Using a dirt bike.

[mtnbound]

But wouldn't a low seat height CRF or TTR accomplish the same without the draw back of the big tire?

No experience with the CRF but yes the TTR eliminates the big tire issues but I only noticed the big tire issues at speed if you ride the TW likes it’s intended it’s good but like I said there are better choices.

 

[YZF_88]

Forget the bike man!!! I don’t think Moto and hunting are a good combination. Even with my experience, I found it too sketchy when packing in with a full kit. I’ve had many types including a TW200 and didn’t like it enough to keep it.

While I still ride Moto on a local track, I stick to 4 wheels when hunting now (and just enough to get to a spike camp trailhead)

I’ve lost more hunting seasons because of dirt bikes than the other way around! Heck, this is the first year I’m actually glad I didn’t draw anything. Broke BOTH wrists and shattered my tib and fib in June.

Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway? Not sure about that anymore.

 

[Taudisio]

 

[Snowwolfe]

Rokon info:

 

[idahodave]

Luckily for me I don’t need to watch someone else’s videos. I have my own experiences to draw from. My kid was riding out quarters when he was 12. I’ve been paid to ride motorcycles in the wilds of Idaho for going on 30 years…but freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

Dave

 

[Fullfan]

I have and use a crf230, it needed a light bar and it does just fine. Bud of mine bought a new Yamaha tw200, he was able to go places I did, but it was way under powered. He is 6' 190lbs and is selling it for a crf235 or a 250. The Yamaha did fine on dirt roads but start up a single track and any grade. You were Fred Flintstoning the entire way. The tires were not aggressive enough for anything but a two track or dirt road.

We use the bikes In Idaho in Sept.

 

[TheGDog]

Forget the bike man!!! I don’t think Moto and hunting are a good combination. Even with my experience, I found it too sketchy when packing in with a full kit. I’ve had many types including a TW200 and didn’t like it enough to keep it.

While I still ride Moto on a local track, I stick to 4 wheels when hunting now (and just enough to get to a spike camp trailhead)

I’ve lost more hunting seasons because of dirt bikes than the other way around! Heck, this is the first year I’m actually glad I didn’t draw anything. Broke BOTH wrists and shattered my tib and fib in June.

Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway? Not sure about that anymore.

View attachment 791571

Sorry to hear that man. Shattering a wrist is NOT fun.

 

[IdahoBeav]

Bumping this thread, as I am also looking at moving from an atv to a 2-wheel machine. Searching through the many threads on this topic, it seems the TW200 is far and away the most-recommended, but it appears to me that the technology is very old, like it's a new version of a 40 year old bike.

Does anyone have experience with a Honda CRF300L? It's about the same price as the TW200 but with a lot newer technology.

 

[Taudisio]

Bumping this thread, as I am also looking at moving from an atv to a 2-wheel machine. Searching through the many threads on this topic, it seems the TW200 is far and away the most-recommended, but it appears to me that the technology is very old, like it's a new version of a 40 year old bike.

Does anyone have experience with a Honda CRF300L? It's about the same price as the TW200 but with a lot newer technology.

I just picked up the KLX 300 on Saturday. I’m excited to take it out scouting/camping and I’ll probably do some solo hunting days on it once I can get some luggage. I watched a ton of reviews and I was torn between the Honda and the Kawi. It was pretty unanimous that the kawi has a better suspension, and Honda has less motor vibrations. But they are both basically the same.

 

[IdahoBeav]

I just picked up the KLX 300 on Saturday. I’m excited to take it out scouting/camping and I’ll probably do some solo hunting days on it once I can get some luggage. I watched a ton of reviews and I was torn between the Honda and the Kawi. It was pretty unanimous that the kawi has a better suspension, and Honda has less motor vibrations. But they are both basically the same.

Do you have a rack or plans to get/build one? One thing that the TW200 has going is very good and robust options for a rear rack. I have not seen anything so great for the more motocross style bikes.

 

[Taudisio]

Do you have a rack or plans to get/build one? One thing that the TW200 has going is very good and robust options for a rear rack. I have not seen anything so great for the more motocross style bikes.

I literally just finished installing a back rack! Also planning to run the tusk excursion rack-less luggage. Just have to put my spare funds towards presents for Christmas right now.
The rack I installed

Amazon.com

The luggage bags

Tusk Excursion Rackless Luggage System | Parts & Accessories | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC

Shop for Luggage, like Tusk Excursion Rackless Luggage System at Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. We have the best prices on dirt bike, atv and motorcycle parts, apparel and accessories and offer excellent customer service.

www.rockymountainatvmc.com

I just hope I can fit a deer leg or two into each side.

