Is this Honda AX-1 ok to get into offroad with? Bike bought but have no idea.

Impulse bought this bike a few weeks ago for a road trip.. As in 3 hours after I even considered buying a bigger bike, I had bought it. It's an AX-1.. Basically a souped up NX250 made for the Japanese market. 30bhp instead of 24bhp and better diskbrakes.

I'm good on bikes and this was no problem up on some dirtroads even with the slick back tyres.. Riding isn't an issue, just the fact that I don't really know what this bike really is or what it's capable off. I didn't plan on using it as a motocross sort of thing.




Getting petrol. The back has been lowered a bit since.


So anyways, now my friend is thinkin of gettin a 400cc motocross and we get into some offroad stuff cause he knows a couple of local guys into it.

They mostly use 400cc and that's my first worry.. Is the 250cc too weak? Is my bike even meant for proper offroad?
My second worry is that I had it lowered down and now the back suspension is like a spunge until I sit on it.. As in the bike sways on it's stand if you touch it. How bad is a soft suspension for offroad?
What sort of tyres should I get? Obviously I should get stubblies but any particular type/brand/width?

Thanks for any advice.. Feels like a bit of a dangerous thing to start doing with my location.

CJhaughey

They are a good bike, more intended as a supermoto style bike rather than an offroad machine.
Those cast wheels will break up if you try and do too much offroad on them.
You need spoked wheels to use offroad.
How exactly did they lower the back? did they alter the pro-link or did they do something to the shock?
Usually offroad bikes have lots of travel, not necessarily stiff but you need good ground clearance and that usually means a goo bit of travel.
I would go for some road/trail knobbies. Pirelli MT21 are a good compromise but you would really want to sort the wheels out first.
What size is the front? if its 21" then 90/90/21 would be about right, the rear 110/90?

Del2005

I doubt it'll handle proper motocross. Simple trail riding and fields is all it's really suitable for. It's only baby Dominator and they where never really designed for proper off road use, it's more like a SantaFe then a Defender. In saying that a friend stuck knobblies on an MTX125 and used that off road a good bit, he did mostly forest trails and fire breaks.

A 250 will be fine to keep up with 400's. Unless your friends are at a very high level they won't be able to use all the power of the 400. A 250 will be easier to ride.