Green laning where to start
 

I am thinking about getting into green laning and have been waying up my options. I know I will need proper off road gear which I reckon i could source of ebay for £200 all in. The real quandry is the bike. It has to be road legal, asGreen Lanes are Public Highway so need insurance and stuff. Secondly I want a four stroke for reliability/fuel economy reasons. And finally I want a fairly light bike as I will be new to it and will no doubt drop it quite often.

So with this set of criteria in mind, I have been looking at the 4 main off roader type makers, i.e. Kwak, KTM, Suzuki and Yamaha. They all appear to make very nice 250 4stroke bikes which I think would ideally suite what I am looking for. The price on these things however, is high and as I dont even know if I will stick with it, I have been considering one of these.

linky


Now I know that they are not going to be anywhere near the build quality of the big 4, but hey, for something I am going to drop on a regular basis. I dont think that £450 all in is that bad for a bike like this.

Anbody's experiences or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Green laning where to start
 

DO NOT GET IT!!!!! I do quite abit of green laning and believe me when i tell you it will not last 5 mins! try and look at an older drz350 or a ttr 250 to get started, as these are reasonable price wise and tend to put up with quite a lot of abuse, plus there are plenty of spares / aftermarket bits for them, easy to service and cheap to insure. the build quality on chinease bikes is awfull and WHEN you drop it you will struggle to replace parts. join your local TRF as they will know all the (good) legal routes and organise ride outs etc. whatever you do though make sure you buy decent body armour - its worth its weight in gold!

Re: Green laning where to start
 

I agree, far better getting an old 2nd hand DRZ or something and don't bother with a cheap Chinese bike.

Re: Green laning where to start
 

+1 My MT5 that I had at 16 has more off road ability! ;-)

My neighbour bought one and he's used it about 2 or 3 times, and it's now sat in his garage for two years. It's only useful purpose is occasional, light off road use (ie: crossing fields and walkers footpaths) and we intend to take it into a field one day to teach our wives how to ride a bike. The aforementioned problems with parts has never arisen 'cos it's not been used enough to ever need a service. The main reason it's not been used is that the rear suspension is shocking (excuse the pun!). It's OK on a well trampled walkers footpath, but a bumpy farm track used by heavy tractors just has the suspension bottoming out at any speed. Enduro or motocross forget it! No point in selling it now, 'cos it's not worth anything. Just keep it for mucking around or for the kids to play on when they get old enough. Chinese bikes are great cheap toys for kids.

Re: Green laning where to start
 

For green laning you need something that is lightweight and easy to ride. But also you need something that you can get parts easily for (as you will break things) and also the bike has to be upto the job.

I had a KTM 250EXC. Ok it wasnt cheap to purchase at £3800 but after a years use I sold it for £3650. Thats not bad!. I had about ten buyers for it too.

Like has been said the Yamaha TTR250 is a good bike. Easy to manage, four stroke, simple to get parts for and look after. The cleaning and maintenance side of green laning can be just as much fun.

Get some mousses fitted to the tyres. They are a hard rubber tube that sits in the tyre instead of air. Punctures off road in the middle of no where are a real pain. These are vital.

Decent bodyarmour, you will fall off and you want to get up smiling!.

Never ride alone either. Break something out on the lanes and you will need someone to help you. I know this from experience.:smt045

Above all, respect other laners, walkers and horses. Dont go flat out down the lanes, you do still have to abide by bypways laws, so look these up. Switch off the engine when a horse is around. Dont get grumpy with walkers if they do with you. Always keep an OS map with you and some spares in a bum bag. Dont use a loud exhaust either or ride on private land. These are some things to keep you enjoying it.

Have fun!

Re: Green laning where to start
 

Why not try an off road day to see if you like it before splashing out on a bike etc?
try these guys
http://www.trailworld.co.uk
I have recently returned from one of their weekends in Spain (Awesome BTW) and they have several locations in the UK. You are provided with a bike and all the gear you need, plus you will have someone on hand to give you some pointers etc (if you need some).

Here is a little photo of me performing some heroics through a muddy stream

Attachment 698

O happy daze!

Re: Green laning where to start
 

thanks for the advice people. Now looking at a TTR and a DZR on tinterweb. I thought as much about the build quality but wanted to be sure I wasnt talking myself out of a bargain.

Re: Green laning where to start
 

www.thumpertalk.com

^^^excellent resource on off road bikes

Re: Green laning where to start
 

Where did you go? Was it with Andy or Trevor?

Re: Green laning where to start
 

I go about once a year on a proper day out, the bike (Honda CRF230), insurance, fuel and most importantly a guide, comes to about £150 for the day. Bearing in mind that I probably knock £100 off the bikes value each time, its fantastic.
Not enough daylight to get the best value out of it just at the moment, but I'll be planning to go again late next spring.
Actually that one day a year is almost enough for me, it takes another 2 days recovery - 80 miles off road riding is the biggest work out I can imagine.