Thinking of getting a dirt bike.......... | GTAMotorcycle.com

Thinking of getting a dirt bike..........

smudger

Well-known member
I currently have a ZX7 track bike & only ride on the track - I dont ride on the street.
I'm now thinking of buying a dirt bike as I'd like to extend my riding season into the winter & used to have a dirt bike many years ago back home in England.
I'd also like to start my 3 year old son off in the dirt biking world.

I do have a few questions though:

~ How many of you guys hit the trails all year round, in fact are the trails even open to dirt bikes all yaer round?
~ For the trails that are open all winter do you need a specific licence to ride them like the snowmobilers have & is there much risk from the many snowmobilers on winter trails?
~ Are there many legal trails or areas to ride off road close to Guelph, Cambridge or KW?
~ At 6'2" will someting like a Honda CR80R or Suzuki DR100 fit me ok?
~ Any other advice you may have.

Thanks, Smudger
 
Last edited:
I currently have a ZX7 track bike & only ride on the track - I dont ride on the street.
I'm now thinking of buying a dirt bike as I'd like to extend my riding season into the winter & used to have a dirt bike many years ago back home in England.
I'd also like to start my 3 year old son off in the dirt biking world.

I do have a few questions though:

~ How many of you guys hit the trails all year round, in fact are the trails even open to dirt bikes all yaer round?
~ For the trails that are open all winter do you need a specific licence to ride them like the snowmobilers have & is there much risk from the many snowmobilers on winter trails?
~ Are there many legal trails or areas to ride off road close to Guelph, Cambridge or KW?
~ At 6'2" will someting like a Honda CR80R or Suzuki DR100 fit me ok?
~ Any other advice you may have.

Thanks, Smudger

Dirtbikes are not allowed on OFSC trailes in the winter months (it may be from Nov 1st on or Dec 1st can't remember). You will just get stuck in deep snow anyway so it's isn't a great option and you'll get run over by a sled. Ice racing however is an option and happens all winter provided the lake freezes.

I don't know what trails are out that way but someone will

Those bikes are WAY too small for you. Go to the bike show and sit on some. Keep in mind that a small cr80 has enough power to put you on your head and a powerband like a light switch. These things combined with your size/weight will make for one heck of scary ride. If you want somthing you can ride around on with your son I'd look at somthing that isn't a MX platform. Something more trail oriented will be easier for you to ride slow and enjoy while he learns.
 
As for trails around the KW area, nothing legal that I know of. I really wish there was... if anybody knows, please chime in.
 
I used to ride only track. Haven't done that in a few years. But I picked up a dirt bike to replace the track riding.
I wish I did this years ago. So much fun. I enjoy it more than the track.
I'm not sure about riding in deep snow, never done it. I don't care for the cold.
I was out last weekend and with all the leaves covering the single track it was a challenge to tell where the trail was going at times. I can't imagine it with snow. You would have no clue what's under it or where the trail was.
 
The OFTR forum can probably help you with areas to ride nearby. Figure this out first before getting too invested in it. It sucks to buy a new toy only to realize you need to trailer it for a couple of hours to ride legally. I also wouldn't bank too much on winter riding. Ganaraska is open to motorized use until Dec 1st, but I've usually got the bike put away by November.

For the kid, maybe consider the OSETs (electric trials bikes) since you could get away with riding them on your own property if your back yard is big enough.

For you, you'll have to decipher the alphabet soup of model names to distinguish between the MX bikes and the playbikes. For the Japanese manufacturers you can tell based on whether they're categorized under "competition" (MX) or "off-road" (typically playbike). For KTM the SX models are the MX bikes.

The playbikes are pretty tame on power and unless you're only puttering around with the kid you may want more. There aren't many models in between the MX bikes and the playbikes, but the Kawasaki KDX models are good (and cheap) for full sized adults, otherwise you might want to look at KTM (something like the 200 XC-W)
 
I always ride with my boys for family time. Ihave a fairly sandy area to ride near me...sold the dirtbike to buy atvs. Too much work in the soft stuff on smaller dirtbikes and my kids ride the 90 or the 250 with ease ;)
Are you thinking new or used?
 
Last edited:
There are little to no places to legally ride trails with off-road only bikes in your area. To really enjoy a day, you'd need to head to simcoe county (Barrie area) or Ganaraska forest. Or look into the pay to play areas like Gopher Dunes, Burnt River, motopark etc.
You can however, have decent fun linking short trails and road allowances on a blue plated dual sport locally.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I currently have a ZX7 track bike & only ride on the track - I dont ride on the street.
I'm now thinking of buying a dirt bike as I'd like to extend my riding season into the winter & used to have a dirt bike many years ago back home in England.
I'd also like to start my 3 year old son off in the dirt biking world.

I do have a few questions though:

~ How many of you guys hit the trails all year round, in fact are the trails even open to dirt bikes all yaer round?
~ For the trails that are open all winter do you need a specific licence to ride them like the snowmobilers have & is there much risk from the many snowmobilers on winter trails?
~ Are there many legal trails or areas to ride off road close to Guelph, Cambridge or KW?
~ At 6'2" will someting like a Honda CR80R or Suzuki DR100 fit me ok?
~ Any other advice you may have.

Thanks, Smudger

80 or 100 way to small.depends what you want. Get something like a CRf250 ttr200 for all around riding fun or a more maintenance motocross bike like a yzf250 ktm rmz etc..for more thrills... also I started my lil guy is a ttr50 with training wheels...e start works wonders when they fall over..semi auto 3 speed...next yr he will b ready for a clutch bike
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice.

If it was me, I would get a dual sport blue plated bike and go on rides with Alon. He's a good guy to lead rides and will not push any new riders out of their comfort zone. I would do this for myself, but I'm too cheap to pay for insurance on another bike.
 

Back
Top Bottom