 

[SloppyJ]

If I picked a bike for back country hunting it would be a KTM 300 off some variety. Throw a rekluse in there and bog that dude up any hill you can find. They're like little two wheel tractors. The only issue is that you're gonna smell like 2 stroke exhaust by the time it's over if that matters to you. The smaller 4 storkes have to be ran too hard IMO.

 

[robtattoo]

My main reasoning for choosing the Teedub was mostly because where I spend most of my hunting time is steep, wet, grassy hills & mud & on these it excels. Especially with the upgraded rear wheel. I literally  can go where my buddy with his ATV can't. Although I have no experience riding Rocky trails on anything else, but in my opinion, for that use, my dub sucks all kindsa balls. Most any nimble dirt bike would be better. If I spent more than a couple of weeks a year out west, the CRF230 of Beta seems like a better option.
There is a huge amount of customiseability (it's a word!) with the TW, but honestly, it kinda needs it.
It's basic simplicity though, is a big advantage. A monkey could fix the thing & there's very little to go wrong enough with it that it's going to leave you stranded.
Straight off the factory floor, the TW wouldn't even compare to a CRF, but I knew that going into it.

 

[TheGDog]

Don't go very fast at all if you have that trailer hitch mounted onto that rear swingarm like that.

My engineering brain's intuition is telling me that's a bad bad bad idea.

EDIT: At least for the kidns of terrain you'd find out in SoCal Mtns and Deserts anyway. Seem to recall you're in FL, so probably flat enough it's possibly "doable" if ya keep the speeds way way down?

 

[Taudisio]

Had a blast today. Went down all the roads I have to pass when I’m in the truck. I think I want to get a “skull cap” helmet in case something runs across in front of me. One less step to take the helmet off to shoot. Anyone else try one or have any other suggestions? Has to be DOT rated as I have about 1 mile of pavement from the house to the dirt.

 

[robtattoo]

Don't go very fast at all if you have that trailer hitch mounted onto that rear swingarm like that.

My engineering brain's intuition is telling me that's a bad bad bad idea.

EDIT: At least for the kidns of terrain you'd find out in SoCal Mtns and Deserts anyway. Seem to recall you're in FL, so probably flat enough it's possibly "doable" if ya keep the speeds way way down?

Tennessee actually & I'm mostly in the hilly bits! I've had it around the trails in Western Wyoming & it's actually super stable with a trailer. 55-60 on asphalt or well graded hardpack is no trouble & rutted corduroy/washboard is fine too about 40. Being attached to the swing arm keeps the trailer in contact with the road pretty well.

 

[Taudisio]

It was a fun day. Little fork spike let me get 10 yards away on the bike and he just fed his way up the hill. Good to see one made it through hunting season in my hunting area.

 

[TheGDog]

I think that KLX 300 is eventually what I'm going to get to downsize in the garage.

I have a Honda Pacific Coast 800, that's been sitting for 10 yrs since I shattered my wrist. Right after the injury, we had an unusually cold / wet winter, and the carbs ended up gumming-up.

She'll start.. but the moment you try to crack the throttle she wants to die, so if I remember right in my initial research, that means like the Pilot Jet? or Main Jet? needs the varnish removed in there.

The PC800 was "The Sensible Dad Bike" I switched over to from the Yamaha FZ1 I was riding last before that. Purposefully, to slow me down, once I now had a child. That boy in 17yo now.

Since I don't really have a need of riding anymore, was thinking I might pickup a KLX300 in place of the PC800. Regain a lot of space in my garage.

Also I figure that way, if I end up gifting it to my son at some point for his first vehicle... it won't be a 450. It'll be something more tame, since he has very little dirt-riding time under his belt, because he was just too damn whiny for me to deal with when he was little, when I'd be taking him out with the XR50. And I just never got around to coming back to the dirt-riding thing with him. Because that whiny-ness just turned me off to it soo bad. But then I had several other issues happen. One was re-aggravating hurting my lower-back after C19's high-fever and insane inflammation.

Pain mgmt Doc says I've got the spine of a 70yo (I'm 55yo atm). I'm sure all the BMX/MTB/DirtBike/Sportbike crashes and working-out/lifting and re-exacerbating of those old injuries from C19 definitely played into all this.


