$3,000 Bike Test Extras!

After our popular Buck25 story last year (March 2007), the Dirt Rider family once again took to the used bike market to find some gems. While the full story of these bikes is in the August 2008 issue of Dirt Rider, we asked these lucky "new" bike owners to give you an update on their rides as well as a more in-depth look into their 3,000 reasons to buy a bike.

Enjoy.

Bart really likes dirt bikes...maybe too much?

Worth It By Miles
Bart Allen's YZ250
Story by Bart Allen
Photos by Bart Allen, Drew Ruiz and Pete Peterson

What a great excuse to get a dirt bike! There's nothing like the "honey, I need to do this for work" line to justify getting a big-boy toy. Still, the decision process of getting the "right" bike, keeping the tab to $3,000, and figuring out how to make the wife happy took way more hours and effort than I care to admit.

The first step for me was figuring out what bike to buy. Though I ride a bunch on the street, I'm still pretty novice on the dirt, with all previous experience riding trails on an XR400. While trails are where I'd spend the majority of my time, I also wanted something that I could take to tracks and have some fun. With the budget constraints of this story, a two-stroke 250 was the logical choice.

Which one? I wanted to spend about $2,000 on the bike itself, so that got me into the 2000 or so model year, and since I wanted something that gave me a little more peace of mind, I narrowed the field to the CR or YZ. In deciding on the specific bike, I chose to rely on the recommendations of those I trusted. Sure enough, a work buddy knew a neighbor getting rid of a "perfect" '01 YZ250 - so I made it mine.

From the get-go, the bike was rideable with no major flaws or needs, though it was pretty much set up for the track. Thus, my extra $1,000+ of mods would be spent on making the bike more universal in usage. The FMF Gnarly and silencer was the single largest single expense. This was done to make the bike more useable at the lower revs. An IMS 3.2gal tank would give me the range to take longer off-road rides. And for some reason, I just had to have a Pro Moto Billet kickstand - justifying it with the excuse of wanting it for off-road rides and the possibility of riding with my up-and-coming kids. Smaller expenses were the Ricochette skid plate, Cycra hand guards, and aFe air filter (I wanted to try this new dry system because of the ease of use.)

And last but not least, I had to get a $100 hoist from Amazon.com. This was what sealed the deal for the wife, as it allowed me to park the bike in the garage without asking her to park outside on the driveway. Now I can park the bike above her car and everyone's happy. A side benefit of the hoist was that it's much easier to work in your bike when there's zero chance of it falling over, and you can lift it up to eye level when working on hard-to-reach areas.

Off the track is where Bart would like to spend most of his time with his trusty Yamaha.	Off-road styling on a motocross body.	IMS provides extra mileage for Bart and his adventures.
That's just Gnarly!	Smooth power delivery and off-road legality (spark arrestor) was the goal in Bart's build up. The FMF Q has long been a smooth power producer.	The owner and his bike take their inaugural flight. Bart doesn't plan on leaving the ground very often or by climbing to extreme altitudes. Hence, his setup prefers to stay on the ground.

Lessons Learned
1) If you're a novice, and want to get a used bike, make sure you have some friends with experience. You'll need them to help with the initial purchase, and to help with any fixes/mods you may be considering. If you intend to take this voyage on your own, get a new bike from the dealer.

2) Use locktite! My kickstand lasted about 2 hours of riding without it and the result was nearly disastrous. While on the first lap of the day at a local track, one of the bolts jettisoned itself and the kickstand swung back into the rear tire, taking two spokes with it.

3) Aftermarket parts are often not compatible. The original bike I purchased had some cool Works Connection radiator braces and frame guards. But to mount the larger IMS tank, the braces had to be removed. Same for the guard on the left side as the kickstand required the mount point.

4) Two-strokes eat spark plugs. A simple fouled plug can be the death of valuable riding time. Have extras ready.

5) Budgets were made to be broken. While the parts I purchased came to the $3,000 limit, there were other costs that pushed me over the line. Things like taxes, registration, tie-downs, oil, spark plugs... You got to get them all, so if you're really confined to a strict budget, think well beyond just the cost of the bike itself and the parts.

6) "Experts" can't agree on anything. No matter whom I spoke to, they all had different ideas on which bike to buy and how to spend the money on mods. And if you read a typical magazine shootout, it's not uncommon to find "experts" differing on which bike won. Too much analysis can easily lead to paralysis. Just go for it and don't be afraid to give the world the bird.

Newer, at least from the recent decade, bikes have ample braking performance and comfortable ergos. Plus, they look cool with all your sponsor's stickers on them.

Here's Bart's bike with a faster Chris Denison aboard. The bike would wake up when throttle-happy youngsters like Denison opened it up.

Remember what we said about Bart's bike liking to stay on the ground...well, it doesn't exactly hate getting air, either.

Conclusion
Was it worth it? Hell yes! If this were an experiment, it was proven that you can easily get a fun, quality bike for under $3,000. In fact, I'd say that you can get a decent bike for $2,000 and for the extra $1,000, customize it to your own tastes and make it a little special. Will it be the best bike at the track or on the trails? Probably not. But to get caught up in finding something that is the "best" is a no-win game. Whether it's bikes, jobs, or girlfriends, there's ALWAYS something better. My goal was to get a bike that would get me riding again, either at the track or on the trails. I don't care about racing, just having a good time. And with my "new" bike, I found the perfect companion.