dirt bike

Icyseanfitz

hey lads im looking at buying a dirt bike after xmas for messing around on a bit of land, ive no idea what i should be looking at or how much i should be spending, i really dont want to go too far over the 1000 mark to start with, can you get anything for that kind of budget? or is it a waste of time, any advice or help would be great

probably should have posted this in the motorbike section, sorry mods

Alanstrainor

Moved...

Big Nasty

You should have no problem picking up something half decent for that money. Done Deal would be your best bet for a search. Just don't get something too big / heavy to start off with. How tall / heavy are you?

And make sure to hook yourself up with some body armour - bikes are great craic but can dangerous machines too.

Icyseanfitz

im 6 foot and weigh around 13 and a half stone, ive a nice amount of body Armour from downhill mtbing which would probably suit some motocross, i was looking at a few pitbikes but im not too sure how big they are, the 140cc and 160cc bikes here look really cool but ive no idea of the make, should i look for a pitbike or a proper moto cross bike? dont really mind buying second hand either so long as i can get it delivered

Big Nasty

Buy a used motocross to start. 125 is probably enough power to begin with. My last bike when I was doing enduro was a 350 and most would consider this a bit too heavy. A 250 2 stroke is recognised as the best combo of snappy power and light enough to throw around. Might be a bit too much for a beginner though but then again you're a big enough lad and should be able to handle it.

Icyseanfitz

thanks for the advice, really looking forward to getting one, have a little bit of unused land as well so i might try and build a bit of a track good craic could be had, would you mind if i ask your opinion on bikes when ive a bit of money together to buy one? pretty much the first bike i will own so i know just about nothing about them, are there any racing leagues/clubs in ireland?

Big Nasty

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

thanks for the advice, really looking forward to getting one, have a little bit of unused land as well so i might try and build a bit of a track good craic could be had, would you mind if i ask your opinion on bikes when ive a bit of money together to buy one? pretty much the first bike i will own so i know just about nothing about them, are there any racing leagues/clubs in ireland?

Buy a bike, get a bit of practice in first, then join TORC and start doing a few enduro's. If you've got a bit of land you're laughing. You will gouge out a track in no time and build a couple of dirt jumps for practice. Be careful not to land your nads on the tank after a jump!

Icyseanfitz

cool to know theres a bit of a scene around, are there many places in the country that have trails that can be ridden on bikes? its hard enough to find spots for mtbing so i can imagine its probably harder to find spots for loud motocross bikes

5T3PH3N

Don't buy Chinese, stick to the good brand bikes (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM, maybe TM too) There's a pretty big MX scene here, a good few tracks throughout the country.
As regards to what bike to go for, I'd say go for a clean early/mid 00's 250cc, Have a look on motocross.ie at the for sale section for 2nd hand bikes. Remember that 2 stroke oil has to be mixed in with the petrol for the 2 strokes while a 4 stroke is just petrol. Filters should be cleaned after a few hours use.

Don't skimp on body protection, helmet and boots are a must, body armour gloves, goggles and pants can be bought fairly cheap and will be needed.

Icyseanfitz

which would you go for? a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke? 4 stroke would be more convenient but does the 2 stroke perform better?

5T3PH3N

I love a good 4 stroke, my cousin has a Honda CRF 450 (4stroke) with a fmf pipe and a few other bits and that's a good setup for me(10stone/5'10) but it's different for everyone and really depends on the bike you're looking at. A good 2stroke can be unreal fun, I had a b/w cr85 when I was younger and that thing went like crazy, power delivery was sharp and it pulled great. If I was to buy another bike tomorrow, I'd probably go for a CRF250 (4stroke), or maybe a CR250 if I could find a fresh one!

Is it enduro stuff you're looking at doing or motocross?
You could also look into older bikes(70's 80's stuff), there some vintage mx grasstrack racing in a few spots around the country, mainly up north. Older bikes don't handle great though and if you ever decide to race modern mx on a classic, you'll be left behind!

AgileMyth

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

i i was looking at a few pitbikes but im not too sure how big they are, the 140cc and 160cc bikes here look really cool but ive no idea of the make, should i look for a pitbike or a proper moto cross bike? dont really mind buying second hand either so long as i can get it delivered

Stay away from that 'muck and fun' place. I've heard some very very bad things about them.

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2616020
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2403469
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2595519
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2543600
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2386278
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/2532743

Loads of stuff out there.:cool:

Icyseanfitz

god id love that 2005 honda crf 250, hopefully there will be something similar around when ive a bit of money together, are the bikes hard to maintain? is it easy enough to learn how to take care of them? im pretty good with mtb's and there is similar things between them (brakes, suspension) but are the engines difficult to take care of?

CJhaughey

2 strokes are a lot easier to maintain then 4 strokes, the newer 4 stroke MX stuff has very little margin for error in oil changing and once things start to need attention you are looking at significant investment in parts.
Late model 2t machines if looked after and fed good quality synthetic oil at the correct ratio are very very reliable machines.
Powervalves are probably the things that need the most care, but if you need a piston and rings its not that big a job, in many cases you can stick a new top end on in couple of hours at the outside once you know what you are doing.

Icyseanfitz

just so ive an idea of what replacement costs are, what would a brand new engine for that crf cost? again thanks for the help lads

two wheels good

I don't see any reason to rule out 4strokes if you want the bike for "messing about".
The engines on DR(z)'s, WR's, XR's are very robust. If the bike is old and sounds like a bag of spanners you might expect an expensive repair. But if it's been looked after you shouldn't need to worry about it going bang. I wouldn't turn down a 4stroke at the right price