Let me ask you this about the KLX300... is the rear end as softly sprung as I think it probably will is?

I'm generally in the range of 205-225Lbs before gear. And MOST of the time, for DualSports, I've had to get a stiffer after-market spring so I wouldn't have to do the ghetto-y trick with the preload tensioner for temporarily over-coming a too-soft of a spring rate.

It ends up making it very pogo-y over smaller bumps when you crank-up the preload tensioner to get that too soft of a spring into the harder part of the compression rate on the spring, it'll effect things such as braking-bumps leading into a corner, for example.

Do you find that the springs are overly cushy to begin with?

 

[Taudisio]

I think that KLX 300 is eventually what I'm going to get to downsize in the garage.

I have a Honda Pacific Coast 800, that's been sitting for 10 yrs since I shattered my wrist. Right after the injury, we had an unusually cold / wet winter, and the carbs ended up gumming-up.

She'll start.. but the moment you try to crack the throttle she wants to die, so if I remember right in my initial research, that means like the Pilot Jet? or Main Jet? needs the varnish removed in there.

The PC800 was "The Sensible Dad Bike" I switched over to from the Yamaha FZ1 I was riding last before that. Purposefully, to slow me down, once I now had a child. That boy in 17yo now.

Since I don't really have a need of riding anymore, was thinking I might pickup a KLX300 in place of the PC800. Regain a lot of space in my garage.

Also I figure that way, if I end up gifting it to my son at some point for his first vehicle... it won't be a 450. It'll be something more tame, since he has very little dirt-riding time under his belt, because he was just too damn whiny for me to deal with when he was little, when I'd be taking him out with the XR50. And I just never got around to coming back to the dirt-riding thing with him. Because that whiny-ness just turned me off to it soo bad. But then I had several other issues happen. One was re-aggravating hurting my lower-back after C19's high-fever and insane inflammation.

Pain mgmt Doc says I've got the spine of a 70yo (I'm 55yo atm). I'm sure all the BMX/MTB/DirtBike/Sportbike crashes and working-out/lifting and re-exacerbating of those old injuries from C19 definitely played into all this.


Let me ask you this about the KLX300... is the rear end as softly sprung as I think it probably will is?

I'm generally in the range of 205-225Lbs before gear. And MOST of the time, for DualSports, I've had to get a stiffer after-market spring so I wouldn't have to do the ghetto-y trick with the preload tensioner for temporarily over-coming a too-soft of a spring rate.

It ends up making it very pogo-y over smaller bumps when you crank-up the preload tensioner to get that too soft of a spring into the harder part of the compression rate on the spring, it'll effect things such as braking-bumps leading into a corner, for example.

Do you find that the springs are overly cushy to begin with?

I’m going to preface this with the fact this is my first experience on a “dirt bike” that is larger than a Honda 100, 20+ years ago. Coming from the street side, it’s a whole new world. I am 6’ 210-215 depending on the day. What sold me on the klx over the Honda was EVERY review I watched said the suspension between the two are night and day. I haven’t had any sore back or coccyx on the stock suspension and seat. I’ve had street bikes in the past that I couldn’t ride more than two hours and be sore for 2 days after. I rode from 9am-330p yesterday and did 130 dirt miles and 40 road miles back home (gas bill was $11). Zero pain today. I have not adjusted the sag or rebound yet.
Everyone says the Honda is sprung for a 100 pound person and non-adjustable, but engine/vibrations are a little more refined.

My only gripe with the klx is the little gas tank. The low gas indicator has come on twice which always sends my mind into a panic, hence the newly acquired rotopax that holds 1.75gal. I used it once yesterday and from the light being on up to the brim, there was still gas in the rotopax. I wish a 4+ gallon tank comes out for the klx sooner than later.
Handle bars, barkbusters, foot pegs, and luggage are next and waiting in the garage for install.
Being my size, I was impressed she got up to 76mph on the flat highway on my way home. Wasn’t very comfortable, but it also felt like she was also capable of a smidge more if I had some more flat tarmac. I had my pack, rifle, and full rotopax on the back. So maybe 240lbs total extra weight on the bike.

 

[IdahoBeav]

How much trouble is it to pack meat without a rack? It seems there are only a few models that have options for a robust rack that doesn't just mount to a plastic fender.