Popular Dirt Bikes

Executive Summary by Jimmy Sturo

Dirt bikes, also known as Trails Bikes are off-road, lightweight motorcycles built for cross country, unpaved, rough or uneven grounds. Since they are specifically designed for rough terrains, they are also equipped with rugged tires and suspension. They also have a smaller engine power than typical street motorcycles, normally less than 500 cc.

There are two main types of engines built for dirt bikes - The two-stroke and the four-stroke. The two-stroke engine ignites a mixture of oil and gas in the cylinder, thereby powering up the bike and lubricating the engine all at once. The four stroke engine is a smaller version of a car engine in which the gas is ignited and the oil can be reused again.

motorcross dirt bike

The main difference between a Dirt Bike and a Street Bike is the suspension. Dirt Bikes have suspension with a lot more travel than Street Bikes, with higher ground clearance and are much lighter. Knobbies or deep treads on the tires of Dirt Bikes also give better traction through dirt, mud, sand or gravel. The engine is also placed on a higher level to avoid ground obstructions such as rocks, and the gas tank installed in the mid-section for better balance.

The Most Popular Dirt Bikes

The most popular Dirt Bikes are those manufactured by Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and KTM. Some of these products can be very expensive since their demand is very high with professionals and amateurs alike.

When Kawasaki started mass-production of perimeter frame Dirt Bikes in 1990, the two-stroke, single-cylinder 249cc engine KAWASAKI KX250, along with KX125 became the first ones to be manufactured. A new KX250 can cost you around 6,000 dollars while you can get a used KAWASAKI KX250 for 1500 to 3000 dollars.

The 449cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, four-stroke Honda CRF450R is rated highly by owners due to its versatility, speed and power. This motorcycle costs around 6,000 to 7,000 dollars.

Suzuki has been manufacturing a series of Dirt Bikes called DR-Z and a recent addition to this family is the Suzuki DR-Z125, available in two versions - DR-Z125 and DR-Z125L. These 124cc, 4-stroke, single-cylinder models feature the traditional, five-speed transmission and the 2004 models cost 3,000 dollars.

history of dirt bikes

The Yamaha YZ series is the most popular Yamaha Dirt Bike model. The 2006 models will cost you around 3,000 to 7,000 dollars or more than that. Of these, the 85cc, liquid-cooled, reed valve-inducted, 2-stroke YZ85 is the cheapest (3,099 dollars) while the 4-stroke, DOHC, 5-valve titanium, liquid-cooled engine YZ450F costs around 6,500 to 8,000 dollars.

The most popular KTM Dirt Bike, the KTM 200 EXC, has power band of the 200cc engine but weighs similar to a typical 125cc Dirt Bike. The KTM 200 EXC costs around 6,000 dollars. KTM also has a similarly popular family of Dirk Bikes the KTM SX series. There’s not much difference in price between the EXC and the SX series and they continue to some of the most popular off-road vehicles.