What the heck do I want?

I'm 5'11, 235lbs, 30 years old. Now that the truck is paid off and the mods are more or less done, I'm ready for the next toy

I've always been interested in motorcycles and ATVs since I was a kid, but never had anyone around who owned one, nor had the chance to get one.

I rented a Honda Foreman 4x4 ATV last year when I was in Marysvale Utah. I had a blast, but the roads were pretty flat and I was hoping for something more technical.
Other than that, I've never been on a bike with the motor on.


I'm trying to get a better idea of what I want - either ATV or a bike - and don't know how to go about figuring that out. I plan on signing up for the motorcycle training class this summer, but you can't exactly rent a dirtbike as far as I know. How do I decide what I'm going to want?

 

Here's some places I take the truck... I would want the bike/atv to go the same places and more

TSF, maybe with snow
Random forest roads

This, however, looks retarded

 

look into a crf250, they are great bikes! you will fit on it really well, maybe a little bigger, but would be good so you can handle it more. a bigger bike would be the crf450r

a good starter quad thats more of a sport quad is the 400ex. they arent very fast but they are tanks and the engine will last for ever. a bigger quad i would recommend would be a yfz450

you can always look into sidexsides. like a rhino or a razor!


for a dirtbike i recomment 08 and older because they arent fuel injected. the fuel injected are really only good when your pinned.

 

i also dont know much about 4x4s, and if you want to go in snow i recommend that or a side by side (rhino, razor, etc)

 

i would go with a quad since youve never riden a motorcycle. You might kill yourself haha. Heres a list of both that will point you in the right direction for your skill and size.

Quads:
honda trx450r
yamaha yfz450
yamaha raptor 700
kawasaki 700

Bikes:
honda crf450X
yamaha wr450f

 

in bold are my opinions above also a crf250x!

 

a non fuel injected mx bike.....

 

edited above post to reflect this just now!

 

oh, forgot to say that I think it would be cool to use as a summertime commuter vehicle and it would be nice to be able to get to the trails with just the bike, but I'm not sure if I've got unreasonable aspirations.

Eh, the sidexside is bigger than I want. Oregon is also trying to pass a law that makes them a class IV vehicle so you can't take them on quad trails.

Whatever I'm getting is going to be used. Need something to learn on without caring too badly.

From what I've read, a DRZ 400 is probably a good direction for the bike. Not sure what the used market is like. There's a honda/yamaha/suzuki shop next to my house and the guys there say there's nothing that really compares.

 

your right they are only 19 pounds heavier, out of the hole the 450 will take it, but if its longer straight away the 700 will take it

 

you gotta remember though hes new. I dont think being faster then a race quad is a benefit. Those 700's are fast but also still an entry level quad especially for his weight it should be perfect. and a 250x will bog too much with 235 lb guy on it.

 

yeah this is true

 

DRZ400 is a good bike. VERYY reliable!

 

so far this is the only answer anyone really gives me about the difference. I'm pretty conservative in terms of how I drive - I'm not looking to race. Yeah I know you can mess yourself up more... so why do people still get bikes?

I kinda overloaded the post, my main question is how to decide between quad or bike

 

If anyone says, "get both", I'm going to start prepping the middle fingers, lol

 

we have a ’11 yamaha rhino me love it. but it could use better tires. we will be getting some next year. we have a fold down windshield and a warn 3000 pound winch. i like it a bit more than the RZR’S because you have more of a bed to put stuff

 

Oh, and I do appreciate the responses, guys. When the time comes I'm gonna have some good information

 

X2....most new riders need a year or two to get used to the motorbike. im not saying you wont, but maybe start off with a quad or buy a cheap moto, and see how you like it before buying new.

 

4x4 quads are so popular where i live. everybody goes down to the river and rides trails like all weekend

and damn talk about a money pit. they are constantly breaking them and drowning them but the damn things are insane. some have tires as big as my trucks

if you go the 4x4 quad route i always liked the yamaha grizzlys or maybe the kawi brute forces. but the honda rincon looks good and the suzukis were winning quad of the year for a long time but i dont really keep up with it anymore

i would try and get at least a 600 or bigger. you can go anywhere on them

 

four wheels move the body two wheels move the soul........