Looking at dirtbikes:

[mpio13]

Took a rip on my brother-in-laws YZF 426 on Memorial Day... now I need one. Haven't ridden a dirtbike since in about 14 years, but I felt pretty comfortable on it. Even did some wheelies. Anyhow the thing was a monster, and a lot of fun.
I have a Yamaha Vstar 650 and I think I'm gunna look into selling it/trading it in for a dirtbike. I'm just not sure which bikes to look at. The YZF was crazy, raw power. But I could probably find that in a lot of bikes. I would probably lean towards something I could make street legal like a DRZ. When I was younger I rode a Honda XC, which have been around forever and have a strong reputation.

Anyone out there know more than me (I know nothing) about reliability, cost of maintenance, street-ability...I'd appreciate some help.

-Mark

 

[jt512]

First question, exactly what do you want to do with a bike? I ask because while there may be a lot of models/ brands / sizes that "could" do what you want, there are most definitely good and better choices.
You mentioned making it street legal, what kind of street riding and what type of distances are you thinking? You can make most anything street legal as long as you know the ins and outs of the laws, and while a Honda CRF450 with a set of super moto wheels is a BLAST, it's not something you would take on an interstate or ride great distances on. A DRZ is a great trail bike, but is also heavy and pretty outdated in the off road world. KTM has some very nice options, some of which are available with wide ratio trannies, lighting and are very easy to put on the street, be realistic with your goals and I am happy to offer an input I can.

 

[mpio13]

Well. I'm making this hard on myself now: I usually take short rides on my bike. Work and back (7 miles round trip) or just around town on my day off. But last night I took it out for a 2 and a half hour cruise. I'll miss being able to do that.

Anyhow; I'd be willing for any good trail bike that I could put a light kit on to make it street legal. Really what made me so excited when I rode the YZ was how fast it was. So it's gotta be fast. Durable. Fast. Loud. Fun. I really should go test ride a few.