Thinking about dirt for next year..

[mac_135]

So I'm just wrapping up my 6th season riding street and have been thinking about adding a dirt bike to the lineup. I've never done any proper offroading other than a few interesting scenarios on my street bike. I want to do this as cheap as possible and maybe start riding trails to see if I like it, not really interested in doing anything too crazy. I know nothing about this, but came across these ads:

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ297841169

I know you get what you pay for, but would something like this work to just rip around on every once in a while? I'm only planning to use the thing a few times a year as street riding still keeps me busy! If something like that is a complete piece of garbage and waste of money what other options are out there to do this on the cheap? Thanks!

[GreyGhost]

I've never seen anyone say anything good about chinese bikes. Odds are you will have an $800 paperweight that is always broken with spare parts almost impossible to get. You are much better off with a 20 yo bike by one of the big companies if you have a small budget.

[kellen]

you should be able to get an older 2 stroke 125 by one of the big 4 for only like 500 more than one of those.

[klr_guy]

why not book a day or two with trailtours or cmts and get a feel for things? Or if you're really only going to do it a few times a year, just go to either of them each time - no need for trailer / bike / insurance / off-road gear / etc.

[coyo]

why not book a day or two with trailtours or cmts and get a feel for things? Or if you're really only going to do it a few times a year, just go to either of them each time - no need for trailer / bike / insurance / off-road gear / etc.

I agree with the Trailtours idea. They're a good setup and it makes for a great day and at the end of the day you're in a better position to make a decision on what you want to do without having to dish out on a bike and gear you may not want... and you will have learned some new skills. I went there a few years ago (made a day of it with a group of friends) and got my dirt bike shortly after.

[Xhumeka]

I've found quite a few $600-$700 bikes over the past few years that needed another $150 in small parts (like chains, sprockets, new air filters, etc) that would suit your needs perfectly. Just watch kijiji for older 2 stroke 125's or 250 4 stroke (depending on your preference). My preference is mid 80's honda's, like an xr250 or xr350 or a cr125.

This time of year you'll get some deals for sure...

[Red_Liner740]

i would have been agreeing with you guys last month but a buddy picked up a new Gio 250 4stroke and has had nothing but great things to say about it....he got it for 900 shipped to his door...sorry but thats a LOT of bike for that coin. I helped him put it together and got familiar with the bike. Decent quality and parts and parts are cheap and readily available from Vancouver. Seeing as how i picked up a 93 RM250 for 400 bucks that will need another 5 to 600 put into it before it will be decently rideable soon and i thought i scored a deal.

[chadta]

i would have been agreeing with you guys last month but a buddy picked up a new Gio 250 4stroke and has had nothing but great things to say about it....he got it for 900 shipped to his door...sorry but thats a LOT of bike for that coin. I helped him put it together and got familiar with the bike. Decent quality and parts and parts are cheap and readily available from Vancouver. Seeing as how i picked up a 93 RM250 for 400 bucks that will need another 5 to 600 put into it before it will be decently rideable soon and i thought i scored a deal.

Id like to revisit this post once the bike in question has say 50 or 100 hours on it, and see if its still a complete bike, or even able to be put back into something that resembles a complete bike. But hey i guess if the parts are only in vancouver then its ok, My honda parts dealer is 4 kms away from my house, and if they dont have it in stock there is 2 other honda shops within 25 kms.

[canuckwr250]

i would have been agreeing with you guys last month but a buddy picked up a new Gio 250 4stroke and has had nothing but great things to say about it....he got it for 900 shipped to his door...sorry but thats a LOT of bike for that coin. I helped him put it together and got familiar with the bike. Decent quality and parts and parts are cheap and readily available from Vancouver. Seeing as how i picked up a 93 RM250 for 400 bucks that will need another 5 to 600 put into it before it will be decently rideable soon and i thought i scored a deal.

I also helped someone put these things together and it was a joke.It looked like the bolts came from princess auto plus no manual with torque specs or anything.What did you torque all the bolts to when putting it together? Chromoly and good aluminum cost money,what do you think you're getting for $900,a honda 50 costs more than $1000 did you look at the welds?.All the anodized bling you see will propably not last a season without fading.I hate to see someone getting into the sport and be dissapointed and maybe leave the sport because of this junk.China dont care what they sell to us and neither does the guy that imports them,its a quick buck to make for people getting into the sport.Do yourself a favour and buy an old XR for $1000 bucks you will be much better off.

[kellen]

There's a nice 96 KX125 with lots of goodies and an ownership in St. Mary's and the guy was willing to take $1300 for it a couple weeks ago, maybe even less now. I almost bought it

[mac_135]

I think I'm going to rent a bike, probably my best option.

Having said that, any recommendations on where to do this?

[canuckwr250]

I think I'm going to rent a bike, probably my best option.

Having said that, any recommendations on where to do this?

Trailtour is the only one I can think of for trail riding,expect to spend $265 there.I think they might rent bikes at the Burnt River mx track,but im not to sure.

[coyo]

Again I agree with Trailtours. All you have to do is show up, they provide the gear, the bike, the lunch and the trail guide / instructor.

[Willys]

Hmmm...???

I bought a Chinese knock-off dual sport for my daughter a few years ago. It was $600 and had 134 kms on it, the kid had a good bit of road rash on his left side I think. The bike is what you say, cheaply made, built and put together but......after I went over the entire thing with a fine toothed comb it is great! The hard plastics rattle enough that I ripped them off very quickly after taking it for a spin in the fields behind our house. But the thing will go anywhere and I can't kill it! Yes I have tried! lol
I even took it up north to beat on the hydro lines chasing a buddy on his Husky, yeh yeh he won, but I was still riding after 4-5 hours of hard hard pounding! If you just want a very cheap in all respects off road machine, I can't say too much against them after this little bike we have.
We've had it for 3 years now and it still runs great. Setting the valves entailed dropping the motor slightly but hey what do you want for peanuts????...lol

[canuckwr250]

Hmmm...???

I bought a Chinese knock-off dual sport for my daughter a few years ago. It was $600 and had 134 kms on it, the kid had a good bit of road rash on his left side I think. The bike is what you say, cheaply made, built and put together but......after I went over the entire thing with a fine toothed comb it is great! The hard plastics rattle enough that I ripped them off very quickly after taking it for a spin in the fields behind our house. But the thing will go anywhere and I can't kill it! Yes I have tried! lol
I even took it up north to beat on the hydro lines chasing a buddy on his Husky, yeh yeh he won, but I was still riding after 4-5 hours of hard hard pounding! If you just want a very cheap in all respects off road machine, I can't say too much against them after this little bike we have.
We've had it for 3 years now and it still runs great. Setting the valves entailed dropping the motor slightly but hey what do you want for peanuts????...lol

Im sure they are getting better,when I was at royal yesterday I even seen parts for chinese bikes in the corner of the store.So there is some support for these bikes out there.