Dirt Bikes

Anyone have opinions on a Kawasaki KLX300 or a Honda XR400? I'm helping my brother buy his first dirt bike, he's a big guy so the goal is to find something relatively tame, yet will haul his 6'6 260lb body around. The Kawa and Honda seem to fit the bill. I'm leaning towards the Kawa since it's got the inverted forks and it's water-cooled, but then again I'm giving up 100cc. I can find both for good deals used locally, so the price point on each is pretty comparable.

 

@ 6'6" I'd be looking @ 650's but thats just my opinion, between the two you have listed I would go w/ the XR but you should also check out suzuki DR or DRZ very comparable to the Kawa as they use alot of indenticle components. Suzuki & Kawasaki's @ least for the off road side are identicle over the last couple of years.

 

Let's just say my brother has a knack for crash testing things, that's why a 650 I think would be a little much to start with. DRZ, I forgot about that one...great suggestion. If I recall, Kawa even put out a KLX400 that really was a re-badged DRZ400. Thanks T-Bone.

 

Suzuki bought part of Kawasaki, or was it vice versa, anyway, thats why the offroad bikes use similar parts and my even look similar except for color and graphics. But then everyone knew that, I just felt the need to state the obvious. lol

 

I owned a KLX300 recently. It went really well. They suit a tall rider as theyre a tall bike. Bullet proof motor. Sounds ideal for someone that big and being thier first bike. It took me a few rides to get into shape for riding it. After 4 or so hrs - sore shoulders and arms the next few days.Ive a mate who is a good rider, he likes the Suzuki DR400. He is 6'2 and he has done a few mods to his, stiffer rear spring, carb mods and other stuff. Ive some photos posted.

 

For what its worth, I had a freind that had a klx300 and loved it for trail riding. It can be had cheaper than the XR at least around were I live. He got rid of it when he decided to race because it lacked power. I know the xr is a another unbreakable bike as dirtbikes go so either I believe would be a good choice. I have freinds that love both of them

 

Thank you for the comments, much appreciated.

 

Since you're in Cali like me Reg, a big thing to keep in mind with older bikes is that they're probably all "red stickers", make sure anything you buy is a "green sticker". The green sticker (meaning it meets the higher smog requirements from the state of CA) isn't restricted on the USFS trails, the poor red sticker guys are only allowed on specified days, usually about 1-2 days a month. I've generally found that anything older than about 3-4 years is a red sticker; the newer four strokes have the green stickers. I've also never seen any two stroke that has a green sticker, new or not. This all only matters if you plan on doing trail riding, if you're wanting to race motocross it's not an issue.

 

You guys have way to many rules & reg's out there, I quit riding off road bikes because it was getting to hard to find places to ride. If they told me what I could & couldn't ride on top of trailering the bike 1/2 across the country side I'd blow a gasket. ATV's on the other hand I have easy access to hundreds of miles of trails, to bad I sold the wheeler:hurt:

 

Yeah, tell me about it....don't get me started, I'll offend all kinds of those who are politically on the left. :biggrin:

 

Xr 400

A lot of serious dirt guys diss the XR 400, but for a 6'6" guy who's not racing, it's probably a good choice.

I'd like one to haul my 5'8" ass around!:biggrin:

 

Give me a kx500 anyday