Dirt bike suggestions

I'm anticipating having to travel to get one.

I will have to commute about 45 miles for my semi-retirement job, so I figured I would get the Rally and commute on it when the weather is good in Oregon. I'm going to miss the free work car.
Have you ridden a 300l or 250l? I have not. I'd imagine though it feels more like the former 230 than the crf250r. I wish test drives were a thing because it would be really easy to know in just a few moments if it had enough power or not.
 
I'm anticipating having to travel to get one.

I will have to commute about 45 miles for my semi-retirement job, so I figured I would get the Rally and commute on it when the weather is good in Oregon. I'm going to miss the free work car.
Yeah, I called up to 8 hours away trying to get one on order. Had to drive 4 hours to get my daughters CRF50. But this was in May that I was looking hopefully things are better now. Those 300's were getting deposits before the dealers could tell how many they were getting. Some dealers said they'd only get one for the year.
 
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Have you ridden a 300l or 250l? I have not. I'd imagine though it feels more like the former 230 than the crf250r. I wish test drives were a thing because it would be really easy to know in just a few moments if it had enough power or not.
I have not ridden the 250 or 300. I have watched a lot of youtube reviews, and I think it would work for me. But, if it is under powered I have always wanted a Ducati Monster. :)
 
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I have not ridden the 250 or 300. I have watched a lot of youtube reviews, and I think it would work for me. But, if it is under powered I have always wanted a Ducati Monster. :)
Let us know how it is. It's more fun to go fast in something slow than slow in something fast.
 
I’m a big guy so I think the 300 should be ok, I don’t want the R version maintenance and wringing the neck on a under powered bike is FUN.

My FZ09 had JUST enough you could ride it pretty hard on the street to have mucho fun, the race bikes are just too much to explore their abilities on the street.


The Ducati Monster is a favorite of mine, Ames street fighters are where it’s at.
 
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May I suggest going old skool. 1984 Maico 490 Sand Spider or a Honda CR500.

maico.jpg


honda.jpg
 
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Ended up buying a 2018 KTM 450 SX-F with only 13 hours on it. Looks brand new basically. So far I am absolutely loving this thing. Got it for a mere $6000 too!

View attachment 275946

I wanted the SX-F since it will never see the road and I really like how friggin’ light this thing is. It’s almost unreal coming from street bikes.
Congrats on the new bike. Way to jump in the deep end right away, hang on tight my friend. You bought a race bike vs a milder mannered XC bike. Doesnt necessarily mean you bought the wrong bike, you just might need to tame it down to suit where you ride. Seeing as you have never owned a dirt bike, its going to seem phenomenal right off the bat. The more you ride, and if/when you ride with others, you will discover its shortcomings. The biggest hiccup will be the suspension. You bought a motocross race bike, its meant for hitting jumps and not bottoming out, so will tend to be rather stiff for trail situations. First and foremost, learn how to set SAG. Its the most important suspension setting, everything else revolves around this key factor. The best thing for you to do on that particular bike, is soften the suspension by reducing the amount of rebound (turn counter clockwise to soften = counterintuitive) This will make it plusher and less harsh when hitting trail bumps and chatter. You can adjust your compression to your liking after you find the sweet spot with the rebound. Another thing that will need tuning later on is the gearing. Stick with whats on there now, get used to it, but eventually your going to find its too aggressive for trail riding, or its not. The cheapest and easiest way to play with that, is swapping out the countershaft sprocket on the motor. They are like $25 and having a one tooth larger and one tooth smaller version to try, wont break the bank and they are easy to change out. Amazing how much different the bike will react to some simple changes. One more hurdle when trail riding a MX bike is that they have a 19" rear wheel, off road bikes use an 18". Again, not the end of the world, but it will be a hinderance when you start riding in rocks. The 19's are a little more vulnerable to bending when things get gnarly. Solution would be to find a taller carcass tire to absorb some of the rocky impact, or simply buy a used 18" wheel setup (plenty for sale on Ebay) Again, its not the end of the world, you still dont have the wrong bike, its just knowing some things that may give you issue. I can talk all day about bike set up, been doing this for a really long time, happy to answer any questions. Im not a know it all, just an enthusiast that learned from my own experiences and plenty of others input over the years

X2 on wearing gear. Cannot express that one enough !! Ive broken myself too many times to know that I will never hop on my bike without wearing all that I own. Im still amazed at the guys I ride with, that think pants and jersey are a suit of armor and will protect them when they fall. Call me a gear snob, but Ive gotten up from a nasty get off and scoffed at not getting hurt because of all the gear I was wearing.

