Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

So I'm kind of in the market for a dirt bike. What's some of your opinions on 4-stroke vs 2-stroke?

2 stroke has to be constantly rebuilt, they clog up the spark plug easily, they are messy, they suck ass. The KX125 s going to go until it seizes I'm not breaking the damn thing down again.

2 strokes have crazy horsepower to weight ratio, sound cool, can be snatched up pretty cheaply.

Nah nah nah, they don't have to be rebuilt constantly. They have to have a new top end every few years or so for as much as anyone here rides. That's super cheap and can easily be done. They do not clog if you ride them right, you have to keep it in the powerband.

Don't listen to miles - if your ragging hard on your 2 stroke your supposed to put a new top end in every 10 hours, mine is well overdue and you can tell the power drop off I just don't want to mess with it.

Unless you are like racing and you need the horsepower to weight ratio or you just enjoy working on bikes do yourself a favor and go 4 stroke.

And a note on safety, if you think dirk bike riding is safer than street riding you may end up getting a rude awakening.

If you follow the groups that are active in social media you will find riders that "gave up dirt" due to repeated bad injuries.

Go look at what Marquez's dad says about him riding dirt and what Rossi has to say. I lot of the metal and injuries the MotoGP riders are dealing with are from off season dirt riding.

True enough your not going to get hit by a car but trees don't move, and when you smack into a mound of dirt you don't slide.

Yeah, I've always said I didn't know anyone that rode dirt that hasn't had an accident. So not really looking forward to that aspect but then I also don't plan to be riding aggressive since I'll mostly be following/leading Connor around on his ATV. I'm also aware I'll probably spend more on protective gear than I will for the bike.

Dirt bikes have never been a draw to me, but I'd still prefer a dirt bike to an ATV so we'll see how things play out, I just know I can't keep following him around the neighborhood in the truck and if Connor wants to do any riding outside of our neighborhood I'm going to need something to ride with him.

I'm kind of leaning towards a 4-stroke if for no other reason than not having to mess with mixing gas, the ATV is 4 stroke so only one type of gas when we go out would be nice.

Dude, lol 10hrs? No way! Remember I work with a guy who is the number 1 pro rider in Texas cross country. He rides a two stroke and it's not that soon.

With that said, I have nothing against 4strokes. I like them a lot and wouldn't mind having one

milesmiles wrote:I work with a guy who is the number 1 pro rider in Texas cross country.

so you are near a pro rider (number 1 pro rider in Texas....... and he works with you... something is off if you think about that statement) so you are instantly an expert on two strokes, got it.

Where I got my info - I paid money for a course from a guy that used to race motocross, the course included motorcycle maintenance. If your pushing the machine he said every 10 hours otherwise you risk snapping a skirt and killing the bore, for regular riding he said probably once a year would be fine.

I looked at going 2 stroke for track a while back, recommendations there were around 10 hours or less as well.

I'm supposed to do my valves at 12K and I went to 30K with no issues. I think you'd be nuts to do a top end every 10 hours but there are plenty of people that do it more frequently - point is 2 stroke = more work.

No way, not an expert. And NO 10hrs even at pro level is way too much. Yes he does work with me(on leave right now, but that's another story). And yes, he was the #1 pro two years ago in Texas. Also raced nationally in a few races last year until he had to take a leave. If you didn't know, you can't make enough money doing that unless you're in motorcross. Maybe the top few riders nationally?, not sure.

Anyways, I'm not an expert, but I've talked with him and several other guys who race. 10hrs is too soon. That's all I'm saying...nothing more. I just told you about the guy at my work because who better than someone who is a pro?

I see your point and that's cool. How often do you have to check the valves on a four stroke?

milesmiles wrote:How often do you have to check the valves on a four stroke?

No idea, probably depends on who makes it

Soo....what IS a good starter dirt bike for someone that's been riding street primarily?

125 two stroke or a 250 four stroke. With that said those would be enough for anything you wanted to do.

I rode several and this is what I found. The 250 two stroke was just too fast for me. The four stroke 450 was heavy and felt hard for me to handle. The 250 four stroke was all around great with power everywhere and easy to ride. The 125 two stroke is what I'm riding now and have been the happiest with(though I could go for a four stroke 250 and probably be just has happy). The 125 has plenty of power if you learn to ride it right and only becomes disappointing if your out on long straights. The reason why i like it is because out of all the bikes I could handle it much much better. It's just easier for me to handle and contol

I have heard good things about 2 strokes, if you keep up the maintenance, but I have never owned a 2 stroke so I stick with 4 strokes. I absolutely agree that if you ride dirt you will wreck/be thrown off the bike. My largest scar is from a 1981 XL500s. My most persistent pain related injury(knee) happened on Jan 31st 2017 on an RMZ450. Most recent throw off was last month at Trophy Club low speed high side off my current crf450r.

