South Wales Trail Riders
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New guy from Fleur-De-Lis!

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sheepshagger
shocker
captain caveman
geraint
Hywel
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Post by Hywel Sun Aug 05, 2012 7:49 pm

'Evening, Southwalestrailriders!

I've been riding loads of different road bikes for a while now, but a couple of months ago I had my first little glimpse into your world; I went to see Mick Extance up in North Wales for one of his enduro days, I fell off a lot and I could barely walk at work the day afterwards but I loved everything about it. Mick's an 'ell of a boy too, great laugh.

Anyway, last week I was all set to put a deposit down on a nice black k8 GSXR 750 but I talked myself out of it. With the weather not being too sports bike-friendly this year so far and it being pretty damn close to Autumn already, I figured I might as well wait, run my comfy bike over the winter and get something naughty in Spring 2013.

Yesterday I was thinking back to the enduro day... at the end of it Mick was telling me that I should grab a cheap off road bike because I had half decent machine control skills, tolerance for a hard knock or two and I'd probably get a lot out of doing some trail riding. So I thought, rather than get my nice 2012 Kawasaki all salty and ruining it over the winter, why not buy an off road bike as a winter hack with some of the cash I'd had ready for the Gixxer and ride some trails on the side. Maybe I'll get fit/good enough to do some kind of enduro/adventure holiday in a year or so.

My problem is, whilst I'm pretty clued up on road bikes, I know shit-all about off road bikes really so I have a few questions;

What would be the best compromise if I wanted indicators, headlight, tail/brake light and a numberplate on a bike that is 250cc or more and would not be mistaken for anything other than a proper off-roader for less than or equal to £1000?

Is there a quick reference online to see which "green-lanes" are open at any given time?

Which bits of South Wales do you lot come from then? cheers



Hywel
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Post by geraint Sun Aug 05, 2012 7:59 pm

hello hywel
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Post by captain caveman Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:06 pm

Hi Hywel where did you say your from? France scratch

For your £1000 budget and if your going to be using it as a winter hack i would say stick with a 4 stroke.

Maybe a XR400 DR350/600 XT600 KLR I guess it comes down to how much trail riding you intend to do?
If mostly road work go for the larger cc if bit of both then the xr400 dr350
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Post by Hywel Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:22 pm

captain caveman wrote:Hi Hywel where did you say your from? France scratch

For your £1000 budget and if your going to be using it as a winter hack i would say stick with a 4 stroke.

Maybe a XR400 DR350/600 XT600 KLR I guess it comes down to how much trail riding you intend to do?
If mostly road work go for the larger cc if bit of both then the xr400 dr350

Fleur-De-Lis or "Flower" is pretty close to yourself, assuming "Pot Noodle land" is Crumlin... just past Newbridge and Blackwood.

I suppose it will be seeing more road miles than trail miles, but in horrible wintery conditions so the lighter the better really, I just don't want a 125.

I have been looking at the DR350/DRZ400 and the XR... loads of them about advertised as "road legal" sporting reg plates but without a tail light or indicators. Is it generally not the done thing to have that kind of road-going kit on bikes like these?
Hywel
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Post by captain caveman Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:33 pm

I googled Fleur-De-Lis and it came up in France lol!

DRZ would be a good bike don't know if you could find one for £1000

Most trail bike should have full road going lighting kit, Indicators would be handy during the dark winter months.

Its mostly enduro bikes that don't come with indicators but most of them should have road legal lights fitted.
Saying that an enduro bike is not the ideal winter hack anyway.
That's just what i think.

You don't need lights for a day time mot.
Just a number plate so that could also be classed as road legal but not ideal.
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Post by Hywel Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:42 pm

Yeah in the winter my ride home from work will be in the dark, just, so it needs to have lights + indis.

Most decent looking DRZ's seem to start at about £1600 but I could stretch my budget a little, the cheaper the better though seeing as it's gonna serve as a workhorse in salty icy conditions as well as a punchbag for my dodgy off road skills :bounce:

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the difference between a trail bike and an enduro bike?
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Post by captain caveman Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:57 pm

A enduro bike is more suited to off road use its based on a motocross bike But with softer suspension wider gear ratios and lights.
They cost more to maintain in tyres chains sprockets mpg
More power= more maintenance, and shorter service intervals and not so good on the road over long distances.

A trail bike is more suited to road work, It would have longer service intervals better mpg and be more comfortable to ride but wont perform as good as a enduro bike off road.

But the biggest factor is who's ridding what bike? A good rider may do better on a trail bike off road than a crap rider would do on a enduro bike.

Geraint on here has a kmx 125 trail its getting on a bit but go,s the same places some of the guys go here on brand new bikes.

A lot of people seem to start out on a drz 400 as a good all rounder.
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Post by shocker Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:53 pm

This advice all looks far too sensible to be coming from a bloke who owns a MX bike with lights, a trail bike that rides like an overpowered enduro bike, and an enduro bike being used as a trail bike - that's in bit's!! Very Happy

Are you cutting and pasting it from somewhere or what??? Very Happy Very Happy
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Post by captain caveman Sun Aug 05, 2012 10:09 pm

Starting to sound like bit of a geek think i,l stop now Laughing
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Post by Hywel Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:26 am

Oops, sorry if I've ruined your credibility with all this talk of indicators and registration plates, Captain! Laughing

Thanks for the advice... gonna keep my ear to the ground for a good deal on any bike mentioned and maybe come for a blast sometime soon, if you don't mind a newbie tagging along of course! cheers
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