Offroad brands?

[Wes]

Morning all.

Need to buy an offroad bike, been looking around and have no clue....

Brands :
- Suzuki
- ktm
- husqvarna ( fe350 looks mean. )
- honda

Not sure what else to include...

[Tazz]

Forget brand, budget and use is what you really need to worry about first.

Every marque has strengths and weaknesses so there is no all around 'best for everyone' bike or brand.

[FlangMasterJ]

Forget brand, budget and use is what you really need to worry about first.

Every marque has strengths and weaknesses so there is no all around 'best for everyone' bike or brand.

What Tazz is trying to say is get a KTM because they're the best.

[speights_bud]

To start with, what are you going to be doing? And what experience do you have?

General Trail riding? , racing/motox/cross country? Or enduro/hard enduro/trials type riding?

Have you any preference for 2T or 4T? How strong are you for when you inevitably have to pick it up?

[Wes]

Thanks tazz, budget isnt an issue. As for use....dunno yet, i looking for a mixture of enduro and bush bashing...

[Wes]

Haha flangmaster,saw a ktm xcf 350 today,looks great.....sales person recommended it as a "mix" bike...what ktm u got? Are the xcf 350 2015 any good?

[nodrog]

I had a K6 gsxr that was dual purpose, went off road heaps.

[Wes]

Speights, i have no idea just yet. Bush bashing and moto i guess. Experience....not much....played around on a few pitbikes,yes pitbikes haha. Need to get a big boys bike now. How do i measure strong? Whats the key differences from 2t and 4t?

[Wes]

Nodrog,interesting..... got a photo?

[haydes55]

Nodrog,interesting..... got a photo?


He's pulling your leg.... That or by off road he means gravel.

You sound very noob ('tis the technical wording).

2 strokes will have more power for the cc, a 125 2 stroke is comparable with a 250 4 stroke.

2 strokes have a power band that means low power in low revs, then a hard kick of acceleration in the high revs, a good rider stays in the power band. Some of the bigger 2 strokes have much smoother power band/power curves so are much easier to control for trial riding, the ktm 300 is like that. Also next to no engine braking on a 2 stroke.

4 strokes have engine braking (good for down hill slow sections), more even power curve (depending on the cc you could easily power out of a corner in too high a gear and be sweet without having to chop down).

Judging by your knowledge, you won't be doing your own servicing, so no advantage to the 2 strokes, except maybe cheaper to service? Depends on service intervals etc of specific bikes.

[Wes]

Thanks haydes55,that cleared it up.

haha i know, just wanted to see offroad tyres on his bike.... :)
Yep still very new at everything, got more googling to do. Have to start somewhere.

Lol,def wont be doing my own servicing.

I take it 2 stroke bikes are lighter than 4stroke then?

[speights_bud]

Yes as a general rule. Who do you usually ride with? Is there anyone you know well enough who would let you ride their bike to get a feel?

That's how I ended up with a 250exc, knew I wanted a 2T (because they are just better-er) and I used to borrow a friends dad's 300exc when visiting in welly. I hardly ever got it up on the pipe with the trials type of riding we were doing so opted for the 250 and have geared right down

[Wes]

Dont ride with anyone at the moment or to be more precise,i dont know anyone that has a bike in nz. Currently have a lil forza 125 pitbike,probably not counted as a real bike. Just do some cheaky riding in the neighbourhood.

My friends (punani and poontang) dont like bikes so that eliminates that.

Do you have the ktm 250? If so,happy with it?
You in auckland?

[speights_bud]

I'm in hawkes bay. I really like the ktm250exc. It really just does the kind of work I want it to. Reliably and was good value for money. My budget was 3k and that's what I spent. It's an 04 and quite a few people say that it's not the best handling model, but it goes everywhere I need it too. Good torque for the slow technical stuff, and adjustable suspension from factory. I'm not bagging other brands but bikes of similar era my friends own just don't give me the same good feeling,but they love them so each to their own.

[Wes]

Nice,lots of land up there to ride. Im in flatbush,auckland.....suburbia...
Nice, will google of 04 models and see what they like.

The 2015 freerider looks interesting. The sales guy at the bike shop recommended 2 bikes, 350xcf 4stroke and 250 2stroke.

Really got to ride to find out i guess...

[speights_bud]

Just my opinion on the bikes mates own from the short riding I've done on them. Keep in mind that I am a 100kg slob.

