Dirt Bikes and Motards

  • Thread starter JohnBM01
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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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Sorry. As creative as I am, I couldn't come up with a better thread title. So as you can tell, this thread is about motards. These are the motorcycles you'll mostly see in motocross and perhaps even supermoto. This is a general thread on motards and even some motard gear to wear if you're riding one of these.

Our own UnoMOTO says that KTM makes the best motards. I could attest to that since I see companies like KTM and Yamaha compete in the Dakar Rally. I think I've seen a fair share of both companies in this prestigious racing event. Often times, I hear of Honda motards being the best. The latest edition of Houston cycletrader.com (a classified publication dedicated to motorcycles) has a few pages talking about different dirt bikes ranging from the Honda CRF100F all the way up to the CRF450R. I'm not really a motard guy because I've been more about superbikes and sport bikes than motards.

Maybe some of you get your off-road racing fix with a motard. Why not chat about these?
 
I'd just go with "dirt bikes", as "motard" generally refers specifically to supermoto (road/dirt hybrid racing).

I'm a woods rider, myself, so 4-stroke eduro bikes are my weapon of choice. Two strokes have their charm, but are generally too peaky for tight trails (the KDX is an exception, as its tuned for enduro racing). My personal favorite bike is my Yamaha TTR-250. The damn thing will tractor through anything, has suspension out the ass, and a happy button (electric start). Particularly useful near the end of the day and my scrawny ass can barely even lift the bike back up any more. Its sheer weight is my only complaint. But they are all good bikes. KTM does make some damn fine dirt bikes, but they will cost you the most of many of the big names. But, generally, you can just pick a color you like, go with the brand that makes that, and you'll be fine. Brand loyalty will probably follow whatever you happened to choose, be it Suzuki, Honda, etc. And just be sure to get the right engine. Too small, and I'll see you when I come back down the hill. Too big, and scariness outweighs fun...ness. And 2-strokes make about twice the power with equivalent engine size, which is why you will see 250cc thumpers racing in the 125 class in motocross.

As far as gear, I honestly cannot comprehend how I see so many fellow riders blasting around in shorts and flip flops. I don't ride anywhere without full gear and armor; I've had too many crashes that justified everything individual piece I wear. I swear, if I ran around the trails I like with no gear, I'd probably be missing an eye and couple of teeth. IMO, helmet, goggles, bots, and long pants/shirt are a bare minimum.

I am also wary of anyone with a clean, unscratched bike. The only reasonable justification I can think of is that they just got it, ro mangled it badly enough to require fresh plastic. It's a dirt bike, it's not supposed look like it came off the show room floor. If you never crash, you are obviously not going fast enough, and need to man up and grab some throttle :sly:

Just my $0.02
 
Didn't spot this thread before, so big dig up here. I happen to ride, as anyone who pays a bit of attention to the motorbike forums, a 125 supermoto as my day-to-day rider.

A Yamaha DT125 SM to be precise (sometimes known as a DT125 X or just DTX), the top of the line DT 125 so to speak, in both price and rarity it is the one. Being a road bike primarily, I opted 2 stroke for the lightness and a bit more chuck-ability when it comes to the twists and turns of my local rally stage (it's a public road 99.9% of the year, but it's so empty it's practically my private race track). The motor itself is an absolute gem, more then enough power to accelerate man and machine to more then a safe speed on this road, and my ride to college each day.

I don't actually race the bike, I'm a full time student so even if I wanted to there's not really much time for me, I have my fun in a safe environment (I don't take unneccesary risks out on the road, even when wearing full gear it's not worth it) there's no need to fly round corners blind corners on the wrong side like many riders my age and in my category do, that extra second or so saved isn't worth the money and self harm possible.

The great thing about my DT is that one minute it's a happy day rider, taking me to college in any weather, next it's a hard out supermoto, ready to thrill. Bad thing is cops love to follow, watch and pull over my bike, to check my documents and make sure it's not stolen (even if I do nothing to suggest it's stolen!).
 
That's what I mostly do- general threads. I'm not hard to find on GTP and neither are most of my threads. Really, I'm more into sport bikes than dirt bikes and supermoto-type machines.

Go ahead and chat away on these kinds of bikes.
 
JohnBM01
That's what I mostly do- general threads. I'm not hard to find on GTP and neither are most of my threads. Really, I'm more into sport bikes than dirt bikes and supermoto-type machines.

Go ahead and chat away on these kinds of bikes.
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I've noticed that in the Motorcycle forum, I appreciate it because I really love my bike (and bikes in general) and it doesn't appear to be the busiest section of GTP so at least I have plenty of topics to talk to myself to :lol:

I'll try to get some pictures of my bike this weekend if I can.
 
Well I never got around to taking pictures of my own machine, but here's a nice picture I found of one very similar, same colour and model as mine so if I washed mine well it would look like this :lol:

Only small difference is that reg plate would be illegal here, mine has a full size one with the option for a protector for it, to stop rubbish flicking onto it from the wheel.

PICT0317.JPG

I personally think it's the single best looking Dirt or Supermoto bike I've seen.

Note: the picture is labeled as DT50 on the net, but it looks exactly like my 125 so I don't know.
 
My first bike was an '84 Suzuki TS50X, damn near indestructable it was, lasted a year (less 3 weeks) without the engine being taken apart, i had done over 11,000 miles on it though, so i spose it was inevitable. Bearing in mind it was 23 years old it could out run all my friends bikes, one being a 56 plate aprillia sr50 (i think thats the right model, twist and go anyway) i did however blow the bottom end up 3 weeks before I was due to retire it :(
 
Ev0 4 drifter
My first bike was an '84 Suzuki TS50X, damn near indestructable it was, lasted a year (less 3 weeks) without the engine being taken apart, i had done over 11,000 miles on it though, so i spose it was inevitable. Bearing in mind it was 23 years old it could out run all my friends bikes, one being a 56 plate aprillia sr50 (i think thats the right model, twist and go anyway) i did however blow the bottom end up 3 weeks before I was due to retire it :(
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You're right on the Aprilia, my friend has an RS50 twisty, they're terrible things, unreliable as hell :lol:.

My bikes playing up recently I don't know what to do, sometimes it runs great, sometimes it just won't start, sometimes it runs a little then goes, sometimes it goes then fixxes itself.

So confusing.
 
Dragonistic
I happen to ride, as anyone who pays a bit of attention to the motorbike forums, a 125 supermoto as my day-to-day rider.
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Nice...That must be a ton of fun! The next machine I buy will be some type of SM.
 
UnoMOTO
Did you broke it? :scared:
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It appears to have broke itself see post #5. I don't know whats wrong with it, I'd rather it fully fix or fully break so I can get it fixxed, but whilst it's making up it's mind I can do nothing because we can't diagnos the problem if it decides to work again!
 
Well I've been back on the roads for a while now, and today went up into the mountains (took some pictures but not at home to get them onto the interwebs). I've been practicing my sliding into the turn and catch it before/on the apex to drive out with maximum momentum. It's surprisingly easy to the point I was almost doing it without knowing by simply pushing a little bit harder each time. Maybe it's because I do 40 miles most days, maybe it's talent (or maybe not!) but it felt natural when I have a fear of braking traction in a car.

Just to specify, yes it was on public open roads, no I didn't brake a single speed limit or cross a single line, just cornered quickly when I could see around the turn.
 
Indeed it was bar the 5 minutes stuck behind a Daewoo Matiz crawling along at 20mph... not worth risking a dangerous overtake though for the sake of quick thrills.
 

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