legalities

[g2teg]

Hey guys.
Wondering if you can sort out a problem for me.
I currently ride a ZX9R, and am wanting to get a second bike. The basic plan is, sell one of my cars and buy a motard. The problem is, my girlfriend wants to get a bike too, so I am limiting myself to 250cc, so that I can commute (and have some fun) and she can ride it too.
Now for the question ... how would I go about registering a dirt bike for the road? I am not too worried about full motard customisation, but just want to have something street legal, with mods coming at a later date.
Also, what sort of bike do I get? Is something like an XR250 a bit of overkill for a learner rider, should I stick to things such as KDX200 or DT175?
Any help is much appreciated.

[Flash]

Don't know which state you are from but if it is Vic then wait till june then you can ride any dirt bike on L's and P's!!

[g2teg]

what do you mean 'any' dirt bike. Are you talking about the LAMS laws coming through ...
As I said, the restriction of 250cc is so that my girlfriend can ride it. She had her first ride on a 125 last weekend.

[albonator316]

lams allows upto 660cc on some bikes, mainly single cylinder bikes (hello motards :D) But i'm guessing the 250cc restriction your referring to is a safety thing so your girlfriend isn't learning on a bike too powerful.
if you wanna save money then getting a bike that is a motard factory built, like xr250 motard or the new wr250 motard. These are not going to be too powerful for a beginner. even if you waited for lams a DRZ400 would be another choice for a begineer, and it will cruise at 100km/h better than a 250.
if your girl friend is a good rider then a higher cc motard will be more fun for her and you :D

[Flash]

If the power really is a concern for her just don't de-restrict it until she can ride. But the beauty of a dirt bike is how easy the power is to manage!
Remember they aint sports bikes!

[g2teg]

Its not a problem considering she rode a 125 on her first ever ride and was going as fast as it would go, although she kept spinning the rear wheel when changing gears.
I guess i should wait until LAMS comes to Vic and check what I can get for her (and me ... lol), but a factory built motard is out of the question. I am looking for a 'cheap' hack job. And I mean CHEAP!

[albonator316]

ah cheap is the word, ;)
are you looking for a bike with 17" wheels front back? or just fitting road tires to the standard 21" front and 18" rear that are found on most dirtbikes?

[g2teg]

Probably just fitting street tyres to the stock rims.
Just want something cheap for her to learn on, but good enough for me to commute and to learn to wheelie properly.

[Muzzard]

If you are doin' cheap and restricted, XR250/DR250/KLX250/Sherpa/SL230/TTR250 (and some motard wheels off EGay)
Or for the performance
DT200R/early WR200 - 250/KDX250/CRM250/RMX250
and of course ;)
WRF250 but still fetching good money for 2002/3 models
($4400 - $6500)

[g2teg]

Not sure about the restrictions due to LAMS coming in june.
Is it hard to get a registered dirt bike though? Is it hard to add all the junk (that I never use anyway) such as indicators, mirrors, kill switch, etc.

[albonator316]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Kawasaki-KLX-250-2004-Model_W0QQitemZ180216522004QQihZ008QQcategoryZ1026 76QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
KLX250

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Yamaha-TTR-250-2003-Model_W0QQitemZ320219342597QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1026 79QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
TTR250 (reserve price could be anything??)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/suzuki-DRZ250-2003mdl_W0QQitemZ250217292305QQihZ015QQcategoryZ10 2678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
DRZ250

A few bikes to get you thinking ;)

[g2teg]

the TTR250 would be my choice out of those three ...
but I was thinking more along the lines of ...

http://www.bikepoint.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?UsedBikeID=2819424&TabID=3424&Alias=bikepointau

[Muzzard]

Yeah that would be damn fine,
Needs a wash and cleanup though ;)

[albonator316]

DT175 were pretty good bikes too :D
http://www.bikesales.com.au/as/search/sd.do?maxEngineSize=250&selectedMakeIndex=0&minEngineSize=125&recIndex=6&page=0&numCylinders=1&y=24&maxReleaseYear=2000&state=7&previousResultPerPage=20&transmissionID=246&currentPage=2&x=78
and another
http://www.bikesales.com.au/as/search/sd.do?maxEngineSize=250&selectedMakeIndex=0&minEngineSize=125&recIndex=6&page=0&numCylinders=1&y=24&maxReleaseYear=2000&state=7&previousResultPerPage=20&transmissionID=246&currentPage=4&x=78
TTR

http://www.bikesales.com.au/as/search/sd.do?maxEngineSize=250&selectedMakeIndex=0&minEngineSize=125&recIndex=9&page=0&numCylinders=1&y=24&maxReleaseYear=2000&state=7&previousResultPerPage=20&transmissionID=246&currentPage=4&x=78

[g2teg]

I know the DT175 is ok ... was the first bike I ever rode, but it's been so long I have forgotten what they are really like.
Would they have enough power to wheelie with ease? As I want to learn to wheelie properly (scary on the ZX9R), but I rode a 125 the other day and found you couldn't budge the front off the ground unless you sat really far back, was in first gear and clutched it hard.

[Woolf555]

I had a 96 DT175 for a few years the wife was using, and no, not a wheelying bike. Power to weight ratio not really good for that sort of thing. Great bike though, for what it was.

[albonator316]

The one rode was quite gutless until it reved high and it was a pretty decent power band. they were a bit heavy though, wheelies can be done on anything ;)

[Muzzard]

DT175 were pretty good bikes too :D
http://www.bikesales.com.au/as/search/sd.do?maxEngineSize=250&selectedMakeIndex=0&minEngineSize=125&recIndex=6&page=0&numCylinders=1&y=24&maxReleaseYear=2000&state=7&previousResultPerPage=20&transmissionID=246&currentPage=2&x=78

A good one for Bedo being close to him and cheap to get to work on ;)

[albonator316]

ah very true there muzz :D
That would be a great one, light on the power until he is ready to give her some revs and hold on ;)

[Muzzard]

Its clean low kms and able to do 100kph piss easy with a sprocket change.
A set of rims (which I have one of already) and he's tarding along cheaply until something else comes by.
He has 2 teenage girls too you know that would kill, well at least scratch your eyes out, for a DT Motard of their own ;)
So it would sure go to a good home :lol:

[SMC690]

wheelies can be done on anything ;)

I'd like to see you wheelie a Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport, fuck I tried a thousand times and then I gave up as it wasn't my bike and I was running it in, lol.

[albonator316]

v-rods are hard to wheelie to i hear ;)
I think a DT175 wheelie would be achievable but a bit scary :lol2:

[SMC690]

Yes, V-Rods are hard to wheelie although it can be done. ;)
The guzzi was a challenge being shaft drive, it had shit carbs & the wheelbase of HMAS Melbourne.