Years ago, my wife and I purchased a Yamaha TTR90E for our daughter as an off-road play bike when she was little. We also used it as a pit bike at our local motorcycle road racing course. It was great, in both roles.
Fast forward to today- we are now retired, empty nesters, and in the process of purchasing a ranch in Texas.
My wife has expressed an interest in having a small motorcycle appropriate for off-road use on our property.
She is about 4'11" and 100 pounds, and because of my admittedly high degree of lecherousness, she is decades younger than most retirees.
She is not new to motorcycles- she took her novice road racing class on a Supersport-prepared Suzuki SV650 that we referred to as the "Halfabusa". She had an HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) NSR50R Grand Prix racing bike that she used at local go kart tracks. And she currently has an utterly pimped Honda MSX125 with Michelin tires, full Ohlins suspension, Sato Racing rearsets, superbike handlebar, carbon/stainless race exhaust, custom ASV levers, and so on.
That said, we are not looking for a motocross race bike, per se. There is something very approachable about an air-cooled 2-valve play bike.
Then again, I can afford a small motocross race bike for her, which would net her a lot more power, significantly lighter weight, vastly better suspension, superior brakes, and so on.
So I think we're looking for something larger and more powerful than the TTR110E (although that would work), and we're definitely looking for something lighter and smaller than the various 300-pound 230cc dual-sports. And she really does not want a Bigwheel.
So I'm wondering if we're looking for something like one of the three sizes of KLX140 (probably one of the smaller versions), or if we're looking for something like a KX85.
What say ye?
Fast forward to today- we are now retired, empty nesters, and in the process of purchasing a ranch in Texas.
My wife has expressed an interest in having a small motorcycle appropriate for off-road use on our property.
She is about 4'11" and 100 pounds, and because of my admittedly high degree of lecherousness, she is decades younger than most retirees.
She is not new to motorcycles- she took her novice road racing class on a Supersport-prepared Suzuki SV650 that we referred to as the "Halfabusa". She had an HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) NSR50R Grand Prix racing bike that she used at local go kart tracks. And she currently has an utterly pimped Honda MSX125 with Michelin tires, full Ohlins suspension, Sato Racing rearsets, superbike handlebar, carbon/stainless race exhaust, custom ASV levers, and so on.
That said, we are not looking for a motocross race bike, per se. There is something very approachable about an air-cooled 2-valve play bike.
Then again, I can afford a small motocross race bike for her, which would net her a lot more power, significantly lighter weight, vastly better suspension, superior brakes, and so on.
So I think we're looking for something larger and more powerful than the TTR110E (although that would work), and we're definitely looking for something lighter and smaller than the various 300-pound 230cc dual-sports. And she really does not want a Bigwheel.
So I'm wondering if we're looking for something like one of the three sizes of KLX140 (probably one of the smaller versions), or if we're looking for something like a KX85.
What say ye?
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