learner rmotards?

[shakes]

Shoot me some recomendations. it's going to be my first bike in about 10yrs power isnt a factor, and road bikes and me don't mix for many reasons.

The majority of my riding will be inner city commumting, something with fairly low stand over height as I have ducks disease. I wanna spend about $5k max including gear so I'm gussing around 3.5-4k for bike only. Also something that is cheap/easy to repair for those time's I lay it down.

Cheer's

Simon

[driftke70]

xr250
kdx220
rmx250

[Bluterus]

How tall are you man?

Did you wanna buy something that actually has motard rims on it or you just going to put road tyre's on the standard rims?
Don't know if you know but there's a lot to look at when putting a dirt bike on the road if you wanna stop in an emergency or grip in the wet.

My preference would be a WR250F it has a higher seat approx 900mm off the ground but with motard rims being only 17" the front loses 2 inches and the back loses 1 inch.
I'm 175cm tall and I ride mine easily at full normal seat height.

I think XR, KDX, KLX, TTR, RMX don't have enough power for the road especially if you run smaller sprockets.

[driftke70]

have ridden all of them, rmx250 would leave a wr250 for dead dude, also wr gets gear box and clutch problems when streeted. Also their starting mechanisms give up with daily use.

I think the wr doesnt have enough torque with smaller sprockets and becomes finiky at lower rpm low speed stuff.

[af300e]

I put over 5000km on a 2004 wr250f in the bush. Wide throttle openings, high rpm 90% of the time..... Never needed valve adjustments (checked every 1000km), no starter issues and low end torque is fine. The later models are much stronger in the bottom end of the rev range too.

However, on the street, I probably wouldn't run one. They are maintenance happy (i changed the oil every 200-300km and the filter every 300-400km. Gearbox issues, if any would probably be resolved by adding a cush drive rear hub. Who wants to risk it though? They are a race bike.

RMX250? Great bike, in the bush. They vibrate heaps, chug fuel like a '75 caddy and are very hard to get the idle correct on (carby idle and slow circuits are shared). They also foul plugs with consistancy that you can set your watch by. A mate of mine used to carry 3 spares on long bush rides.
Pre-mixing fuel at every fill-up is annoying and kick starting can be too. Not all models are ADR approved and they are getting old.

Xr250, klx250, ttr250 are cheap, reliable and reasonable off road. If you are allowed to run up to 660cc (as we are now in Vic) try a drz400 (sweet bike) or a dr650.

I have a yz250f for bush duties and an xr650r for road/bush. I don't mind kick starting.

[driftke70]

yeah drz400 is a good streeter/bush

i ride a cr250 07 model, i cant ride 4 strokes, something about them, no snap or too much snap too early.

youll struggle to get a wr250 for the money he wants to spend anyways, and most would have had a hard life by now if he could find one.

i had an rmx250 for a while, i manage to fix the idle and it never fowled plugs, just had to rejet it which is an hours job. Hell i had to rejet my cr after my first ride, havnt, touched it since.
Electric start is overrated.

[Bluterus]

have ridden all of them, rmx250 would leave a wr250 for dead dude, also wr gets gear box and clutch problems when streeted. Also their starting mechanisms give up with daily use.

I think the wr doesnt have enough torque with smaller sprockets and becomes finiky at lower rpm low speed stuff.
I've had my WR since new fully road registered in 05 and done 6400km's and its first 4000km's of its life had a fair bit of on road riding including commuting to work everyday 30km's.
Even if the starter does give up which mine never has its got a kick to back it up. XR's, rm's dont even have lecco start.
I also have never needed valve adjustments, had problems with the gearbox or clutch its been the most reliable bike I've had.
I've still got the original clutch for that matter with over 6400km's!

You say an rmx250 will leave a wr250 for dead do you mean a wr250 2 stroke or the wr250f 4 stroke because I'm talking about the 4 stroke. The wr250f stock is restricted but with a better pipe, filter and all the free mods they fly.

[Bluterus]

True about the price but bargains for WR's pop up depends how long u wanna wait.

I love my electric start people say its overrated but wats worse than being stuck on a slippery muddy hill and trying to hold the bike up and kick start at the same time.

[driftke70]

a mate has had a wr250f for a while, i had an rmx for a while,
he had different pipe and stuff, my bike left his for dead.

[driftke70]

True about the price but bargains for WR's pop up depends how long u wanna wait.

I love my electric start people say its overrated but wats worse than being stuck on a slippery muddy hill and trying to hold the bike up and kick start at the same time.

thats half the fun

[Bluterus]

a mate has had a wr250f for a while, i had an rmx for a while,
he had different pipe and stuff, my bike left his for dead.
As far as I've come to learn on dirt bikes to a certain extent it doesn't matter if you got a 2009 450 or a 91 250 2 stroke it all comes down to the rider. As to what bike is going to be quicker.

So you still got the rmx? or the cr now?

