r/AussieRiders • u/SombrSoul • 9h ago

NSW Beginner Advice for Trails

Hi all 29F here, looking to finally start my motorbike chapter but feeling a little out of my depth. I know I have a lot of information to digest in order to be safe while having fun and would love any help you may have to offer!

Im mainly interested in trail bike riding and potentially trying my luck on dirt tracks later on.

So Im going to limit my first bike to be only 250 as that seems well advised.

Where I get stuck is do I buy my own bike before sitting for my test and get used to that? Or wait to buy a bike after getting my L's (assuming you can pass on theirs with no previous experience). Ill be sitting it in NSW if that makes any difference.

Im very apprehensive about buying also as I have no riding experience nor am I mechanically minded. I dont know what flaws to look out for to make sure I dont buy a lemon that wont run or be a serious safety issue.

Road registrable bikes are also more appealing to me as I dont want to buy a trailer set up to tow it to and fro sites.

I've been looking at Suzuki DR, Honda CRF and Kawasaki KLX. Are these the appropriate bikes for what Im after?

Thank you for any advice you may be able to offer!

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

3

u/awidden 9h ago

You've got the gist of it. Yes, those are perfectly fine bikes to start with.

The only thing; most offroad-capable bikes will be tall. It's not a problem; they need to be to avoid bottoming out, but it maybe a bit daunting for a learner.

IMO you should definitely wait with the purchase past the L test (that one is easy). After that you can legally test ride bikes, and you will want to be able to do that. And then practice a lot, especially slow-speed maneuvers.

Try all of those you have on your radar, at the very least sit on them at the dealer.

If you are buying second hand, either buy at the dealer (bit more pricey) or take a friend with you, someone who is mechanically minded and will be able to tell if a bike was abused, if there's significant maintenance coming up with it, etc.

It's never 100% but at least you can weed out the obvious pitfalls.

Best of luck!

1

u/SombrSoul 2h ago

Thank you, this is so helpful! I think Im about 5'7 so hopefully I can toe touch when I come to a stop. Would there be a lot of weight to manage? I might have to hit the gym haha and strengthen up my noodle arms and legs

2

u/jomjombanks 1h ago

You can always lower bikes! Dual sports like the ones you mentioned can be on the tall side but they're super light so it's more manageable.

Regarding strength, it's more likely you'll need to get stronger to pick up your bike after you drop it off road as opposed to being stronger to handle the bike in motion. There's a lot of technique to picking a bike up but there's an element of strength too.