Just got back from riding on the dunes in eastern Oregon. Best old Fart off road dirt bike is XR400r.
   I'm over 50 and it works for me and my friends. Wouldn'n own anything else if you want to trail ride.
My son loves his KX250, but he's young and likes to jump.
   Pick a bike you like and enjoy before the government (BLM,USFS) closes all off road in the USA.
      Keep it Public land NOT GOVERNMENT LAND!!!!!
 VM

Quoted: Wow. It is    you. You know, since you mention Fredette, I happen to remember an article in Dirt Rider about a dozen years ago where you went out to his place to test the KDX200...and you wound up taking a dive and bending his personal ride. Heheheh. I got a memory like an elephant. You are sooooo owned.

Hey, I've crashed with the best of them! (But I refuse to play someone's stunt double like this one pro motocrosser in the '80s; he was a privateer and would jump at the chance to get into magazines so he told us, "I will crash for your cameras at any speed!")

Yeah, that was actually the day after the Moose Run at Bill Gusse's place. Great but VERY challenging trails, especially for someone who's more used to desert trails. I also vividly remember taking a thorn the size and strength of an ice pick through my finger; they couldn't get it out (Gusse broke it off) until I flew to Nashville that night to go fishing with a buddy and he took me to the emergency room. Gawd, dirt bikes are fun!

ETA: Wizzo, I hadn't looked at the Kawasaki CD press kit so I wasn't aware of the KDX220 going away. Thanks for pointing that out. Still, if someone was interested in one of the KDXs, all they'd have to do is get one of the used ones that are floating around and call Fredette to see about getting it refurbed. (Matter of fact, he's going to be my roommate in Slovakia next month during the ISDE.)

Oh, and from what I've seen, there seems to be a connection between bikes and firearms. Just about any guy I talk to at length at the races hunts or shoots. IIRC, one of the Honda road race team mechanics shoots ARs; doubt he takes it on the road with him, though.

Quoted: Quoted: Wow. It is    you. You know, since you mention Fredette, I happen to remember an article in Dirt Rider about a dozen years ago where you went out to his place to test the KDX200...and you wound up taking a dive and bending his personal ride. Heheheh. I got a memory like an elephant. You are sooooo owned. <snip> Yeah, that was actually the day after the Moose Run at Bill Gusse's place. Great but VERY challenging trails, especially for someone who's more used to desert trails. I also vividly remember taking a thorn the size and strength of an ice pick through my finger; they couldn't get it out (Gusse broke it off) until I flew to Nashville that night to go fishing with a buddy and he took me to the emergency room. Gawd, dirt bikes are fun! <snip>

I see you have met Bill's Black Locust trees. Warning: They like to bite


But I guess you figured that out too, huh?

Ahh, good times, good times.



WIZZO

Im a 32 year old rider, I would say get anything that is a 4 stroke, a yamaha 426, (theres plenty of newer versions of this bike) or a KTM 4 stroke would be my weapons of choice.  A 4 sroke provides you with reliability, great predictable power, and pump gas....they are a bit heavy, but after riding a 4 stroke im sure youll not regret buying one :)  

Quoted: I am thinking about getting a dirt bike for trail riding in desert/mountainous areas.  Any suggestions for make/model/size?  I used to ride them when I was a kid, but I'm now a 40 yo fart so I won't be doing things like racing.  I'll probably use it when hunting also.

fer huntin ya mite need a fer wheeler and i aint talkin manasia twa

Quoted: I am thinking about getting a dirt bike for trail riding in desert/mountainous areas.  Any suggestions for make/model/size?  I used to ride them when I was a kid, but I'm now a 40 yo fart so I won't be doing things like racing.  I'll probably use it when hunting also.