Another thing I will add, find like minded people to ride with. Not only does that make you a better rider, but the commaradarie is what makes this sport so great. Much like owning a TJ.
 
Great advise above. I trail rode my motocross KX250f for a few years on some gnarly singletrack. I went down a tooth on the front sprocket and by learning good clutch control and staying in 2nd gear I was able to keep up with most of the guys on their brand new KTMs.

That said, I just bought a new KTM mostly to have electric start.
 
So whats a good street legal trail bike? I was looking for comparable to a CRF250F but with headlight and mirror option for street legal. the 300L looks like its a lot more than just a street legal trail bike.
 
So whats a good street legal trail bike? I was looking for comparable to a CRF250F but with headlight and mirror option for street legal. the 300L looks like its a lot more than just a street legal trail bike.
Depends on your intended use. More street or more dirt
There are bikes suited for gravel roads and jeep trails, and then there are barely legal race bikes that are plated to get from trail to trail. There is no true 50/50 option
 
Lol, yeah those oil changes and lash checks
Will keep you off the street much.

Those race motors are high strung, require lots of maintenance and not suited for long service like a street or trail bike.



You don’t get 65+ Horse out of a 450cc engine without paying for it.


It’s like buying a drag car to drive daily. Nope.
 
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Lol, yeah those oil changes and lash checks
Will keep you off the street much.

Those race motors are high strung, require lots of maintenance and not suited for long service like a street or trail bike.



You don’t get 65+ Horse out of a 450cc engine without paying for it.


It’s like buying a drag car to drive daily. Nope.
FALSE !!!

Ive owned over 20 KTMs and they are as simple on maintenance as any on/off road bike. The only interval that is more frequent is oil changes, only due to a smaller oil capacity. I personally change my oil every 10hrs, because I ride off road and ride them in elements far greater than average street use, but thats just me. There are threads on ADV forums where people are taking KTM 500s around the world without issue, and doing oil changes at 3-4K miles. I check my valves on my 4 strokes once a year, and have yet to move enough where I needed to adjust them. My 02 KTM 520 EXC had over 20K miles, valves never moved. I raced that bike in hare scrambles and dual sported it off road in between, even rode it to races and back home. My 2 strokes are even less maintenance, I dont even have to mix gas for them any more. The biggest expense for my riding is replacing tires, those I seem to wear the shit out of because of where and how I ride.

Add gas, clean the air filter when needed, ride, rinse, repeat

BTW, my 2018 500 is pushing 70hp, has close to 10K miles, and only had oil changes and air filter cleanings, oh and I put a chain and wheel bearings on it recently (several sets of tires) it sees just as much road as it does dirt, because I ride it to dirt, aint no trailer queen. It would have more miles if I didnt have several bikes to choose from. Shit, my 21 300 XCW has 3K miles, only sees dirt, and I bought that this Feb, gets fresh oil every 10hrs (takes 10 min) Add in that I moved across country since I bought it too

My Ducati is my maintenance whore, had to adjust the valves twice on it now, and it gets as many oil changes as my dirt bikes. Less tires thou
 
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FALSE !!!

Ive owned over 20 KTMs and they are as simple on maintenance as any on/off road bike. The only interval that is more frequent is oil changes, only due to a smaller oil capacity. I personally change my oil every 10hrs, because I ride off road and ride them in elements far greater than average street use, but thats just me. There are threads on ADV forums where people are taking KTM 500s around the world without issue, and doing oil changes at 3-4K miles. I check my valves on my 4 strokes once a year, and have yet to move enough where I needed to adjust them. My 02 KTM 520 EXC had over 20K miles, valves never moved. I raced that bike in hare scrambles and dual sported it off road in between, even rode it to races and back home. My 2 strokes are even less maintenance, I dont even have to mix gas for them any more. The biggest expense for my riding is replacing tires, those I seem to wear the shit out of because of where and how I ride.

