The biggest single niche in off-road motorcycle sport is undoubtedly Trail Riding. Whether it be a forest, farm, beach, or just a few acres of scrub, swinging a dirt bike along a narrow trail is a great weekend escape from your nine-to-five existence, evidenced by the huge numbers turning up at popular events. We look at your options when it’s time to decide which machinery will be best for you when tackling the non-competitive single-track.
Trail riding is a fantastic, exciting, physically demanding and rewarding pastime. It is a chance to explore places, as well as your own endurance, or simply plod away in stunning locations with like-minded adventurous folk. You can involve the entire whanau, or use it to escape them (in the nicest possible way). I personally was a late trail bloomer, but once I’d flicked the road rocket and gave trail riding a whirl, it started an adventure which has for the past fifteen years had me exploring regions of both the North and South Islands I hadn’t even heard of, and some of the views and locations have been awe-inspiring to say the least – not to mention all the great people I’ve met on the trail.
On the machinery front (if competing), your bike choices naturally narrow to the dedicated niche race machines; MX/SX or Cross Country/Enduro; but when it comes to joining your mates’ two-wheeled casual weekend warrior sessions at the local forest tracks or trail ride event, your machinery options are many and just about any knobbly shod bike will survive the jaunt, although at its own pace. For many, that’s why the choice of which bike to buy is not as easy as one might suspect, especially if new to the sport.
Many first-timers will kick off with a pre-abused machine, often following the slanted advice of their racing mates who just hooked you into owning their cast-off race bike. Hey if the price was right, it may in fact be the best choice. However make sure it matches your ability and usage.
During a Woodhill Trail Ride, I once chased a guy on a shiny new Honda CRF450R which was just beating him up at his slow pace, not to mention he kept stalling it and eventually ran out of enough energy even to just kick it back into life. It was his first lap! I plonked him onto the new CRF250X I was riding and rode his bike the remainder of the lap. Naturally he had a much better time on the button-starting 250, and even enjoyed it (he had been thinking maybe trail riding wasn’t him after all). Once back, I quizzed him on why he had bought himself Honda’s grunty motocross 450 race bike. The new rider reckons his mates said you ‘have to’ have a 450 in Woodhill as the sand absorbs horsepower, plus the MX bikes are lighter than the Enduro ones, so easier to fling around. He thought the theory sounded ridgy-didge and forked out the coin; that is until he rode the CRF250X and realised how far from the truth the mate-knows-best advice actually was.
So what makes a good trail bike? Simply one that is suited to your ability, fitness, and wallet, and ideally can help you grow your skills rather than hamper them.
Trail Virgins – Where Do I Start?
If you’re an averaged-sized bloke or blokette, and haven’t ridden much or at all, then bikes like Kawasaki’s purpose built 4-stroke KLX300 are great average all rounders, and there is absolutely no place these affordable machines won’t go. Yamaha and Honda’s lower seated and versatile lekky-starting 4-stroke TTR230 and CRF230 are also great, easy to use, fun machines; and a great family bike if mum and the bigger kids all want to have a non-intimidating squirt. If buying used, then you would be hard pressed to find a better steed than the just recently (and sadly) fazed-out Kawsaki KDX200. These great 2-stroke machines have sold in huge numbers over 20 odd years, meaning good parts availability (not that you’ll need much), and when the going gets tough these >> bikes just soak it up and get on through.
If you are a gem in a small package, you may want to try the smaller but amazingly capable Kawasaki KLX140, Honda CRF150, or even the Yamaha TTR125 or Suzuki DRZ125. Sure, most folk see these as kids’ bikes, but even generously proportioned full-growns like myself have blasted around on these three-quarter machines in the forest and always come away grinning. All the bikes I’ve listed so far are factory built for the trail, and not to race. They are dependable, fun, and very low maintenance machines which, when looked after, offer many years of service.
Those who are fairly confident will no doubt ignore these simpler offerings and jump straight onto the modern Enduro machines, and that’s fine as they, too, are a fantastic bunch of quality offerings, just make sure you start off with a 250.
For kids, the trail range is huge and full of quality shrunken big bike clones with all the goodies. We’ll cover that range in another feature sometime soon.
The New 250’s – Fast and Friendly!
If you have ridden a fair bit a few years back, or possibly are an experienced road warrior and want to take your thrills to a place that doesn’t hijack demerit points, then the range of 250cc Enduro machines would be where I’d start. They are fast, light and relatively easy to live with from a maintenance point of view (although noticeably more service-needy than the lower-stressed trail fleet).
Plus, they’re set up fairly soft from the box and pretty well perfect for the average rider, average speeds and the expected trail terrain of bumps, roots, rocks, ruts and fallen mates. These bikes are taller than pure traillies with an average seat height of around 950mm, which does command more confidence from the lesser legged who will only find mother earth with a tippy toe – but trust me the great suspension is worth it.
