trail riding / green laning
Discussion
and buy some local O/S mapsThanks for the help. Im in scotland and should have mentioned that 
. Sorry.
Not a problem though, as there are no legal green lanes in scotland. I think. However, there are off road motor cycle clubs and i intend to join one of these plus drive south to go green laning. I've looked at bikes, and have zeroed in on the yamaha wr450f. Cost is £4900 (£500 off for cash). The bike is an import, but supplied by a yamaha dealer. No warranty is a bit scary.
As the bike is not road legal, i will need a trailer suitable for 1 bike. What companies are worth looking at?
cheers.
. Sorry.Not a problem though, as there are no legal green lanes in scotland. I think. However, there are off road motor cycle clubs and i intend to join one of these plus drive south to go green laning. I've looked at bikes, and have zeroed in on the yamaha wr450f. Cost is £4900 (£500 off for cash). The bike is an import, but supplied by a yamaha dealer. No warranty is a bit scary.
As the bike is not road legal, i will need a trailer suitable for 1 bike. What companies are worth looking at?
cheers.
Might I recommend that you seriously consider starting on something a bit gentler?
I used to green lane on a DT175R, which was perfect. Felt plenty fast, and was fun. I swapped it for a Husqvarna WR250, and now fear using it.
I did a serious trip in Baja California last year on a "trail bike" XR400, and it was absolutely perfect. Started on the button, and soaked up all manner of abuse. The WR is a serious, serious bike, and you will probably have more fun on something softer.
Of course, I was told the same before I bought the Husky...
I used to green lane on a DT175R, which was perfect. Felt plenty fast, and was fun. I swapped it for a Husqvarna WR250, and now fear using it.
I did a serious trip in Baja California last year on a "trail bike" XR400, and it was absolutely perfect. Started on the button, and soaked up all manner of abuse. The WR is a serious, serious bike, and you will probably have more fun on something softer.
Of course, I was told the same before I bought the Husky...
NorthernBoy said:
Might I recommend that you seriously consider starting on something a bit gentler?
Thanks NorthernBoy. Seemingly the wr450 comes with 'free mods' and is 'corked'. As such, a new factory bike is deemed to be tame (due to factory restrictions). A few basic (free) mods will de-limit the bike. In effect, i can drive around a tame 450. After growing into it, i can de-limit the bike and enjoy the power.That is my understanding.
edit: I looked at husqvarna & gas- gas. I was told these are high maintenance bikes, and need frequent engine rebuilds. The same put me off aprillas rxv450 i.e engine re-builds. Apparently the WR has a strong valve train (titanium valves) and is very tough. With basic maintanence the WR will go on and on. (apparently)
does that sound right?
Edited by benzo on Saturday 7th July 00:59
Yes, Husqvarnas are reasonably high maintenance, but a WR450 is not to far off them in this respect.
I used one at the Yamaha off-road school, and, frankly, I was faster on the gentler bies.
To put it into context, I did 1,000 miles across the Sahara in six days a while back, with many sections flat on the throttle stops through rock fields (90mph+ with eyes out on stalks looking for washouts gulleys and wells). This trip had sand dunes bigger than cathedrals, anda million square iles of wilderness to be dealt with. TheKTM EXC 450s we were on were perfect. Absolutely fantastic.
In England, we tend to be sliding around on a muddy trail with ramblers on it, and the occasional sheep. Lots of sections are taken at jogging pace, and the odd fast blast means 60, tops.
Sorry, I know that it sounds a bit patronising. I am not saying that you will not be able to handle your choice of bike, just that I think that it is probably not the right tool for he job. I have done a lot of dirt riding now, and when I can find the time to deal with it, I am going to swp the husqvarna for something ike ad DT400.
I used one at the Yamaha off-road school, and, frankly, I was faster on the gentler bies.
To put it into context, I did 1,000 miles across the Sahara in six days a while back, with many sections flat on the throttle stops through rock fields (90mph+ with eyes out on stalks looking for washouts gulleys and wells). This trip had sand dunes bigger than cathedrals, anda million square iles of wilderness to be dealt with. TheKTM EXC 450s we were on were perfect. Absolutely fantastic.
In England, we tend to be sliding around on a muddy trail with ramblers on it, and the occasional sheep. Lots of sections are taken at jogging pace, and the odd fast blast means 60, tops.
Sorry, I know that it sounds a bit patronising. I am not saying that you will not be able to handle your choice of bike, just that I think that it is probably not the right tool for he job. I have done a lot of dirt riding now, and when I can find the time to deal with it, I am going to swp the husqvarna for something ike ad DT400.
Just to ang on bit more, after hopefully finding a way to express myself better...
Green laning in the UK, in my opinion, requires a bike that gives you much finesse from low revs, and a wallop of torque from tickover for when you misjudge a slow obstacle. You do not want the rear wheel to spin up too fast when you are climbing through a mire, and you want a setup that means that you can use mid revs sometimes, so that when it does spin up, it does not do it too harshly. In this respect, a bike that gets a bit breathless at the top might well do what you wnat more easily when the grip drops away.
I may be doing the WR a disservice, but this just does not sound like what it was meant to do.
Green laning in the UK, in my opinion, requires a bike that gives you much finesse from low revs, and a wallop of torque from tickover for when you misjudge a slow obstacle. You do not want the rear wheel to spin up too fast when you are climbing through a mire, and you want a setup that means that you can use mid revs sometimes, so that when it does spin up, it does not do it too harshly. In this respect, a bike that gets a bit breathless at the top might well do what you wnat more easily when the grip drops away.
I may be doing the WR a disservice, but this just does not sound like what it was meant to do.
Hi northernbloke. Apologies for the late post, i've been at my mothers gardening. Im still undecided about what bike to buy. The wr250f or the wr450f. If the 450f is too powerful, i can always get a carb specialist or rolling road to de-tune the bike. The factory restricted 450f is reckoned to be like the 250f anyway- "tame".
qoute
The bike is plenty tame. With the gray wire, pea shooter baffle, and throttle stop it place it responds like a 250f.
Thats a direct reference to the factory restricted wr450f.
Still, I cant make my mind up. Buying a less powerful bike just goes against the grain & my instincts. It feels wrong to be thinking in such terms. But as you say, the 450 might be / is intractable and useless off road.
Thanks for the input northernbloke, i know little about bikes, and tbh Im struggling to work out what bike is best.
Deep down, i think i will go for the 450, and work through any technical issues later. By issues, i mean tyres & power delivery
thanks again.
qoute
The bike is plenty tame. With the gray wire, pea shooter baffle, and throttle stop it place it responds like a 250f.
Thats a direct reference to the factory restricted wr450f.
Still, I cant make my mind up. Buying a less powerful bike just goes against the grain & my instincts. It feels wrong to be thinking in such terms. But as you say, the 450 might be / is intractable and useless off road.
Thanks for the input northernbloke, i know little about bikes, and tbh Im struggling to work out what bike is best.
Deep down, i think i will go for the 450, and work through any technical issues later. By issues, i mean tyres & power delivery
thanks again.
You cant go wrong with a KTM200 EXC, DRZ's are too tall and heavy for serious mud plugging, all the 450ish things too powerful for really long OFF ROAD days, the 4 strokes make better road bikes as they will cruise on a consant throttle, where as the 2 strokes hunt on cruise. All of my gang have tried 4 strokes, but we have all gone back to the strokers as they make better serious off road tools, and they are more cost effective to maintain.
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