KTM125sx (2T) with 145 big bore kit. I found to be super flat before the pipe as you would expect from a 125, this made technical slow riding a real issue for me because getting the torque required engine speed which results in wheel speed (short of some hefty clutch work) and then breaking traction made life difficult. Great for ripping around flat out or trail riding, but not ideal for trials type riding.

The YZF250 (4T) was actually really comfortable, and I felt like I could climb Hills easily on it as it has good torque (esp compared to the 2T). But the seating position felt very flat and it was rather fussy to start as it's the model previous to having an automated decompression valve. I would recommend it as a good bike for a beginner whose looking for a 4T as you won't grow out of it in a few rides.

KLX450, Torque monster & heavier. As all 450s tend to be, the upside, who cares about what gear you are in, the torque will sort it out.

300exc (2T)the bike I rode prior to buying my one, it was an 07 model, nice electric start and fitted with a centrifugal style clutch which took no time to get used to and was magic during technical tough stuff as you couldn't stall. I missed it the most getting off the bike.

RM125 (2T) my best man bought one and loves it, but regrets not getting a 250 2T ($budget$). We do slower technical riding and being the same size as me he also struggles with torque. That said when the rear shock blew out at a trail ride I swapped him for the day (trying to convince him to spend more$$) and he followed me while I went pogo pogo all around the forest on his bike. Momentum is the key on the 125s.

Tapped out on the phone in the hammock drinking beers so don't believe everything but just a couple of my observations.

[speights_bud]

Nice,lots of land up there to ride. Im in flatbush,auckland.....suburbia...
Nice, will google of 04 models and see what they like.

The 2015 freerider looks interesting. The sales guy at the bike shop recommended 2 bikes, 350xcf 4stroke and 250 2stroke.

Really got to ride to find out i guess...
Yea the freerides actually look like the ideal bike for technical stuff. I'd love to have a go on one. I did hear about riders at the desert storm ride having problems as they are kick-start only and their batteries went flat for some reason.

Was out riding today at the folks farm and one of the guys had a KTM 250 or 350 xcf (can't remember which) , seemed to do the business alright.

[Wes]

Im about 100kg too,i blame the beer.
Cool will do some research on those bikes u listed. Dam i need a hammock!


Saw a few ktm videos on our with the 2015 freeride,looks sweet!

Apparently the the xcf is between the track and trail situation...kinda what i wanted as i duno which i'll be doing yet.
Once i have the bike,i need to then contemplate the next car as the mercedes 2 door aint gunna work....esp with the newborn.

Weirdas to why the batteries went flat....

Nodrog...hows that photo coming along?

[speights_bud]

Yea the discussion about the xcf we had were along the same lines, decided that they are a good all rounder.

There's a tosser who comes to trail rides in a lowered 2 door thing, might be a fiat... But you don't want to be that guy, he has to park on the road as it won't make it through the paddock. Also he has a big 'Ifag' Apple sticker on the bumper. So there you go.

7 month old daughter + mortgage + single income is the reason I sold the road race bikes and got a dirt bikes, some how the wife still believes it's cheaper haha.

[Wes]

Haha yeah def dont wanna be that guy! I own an IT company and feel the same about apple...blah.

I see they have a xcf-w version which comes with the onroad kit and a few lil changes.
Haha,im in the same boat... a few mortgages + 7week old boy (just wants boob and sleep...like his dad).....misses isnt happy about the price tags on bikes...shed rather me get an onroad bike....offroad is more fun.

Are road fees quite expensive with onroad bikes?

[speights_bud]

The rego is, but I was mostly road racing, which means a 2hour trip each way to the closest tracks for us. Plus higher entry fees etc

[Wes]

Dam, long drive. Stick to the dirt!

[speights_bud]

Yea, the olds farm is also only 20mins away if I'm not doing an organised ride.

Said to the Mrs I'll have to buy the daughter one of those pink KTM's when she's old enough. Mrs said no, she will ride a normal orange one... Cool.

[Wes]

Hahaha nice tactic.
Havent been to hawkes bay yet but seen some nice farm land out there!

Planning to move to whitford soon purely for the land.clevedon is great with land sizes but just alil too far! Need best of both worlds...land and close enough to get to the city

[speights_bud]

A couple of rough clips from mucking around today. We are trying to get a circuit for a hard enduro type event together

http://youtu.be/uuM31iSvrBA
http://youtu.be/vDJRlgKmPzc
http://youtu.be/vjvNwU8x9T0

[Wes]

Big land! What did u use to record? Gopro?

[speights_bud]

Samsung galaxy s3