Help me get a new bike!

[Dennis_Faatz]

After retiring from motorcycle racing/riding over 10 years ago, I’m ready to get back into the sport. I have been totally out of touch with the sport over these years and I desperately need some sound advice from the riders of this forum.

I am 45, 6’3”, 220 lbs, strong and healthy. I was racing expert level desert/hare scrambles on 250cc Huskys and KTMs when I retired. I need a bike that will perform well on National Forest type single-track and fire roads 80% of my riding and open desert the remaining 20%. Most of my riding will be recreation trailriding, with an occasional desert race thrown in.

My choices for a new bike are: the Honda XR650R, the Yamaha WR 426 and the WR 250. I have ridden a YZ 400 & 426, as well as a XR 600. All three rides were brief. I have not been able to catch a ride on any of the specific models I’m interested in. Now I call on your expertise to help me make a decision. Thanks for your input

[Guest Guest]

I have an XR250R and it has PLENTY of power. I of course removed my baffle do get all that power but I can keep up with my friends WR250F and he has a Dr. D pipe, yz timing and the little grey wire has been removed!

[Guest Guest]

I'm only 39-3/4, so I'm not that old yet. I got back into biking 5 years ago on a Honda XR250. I sold that the fall of 1999 and anticipated the arival of the 2000 Suzuki DRZ400.

I ended up with the "S" model to be able to ride on the street legally and keep out of trouble - I'm old enough to keep out of trouble anyway!

I think the DRZ400 and/or the DRZ400E model might be worth a look. I'm not getting any younger and the "E" button is really nice. ?

[Xenracer]

With this topic you could get a wide ranges of responses. Get this bike or get that bike. What will really matter is what type of riding are you going to be doing. Are you going back into racing. Is it strickly for trail riding. Does your trail riding include extreme terrain. I didn't look, but are you on the east or the west coast. Reason being a XR400 or XR650 or brand equal may be too big for east coast application. Whereas they would be very confortable on the west coast application. You also need to factor in are you going to be riding any MX or wanting to dual sport. Althought I am a die hard honda rider...

Not everyone can really push a honda to it's limits, whereas the YZF and the DRZ are more suited to be pushed and the E start on the suzuki is nice but is the weight worth it to you. However on the flip side of that XR is very reliable and very little wrench time is needed to maintain the bike and E starts can be installed for under $500.

The best bet is to see if you can borrow a buddies bike and take it for a spin or rent one i

[Guest Guest]

Originally posted by Dennis Faatz:

After retiring from motorcycle racing/riding over 10 years ago, I’m ready to get back into the sport. I have been totally out of touch with the sport over these years and I desperately need some sound advice from the riders of this forum.

I am 45, 6’3”, 220 lbs, strong and healthy. I was racing expert level desert/hare scrambles on 250cc Huskys and KTMs when I retired. I need a bike that will perform well on National Forest type single-track and fire roads 80% of my riding and open desert the remaining 20%. Most of my riding will be recreation trailriding, with an occasional desert race thrown in.

My choices for a new bike are: the Honda XR650R, the Yamaha WR 426 and the WR 250. I have ridden a YZ 400 & 426, as well as a XR 600. All three rides were brief. I have not been able to catch a ride on any of the specific models I’m interested in