Looking into dirtbikes...

[pcollins]

Hey all! Been on these forums for a few months now, Mainly up in the three wheeler section...Big surprise lol. Anyways, My main 2 toys are a 1986 ATC 200x and a 1984 ATC 200esBR, just rebuilt the engine. I'll post pics below but the point of this post isn't that...I was talking with my cousin recently, and I was extremely biased against dirtbikes before I started to do some research here. I used to think They couldn't go where a 4 wheeler could, and weren't as fun...but what I'm seeing and hearing is actually the exact OPPOSITE....so I'm wondering, what does everyone think? Those of you who have experience on both, which would you rather take if you could only have one of the two? I'm not comparing them to 3 wheelers cause while I'll be selling my BR to fund a new DB if I get one, I will ALWAYS own a 3 wheeler :lol: Anyways, thanks for any replies, and without further ado, My current toys:

'86 200x, the keeper, racer, and my baby (all those stickers are gone now, its just pure honda colors):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh273/ptchunter16/3%20wheelers/101_0332.jpg

'84 200es, picked it up for $200..rebuilt the motor, and painted the frame up, going to sell it running for hopefully $600...:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh273/ptchunter16/3%20wheelers/downsized_0813011335.jpg

I don't actually have a pic of the 200es from the side rebuilt yet....its only been together for a week, And i have to mount the headlight still.

[HuffieVA]

In my opinion a good bike will outgo any 3/4 wheeler in nearly any situation except for mud, the main difference is that you gave to commit to the obstacle, if you second guess yourself a lot (or have a poor sense of balance) you're going to be sending quite a bit of time picking your bike up...

Myself, I prefer bikes, in all honesty for me the trikes are more of a hobby and a connection to my younger days

Even in snow....

http://youtu.be/otnCgOaZh9E

[pcollins]

Wow thats a damn good bike in the snow! lol. Hmmm. I'm probably going to get one for sure at this point, its the only thing I haven't ridden hard yet, and while I'm good on a 4 wheeler and 3 wheeler, I'm not to proud to throw a helmet on and eat it on a dirtbike a few times just to learn. Ridden them before just not for long periods of time, or doing anything difficult. I guess that kinda leads me to: What should I get? I'm really leaning towards a yamaha TTR230, or YZ250f...I'm not sure a 125 would be big enough for me...but I know i want a 4 stroke.

[Tippmann98]

I can't resist posting a pic after seeing the "snow" comment. I beat an Arctic Cat 550 in a drag race in about 8 inches of snow.

I put 397 sheet metal screws in my back tire and it went thru snow just as quick as if it was dirt. With a tire like that dirtbikes can be ridden year round.

Huffie is right tho you need to be committed and have good balance and clutch/throttle control. The simplest creek crossing can cause big trouble for a bike if you happen to hit a rock or spin out. Definitely worth buying one and seeing what you think tho. Just make sure to get a good deal so if you want to resell it in a month you can get your money back.

[pcollins]

Shouldn't be too hard for me to transition, Been riding for a while on tons of other stuff, I pretty much am just gonna have to learn how the bike responds to certain situations...I have a different reaction for everything I drive, just have to Find the right one fir DBs i guess!

[350Xccelerator]

It can be a little hard at first to ride a dirt bike if youve been riding quads or trikes for a long time. I would def. start out with a mid size bike you can control and then get a bigger bike after youre ready for it. I got my first dirt bike last year, it was an 1984 xr350r that i recently sold because i got an xr400r. How tall and heavy are you?

[300rman]

If you can ride 2 wheels, there is nothing better. but they WILL throw you into the dirt. but, they will go places nothing else will go. and a whole lot faster too

[dudethatssick]

2 wheelers is where the sport started and will always be the greatest IMHO. I prefer bikes over wheelers because they dont have the unnecessary weight ( 450 bike=215 lbs, YFZ quad=350 lbs, 250r trike=300 lbs.) and manuevering is much more natural ( you turn a bike with your own body weight, not just the bars). The main question in picking a bike is where do you ride? what conditions? open fields, fire roads, track, tight trails? and youre height and weight

[Afrothunderkat]

start out on a TTR 125L/TTR230/XR250. you cant go wrong with any of those for your first bike, ive ridden them all and they are great to learn on.