Dirt Bike FAQ

Try contacting the Daymak headquarters in Toronto @
130 Oakdale Rd. Toronto, ON, M3N 1V9
Tel: (416) 749-2324
Toll Free: 1-866-379-7779
Email: info@daymak.com
Hours of operations: Monday-Friday: 10:00am – 7:00 pm; Saturday: 10:00am – 6:00 pm

They sell dirt bikes, quads, and more off road fun. They will know where there are tracks for you to play on.
Have fun!!!!

Yes, they cost more than your typical Jap bike, find your local dealer and call them.

http://www.ktmusa.com/Dealer-Locator.77.20.html

Now for what that bike will cost you can get a killer mountain bike.

Axiom and Wellgo both offer good affordable pedals with replaceable studs.A cromoly axle is best.
The best pedal is one that has an owner with a good pedal nut tool.
I always rebuild my pedals with good bearing grease when new.Filling the bearings with grease will help keep dirt and water out of them.My favorite bicycle grease is Bullshot.[red]
The best bearing grease I have ever used came in a caulking tube and is used by long haul truckers to lubricate their trailer connector contacts where the trailer meets the tractor[truck].[it was red]

As far as leaning, turning, braking, throttle control, clutch control, and shifting gears, it will definitely help.

Have you thought about a dual purpose bike? You could learn off road, then take it on road when you're ready.

- Shop around. Go to the cycle shops and check out what the latest models and last year's models are going for. Compare.

- Pick up Dirt Rider magazine. They always have a classifieds section and reviews of products and bikes, check out what they say are some good deals.

- Peruse your Sunday paper. People often sell second-hand dirtbikes in the paper, check that out. Make some calls and see what people have to offer.

- Hang out at your local track. People are ALWAYS bringing excess bikes to the track and setting them up with For Sale signs. Those guys know their stuff too so they will usually ask a fair price.

- Make sure you do your research. Talk to the gys at your local dealers and have them make suggestions for you. They can recommend bikes for the way you ride or tell you about features you might look for. That way when you DO find somehting for sale, you know what you're looking for and what to ask.

- Lastly, check out this website for tips, tricks and an online marketplace.

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=264387

Good luck!

You can likely get it registered, but there is no guarantee. Assuming the bike has the appropriate registration, DOT equipment (mirrors, signals, etc…), and passes vehicle inspection you should be able to get it done. Your best bet is to contact offroad-only.com. They specifically register bikes for your situation (4 stroke dirt to on-road street in california).

There are a variety of good options for you. I would recommend a 4-stroke for trail riding for the wide powerband, the low end torque allows them to just keep on chugging. Though there are some perfectly capable 2-strokes out there for trails.
For trail riding, I would recommend against a moto-x or "racing" style bike. The gears are too close and the lowest ones are often too high for real technical trail stuff.
Some of the ones I am familiar with (through ownership) are the
WR-250 and the XR-250.
I moved up to the XR-250 from an XR-200 and it is a WORLD of difference. It surprised me greatly, so make sure you start carefully moving up from an 80. The engine is vastly superior, and it can do 3rd gear wheelies without popping the clutch . It's among the best off road machines I've ever ridden, the powerband is perfect. It also has disk brakes on both tires (unlike the 200), which you definitely want.

The racing derived bikes, like the WR (based off the YZ), is basically a racing bike with different gearing and a few trail oriented changes. Usually they keep the same high-output high-compression racing motors, which can be finicky. Some of them even recommend a rebuild after every racing season (or more frequent!), though trail riding doesn't put as much strain on it. The XR has an air cooled engine, which I've noticed can get VERY HOT in the summer when your not able to move very fast for a while. The racing derived bikes tend to be liquid cooled, but are a tad more high-strung. I've had issues with both bikes with hot starting, especially after being dropped (the XR not as bad, but sometimes it can be stubborn). If you get a bike that uses a decompress to help start (WR does, XR has one but doesn't need it), it helps if you can get one with an auto-decompress exhaust cam (greatly eases starting), or electric start (though I personally won't ride a bike that ONLY has an electric start). The WR I believe has come with a decompress standard for quite some time now (and I think electric start now too), but I had to retrofit my older model with the cam. 2-strokes do tend to start easier, I will concede that to them .

Things you want in a trail bike:
tons of low-end torque
disc brakes, front and back
lower, wide ratio, trail gearing
comfortable (enough) seat
probably more I'm forgetting…

almost all bike manufacturer's make a good trail bike around that displacement class. Hit up the bike forums and reviews and see what people have to say about the bikes your looking at.

best of luck on your decision and have a blast!

edit: forgot to mention, if you like the Honda CRF250, check out the CRF250X model, it is the Honda equivalent to the WR, with the different gearing, etc. from the full out racing bike.

This all depends on where you live.

I live in Wisconsin.

If a vehicle is designated as Off Road Use Only from the factory, it can not be registered or used on the street. A dirt bike would be considered an off road use only vehicle.

Your only option would be to sell it and use the money to purchase a dual sport bike which can be registered for street use.

It depends a lot on your height. I would stick with a 4 stroke off road bike (not motocross). Check out the following bikes at your dealer and see which you prefer. Yamaha TT-R 125L or TT-R 230, Honda CRF150F or CRF230F, Suzuki DR-Z125L or DR-Z250. Kawasaki doesn't offer an off road bike that wouold be good for you and all of the KTM's are race bikes which is not a good first choice.

Do yourself a favour take some lessons from a qualified instructor.