Tell me I'm crackers....

Davros

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Hi,

Despite advancing years I have a hankering to try a little gentle green laning - never ridden off road before but have 40 plus years on road bikes.

I have been looking for a cheap green laner and have taken on board advice that 200 - 250cc is more than enough for a novice. I'm quite a large unit - 6,3" and 115kg so have included bikes up to 400cc in my search.

I have considered XR250, XR400, DR350 and DR400. I have a budget of 2.5k but there doesn't seem to be a lot out there.

There is a KTM EXC525 available locally to me that looks pretty good and is close to my budget.

My query is will this bike be too much of a handful for a novice green laner? Appreciate "throttle goes both ways" but don't want to be launched into the scenery!

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers, Davey
 
Hi,

Despite advancing years I have a hankering to try a little gentle green laning - never ridden off road before but have 40 plus years on road bikes.

I have been looking for a cheap green laner and have taken on board advice that 200 - 250cc is more than enough for a novice. I'm quite a large unit - 6,3" and 115kg so have included bikes up to 400cc in my search.

I have considered XR250, XR400, DR350 and DR400. I have a budget of 2.5k but there doesn't seem to be a lot out there.

There is a KTM EXC525 available locally to me that looks pretty good and is close to my budget.

My query is will this bike be too much of a handful for a novice green laner? Appreciate "throttle goes both ways" but don't want to be launched into the scenery!

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers, Davey

You'd be crackers!!!!
 
Hi,

Despite advancing years I have a hankering to try a little gentle green laning - never ridden off road before but have 40 plus years on road bikes.

I have been looking for a cheap green laner and have taken on board advice that 200 - 250cc is more than enough for a novice. I'm quite a large unit - 6,3" and 115kg so have included bikes up to 400cc in my search.

I have considered XR250, XR400, DR350 and DR400. I have a budget of 2.5k but there doesn't seem to be a lot out there.

There is a KTM EXC525 available locally to me that looks pretty good and is close to my budget.

My query is will this bike be too much of a handful for a novice green laner? Appreciate "throttle goes both ways" but don't want to be launched into the scenery!

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers, Davey

Flowers or grapes?
 
This is from the seller in the ad .... !


it’s up for sale is it’s too much for what I use it for, can’t put the power down anywhere it just spins or try’s too flip you off.. willing too swap for a smaller 200-250-350 at most..
 
Tim the Iceland man on here is at least 100 and he still does it so don't let age put you off.

As for the KTM 525 that'll be fun ;)
 
Tim the Iceland man on here is at least 100 and he still does it so don't let age put you off.

Sorry to correct you, but Tim is actually only 38 ...... :thumb2



<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/mannlamb/p/746c405e-2f37-4ae4-a061-778fcde89216" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/f38/mannlamb/.highres/tramp_master_361x470_zpsd6927798.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds" border="0" alt="tramp_master_361x470_zpsd6927798"/></a>
 
When my mate had a bike shop a customer came in ,he had years of on road experience but had never ridden off road and was looking for advice .

At the time my mate had a couple of really nice XR250's , a Serow225 ,a KMX200 and a TTR250 n stock but said punter reckoned they were all too small and he wanted something bigger and more powerful.

He refused to listen to advice and went out and bought a then brand new Honda XR650R, first time off road ignoring the advice not to ride alone he quickly ran out of skill , binning the bike and breaking both arms in the process

UTTER TIT
 
KTM 525, you say ….

I had a 530EXC, a couple of years ago (in the last pic )….Lovely bike, very torquey and the scenery & horizon came up at an alarmingly fast rate of knots

You could buy the 525, but I personally would buy a CRF250L if I was you, for a starter bike

I still have a XR400R….old, but gold (the modern bikes are far more capable though)

Green lanes take you to the most amazing places in uk

28909fb3f5044f8f97a648c70c5b3869.jpg


c029963f2594f64dd26cba31daa042d8.jpg



23611624f946f43727483aaa9826e013.jpg



ddc080c206eed7fedc63ac92a36f27c6.jpg


d2ed073b21548a7d9cdc23905a6eeceb.jpg



b41d5570040b2b35fda9cb797453cb0f.jpg
 
KTM 525, you say ….

I had a 530EXC, a couple of years ago (in the last pic )….Lovely bike, very torquey and the scenery & horizon came up at an alarmingly fast rate of knots

You could buy the 525, but I personally would buy a CRF250L if I was you, for a starter bike

I still have a XR400R….old, but gold (the modern bikes are far more capable though)

Green lanes take you to the most amazing places in uk

28909fb3f5044f8f97a648c70c5b3869.jpg


c029963f2594f64dd26cba31daa042d8.jpg



23611624f946f43727483aaa9826e013.jpg



ddc080c206eed7fedc63ac92a36f27c6.jpg


d2ed073b21548a7d9cdc23905a6eeceb.jpg



b41d5570040b2b35fda9cb797453cb0f.jpg

Great photos - thanks for the advice.

Sooo - looking for a more suitable device around the £2.5k mark - needs to be road legal. If anyone has such a beast lurking in some long forgotten corner of the garage I'd be interested.

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

Cheers, Davey
 
Great photos - thanks for the advice.

Sooo - looking for a more suitable device around the £2.5k mark - needs to be road legal. If anyone has such a beast lurking in some long forgotten corner of the garage I'd be interested.

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

Cheers, Davey

I know someone who has bought a tidy 2012 CRF250L for £2000, patience

All my photos of the Green Lanes (roads) are fully legal carriageways, for motorised vehicles (or walkers/cyclists/horseriders) @King Rat

I posted the earlier photos to show the huge diversity of terrain and the historic monuments (that you stumble across) that we can explore in the England and Wales
 
I posted the earlier photos to show the huge diversity of terrain and the historic monuments (that you stumble across) that we can explore in the England and Wales


Hurrah !!



<a href="https://gileslamb.smugmug.com/Quality/i-gX9kgtg/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Quality/i-gX9kgtg/0/67e8baa7/L/011-L.jpg" alt=""></a>
 


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