Need Advise on a dirt bike again...

[blackout]

I have thought about a dirt bike for the past couple years.  I have never ridden a dirt bike.  I grew up with 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers.   I'm looking for a bike with good suspension as I have some jumps on my property.   I also have 15 acres of woods for trail riding.  My latest choice is a Yamaha YZ125X,  but at 5 foot 8 inches I can't easily touch with both feet.  How important is that for trail riding?  Thanks for any input.

[mossrider]

Grew up on dirty bikes. Once comfortable on them I found one foot or the other at a time was plenty. One thing I did learn tho was I had more fun cowtrailing and recreating on the less focused bikes like Honda XR's and Yamaha TT's/TTR's. While the more focused bikes were the bomb on tracks and racing they weren't as fun just fartin around in vacant lots, trails and gravel pits. 

Have fun! 

[shinyribs]

I'm constantly surprised at how two guys can love two totally different bikes to do the same job. It's all personal preference. 

I love my KTM 520 exc. It's 20 years old now, but still "current". The RFS bikes are built way better, and the engines more durable, than the Honda XR bikes. I've owned plenty XRs. It's RFS for me here out. The 520 has excellent suspension, but can headshake in 5th/6th gear pinned if the ground is rutted. Tons of grunt directly off idle. Power wheelies in 5th gear at half throttle with no body english. Makes my FZ07 feel downright lazy. 

One of my tightest buddies foregoes his WR450 for his YZ250...in the woods! His YZ has such a small, violent window of power that I don't like even ripping it around our turn course. I just knew he'd hate that bike in the tight woods. Nope! He excels on that bike and I'm watching his confidence and abilities grow fast. 

I don't know how he does it. I'm pretty fast in the woods and can't imagine using his MX inspired two stroke for that, but he loves it. So I generally decided I won't recommend bikes anymore . 

If budget allows, and reach to the ground is an issue, Beta's Crosstrainer and KTM's Freeride are fantastic bikes with comfortable, capable suspension that are designed specifically to be a little lighter, a little smaller, a little less wild and a good bit more flexible than the other purpose driven bikes. They're still solid, modern platforms vs putting around on a farm bike. 

But, end of the day, there's no such thing as a bad dirt bike. Dirt bikes are the greatest show on earth. Anything that gets you in the woods is a good bike

 

[firstyammerha]

I used to trail my '75 RM250A and '8o RM250T weekly back in the day. Those were jetting and suspension tuning days. Lots of clutch slipping and throttle twisting going on.  I never had a clutch problem in the ten years I used those bikes. Hare scrambles were my bi-monthly winter outings and no mud hole or tightly forested uphill ever slowed those RM's much.  Buying a PE175 for the hare scrambles season really wasn't necessary. If I felt that I wanted to get back into trail riding, I'd have to have an electric start 200.