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Hello, All, Just joined the forum after reading for some time. Appreciate the good information here. I'll be escaping New England's late winter to spend the month of April in the Pinehurst, NC area. Been reading here and elsewhere about the riding available in the general vicinity, including some of the pluses and minuses: Closest are Badin Lake and Uwharrie. These seem to be the same place, but can't quite tell; people seem to speak of them differently sometimes. Next closest is Outback, but I don't see much talk about this from the 2-wheeled crowd. Brown and Brushy seem to be the places that people gravitate to -- about 3 hours to the west of where I'll be. But here is the catch: I am brand new to trail riding! Been riding motorcycles for 20+ years, street riding, then to road racing and track days (raced for quite a while -- in fact at the end of this trip I'll be on track at VIR on the race bike), with a smattering of flat-track type training as well (so appreciate some of the ways that that dirt riding, neutral spine/push the bike down, is different than road course), but I am pure novice off-road and will be treating myself as such. The question: do you think I would be able to find a day or two of riding appropriate for me to start my dirt/trail career (like, start on the bunny slope and progress only when I'm ready) or should I leave the new dirt bike at home in New England? Thanks, Dustin

Hi, I’m considering purchasing a beautiful ‘78 Yamaha TY 250, it’s an old trials bike and I plan on using it for general travel and trail riding, I have never done trials before... At $2000 CAD (live in Ontario) should I go for it or look for a newer trail bike? Note: bike is identical to one pictured, slightly tougher shape

Good day all, novice/hobbyist dirtbike mechanic here and recently received in a trade a 2000 yz400f and 2006 yz250f. After Carb rebuild and oil change I got the 400 to start without an airbox idling with choke. when I changed the oil I did not check or replace the oil filter, just drained and added about 1.5 quarts. I noticed a decent leak I’d probably say a decently slow stream and I couldn’t tell exactly where it was from, maybe the side case on the shifter side and maybe the gasket where the top end meets the bottom end. I attributed the idleing problem to no airbox and improper air fuel screw setting. Also I didn’t get into the middle part of the pumper carb due to not having the full rebuild kit in yet and unfortunately let the shitty but somewhat operational bowl gasket sit in some carb cleaner and it swelled and now waiting for the rebuild kit. But my main scare is the leaking of oil and now I have no reading on the dip stick! After combing some other forums I’ve read a lot and just really don’t understand the terminology of what the smarter than me folks where saying with dry sump and wet sump. I did however take the dip stick out, get it to somewhat idle and there was a positive flow of air coming from the dipstick hole with some mist/drops coming out with revs. I know there are plenty of forums that address these issues but just wanted to start a new one and have some folks with great wisdom of these engines point me in a good direction for manuals, diagrams, forum links, and such. I’ve already ordered the full engine gasket kit, carb rebuild kit, airbox, mechanics service manual, and a couple things the bike needs to be back to running correct. I also apologize if I piss anyone off with making this post just wanted to make some friends and hopefully repair both of these bikes myself so me and my brother can hit the trails when he gets back from deployment. Any direction or help is appreciated! and I’ll be posting any pictures or videos if requested. V/R Kaden

Hi, I am 13 years old and I am trying to decide what bike I want to get (two stroke of course). I'm 5'2 - 5'3 tall, and I weigh 125lbs. I'm a beginner at this, meaning this is my first bike but, I have ridden a dirt bike a few times. My choices are the yz85, cr85, kx85, kx100, sx85, and the sx105 (Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, or Ktm). I am not interested in the rm because I just don't like it. It seems like a cheap crappy (sorry if I offended you) and it doesn't seem to have the speed and power that I want ( at least that's how people describe it to be). So please don't include it in. I am going to buy a used bike on Craigslist or somewhere because this is my first year and I'm not the richest of families (in case that helps.) Right now, I'm confused about which bike to get because they're all good brands. I want to be fast on the track (obviously) and I want to be aggressive. Which bike will fit that role? Can some also explain what top end and bottom end power is and what it helps with when you are listing a bike? Can you include the pro and con of it? I'm also not sure if an 85 is the right size for me, as I want to grow into a bike and have it last me. Maybe I should get a 125, if is so, which one (again, no Suzuki rm)? I'm going to a dealership to sit on some and try some (not too sure about trying some) Saturday but I just want thoughts about this. I don't know ANYONE with a dirt bike so the internet is my only friend here so I am really counting on you. My mom doesn't know anything about dirt bikes or the sport so I have to really look at this stuff myself. If you have any tips, please leave some as they will be helpful for me or any other onlookers in the same situation as I am in.

Talk me into it or talk me out of it! I’ve been looking for a couple months for a clean, low hour machine that I can start using for MX I’m a novice rider at best just looking to hone track skills. There is an 09 KX250F near me that is in mint condition. Single owner, 10 hours on the bike. Completely stock. It’s older then I wanted. I was looking at 12+ efi bikes but this old 09 is cleaner and cheaper then any of the used efi bikes I’ve seen. How was the KX250F in 09? Any particular issues?

Hi, I am completely new to all of this kind of stuff and I am considering buying this 49cc engine https://www.ebay.com/itm/47cc-49cc-Engine-Motor-2-Stroke-Transmission-Scooter-ATV-Mini-Quad-Dirt-Pit-Bike/362488268587?hash=item5465fc072b:g:TL0AAOSw9mBct9Sy. I don't have a pit bike yet but I want to get the engine running just to learn the basics. What do I need just to get the engine on its own running? I don't have a fuel tank so can I just use a plastic bottle? How to I get the throttle connected to something? Do I have to wire it up with anything or can I just connect a fuel tank and start it? Do I need to add oil? Thank you soooooo much