Best 250 'tard.

**NordieBoy** · 5th May 2005, 20:18

Originally Posted by Coldkiwi

The other thing is whether you want to upgrade the brakes on a dirt bike. I hear what MR is saying about the front brake being ok on road, but theres a fair bit of popular opinion out there that thinks it needs an upgrade.. .and that again requries you to bolt on new bits and get the disc, caliper and lines certified.

The main reason for upgrading the brakes is that if the Mo'Tard is hammered (racing/stoppies) all the time then the oem brakes will fade/crap out. Normal everyday use and fun stuff and they may be ok. Just don't get them because everyone else has them. Get them if you need them.

**NordieBoy** · 5th May 2005, 20:25

Originally Posted by gav

Buy a Yamaha TDR250, best fun you'll ever have, prob pick one up for $3500-$4500? The original supermotard!!

Nice but don't try putting 17" wheels on one - they don't like them!

And the Nordie was the original...mutter mutter mutter...

**andy1** · 5th May 2005, 21:44

17 wheels and brakes cost around $5000 alone.

Check out Mt Eden Bro i think they still stock some cheap motards.

**Skunk** · 5th May 2005, 22:09

Kawasaki's D-tracker (KLX250) is another as mentioned earlier. They can be had here. I know of two in Wellington. The suspension is firmer, as well as the wheels being different. Not sure if the brakes are changed.

I have a KLX250 or two, both road legal with 21" front wheels, std everything. OK, one has a carb kit and 'big bore' front pipe.

Standard brakes are fine, even over the Taka's. (Yes, I am faster on the KLX than the ZRX!). So don't write off a standard trail bike to start with. You can always build it into a motard later.

My electric leg KLX was $5000 which I think is on the high side (it was from a dealer). They had traded it for $4000 so they can be had for less.

Big tanks are available but I haven't had a need for one yet.

I run Dual purpose tyres (cheap ones too) and they slide progressively. Have to push hard to get them sliding. Best bit is they work OK everywhere from soft sand to race track. Just adjust the tyre pressures.

Road riding I wear road gear, off road - off road gear. The way you fall is different cause you're riding different.

Good luck on YOUR choice. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, (and I guess the Euro brands too, but I'm not familiar with them) all make good 250 trail bikes that also will make good motards.

My 5 cents.

**Motu** · 5th May 2005, 22:18

I forgot about the TDR250,strike my comment about the most sophisticated 2 stroke dirt bike!.As Slob says the XR/DR/TTR are solid bikes,to extract everything they have to give offroad you will be one of the best riders in the country,but on road you will find their limit pretty easy.All of these are available as tin tank electric starts,gain some weight and practicality,if you can kill one you are a rare breed.

The next step up are the watercooled bikes,higher in maintanence,hard to find street legal and real ropey on road,tall,light and narrow,you really know you are on a dirt bike here.

You can get street legal 2 strokes,the DT230 I've been talking about is the tamest,but power to weight puts any 4 stroke to shame,the street legal RMs and CRs are 50hp monsters,you'll have your work cut out just controlling them on the street,it's fun,but only in short bursts,power junky stuff.Even the DT230 is not nice around town,it only wants to be on or off power,it's not happy cruising,always wants to race ahead....I find it harder to keep my speed down than on a sports bike - you just keep turning down a side street and going neeyit,neeyit,neeyit between corners.

And you don't need big front brakes - both my bikes will lock the front very easy...and that's not how you ride them anyway.

**Coldkiwi** · 6th May 2005, 12:35

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

Get them if you need them.

Very good point. upgrading the brakes won't be cheap so its probably best if you're doing a conversion to get the necessary wheels and make sure they can take the original brake equipment but also support a brake upgrade if you want it later.

but then.... you know you want a motard so you can do ridiculously stoppies right GL!? When I took Mt Edens SM400 out for a light spin I couldn't believe how far the weight ends up over the front wheel! Getting the back off the ground is as easy as changing gears!

**Ghost Lemur** · 6th May 2005, 15:22

Originally Posted by Coldkiwi

but then.... you know you want a motard so you can do ridiculously stoppies right GL!?

hehe

I canny lie. Tis true. That and wheelies.

