Thread: Farm bike advice please

Fellas

Time has come for me to teach my two boys (15 & 14) how to ride a two wheeler properly. We have enough ground here (paddocks) to do this sensibly.

Not looking for a flash as dirt bike - want a solid, sensible farm bike like a Suzuki DF200 or DR200.

Looking at something sub-3 grand. Don’t mind a bike that needs a tidy up within reason.

Any suggestions?

Anyone in the N Waikato or N BOP got something worth having they could part with?

Cheers

honda crf150f if you can find one

Our kids learnt to ride a yamaha ag125

Mine learnt on a Briggs & Bastard mini bike but then they were half the age of yours.

Suzi DR 200
Keep an eye on Tard Me. :-)

I remember when they were buying the like of Kawasaki Z900s and 1000s as 'farmbikes".
There were some dodgy deals done when we were young.
Got the import tax, sales tax off.
Our old's wouldn't buy into it.
Had to pay full price.

Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

Suzi DR 200
Keep an eye on Tard Me. :-)

Like this…?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/m...7?bof=3m6L8cri

I’ll look up the difference between the DR and DF.

Check out Forza bikes. My boys, younger than yours,have a 110cc model. Chinese made copies of a Yamaha I believe. Go great, pleasantly surprised by the build quality and you get something new rather than worn out. 140cc model is about $2200.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I’ll look up the difference between the DR and DF.

Isn't the DR a motorbike and the DF an outboard motor?

Originally Posted by BMcB

Check out Forza bikes. My boys, younger than yours,have a 110cc model. Chinese made copies of a Yamaha I believe. Go great, pleasantly surprised by the build quality and you get something new rather than worn out. 140cc model is about $2200.

They look like little kids bikes? My two are 5’9” and 5’11” already.

Originally Posted by Cigar

Isn't the DR a motorbike and the DF an outboard motor?

Nope. Or yeah. But there’s a DF200 as well.

Suzuki TF is the farm bike version aka "mudbug"

Kawasaki Stockman or Yamaha AG are the other options.

TF's are 2 stroke and are the Suzuki equivalent to the Yamaha AG125. DR200 and DF200 are 4 stroke. DF is basically a modified DR200 for farm use (actually looks like they are all now DR200 "Trojan"...Back in the day if I recall correctly the DR was a trail bike and the DF "Trojan" was the farm bike)

We used to use Yamaha AG200's and Suzuki DF200's before going to quads. Personally I preferred the DF as it seemed lighter and seat height was a bit higher. DF also had a front disc brake. Little bit more maintenance on the DF due to the exposed chain compared to the AG but other than that we had no problems.

How big are your kids??

All the mentioned 4 stroke farm bikes nudge 115 kgs.

The smaller 2 strokes are about 5-10kgs less

Steer clear of chinese shit. Sorry, its shit, plain and simple. The Japs piss all over the Chinese for cheap reliable build quality. I have a 1978 Suzuki mudbig 185. 43 years old and never been apart. Same 1978 piston and rings still going up and down.

There's a lot less on a modern Suzi TF125 to go wrong than a 4 stroke. But thats just me.

First thing when you get whatever you buy, is put new tyres on it and a 12 tooth front sprocket. Then bark busters.

Tyres are important when kids are learning, as the bike will behave a lot better with sharp edges on all the knobs. 12 tooth sprocket will slow the bike down enough for them to not keep stalling it starting off. Bark busters to save you a fortune in broken clutch and brake levers from the multitude of times they will fall off it.

Once you have got them flying around the paddocks with a reasonable amount of control, come down my way and we'll get them jumping my pile of earth moving tyre obstacles

Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

Suzi DR 200
Keep an eye on Tard Me. :-)

I had one of these
Be the must gutless motor I ever run
Felt like a bloody sewing machine running it under you

No low down grunt
Was good on the road once wound up

My Kawasaki 250 Stockman was just an amazing bike
Carried a lot of Deer with it too

One on the DR - would have bent it I think