Whatever you do don't get a 2 stroke.  Us old guys have no business on those things, the power cuve is way too far up there for casual messing around.   I ride an XR400 Honda, but they make
a 600 with electric start that is really nice.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: <snip> Kato, I am very glad to see you are a gun enthusiast as well as a motorcycle guy. +1 To you too Wobblin. Guns, Trucks, and bikes?  Sounds like I need to get out to CT and hang out WIZZO EDIT: And about the KDX 220, I was surfing Kawasaki's website and it looks as though they dropped it for 2006 along with the KX125. Really ?  I have been out of the moto game for a while.  Why did they drop the KX125?

Consumer demand. Right now, the 250cc four-strokes (like the KX250F/RM-Z250) have a marked horsepower advantage over the 125cc two-strokes so that's all you'll see in the pro class (at a National or supercross anyways). Joe Average sees that and thinks, "Wow, if I don't have a 250cc four-stroke for the 125cc class, I don't have a chance!" Thus, he buys one, not really thinking long-term because the four-strokes cost significantly more to maintain when you're racing constantly.

Unless the rules change at the pro level (and I don't see them doing so, unfortunately), the demand for two-strokes is likely to wane to the point where only a few Euro manufacturers will see fit to produce them. It will truely be a sad day.

That's not to say it'll happen right away, of course. In fact, Yamaha's '06 YZ125, for example, is supposed to be a rocket so there's hope for us pre-mix addicts.

While I'm a four-stroke guy I'd hate to see two-strokes go away.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: <snip> Kato, I am very glad to see you are a gun enthusiast as well as a motorcycle guy. +1 To you too Wobblin. Guns, Trucks, and bikes?  Sounds like I need to get out to CT and hang out WIZZO EDIT: And about the KDX 220, I was surfing Kawasaki's website and it looks as though they dropped it for 2006 along with the KX125. Really ?  I have been out of the moto game for a while.  Why did they drop the KX125?

For the 2006 model year.

Darn 4-strokes. I don't REALLY care because I'm a little too big to ride one anyways (6'0" and 190lbs....not much is fat) but I see and ending of an era.

Hopefully the 250 2-strokes will stay alive and kicking for many years, but we are definitely seeing the death of the 125 2 banger.

WIZZO

Peterson fucked over a few people back then.
Ed Hertfelder, Nick Ienatsch and a few others.

My humble suggestion is this:

Get a street legal Suzuki DRZ400, a desert tank, real skid plates, a kick starter and a set of "DOT" knobies on it and ride it!



You can make a killer two stroke woods bike out of a 250 motocrosser, an LA Sleeve 300 kit, a moose racing flywheel, an extrude hone head and cylinder, an FMF midrange pipe and a little carb tuning and it will have just as much grunt as a 400+ four stroke.

I liked my 94 KX250 when I set it up like that much more than my brothers 1998 YZF400.

Quoted: Quoted: You know, there was a "Kato" that worked for "Dirt Rider" magazine in the '90s.... Present and accounted for! Actually, I started with Charlie Morey on the very first issue (Dec. '82) and stayed on staff until the company downsized in Oct. '96. Been freelancing since then--and shooting more! (Though probably riding less .)

hey i put 78 mi. on my 2 stroke 250 gasgas last sunday and had a blast. we do all dirt roads and some trails and do some wheelies and powerslides when no one is looking. i needed gas at abot 60mi. but i just carry a small bottle with my mix oil in it and all is well. my only limiting factor is the small tank. btw im 42 tomarrow and not to old for a 2 stroke yet. tim

Quoted: While I'm a four-stroke guy I'd hate to see two-strokes go away.

This is the trend in snowmobiles as well... and no 4 stroke can even BEGIN to make a mountain sled decent... no power and too much weight.  I'd love to get a new bike... but it looks like the EPA is gonna force my hand and make me get a sled first...

Maybe in 10 years they will make a 4 stroke that won't weigh a metric ton and put out some power...

Quoted: Peterson fucked over a few people back then. Ed Hertfelder, Nick Ienatsch and a few others.

Actually, it was the group of investors that came in and bought the company from Mr. Petersen that was responsible for the downsizing. I still like "Pete" in that he likes to shoot and ride, though he's gotten too old to crash any more so he kind of gave up riding years ago. One of my friends still works for him in one of his many companies.