[driftke70]

cr now, it was the last year of production, and ive wanted one for a while so i had to buy it.

[Hokey]

250fs are so slow. i've got a wr426 with full road reg but i won't ride it on the road till i get some spare wheels with a cush drive, road tyres and some decent gearing.

i'd prolly go a drz400. they'll be learner approved, require little maintenance and should come into your price range aswell

[Hen may possibly be a nut]

I'd recommend against a race type bike most often mentioned in this thread, you won't be racing it, and I'd guess not riding it close to 100%. Something more mild and reliable would still be good fun. DRZ400 springs to mind. They go, and are reliable.

DR650 you can get as low as you like fairly easily, require zero maintainence ever (28000km and 4 oil changes. Nothing else. Valves were still perfectly in adjustment) but are a little more slow and boring than the DRZ400 (and a lot more boring than anything else mentioned in this thread). They may be a little pricier than what you're looking to spend too, and then a little money spent on their spongy suspension is a good thing.

Hen

[driftke70]

dr650 weighs like 140kg

[Bluterus]

cr now, it was the last year of production, and ive wanted one for a while so i had to buy it.
Nice 2009 model then? I love my 4 thumper but still love the feel of riding a 250 2 stroke when they come on ban and how loud they scream.
I'd love to get another 2 stroke to take to the track as the WR is crap on a track better in the bush.

[af300e]

dr650 weighs like 140kg


Don't worry about it. My XR650R is only a bit less and I don't have any trouble giving the 450 blokes a run on the trails.

On the road a few extra KG is an advantage anyway.

[shakes]

big benny with the good advice again, all reports from everywhere else say the drz400sm providing I can set it up to swing my short ass over it, and learner legal, gunna put off buying a bike for another couple of months cause I'm guna blow my budget by about double haha

everything else is too dedicated bush based.

[shakes]

sounds like you know your shit floody.

I'd prefer something straight off the shelf for the time being that way I don't get little niggly issues, I can just get my leg over it, and with susp compressed have just a little more than the balls of my feet on the ground so it's perfect!

[VikingDrift]

all the two strokes are hopeless on the road

screw that 2 stroke motards are awesome :DD saw this bloke on a husky 2 banger go through princes and springvale road round the corner on band with the front wheel up just a little bit, so nuts! + band is like boost so fun..
still for a runabout drz400 seems like the sensible choice, i'v seen heaps round and they look pretty sick too

[driftke70]

i remember seeing those klx's,

we had a non registrable r spec klx250, put a pipe and everything on it, bit of a port job, and it went and fuck did it rev, slow compared to the 2 bangers we had but still a nice little predictable point and shoot piece of kit,

sometimes they dont like to start when they are hot but its an easy fix.

[driftke70]

yeah i mastered tdc after i owned an xr500 with wise co 10.5:1 piston, decked head, port job, xr600 carb, wierd v baffle thing removed, decent airbox setup, slightly advanced timing which i owned at 13, im only like 5 7 now and weigh 65kg so you can imagine me when i was 13,

i found the best solution for the klx, make sure it has a nice plug in it, a good lead, dont use too high octane fuel, and just gently kick it through 10 or 15 times, get tdc and a nice fast kick, not so much a hard kick, just a fast one, sometimes it could be such a bastard that i would turn the fuel off, kick it through heaps with the throttle wide open, turn the fuel on, wait 20 seconds, and kick with no throttle, if that didnt work 3 or 4 times just gently easy in throttle as you kick more and more till it started.

just laughing with my dad before, we used to be so poor when we moved over from south africa that when i had my xr75 we used to weld and grind new teeth onto sprockets, i like to think ive come a long way since then :)

[shakes]

so i've decided the drz400sm is the way to go. can sit on it, and seem's pretty comfy, learner legal with some potential to give it a bit more up and go when I get some confidence in me.

Thanks for all your help

[af300e]

so i've decided the drz400sm is the way to go. can sit on it, and seem's pretty comfy, learner legal with some potential to give it a bit more up and go when I get some confidence in me.

Thanks for all your help

Nice choice. The SM is lower output that the E but you can use the E bits for some added up and go. A 39mm FCR would bring it to life a lot (I don't think they have a pumper carb standard).

[Hen may possibly be a nut]

... drz400sm ... with some potential to give it a bit more up and go when I get some confidence in me.

I rode an SM for a few minutes. Apparently it had some work done to it, making 42rwhp. At 60 on gravel (with good knobby tyres) anything over half throttle was powersliding. So yeah, I reckon they've got potential.

Apaprently post 2002 the DRZs got some suspension and so on improvements. Though maybe the SM was only introduced after 2002... I'm sure you've got a handle on it all anyway.

Hen

[shakes]

ok doing my learners this saturday coming.

put a deposit down on a bike today, 09 drz400sm, yoshimura pipes, and some cosmetic bits and pieces, rwc, reg till feb $8k