You guys are just giving me more questions.
So far it looks like the factory motard is an impossibility (except maybe the D-Tracker if I can find a price on them). Too expensive and not available in NZ.

So this leaves a road legal trailbike. Been going through Bikepoint each time you guys have mentioned a different model. Just to get a rough guesstimate on prices.

Come across a couple of interesting bikes.

2000 HONDA XRB200 ~$3k
2004 HONDA XR250ES ~$6k

What's the difference between all the different XR's and CR's models. Same with the number of different yamaha models.

To reiterate this needs be a perfect bike. Perfect for the open road mission. Perfect for the daily commute, perfect for the gravelly fun and perfect for the occassional off road adventure. Oh and it must be cheap.

Don't ask for much do I.

**FlangMasterJ** · 7th May 2005, 13:46

Apparently there is a HONDA XR250SM that may hit our shores but I don't know for sure.

What I did was buy a KTM250EXCR and have a 350 kit put in but it was still registered as a 250 (sneaky, sneaky).

The funny thing was when the testing officer at VINZ took it for a spin he came back and said 'it goes pretty good for a 250'.

The 350 pulls throttle only wheelies in third gear with the stock gearing but speed wise it maxed out at 120kph. 2 weeks after that I had some 17" wheels put on and the gearing was changed from 13/52 to 14/35 and this gave me a max speed of over 160 easily but was to tall for inner city traffic so had it lowered to 14/45.

To tell you the truth it was very uncomfortable but was very steady on the motorway and a hell of alot of fun. As you mentioned the small fuel tank was a bit of a prick. I was having to fill her up every couple of days.

In my honest opinion I wouldn't get a motard that was under 350cc, it put's too much stress on the engine with the constant RPM's and especially with todays high perfomance - high maintenance engines. But if you can find and older generation 250 4 stroke such as the XR250 I'm sure it would be near bulletproof in motard trim but would be lacking in outright power.

Here's a link to my KTM350EXCR motard that was stolen a few weeks back

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11243

**Dutchee** · 7th May 2005, 19:30

Originally Posted by Ghost Lemur

What's the difference between all the different XR's and CR's models. Same with the number of different yamaha models.

To reiterate this needs be a perfect bike. Perfect for the open road mission. Perfect for the daily commute, perfect for the gravelly fun and perfect for the occassional off road adventure. Oh and it must be cheap.

Don't ask for much do I.

XR = old school four strokes
CRs = two strokes
CRFs = new breed of four strokes (race bikes) - unless you're talking about the little CRFs, in which case it's slightly updated XRs under a new guise (meaning the 50s, 70s, 80s, 100s, 150s & 230s, not the bigger bikes which are race bikes)

I commute my drz250 which is old school four stroke. She's not light in the bush, so I'm selective about when & where to take her. She's electric start with kick back up (yes, I have had to use that as I've had electrical problems - well, my husband has kicked her, I've managed it once). She's fun on the roads. She has a max speed of about 120 (this is pushing, 110 is about comfortable). The seat isn't too bad, but after about 50k I need a rest (my butt does). She's travelled as far south as Tokoroa (for the supercross this year) and as far north as Tutamoe (for a trail ride I didn't dare take her on as it was so wet & I had no spare clothes with me for riding back to dorkland in).

Tank range is about 200k before reserve (long rides I fill up whenever my husband has to, but have had 230k out of it due to me not filling once when he had to).

If you're wanting to go 120+ kph, don't get a 250 - they just don't go that fast.

**clint640** · 11th May 2005, 13:41

TDR's are great, stoopid quick on a twisty road, & they look cool, but a dirt bike they are not. My RZ 350 was way better on gravel than my TDR. The TDR also had a dirtbike style small tank & hard seat, but damn it was fun. They are getting cheap now however budget ~ $500 for a top end rebuild (do it yourself)
I'm with Motu on the DT230, If I was on my learners again with a ~ 5K budget I'd buy one - power to cruise at 120+ on the road, light enuff for trail rides, cheap to maintain. If ya can live with less power a 97+ XR 250 is a great trailbike & reliable as a brick, there are plenty around with road equipment.

Cheers
Clint