Add gas, clean the air filter when needed, ride, rinse, repeat

BTW, my 2018 500 is pushing 70hp, has close to 10K miles, and only had oil changes and air filter cleanings, oh and I put a chain and wheel bearings on it recently (several sets of tires) it sees just as much road as it does dirt, because I ride it to dirt, aint no trailer queen. It would have more miles if I didnt have several bikes to choose from. Shit, my 21 300 XCW has 3K miles, only sees dirt, and I bought that this Feb, gets fresh oil every 10hrs (takes 10 min) Add in that I moved across country since I bought it too

My Ducati is my maintenance whore, had to adjust the valves twice on it now, and it gets as many oil changes as my dirt bikes. Less tires thou
Based off what I’ve read, you’re right about that. Even the guys I know with these 450s have said that while the manual called to have the valves checked at 15 hours (I believe that’s what it was) have said that even well over 200 hours and the valves are still in spec. Granted these guys aren’t racing them, but neither am I.

My Ducati experience has been the same as yours. Why those guys are still using a Desmodromic valve setup is beyond me.
 
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FALSE !!!

Ive owned over 20 KTMs and they are as simple on maintenance as any on/off road bike. The only interval that is more frequent is oil changes, only due to a smaller oil capacity. I personally change my oil every 10hrs, because I ride off road and ride them in elements far greater than average street use, but thats just me. There are threads on ADV forums where people are taking KTM 500s around the world without issue, and doing oil changes at 3-4K miles. I check my valves on my 4 strokes once a year, and have yet to move enough where I needed to adjust them. My 02 KTM 520 EXC had over 20K miles, valves never moved. I raced that bike in hare scrambles and dual sported it off road in between, even rode it to races and back home. My 2 strokes are even less maintenance, I dont even have to mix gas for them any more. The biggest expense for my riding is replacing tires, those I seem to wear the shit out of because of where and how I ride.

Add gas, clean the air filter when needed, ride, rinse, repeat

BTW, my 2018 500 is pushing 70hp, has close to 10K miles, and only had oil changes and air filter cleanings, oh and I put a chain and wheel bearings on it recently (several sets of tires) it sees just as much road as it does dirt, because I ride it to dirt, aint no trailer queen. It would have more miles if I didnt have several bikes to choose from. Shit, my 21 300 XCW has 3K miles, only sees dirt, and I bought that this Feb, gets fresh oil every 10hrs (takes 10 min) Add in that I moved across country since I bought it too

My Ducati is my maintenance whore, had to adjust the valves twice on it now, and it gets as many oil changes as my dirt bikes. Less tires thou


Well I stand corrected. I had a 2004 Honda 450 and a 05 Yamaha 450.

The Yamaha needed valve adjustment within 20 hours of use, each time.

Honda was much more stable and o y got checked, no shims.

Maybe the newer bikes use better stuff or I got a lemon. 😂


Hell, 20k miles on a race engine is impressive. Maybe I rode the wrong color!
 
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I was gonna come in here and plug KTM and husky but I see you already bought, which is good, cause I'm gonna post what I was going to anyway.

Close friend of mine has been riding since he was 3. His dad owns Guts racing, they make seat covers and decals for offroad bikes, and have relationships with some race teams. My friend qualified for and competed in the red bull hare scramble at Erzburg in 2018, on a bike loaned to him by the rockstar/Husky team, and believed to be previously used by Graham jarvis (his name was engraved on the engine) Anyway... He's better than any rider I've ever seen.

(he's in this photo, the one not on the ground sliding back down the mountain)

Screenshot_20180603-130306.jpg


He leads a group of guys through about 500 miles of various terrain in Colorado every year, including a lot of gnarly single-track stuff. First year they were on all sorts of bikes, Honda, Yamaha, etc. One by one they've all switched over to KTM (or in his case, Husqvarna) because they're the ones that consistently make it through the trip with the least amount of fixing needing done.

I've been out of the 2 wheel game for years now but if I ever came back to it I would no doubt go with a KTM or Husqvarna.
 
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