Dirt bikes are an incredible bargain
HardWorkingDog
around $6000-7000 dollars (US). A little more if you've gotta have a
4-stroke, even a bit more if you've gotta have non-Japanese, a little
less if you like 2-strokes. Seems like a lot of cash until you start
looking around at what you can get for the same amount of money.
I was talking to a cow-orker the other day who is a mountain biker.
Turns out the going price for a similar quality mountain bike is
somewhere between $6000-8000 dollars. A freakin BICYCLE! Its basically
a dirt bike WITHOUT THE ENGINE!!!! But mtn. bikers are lining up to
spend 8K on them.
Then, the other day our 16 plus year old stove finally got to the
point where I didn't want to repair it again. We go do the rounds at
the appliance stores. You can easily spend $8000 on a kitchen stove!
Or a refrigerator!!! You gotta be kidding me. How in the world can a
big company like Maytag or Kitchenaid have the stones to charge $8000
for an appliance? There's a few valves, a regulator, thermostat, some
burners and grates. Some shiny metal, a bit of glass and chrome. A few
hinges. BUT NO MOVING PARTS. NO TRANSMISSION OR CLUTCH. NO CONTROLLED
EXPLOSIONS. NO SUSPENSION, WITH 5,000 LITTLE TEENY PARTS. You can go
the 'Long Way 'Round' and back on a dirt bike, and that stove will
just be sitting there with a deaf and dumb expression on its face,
waiting for someone to tell it to heat up, and then waiting for
someone to tell it to stop heating up.
I think it's time to get a few more dirt bikes.
--
Charles
'99 YZ250
Rex McKinney
you can find some piece of crap thing with a Briggs motor on it for less but
real racing you can do, week in, week out, a dirtbike is the shit!!!
Rex Mckinney
"HardWorkingDog" <har...@mush.man> wrote in message
news:harvey-42D7E4....@individual.net...
oldfart
entertainment/appliances it is great as a family pastime. I have
worked with lots of kids who are "intolerable" who do an about face
when offered a dirtbike experience. Suddenly they are willing to help
out with responsibilities like bike maintenance, loading and unloading
and other related chores. This is something of high value to them and
many rise to the occasion just to be involved. I have watched kids
grow up right before my eyes given this opportunity and it is
gratifying to see. OF
On Feb 13, 11:29 pm, "Rex McKinney" <endurodognotno-s...@comcast.net>
wrote:
> > '99 YZ250- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
John Davies
wrote:
>I was talking to a cow-orker the other day who is a mountain biker.
>Turns out the going price for a similar quality mountain bike is
>somewhere between $6000-8000 dollars. A freakin BICYCLE! Its basically
>a dirt bike WITHOUT THE ENGINE!!!! But mtn. bikers are lining up to
>spend 8K on them.
http://www.santanatandem.com/beyond.html
This bike, when specced with Quick Detach stainless frame couplings
and other premium add-ons, can cost in exces of $14K.
But at least you get two saddles.
BTW, if you are even _faintly_ interested in quality tandems (even the
basic $3000 kind) then please order the free Santana catalog. It is
FINE and very informative - by far the most comprehensive bicycle
catalog I have ever seen.
I agree, if you are used to motorcycle prices, bicycle pricing is
simply incomprehensible.
John Davies
Spokane WA
Jeff Deeney
"HardWorkingDog" <har...@mush.man> wrote in message
news:harvey-42D7E4....@individual.net...
> around $6000-7000 dollars (US). A little more if you've gotta have a
> 4-stroke, even a bit more if you've gotta have non-Japanese, a little
> less if you like 2-strokes. Seems like a lot of cash until you start
> looking around at what you can get for the same amount of money.
I see we think alike.
All major expenses are compared on a scale of on new motorcycle costs.
...I'm watching numerous new get squandered on college tuition :-(
-Jeff Deeney- ©2007 DoD#0498 NCTR UTMA BRC COHVCO AMA
jldeeney@c om c ast d ot net '99 ATK 260LQ-Stink Wheels '94
XR650L-HellSickle
We don't stop riding because we get old, we get old because we stop riding.
Rob
"HardWorkingDog" <har...@mush.man> wrote in message
news:harvey-42D7E4....@individual.net...
> around $6000-7000 dollars (US). A little more if you've gotta have a
> 4-stroke, even a bit more if you've gotta have non-Japanese, a little
> less if you like 2-strokes. Seems like a lot of cash until you start
> looking around at what you can get for the same amount of money.
>
> I was talking to a cow-orker the other day who is a mountain biker.
> Turns out the going price for a similar quality mountain bike is
> somewhere between $6000-8000 dollars. A freakin BICYCLE! Its basically
> a dirt bike WITHOUT THE ENGINE!!!! But mtn. bikers are lining up to
> spend 8K on them.
>
> Then, the other day our 16 plus year old stove finally got to the
> point where I didn't want to repair it again. We go do the rounds at
> the appliance stores. You can easily spend $8000 on a kitchen stove!
> Or a refrigerator!!! You gotta be kidding me. How in the world can a
> big company like Maytag or Kitchenaid have the stones to charge $8000
> for an appliance?
Damn...what kind of stove you looking at. I just bought a new, fairly nice
stove and refrigerator for under 2k.
HardWorkingDog
"Rob" <bucf...@SPAMearthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Damn...what kind of stove you looking at. I just bought a new, fairly nice
> stove and refrigerator for under 2k.
I didn't say I BOUGHT a friggin $8000 stove, just that they were out
there, and selling pretty briskly from what I could see:)
I installed a few ranges and refrigerators in that price range when I
was doing that sort of work, and the amazing thing was that they
tended to break with just about the same regularity as the $500 dollar
models, and the $2000 models.