In this bag of tricks is the Yamaha WR250F, the Honda CRF250X, KTM 250EXC and the Husqvarna TE250. Also, if you like the zing and nimbleness of a lightweight 2-stroker and don’t mind a spot of fuel mixing, then you could consider the Gas Gas EC or KTM EXC range of 2-strokes, which come in 200, 250 and surprisingly rideable 300cc versions. Husky also have a 125 and 250 Enduro 2-stroke.
Just remember that the 2-stroke’s power, although easy to use and torquey lower in the revs, does pack a Bin Laden punch at the top end, and the new and uninitiated may find themselves hanging on to an out-of-control screamer if not too careful. They are great fun once mastered however, and the new Enduro strokers are more usable and tractable than ever before, but still better suited to the more experienced rider. Rank learners will certainly gain more from the easier to handle lineal power delivery of the new 4-strokes.
Big Bore Buddies!
Now only the more experienced should be still with me, because learners who waste their valuable money and riding time on a ‘me-mate-said-I-should’ big bore powerhouse will find it to be (if he admits it) detrimental to advancing his or her skills, and likewise confidence; and could also lead to a first name basis relationship with the local A&E clinic receptionist.
Before opening the can on the 450’s, one must consider the very affordable Suzuki DRZ400. It’s been around a long while without much change, but there’s a real good reason for that – don’t fix what ain’t broke. Another reason why it is still a big selling trail bike is that it offers good bang for your slaved over buck! Sure, the new breed of lighter Enduro bikes have moved ahead in boxed race able gems (and Suzuki will be the first to agree), but if you never intend having a lash at racing, the DRZ gives you a dependable steed you can buy brand spankers. And even if you need a full set of new riding gear you’ll scrape in without denting the five-figure mark. They are also good buying second hand.
Lastly we come to the real groove-diggers – the 450 thumpers. Honda’s CRF450X, Yamaha’s WR450F, Kawasaki’s KLX450R, KTM’s 450EXC, Husqvarna’s FE450, and soon BMW’s new 450 Enduro.
All of the above machines are exciting and very quick trail/race weapons that are suited to experienced and fit adrenalin junkies, and lets face it, most in our chosen sport are there for some level of an adrenalin addiction (or is it the flash clobber?). Picking the best is pointless here, but things to look for are practicalities like seat height. There is for example, a substantial 50mm seat height difference between the WR and the shorter KLX, plus of course, pricing and your favoured dealers brand all play a part.
The fact is that most riders will never get much over half the potential out of one of these big bore grunters on a social trail ride. ‘I’m a big boy I need a 450’, I hear some of you say! A good rider on a 250 will whip an average bloke on a 450 every day of the week, including Sunday, and will have enough energy left, he won’t need a push getting it onto the trailer at the end of the day either. How many of us watched 250-mounted Juha Salminen take the overall six day win at the Taupo ISDE ahead of all the 450’s, and not many average riders in that event. Well maybe one or three.
Keep this in mind when you go bike shopping, plus the fact that although in physical size and weight the 450 isn’t that much more towering than the 250, there is a notable increase in mechanical inertia, plus greater forces in acceleration and braking, which all combine to wear you out noticeably quicker than on the smaller bore bike. How’s your fitness?
On the used market, if you are after a bigger beast on a budget, tidy, low hour, well looked after KTM 400EXC’s and WR400’s and 426’s are still doing the rounds and some worthy of consideration for a dependable trail machine; as are second hand 450’s, especially when well set up. Even Honda’s air-cooled XR400 can be a low cost, low maintenance trail pal for many years to come if it has been well looked after. They are like the old Landrover; no flash frills but will get the job done.
Dual Sport – Who needs a trailer?
Another consideration is whether you also want to do the odd Adventure Ride, or maybe even commute on the one bike. Naturally this means you’ll need the legal bits bolted to the rear guard. These bikes are generally referred to as Dual Sport because of their split personalities and come in many flavours. The biggest bonus with the Dual Sport fleet is that you can ride to and from a trail ride, shedding the worst of the clinging dirt on the way home, and you eliminate the need to fork out for a van, ute or trailer.
New bikes available road ready and very trail-capable include the fantastically versatile new Yamaha WR250R, the revamped XT250, and the longstanding TTR250, Suzuki’s DRZ250 and DRZ400, Kawasaki’s new KLX250 and Super Sherpa. Second hand considerations can also include Honda’s XR250 and XR400, Suzuki’s DR250 and DR350 or Yamaha’s older TTRs or DT175 ring-dinger.
Keep in mind Dual Sports as a rule, are made to tackle multiple uses but they are, by versatility, master of none. This is most noticeable off-road in the suspension department, where their extra weight, combined with softer shorter springers, means attacking anything rough at pace can lead to frequent bottoming and bouncing can lead to a fairly hairy ride. At a gentler trail pace however, they will cope with almost any obstacle or terrain.
