250000_yota

Hey all, it's a first for me to post in this section. My girlfriend and I are looking to get into trail riding. For me really, it's a return, as that's how I explored the back roads and trails. I used to ride fairly regularly with a group of friends from high school. Anywho, we are planning this year on buying bikes for ourselves, so that once the little one is old enough, we can make it a fun family activity.

Now basically, I'm looking for opinions on a bike to get back into the swing of things, considering I haven't thrown my leg over a bike in about 5 years. I kind of have my eye on one of two bikes, either a yamaha wr250f or a honda crf250x. They both seem like decently built bikes, I've read good reviews on both, but I'd possibly like some first hand opinions, that or alternatives if you guys have any.

For my girlfriend though, she hasn't been on a bike in nearly 20 years. In searching, we kind of thought along the lines of the yamaha ttr-230 or a honda crf230f. The reviews I've read online seem to put these as two good starters for someone to get into, or back into riding.

So, I'd like to hear some opinions or alternatives. I'm open to anything, though I will say I was a dyed in the wool yamaha guy back when I used to ride. That's all I had, and all I would consider, but now that I'm a little older and wiser, I'm a little more open.

CJM

Friend has an 07 CRF250 and loves it, but he blew the crank recently. Its a very common issue on the 450 and 250 based engines for some reason. Either it happens to you or not, trick is to pay attention to the oil changes alot of fibers in the oil/filter your crank be going bye bye.

Honestly I ride alot, everyone I know has a honda and I ride one too. Used to ride an XR250 but now Ive swapped to a TRX450 (atv) and love it. Yamaha is ok, but it would seem honda is better quality overall. I hardly see any blue anymore on the trails, all red it seems.

250000_yota

Ya everyone I've talked to has said honda is the way to go. I'm still not convinced though lol. I had great luck with my yamahas, so naturally when we started talking about getting into it as a family, I went back to my roots.

I hadn't heard about the crank issues with the Hondas though. The only thing I found bad about the crf were people complaining about the frequency of doing ring jobs on them, which honestly, that's part of owning a trail bike, so that shouldn't even be a complaint!

donomite49

can't go wrong with a yamaha imo, honda is ok too

i know in the mx world the yamaha has a better durability record

250000_yota

That's what I loved about my old yamahas. I hate to do it, but the durability really is kinda comparable to toyotas lol.

The only problem I ever had with my yamaha was the carb getting gummed up . That's about it.

donomite49

x2^^

i can honestly say that every yamaha and toyota i have owned have done nothing but give me good service, and i like getting my moneys worth.

i know plenty of honda brainwash victims too...

that being said if i did not ride blue bikes i would be on a red one lol
because they are the closest to the yamaha reliability wise.

i speak from some decades of experience from racing and riding to over a decade turning wrenches in dealerships.

250000_yota

That's the way I feel. I've never been a fan of suzukis, rode a few that friends owned and was never impressed. Don't have any experience with Kawasaki. And with the prices of ktm's, their out of the question. That leaves us with the blues and reds lol. After talking around a little more with a coworker whose been riding most of his life, I'm starting to lean more towards the Hondas. But we will see. We aren't planning on purchasing until probably fall.

And I dint know you were a fellow dealership tech donomite. My brother and I are both TTEN graduates, and were both still wrenching in dealers.

donomite49

i used to be a mc tech until dealerships got greedy in the late 90's.

when they cut commissions down to less than 50% i found other lines of work.

250000_yota

Ya, thankfully, I'm in a salaried technician position. It's great, cause I know how much I'm gonna get paid and when, plus, we have a bonus system here based on our hours to keep us motivated to actually work lol.