 125 as far as top end power goes, bit more midrange and everything else is exactly the same.
It's when you get up to the 250s that you've got another big jump.

Oh and obviously you do want to go for a 85 'big wheel' model.

[stevo as b4]

TBH if your buying a fairly recent or newish 85cc crosser, then id really consider skipping it and going straight to a 125cc or waiting a few months and then getting one. There is no point IMO in upgrading to a bigger bike less than a year after getting one.

The 125cc MX bikes are great for everyone and everything from using for messing around in fields/quarry's etc, to MX practice tracks or even joining a club and racing. They should not be seen as a bike for kids or teen's only, and in fact there is a 36yr old guy at work who has recently brought a YZ125 and is loving it, but he has not started racing on it yet though.

Another guy who was quite a robust and muscley lad thats also in the army, got a tuned KTM250SX and thought it was fine. He came off it a while ago and i think that was at practice, although he had started racing. 2broken ribs and a dislocated wrist later he hasn't been out on it since, and only just managed to get himself back in shape again for his next army tour of duty.

[Gazdaman]

I'd go for an older 125 2 stroke Japanese crosser, like a KX125, CR125 etc.

One from the early nineties could be picked up for about £600, would have plenty of go to start you off and learn your trade, then if you find you're any good, you could buy a newer model and start racing, but even then, you could probably give a go on something like this.

Remember you need to budget for kit aswell, so gloves, lid, boots, body armour and a top and trousers and any parts you bend/break while you're riding.

You should be able to pick up something similar to my 1989 KX 125 for 5-600 quid.

https://www.gaz-racing.co.uk/images/vehicle_1054.JPG

Gaz

[oatesmx]

hey mate, would recomend the rm125, but that would be wrong, i started to get the problems... well stright away, lol, so far in less then 6months its had - 2 new pistons, re-sleaving, new crank, new oil seal, fork seals done and has had hell of alot of money and time spent on it, and this was an 04, which turned out to be an 2003, in my oppinion the rm is the worst bike i have ever had!!! don't recomend it mate
____________________
if it doesn't smoke, it's a joke... 2stroke for life bitch!!!

[stevo as b4]

That could be your RM though, i doubt that there is anything between any of the 10yr old Japanese 125's in terms of power or reliability overall. Having said that certain year's of certain models were known for having problems, i think some years of CR125's went through a phase of having seizure problems due to the piston design being changed and the oil holes being altered or deleted?

[oatesmx]

yeah probs, one of my mates has got rm125 06 and he has had little problems, however i do no 2 people with rm250's (old tho) and one is currently getting re-sleaved and the other new bottom end, and an rm85 that leaks oil like a bitch, but yey as u said it not just the rm's, my bro has a sx125 and the crank went a few months ago, i think it's just a matter of luck used to have a cr80 2001 and that was no probs at all either was my old rm125 so as i say just luck i think
____________________
if it doesn't smoke, it's a joke... 2stroke for life bitch!!!