At a squeeze, some bigger Adventure machines can also survive a day of single trail with an enthusiastic rider. I frequently tackle the jungle trails on my old mate ‘Trigger’, a ‘92 XR600, and have also hit the bush on a Suzuki DR650, Yamaha’s XT600 and newer XT660R, Husqvarna’s TE640, KTM’s vibey LC4, plus more recently BMW’s 650 Xchallenge. Needless to say, taking a bigger bike on a trail ride takes more skill and energy than swinging a smaller trail machine.
Most of the Enduro range can also be road legalised, but with their dirt focussed set-up, plus narrow seats with about as much padding as a tank’s bumper, don’t plan on a global circumnavigation without crater surgery.
Why Not a Motocross Bike?
Well why not? There are lots of them out there, and second hand they are generally cheaper than a used Enduro while offering plenty of bang for your buck. That sounds like a fine theory, and set up for the trail they can be a fun bush basher indeed. The key here is on set up, as Motocross (MX) bikes from new are made to handle hard hits and land from great heights (SX triple jumps), plus if buying second hand be aware many serious riders set them up even stiffer than stock by personal preference.
This generally means the suspension hardly travels over the smaller hits encountered on the trail, namely rocks, clear fell and roots, and the rider’s muscles and bones bare the brunt of those impacts. It’s easy for riders to put up with this and get around fine, as many do, but once you’ve spend a day on a well set up trail machine where any minor hit allows the suspension to compress and basically do its effective best, you actually feel you haven’t ridden as hard because your arms and legs don’t feel like hot jelly at the days conclusion (and the next few days to boot).
If you do pick up an MX bike, I recommend you go see your local dealer’s suspension guru. Tell him you want the bike for trail riding and he will either re-valve, or more often, recommend lighter fork and shock springs to give you a trail complaint ride to match your weight and pace.
Secondly, a change of gearing will need to be considered. Unlike the longer gearing of the Enduro bikes, which also often have an extra gear, the MX fleet is geared for circuit racing, and on open trails can end up tapped-out often. I generally do the easy swap to a bigger front sprocket – not to give me a higher top speed but to drop the top-gear revs on open fast sections, while also taking the edge off the power through the gears. This naturally also depends on how or where you ride.
Lastly think about power. MX bikes are factory built race machines, made to win at the competitive track. The new 4-stroke 250’s are probably the best cross-over with ‘average guy’ usable trail horsepower; but the 250 2-strokes and 450 thumpers are hard hitting grunt boxes which may be sweet in fast open or soft sandy conditions, but in the slippery soil or wet clay of many of our forests can become ineffective with riders spending most of their time compensating for excess wheelspin and fighting to keep them pointing where they want to go.
Again I learnt this first hand on my own YZ250 2-stroke which I loved in the easier sandy terrain of Woodhill Forest, but when in a wet and very slippery Riverhead, I got gobbled up by the lineal powered Enduro machines and KDX fleet while I battled to stop myself swapping ends. Hence the popularity of flywheel weights in the late 90s to take the edge off the power hit and supply greater torque and rear wheel drive to 2-stroke MX bikes at a time before we had the great Enduro offerings we have available to us today.
So the answer is yes; MX bikes can make ok traillies, but think hard about set up. Talk to someone in the know about trail suspension (not an MX ace), and if it’s a 2-stroke machine, you may need to opt for a hotter plug if you just potter along or you may very soon get sick of regular fouling and mid trail plug changing.
The Social Trail
At the end of the day, hitting the trail is about whatever you want to make it. It can be a full-on bush race with your mates, a day out with the entire family tootling along together, a solo ride to destroy the weekday stress or maybe a chance to explore somewhere you have never been before. It doesn’t matter which, as all trail ride parks or events offer the lot and generally in a safe, friendly, and non-intimidating environment where the experienced are generally always happy to share knowledge with the newbies.
Remember to stand, and try not touching the seat for an entire lap. You may feel slower at first, but the rewarding bike control and balance skill will build both confidence and pace in time.
And lastly, when on the trail always remember this: there is no trail trophy at stake, and make a point of respecting those you may stumble along of lesser experience and pace than you (we all started like that). And on the other side of the coin, make room for the fast guys to get past when you hear them on your tail. If they caught you up, they are quicker, so let them go instead of holding them up. That way you can then try keeping up with them for a stretch; watch their body positioning and bike placement through the corners. It’s actually the best way to learn experienced trail technique, and best of all its free.
I have just scraped the surface on machine choices here, but there are also other important variables like tyre choice, rider gear choice, what tools and spares to carry, and preparation. We’ll try bringing more info to you soon; in the meantime, talk to experienced riders at events or rides – most are more than happy to share.
Now go out there and do it!
