Thnking about getting one and wondered what people thought of them and what the best makes are? and how much you could expect to pay for one?

I dont really want to spend to much just want one to ride in the Winter (on and off road) which is tough and durable and also good for crashing about in a muddy field etc etc

The only person I can think of with good off road experience is Dirty Bill but he's not been around for a while. I think Bill's based in Canada, they seem to do a lot more dirt riding over there. Chopstick Jim is good mates with him, he might know where to get a hold of him.



CSJ, where is Bill these days anyway? Has he gone back to winding up people on v d.

My mates just purchased an old(ish '98) W reg Honda XL (R?) 125, probably not the size you are looking for? Its looks a beast and tough as coffin nails, you could pick one up for £600 - £1000. Drop it as many times as you want and it probably wont break.

I ride a Dave Lambeth rebuild Yamaha XT 600 Tenere.

Full 30 litre tank, talon rims, rebore and valves done by Lambeth. Cowal screen, Sheepskin saddle cover ( a must for taking a big traillie on road )

The bike is fully prepped for Paris Dakar, and has done it twice (No I wasn't riding it)

Any off road bike that hass been imported from the continent is a good un, My XT was imported from Italy and rebuilt for serious off road work by Dave Lambeth Over land. Bike was worth £1500 the rebuild was a serious £2000

I personally love Honda Dominators. Fantastic bikes on road and off. But My ol' mountain goat XT suits me well.

This is my XT.

Cheers guys just getting Jealous of all the people I keep seeing/speaking to who are rubbing the hands in glee at the thought of treacherous weather!!

p.s. nice bike Deaths head

Yup Bill is back on VD a fair bit, been behaving himself so far though!

As for off road / on road, a Yamaha XT or Honda XR is probably your best bet. Best - probably KTM, not cheap though. Huskys are good performance but very maintenance intensive. Basically, I'd look for a japanese four stroke single of 350 - 600cc. Bigger bikes are more suited to the road, smaller ones are lighter and tend to be better suited to the muddy field! Ex motorcrosser two strokes are a scream in the field, but are rarely road registered.

You could always buy a Hona CR500 supermotard (there's a few about) and scare yourself really really badly

It'll never last..

Nice bike? Thanks Sammye lol. After a days riding here in the wilds of Argyll it looks more like an old farm hack than a pucker desert racer

I forgot to mention that the XT had been rejetted and has a stainless Arrow can fitted. It's very very loud, sounds like rolling thunder. Great for terrifying small animals and pedestrians, and thats a legal can fitted!

The suspension is race prepped as well and she stands very tall in the saddle. I'm 6' 1" and can just get my tiptoe on the deck, great for looking over hedges and traffic. I must admit with the height and noise from the end can it's an impossing bike to ride and look at. Pity it's candy red and white lol

I have noticed that some dealers are now importing the Brazillian made Honda NX 400 Falcon. Cracking bike, that will cope with serious off road and on. Cheap to insure and run plus you can buy one brand new for around £3000. Has the bullet proof XR400 engine fitted in a dominator style frame and plastics.

Hmm lovely - but what about second hand!? Just want something cheap, cheapful, reliable and fun!? maybe a 125 bearing in mind in reality I just want something to have fun on as a pose to commuting or any serious road riding the most I would do I suppose is to ride it to and from fields

hmmm the Falcon is too new to the country for them to be any secondhand. I did used to own a 125cc Honda CLR Cityfly many moons ago for tootling back and forth to work, very cheap bike and was good off road as well with proper rubber. There's also a Honda transalp 125 which is a Dominator styled 125cc but can be rare to find.

If your wanting a good fun bike then what about Yamaha's TDR 250, it's a stonking two stroke motard bike and you can get them cheap nowadays.

Cheers Deathshead really appreciate your, input did a search on Biketrader but could only find 125 Yamaha TDR's and couldnt find any of the Honda's

Do you think that a 125 is good enough for me to mess about on fields??

Whatabout the new Aprilia MX125 - looks gud. Bit pricey and you prolly wont wana knock about on a field with it.... or even ride in the winter....

I had an early single shock XT350, light enough to pull out of a ditch, fast enough on the road to be useable. I green laned it in mud bogs, chalk byways acreoss the downs and threw it down the side of a quarry... it always got me home.

I'd have another one tommorow!

Not unless it's something like a Kawasaki KMX, I'd go for 250cc or an old Yamaha XT 500 or 600. The XT is not a heavy bike.

Another option if it's just a thing for the field is an MZ ETZ 251, cheap as chips and you can stick knobblies on em. They do look minging though, but great fun to ring the nuts off them. Easy and cheap to own just the stigma issue really of owning an MZ. My mates ETZ out performed the XT on some serious off road work in Wales as it's so light and the 2 stroke grunt gives it loads of torque.