The only reason I got a 450 was for the possibility of converting it to a supermoto some day. I could easily get by on a 250 or even less on dirt.

SputnikSam wrote:Soo....what IS a good starter dirt bike for someone that's been riding street primarily?

For you, nothing but a KLR will do (come on man get with the program! big bend is calling us)

milesmiles wrote:No way, not an expert. And NO 10hrs even at pro level is way too much. Yes he does work with me(on leave right now, but that's another story). And yes, he was the #1 pro two years ago in Texas. Also raced nationally in a few races last year until he had to take a leave. If you didn't know, you can't make enough money doing that unless you're in motorcross. Maybe the top few riders nationally?, not sure.

Anyways, I'm not an expert, but I've talked with him and several other guys who race. 10hrs is too soon. That's all I'm saying...nothing more. I just told you about the guy at my work because who better than someone who is a pro?

I see your point and that's cool. How often do you have to check the valves on a four stroke?

If I keep dedicated dirt machines around (which I may not) i'll be 2 stroke 125 or 4 stroke 250. If it wasn't from the maintenance the 125 is pretty damn nice right down into notch.

Has anyone here ridden a KTM 250 SX-F or a Honda CRF250? found a couple of those on Craigslist that look interesting.

DarcShadow wrote:Has anyone here ridden a KTM 250 SX-F or a Honda CRF250? found a couple of those on Craigslist that look interesting.

What year? Not sure if you care about electric start which the KTM might have electric start. I can only speak for myself, but I am willing to pay a bit more to have a FI bike. I am done with carburetors if I have a choice....

Honda was a 2012, KTMs were a bit older and I think I'm going to look for something newer.

I don't know about the older KTM's, but the newer ones are all the rage! I have heard that they are expensive to repair. I don't know if you are planning on racing, but it seems that the last sentence in so many of the shootouts/reviews is that all the bikes from the major brands are pretty darn good for the average rider. Excited to see what you end up getting.

Yeah, the more I hear about the maintenance cost of the KTM the more I'm shying away from them, and it's also a bit scary how many I'm finding on craigslist. If I come upon a new enough one at a low enough price I'd consider it, but as of now I'm focusing on the jap bikes.

Having no experience with any sort of dirt bike, I have no idea what I really want/need, rather annoying. I may just have to delay my search till I can get some time to go ride Mile's bike and get a baseline for size, feel, and power. I'm kind of thinking a 4-stroke 250 but then I think all I am really planning on doing is putting around with Connor so a 4-stroke 125 would probably suffice as well.

Tooner wrote:

DarcShadow wrote:Has anyone here ridden a KTM 250 SX-F or a Honda CRF250? found a couple of those on Craigslist that look interesting.

What year? Not sure if you care about electric start which the KTM might have electric start. I can only speak for myself, but I am willing to pay a bit more to have a FI bike. I am done with carburetors if I have a choice....

+1 on being done with carburetors

Except my 2 stroke GoPed, it has many hours and always starts with little effort even after not running for months

DarcShadow wrote:Yeah, the more I hear about the maintenance cost of the KTM the more I'm shying away from them, and it's also a bit scary how many I'm finding on craigslist. If I come upon a new enough one at a low enough price I'd consider it, but as of now I'm focusing on the jap bikes.

Having no experience with any sort of dirt bike, I have no idea what I really want/need, rather annoying. I may just have to delay my search till I can get some time to go ride Mile's bike and get a baseline for size, feel, and power. I'm kind of thinking a 4-stroke 250 but then I think all I am really planning on doing is putting around with Connor so a 4-stroke 125 would probably suffice as well.

Putting around on a two stroke sucks ass, they "load up" for lack of a better term

Yea, it you're going to do that you'll be fouling plugs. Sounds like four would work better for you.

WickerMan wrote:

Tooner wrote:
What year? Not sure if you care about electric start which the KTM might have electric start. I can only speak for myself, but I am willing to pay a bit more to have a FI bike. I am done with carburetors if I have a choice....

+1 on being done with carburetors

Except my 2 stroke GoPed, it has many hours and always starts with little effort even after not running for months

Always starts = priceless!