Dirt bike recommendations?

[leathel]

oh to have your mechanical knowledge! my bike hasn't even had a proper look at yet, hmmm and apart from cleaning it after every single ride (air filter after every second) I've not done anything to it! I've always loved the look of mx riding, or racing I guess I mean, that to me is what looks like more fun than trails with lots of trees and narrow ish paths and shit!

I would prefer not to need to do the mechanical stuff but my bike is old and well used, yours wont need a lot of what I am doing for a long while yet....... nearly got another bike last week but I have told myself not until I get a couple of boats out of the way first....space and the money from selling one or being paid for the work on the other will give me a better bike

[bosslady]

I would prefer not to need to do the mechanical stuff but my bike is old and well used, yours wont need a lot of what I am doing for a long while yet....... nearly got another bike last week but I have told myself not until I get a couple of boats out of the way first....space and the money from selling one or being paid for the work on the other will give me a better bike

I reckon! no more bikesies for you mate, no more bikesies for you!

[budget biker]

sorry to see u r stuggling so much. not a great rider myself and I came from a road bike too. have a couple of kids riding now too.it got easier 4 me.
all comments only from my point of view.
most terrain has a different skill set
dirt bikes generally weight the opposite side when turning to road bikes. easier to get someone to show u than to explain with my 1 finger typing
sand, especielly soft, is hard to ride in. it should however make other riding easier
picking up dropped bikes is hard work.one technique is to pick up from the handle bars right at the end of the bars.more leverage means less work.if dropped on hill pick up from uphill side.u may need to spin bike on ground.u wont hurt it and its easier
keeping feet on pegs is better but if u need to paddle or r more comfortable feet down then its fine. feet down is better than falling off.

[leathel]

I reckon! no more bikesies for you mate, no more bikesies for you!

2004 DR400 for 2K was almost to good to pass up, not the electric start model but that doesn't bother me..... sold else where now, was never going to be there long at that price

[bosslady]

sorry to see u r stuggling so much. not a great rider myself and I came from a road bike too. have a couple of kids riding now too.it got easier 4 me.
all comments only from my point of view.
most terrain has a different skill set
dirt bikes generally weight the opposite side when turning to road bikes. easier to get someone to show u than to explain with my 1 finger typing
sand, especielly soft, is hard to ride in. it should however make other riding easier
picking up dropped bikes is hard work.one technique is to pick up from the handle bars right at the end of the bars.more leverage means less work.if dropped on hill pick up from uphill side.u may need to spin bike on ground.u wont hurt it and its easier
keeping feet on pegs is better but if u need to paddle or r more comfortable feet down then its fine. feet down is better than falling off.

that's what I thought too but got told otherwise (weight opposite side) but then that wasn't an experienced dirt bike rider that said that, lol. As for picking up the bike I've now found that when I go to pick it up (yup at the handlebars) to give it absolutely everything I've got and get it up on the first try. Cause if I don't get it up the first time and it takes too many goes then I get too tired! hard work getting that thing up though! glad I don't have slippery mud to contend with. Definitely I fall less often if I stand up in the sand so that's the go er. Last time I tried to sit down and paddle I had twice as many mishaps, lol.

2004 DR400 for 2K was almost to good to pass up, not the electric start model but that doesn't bother me..... sold else where now, was never going to be there long at that price

oh yea, that's cheap! how do you come across all these bargains?

[nzspokes]

I wouldnt mind a ride today but theres only Woodhill open. May have to go out on the road bike.

[budget biker]

more guff from a back of the pack rider
lessons help immensely
adjust bike to fit you. eg lower forks a little if you r struggling to reach ground .this helped with the kids .downside is less suspensoin travel
find rides that suit you. hard to do in winter ,spring I know
find a practise area, paddock ,car park, waste ground, doesn't matter what. and practice. eg do figure 8s sitting, standing.play
.we used the back terrace tight but you had to turn or fall off the bank,10feet. upside was there is a hill to get up and down.downside was my son got better, got new bike rm1`25,and turned it from a slightly bumpy back lawn into a severlly rutted figure8 berms included. no need to mow neighbour also got new layer of topsoil spread over his tidy back yard.lmao


hope it gets better and you can have some fun.

[nzspokes]

Thinking about it, tiz a shame there isnt a farm you can pay to ride on close to Auckland. Its not that wet out there right now.

So heres a vid to watch instead.

http://vimeo.com/user19485993/adayathome

[bosslady]

I wouldnt mind a ride today but theres only Woodhill open. May have to go out on the road bike.

I'd love to go for a ride on my bike too (road) but it's not fixed yet

more guff from a back of the pack rider
lessons help immensely
adjust bike to fit you. eg lower forks a little if you r struggling to reach ground .this helped with the kids .downside is less suspensoin travel
find rides that suit you. hard to do in winter ,spring I know
find a practise area, paddock ,car park, waste ground, doesn't matter what. and practice. eg do figure 8s sitting, standing.play
.we used the back terrace tight but you had to turn or fall off the bank,10feet. upside was there is a hill to get up and down.downside was my son got better, got new bike rm1`25,and turned it from a slightly bumpy back lawn into a severlly rutted figure8 berms included. no need to mow neighbour also got new layer of topsoil spread over his tidy back yard.lmao


hope it gets better and you can have some fun.

nah I reckon I reach the ground ok, can't put both feet flat down but can get front balls of feet down. Nowhere near home to practice that I know of and of course still involves the effort of hooking it up on the trailer etc. our yard isn't big enough to practice, there's a small plot of the neighbours land but I don't think they'd be impressed if I rarked it up lol.

[nzspokes]

Basic bike set up, CRF230.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z6fOa_batM

Yes im bored.

[bosslady]

Thinking about it, tiz a shame there isnt a farm you can pay to ride on close to Auckland. Its not that wet out there right now.

So heres a vid to watch instead.

http://vimeo.com/user19485993/adayathome

that's a cool vid!

[nzspokes]

that's a cool vid!

Apart from a accent, this is a good series of vids of how tos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ltjpawFEE

[T.W.R]

From what I've read, there's a few things of issue to focus on.

1) No offence but, you've bitten off more than you can chew trying to learn off road & road skills all at the same time; two separate things that need two separate approaches... and learning both from new it's hard to keep them apart. You'd have been better off learning off road before heading for the road
2) CRF230 is too small for you....it's a kids bike an intermediate stepping stone between minis and full size.
3) Talk of dropping the suspension to help you will be more detrimental to the issue than good,paddling around with your hoofs on the ground is for the tight stuff & negotiating shit at walking pace.

Years ago riding off road used to be about feeling the bike under you, keeping up on the pegs & getting to know the looseness of the bike being literally out of control 8/10s of the time just making sure it was pointing in the right direction & enjoying the thrill, keeping off the brakes and learning control via the throttle.

[nzspokes]

Gagging for a trail ride now. Sigh.

[nzspokes]

And, as we have discussed already. It can just as easily be a way to meet an early death.

You realize your on a motorcycle forum right?