I really liked working with Nick; Hertfelder was a lot of fun when he came out west to visit. Ah, the good ol' days back when we were all at the corner of Sunset and La Cienega. Worked with a lot of fun, creative people in the '80s and early '90s before they moved the publishing operation to Wilshire. Then it started getting more corporate--no more mini bikes wheelying down the halls at Christmas parties.

ETA: On BravoCo's question about the AMA's letting bigger four-strokes into the 125 and 250cc classes--those rules were established many years ago, possibly in the late '70s. I know for sure they were in effect in the early '80s because one guy (Jim Turner?) rode a bored and stroked XR325R or something like that at the L.A. supercross in the 250cc class. Everyone kind of pitied the guy because it was at such a disadvantage. But the AMA wanted to have a fairly level playing field, and at the time, four-stroke technology hadn't advanced enough to give them that level playing field for like-sized two-stroke engines.

That, of course, began to change when Yamaha introduced the YZ400F in '98, and it really took off with the introduction of the YZ250F in '01 (IIRC). It wasn't until the mid-'90s that the manufacturers could see the EPA's writing on the wall and began to push four-stroke tech further. Now, of course, four-strokes are the rage. Ironically, most of the race thumpers are not "clean" enough in the EPA's eyes to get green sticker registration in CA, just like their two-stroke counterparts. Typically, only trail bikes (XRs, DR-Zs, KLXs, TT-Rs, KDXs) are deemed clean enough. The rest of them got red stickers (not to be operated on public lands during the summer months, basically), though I think that may have changed.

I have a 4-stroke KTM and it rocks, It is a 2003 525sx.  I bought it new last year and have been very impressed with it.  I have about 70 hours on it and have had zero motor problems, I adjust the valves as recommended and it has been great. I am comming of a 2002 RM 250, which was also good however the stock fit and finish of the KTM compared to the suzuki is way better.  Co compare them and you will see what I mean.

A 200 two stock exc or a 400 4-strock exc would be good bikes for what you want to do.

A KDX 200 would also be good and alot cheaper, XR400 would also be good and they are very reliable however they are kinda heavy.

KTM are great bikes, but the downside is the fact that when they break, its harder to get ahold of parts and they are a bit more expensive.  From my experiences, you really cant go wrong w/ whatever you buy...everyone is making good bikes....but for me, the best bang for the buck goes to either Yamaha or Honda in their 450 models.   Also...if you want a pretty much trail-ready, but also street legal bike, the Kawasaki KLX 400 is king, and if you want something more road oriented that youre able to tour on but still semi-trail worthy the KLR650 is my choice.  I myself ride one.

I wish the KLX300 had electric start and some    other updates over the last EIGHT model years.

I loved that bike but no changes over eight years is ridiculous. Same goes for the KDX200 (unchanged since '95).

Quoted: I wish the KLX300 had electric start and some    other updates over the last EIGHT model years. I loved that bike but no changes over eight years is ridiculous. Same goes for the KDX200 (unchanged since '95).

You'll find no argumaent from this Mean Green Machine owner and lover.

I think they really screwed the pooch on those models.

WIZZO

I think I am going to go with either a WR250f or WR450f.  I can get decent prices around here on both OTD.

I have a feeling that if I get the 250 I'll soon want the 450.

Quoted: Ah, the good ol' days back when we were all at the corner of Sunset and La Cienega. Worked with a lot of fun, creative people in the '80s and early '90s before they moved the publishing operation to Wilshire. Then it started getting more corporate--no more mini bikes wheelying down the halls at Christmas parties.

I remember delivering test bikes there around '84-87 prepped by SPEC II. (and yes they could not resist pulling wheelies in the (small) parking lot on the RZ350's.

About that time my sole ride was an XL600R. (could not afford to insure my sports car...)

4-strokes are here to stay, But I still love the corn poppers. I will keep riding my Banshee Slideways until my artritus makes it too painful.

{ 20's mindset, 40's body }