Thread: Farm bike advice please

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

I learnt on an yammy ag100 2 stroke.....what killed them was the oiler packed up and folks just kept running them on straight petrol till they died...see them on farms all the time now blowing clouds of smoke as folks learnt and run them on 2 stroke mix...think some over generous with the oil.
not fast enough or powerful enough to get into too much trouble. the suzuki mudbugs have always been an awesome bike...agree with putting larger rear sprocket on them to slow things down.... till they learn then poke origonal back on.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I learnt on an yammy ag100 2 stroke.....what killed them was the oiler packed up and folks just kept running them on straight petrol till they died...see them on farms all the time now blowing clouds of smoke as folks learnt and run them on 2 stroke mix...think some over generous with the oil.
not fast enough or powerful enough to get into too much trouble. the suzuki mudbugs have always been an awesome bike...agree with putting larger rear sprocket on them to slow things down.... till they learn then poke origonal back on.

Ditto
Yellow pride and joy @ 15 in 1973
$504 then Sales Tax of I think 25% off

Be aware that the smaller Hondas run smaller dia wheels than most of the previously mentioned bikes (in an effort to be lowest weight in class). This is absolutely no drama running around paddocks and home made MX courses. But head off somewhere lumpy, or following rutted 4x4 tracks and those wee wheels make it a lot easier to arse off. Try if possible to stick to the time tested combo of 21 inch front 18 inch rear.

Originally Posted by XR500

Be aware that the smaller Hondas run smaller dia wheels than most of the previously mentioned bikes (in an effort to be lowest weight in class). This is absolutely no drama running around paddocks and home made MX courses. But head off somewhere lumpy, or following rutted 4x4 tracks and those wee wheels make it a lot easier to arse off. Try if possible to stick to the time tested combo of 21 inch front 18 inch rear.

it works for the "little black elephant washers" working on many dairy farms too.....and dont get knickers in knot I have great respect for the Nepalese folks on bosses farm and met some great Philipinos too..... the above title is just a poke in ribs and easier to type than mutinational people of short stature and dark complection.....

I've got a KLX 250 that's totally renewed. Comes with an unopened big bore 300cc kit in a box. $2750.

We had a 125 mudbug on the farm when I was growing up. I reckon it was called a Mudbug because it handled like a pig! The Yammy DT175 was way nicer to ride and much more stable.

I agree crf150 or next choice klx140 but you might struggle to find a decent one for that money. xr125 is another option

My son scored for his wife ( near 6ft tall, new rider) a near mint DR200 off TM for sod all. Can't recall the number but seemed super cheap to me. I've ridden it and it's got quite adequate power for 14yr olds IMO.

I've always been a fan of the Hondas, grew up with them, Dad had a dozen over the years and the occasional DR.
Had an XR200 that was bullet proof - a mate drove into what he thought was a puddle, but was well over the bar heights (small pond). We pulled it apart, dried it out and with the help of the King brothers (NZ MotoX champs at the time) kicked it over for half an hour and she was going again!
Taught many people how to ride on that old tank, and thus my allegiance to the old XR.

This might be in your ball park: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/m...1?bof=duIcasSJ

Id go for a CRF 230 ideally.
The problem with "farm" bikes is they usually terribly balanced POS that havent been updated since the 1970/80's.
I think I fell off farm bikes way more than i ever did even when racing motorcross bikes

Thanks for the suggestions fellas.

Defo won’t be going for anything remotely motocross. Simple, slow, that’s the requirement. Won’t be lugging deer around. This bike will be used as a learner only then flicked on I imagine, unless Mum likes it of course.

There’s a few options relatively local to us that we’ll go and look at over the next wee while. DR200, CRF230, Kawasaki Stockman are the shortlist so far.

And when they get tired of plugging about on farm 2 wheelers, here's the ultimate power upgrade for fun off road on a 2 wheeler : Nitrous injected 500cc MotoX bikes running in the snow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6bGym0Jcqc

Originally Posted by XR500

And when they get tired of plugging about on farm 2 wheelers, here's the ultimate power upgrade for fun off road on a 2 wheeler : Nitrous injected 500cc MotoX bikes running in the snow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6bGym0Jcqc

Gotta say that the more I look at this the more I wonder why on earth I wouldn’t just buy a new one.

The Kawasaki Stockman for $7k delivered looks like its a pretty sweet option.

A big ups for getting a new one.

But try and find one to ride first. They are 125kgs dry, so 133 kgs full of fuel. So don't fill the fuel tank to the brim when they are learning to ride!!!

They are a 'proper' bike though. My XR 250's (and the original XR500) were still mild steel frames. The stockman is chrome moly. A big plus. They also have decent suspension travel. Another plus.

As a comparison my deer recovery bike is an Italian 300cc 2 stroke enduro machine. 45 hp, chrome moly frame, a foot of suspension travel and weighs 100kgs without fuel.