Thread: Farm bike advice please

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.

Interesting session at the bike shop. We had a look at three second hand bikes - Kawasaki Stockman, Suzuki DR200 and an old 2 stroke 125cc Suzuki Mudbug.

The immediate conclusion was that we need an intermediate sized bike for these two boys of ours. I think I overestimated what they could handle. They might be tall enough but they are like reedy fucking pipe cleaners and don’t really have the strength for a full-size bike.

The Kawasaki fits me like a glove but this particular one was rusty as, shocking holes in the frame in front of the engine, which I enjoyed pointing out to the salesman who had interestingly failed to mention it. The DR200 was also an appealing machine, for me.

I couldn’t really get excited about the old Mudbug although it felt light enough for the boys. The one we were looking at was really quite old. Then on the way home we called in at a cocky mate of mine and he’s got a Honda NXR125 and that was much more manageable for teenagers.

The dealer was going to drop off all three bikes at our place tomorrow for a test ride but I think I’ll press pause for the time being and have a look at different intermediate sized options first.

Balance and being able to control a bike is just experience.

I've seen small females handle monster off-road bikes like the GS 1150.

Lots of vids on YT about walking around a bike while balancing it with one finger. And also slow speed riding exercises doing figure 8 around 2 road cones. Search for the BMW academy ones, loads of good info about bike handling.

Thing is the boys will probably outgrow an intermediate bike in a couple of afternoons.

Best thing in my opinion is buy an older (heavier) farm bike that everyone is comfortable dropping / scratching. and have at it in a paddock

Good on ya! It pays to try before you buy. Especially for kids that look like pipecleaners!!!

You have competing pros and cons in the field you are looking at buying into. A bike like a mudbug feels lighter as its weight is a lot closer to the ground. But its got fuck all suspension. Its still heavy, but more manageable heavy (for beginners) than an equal weight bike sitting up high on lovely plush suspension. CofG takes over more easily, esp at low speed.

Buying second hand: Most 2nd hand farm bikes are off dairy farms, as they don't last long being bathed in cow shit all day every day. Whereas a dry stock farmer will usually buy a new farm bike and keep it till it stops for good.

A year or so ago there was a great buy off Suzuki NZ. They imported a 40 footer full of Jap assembled TS185s. retailed for 3K inc gst

I have ridden most farm oriented bikes, hauled an awful lot of deer out of the hills on Ag100/TF185/XR250's.
There was no joy riding the AG100 and Mudbug. They just do a job. And pretty bloody well if I look back at what I subjected them to. The better suspension on the XR family of bikes, and more modern Suzi/Yamie/kawasakis farm bikes makes them a wee bit more satisfying to ride.

Enduro bikes are another whole world, And are a delight to jump on anytime. I will often use mine for moving stock or heading off pruning, cause it puts a smile on your dial just to be on it. Cant say that I ever felt that way on my Mudbug.

So, in a round about way I guess I'm saying that it may pay to get them competent on a smaller lighter 2nd hand bike (not too second hand!) before shelling out on a more modern, more comfortable, more capable bike in a couple of years. Both my kids learnt to ride on the old mudbug, and have the lovebites on their shins to prove it! The bike.....also received some lovebites from their riding, after many years of me keeping it pretty tidy

seen wee french milking maid at roadside today,letting cows across road...the farm bike was interesting,like a miniture version of older XR...just everything scaled down...even smaller than the old xr100 was. maybe 75% of normal size.
shouldve taken note of what it was.

Honda made 4 different sized XR's under a hundy cc's

Yeah good advice @XR500.

Currently looking at bikes like the Suzuki DR-Z125.

43kg lighter than the DR200. Nice light trail bike.

About 12 or 13 years ago we bought a Klx 140 for the lady of the farm and i've got to say that bike has been the best thing ever. i'll use it over my kdx 200 for tricky steep hill work and quite often because its just easy to ride. also its proven to be indestructable (so far) . i think the newer ones are called 150's. the taller youngster might look a bit out of place on it but i reckon they'll develop confidence well with that size bike. should be easy to sell once they are ready to move on too.

Yep, I would be looking at a ttr230 or crf230f, really good gearing for the farm stuff, enough power to have a little bit of fun without being scary and light enough to handle.

It will also be a “buy once cry once” deal as they are useable and a bit of fun once they get a handle on them, the others they would want to upgrade pretty quickly.
The above options they could still take to a bike park or trail ride and not feel like they have arrived to a horse ride on a donkey.

I learned at 15 on a yz250 with a monster power band, yes daunting at first but you get to grips with it pretty quickly.


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This would be the absolute best bike for the money you want to spend.

Easy to learn on with smooth power delivery, usable gearing and plush suspension.

Road legal as a bonus and you will always get your money back on one of these as they are way more desirable.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-m...3431734249.htm


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Originally Posted by ebf

Balance and being able to control a bike is just experience.

I've seen small females handle monster off-road bikes like the GS 1150.

Lots of vids on YT about walking around a bike while balancing it with one finger. And also slow speed riding exercises doing figure 8 around 2 road cones. Search for the BMW academy ones, loads of good info about bike handling.

Thing is the boys will probably outgrow an intermediate bike in a couple of afternoons.

Best thing in my opinion is buy an older (heavier) farm bike that everyone is comfortable dropping / scratching. and have at it in a paddock

Can’t argue with that logic.

Going round in circles a bit at the moment but it’s good because you fellas are giving me a lot to think about and I appreciate that. Lots of good ideas and info.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

I've only ridden a CRF once, and the only thing that stood out about it, apart from being nice and light and easy to ride, was the seat was very hard. A day sitting on it shifting stock would give me grief.
Mrs @40mm had a couple of surplus bikes at one stage, still got them?

Yeah they give that impression but I've used one daily since they came out and I can assure you they are a comfy saddle.
My advice to the Op would be get a crf230 it will go forever and you'll sell it for as much as you brought it for, adjustable ride height, great brakes and suspension which is important for your boys learning.


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I’m thinking the CRF230 is likely to be the next round of consideration @BRADS… For a paddock learner it’s probably a level up from what we need.

Like I said, going round in circles a bit, but this morning we had a family meeting and agreed that boys are not going to try and run before they can walk, and that some of their ideas of what constitutes a sensible option are a tad unrealistic (you can imagine the kind of thing that catches their eye).

We went through all the intermediate bike options and kind of backed off a bit. I think @ebf is probably closest to where my gut feel is, get a traditional farm bike with crash protection, decent condition secondhand at a sensible price, something that will not see boys shedding tears over when they drop it. There’s a couple of options locally which makes life easy. A decent farm bike like a Stockman would be very useful for me long-term for access into certain hunting areas.

Once they’ve been passed as competent and responsible, then round two can commence and then I think we’ll be looking into proper trail bikes.

i’ll probably change my mind again sometime this afternoon.

Depending if the boys are mechanically inclined, fixing up an older bike could also be a fun family project.

I got a mudbug off here several years ago, and was happily surprised by how cheap parts were. The older 2-stroke bikes are very easy to work on - drum brakes, simple engines etc. Sold it when the Mrs started grumbling about it taking up too much space in the back yard - still regret selling it.

CRF230 - you cant go wrong.