I'M over MINI'S

[THUMPY125]

Hi fellas and ladies , well i'm after a new bike, thats right getting out of the mid sized minis and into the big bikes. This is where i would like some assistance. There is a big decision, i'm not sure if i want to go 2 stroke or 4 stroke was thinking yamaha yz250/250f, kawasaki kx250klx250, honda cr250/crf250 or suzuki rm250. I have been told that the cr's go through rings pretty fast. If any of you fellas have any large bikes i want to hear from ya, also can ya please post up a good pic of ya ride, not looking at buying brand new will prob be a second hand one roughly the 2003/2004 era.

edit: ok people you can put up a pic of any bike other than a mini, mid sized mini. only quality bikes no china's

Thanks in advance Callan

 

[Sidney]

I would go the kx, most of the kawasaki's are 2 bangas.

 

[pitmaster]

if your budget goes to $7500, We are near adelaide so delivery isnt a prob!

 

[THUMPY125]

bump............

 

[Divy]

absolutly love that bike pitmaster when i buy a new bike thats what im going to buy

anyways thumpy i have rode all 3 of thoses bikes and from what i can tell they all go and handle really well, if i was to buy one there wouldnt be anything that would make me lean to one model moe then the others
but i would pick the yz only because im a yammy fan

id throw up pics of my bikes but there not 250's there 125's

 

[THUMPY125]

cheers for the talk the other night divy, might go ride my mates cr125 and see how she goes, then it might give me a bit more insight.

 

[mad man]

Most bikes are good but try get a bike that hasnt had a hard life, hence bottom end rebuilds are expencive!

Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, Kawa, what is your favourite colour?

If you want less maitenence i would sugest two stroke 250. Top end re builds are cheep, and easy to do.

Four strokes are good too, heard the hondas valves need adjusting reguraly, depends how hard you ride. Im geting a yz250f 03 when i sell my Rm125.

Two strokes will need a re build more often then a four stroke, but are cheep. 4 strokes don't need re building as much but then you have to worry about the valves and other bits.

Make sure you don't get a thrashed bike. When you get one, change the oil, lube head set and shock linkage. Here are some things that help when buying a second hand bike.

Dirt Bike Advice - 10 Things to Look Out for When Buying a Used Bike - Dirt Rider Magazine

that link is 10 things to look for when buying a second hand bike, good read.

Goodluck.

 

[Fabio]

remember the price of a 4 stroke rebuild at the moment to... a mate of mine blew the motor in his rmz and it was cheaper to buy a new motor (one from an 05 rmz) than to rebuild the current one... the quote he got was like $4k+!

 

[cass38a]

The problem with all second hand dirt bikes is that they nearly all have had the arse wrung out of them (who dosent ride thier dirt bike flat out all the time?). There is no odomoter (sic) so you cant really tell how many hours or kilometers it has done (at least with a road bike you know it has been kept within the speed limit some of the time and how far it has travelled). In saying that you should be able to tell if the bike has been looked after by the condition of things like sprockets, chain etc. but you wont really know what the contition of the engine internals is like regardless of what the bike looks like.

 

[motoluver]

I know a little about the 250s but nothing of the 250fs... its not my thing.
This is what I know of the year models your looking at

Honda cr250 - Best standard suspension set up, handle well but have a very slow engine

KTM 250SX - Most powerful engine, but they dont handle near as good as the jap bikes

Kawasaki KX250 - A pretty average bike. Decent suspension, decent motor, decent handling

Yamaha YZ250 - Good motor, good handling, good suspension

Suzuki RM250 - Good motor, good handling, good suspension


As far as I know its been the Suzuki RM250 what has won most 250cc 2 stroke shootouts for the past few years. They are very much alike the yz250 but slightly better in the engine and handling part.
If your going to get a 125 or 250f get a shit heap as in a couple of months of riding it you will get bored of the lack of power and want to sell up.

 

[redbaron199]

get a four stroke.. these days they have the same amount or even more power then a 2 banger and they are easier to look after and cheaper to maintain.. also they dont have to be rebuilt every 20 hours or so of riding

 

[motoluver]

get a four stroke.. these days they have the same amount or even more power then a 2 banger and they are easier to look after and cheaper to maintain.. also they dont have to be rebuilt every 20 hours or so of riding

This is for all the people who say 4 strokes have less maintenance and all that crap!!!

Competitive race bikes are now available with two distinct and very different engine types—two- and four-stroke—that require very different levels of expenditure to rebuild. The reality is that because of the extremely high levels of power output, the new generation of four-stroke race bikes not only requires maintenance at least as often as (probably more often than) current two-strokes but also costs more. Whereas a top end rebuild of a nonexploded two-stroke will cost a couple of hundred dollars, a top end job for a four-stroke race bike is even more. A four-stroke with a season of racing will most certainly need valve replacement and a new piston. If this is not done, chances are it will blow up or worse and easily require as much as a couple of grand to get back to running condition.

Source: Dirt Bike Advice - 10 Things to Look Out for When Buying a Used Bike - Dirt Rider Magazine

 

[crazzy #1]

klx 250 is a road trail, do you mean kx250f? and there is also the rmz250

seriously if you dont have the $$$ to buy a brand new 4 banger id look into second hand 2 bangers mainly because they will cost you less if you have to do a major rebuild!!!

 

[THUMPY125]

well thanks for the input guys really appreciated it. i went for a ride yesterday on a mates 2004 cr125 and WOW. i loved it, loved the power band and the speed they can do in the short amount of time. I think i will go for a 125 as i will prob not need the extra power and weight. plus the lighter it is the easier it will be to through over jumps . Not looking for a 4 stroke anymore because i got back on my mini and it felt like there was no motor in it, i swear the cr125 had about 7 times more power.

Now that the decision is settled, which brand 125 would be the best bang for my buck. looking to spend under $5k so that is about the 2003 model for most

 

[$heepy]

i would say a yz or a cr, mabye a kx

 

[jayden-pitbikez]

apparantly YZ are the best there all band
and the CR is good but the engine isnt as good as the others
dont no much about the RM, KX or SX

 

[blarg]

id go yz or rm<<rm's are great and when the band kicks in ull be fighting to keep the front end down

 

[motoluver]

YZ, RM or SX. 125sx has the most power but doesnt handle as well as the yz/rm.

 

[coolmodee01]

i find most brands to be fairly similar
your decision should be made on quality of ride i.e ergonomics, response
they are all motorbikes it doesn't matter weather you buy a jap bike or a china your going to be constantly pileing money into
just stay away from ktm's they are my favorite bike by a long shot but the price of spare parts puts them out of the running straight away

ough and the old rmz250's go pretty good to i'd have one of them over a cr
the yz's are pretty good to but there 4 strokes go heaps better than there 2 bangers imo

good luck

 

[cass38a]

Just go with your favorite color, easy.