They weren't paying extra for more reliability, but for the 'brand'
identification. Most people still felt they were happy with their
choice.
--
Charles
'99 YZ250
david smith
"HardWorkingDog" <har...@mush.man> wrote in message
news:harvey-42D7E4....@individual.net...
I try to tell my wife what a bargain they really are. I'm glad she
really doesn't care what I spend on them. This guy has detailed his dirt
biking costs.
http://www.john-stichnoth.com/KTMlog.html
--
didyousellmeout-001
remove this part
@yahoo.com
Tiago Rocha
I tried doing this. I ended up realizing that I spend WAAAAAY too much
on bikes. My income is small and dirt biking (used to) take a huge
part of it. Snapping knee ligaments was a blessing, money-wise. Now
that I am healed, I will get back into being always in debt with the
bank.
-- Tiago
CrashTestDummy
wrote:
>So, a decent state of the art dirt bike can be purchased for somewhere
>around $6000-7000 dollars (US). A little more if you've gotta have a
>4-stroke, even a bit more if you've gotta have non-Japanese, a little
>less if you like 2-strokes. Seems like a lot of cash until you start
>looking around at what you can get for the same amount of money.
>
>I was talking to a cow-orker the other day who is a mountain biker.
>Turns out the going price for a similar quality mountain bike is
>somewhere between $6000-8000 dollars. A freakin BICYCLE! Its basically
>a dirt bike WITHOUT THE ENGINE!!!! But mtn. bikers are lining up to
>spend 8K on them.
Hey, however you have to justify it. ;->
Curiously though, I had sort of the opposite feeling today. I
bought new bars for the boy's XR, but needed grips and crossbar pad.
So, since I had a little time today, I stopped by four different
motorcycle shops.
The first one was "Two Wheel World" in Garland (which is soon to be
relocated, in case anyone local's paying attention). I settled on a
pair of dual-density Smith grips in red & black. But they didn't have
any crossbar pads I liked, so it was off to "High Five Cycles" in
north Dallas. There, I got to sit on Fonda's "Easyriders" bike
(replica with a $29k price tag), but still no good crossbar pads.
Next stop was "Al Lamb's Honda" (right across the highway), where I
marveled at the crazy prices people are apparently willing to pay for
bike parts. They only had Renthal crossbar pads, at $16.99 a pop.
Which I thought was outrageous, until I went to "Richardson
Motorsports" and discovered the $19.99 "Monster Energy Drink" crossbar
pads. They were hanging right next to the $99.99 "Tag" CRF50 bars
(which were close to the $500 CRF50 swingarm). Or maybe that was at Al
Lamb's. Anyway...
The cheapest pair of boots I could find were an old-stock pair of
AXO RC-5's in size *7* for $99.00. An ASV clutch lever assembly at the
Honda shop was $79.99. A FOX baseball cap was $24.00. Replacement
tank decals were $99.95. Think about that for a minute... a hundred
bucks for a pair of stickers!
It just seems amazing to me that nobody's catering to the
budget-minded trail riders nowadays. There's less and less "budget"
alternatives to those $85.00 Renthals or expensive side panels.
Locally, we've now had three different cycle salvages go out of
business, and the main one remaining (Bates Discount Cycle) has almost
zero salvaged parts (they're almost exclusively an aftermarket
accessories store now). I even filled out an online search form for
the plastic pieces my son needs - a cycle salvage form that's supposed
to be connected to a network of salvage dealers - and no one has
gotten back to me after two weeks. Either my request was considered
too unprofitable, or they can't find salvage plastics for one of the
most common dirt bikes ever made (XR-80/100).
Call me crazy, but a reasonable price for a used side panel and
number plate, to me, would be about $10-15 for both (plus shipping if
necessary). No crossbar pad should cost more than 10 bucks, and
somebody should be offering a "budget" aluminum handlebar for $25 or
less. It's not just the pricing though, it's also how much of the
market caters almost entirely to "new bike" owners. I mean, I don't
expect them to have parts and accessories for my 22-year-old bike, but
most billet clutch baskets, wide footpegs, graphics kits, seat covers
and UFO or Acerbis plastics are only available for bikes made within
the last 2-4 years. I guess they figure if you can afford a $225
Hinson clutch basket then you could afford to buy a new bike to put it
on. Ironically, it's the older bikes with worn parts that could most
benefit from such a replacement part.
I know I probably sound pissy here, but I'm really not. I'm just
trying to say that, while dirt biking has never been a cheap sport, it
seems as if more and more it's becoming a rich man's sport. Certainly
it helps when you can shop around via the internet, find clearance or
close-out merchandise, and monitor eBay and online swap meets for
parts you may need, but there really seems to be a dwindling of budget
options. Just a couple years ago I could get "Tusk" aluminum
handlebars for $27.95, but now the cheapest aluminum bars I can find
are $34.95, and most *steel* bars are 25 bucks.
Still, I'm not all that worried for myself. I can get by and when I
can't we'll sell the bikes and try something else. It just seems a
shame that a lot of would-be enthusiasts are excluding because of the
way the sport is going. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like we had a
lot more budget alternatives back in the late '70s and early '80s. You
saw all kinds of bikes, and all kinds of kids riding them, back in
those days. Of course many of us were wearing open-face helmets with
JT mouth guards, leather work gloves, and ski-bibs for race pants too.
;->
Fred Bradford - CrashTestDummy
f.j.bradf...@verizon.net
HardWorkingDog
CrashTestDummy <f.j.bradf...@verizon.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:34:32 -0800, HardWorkingDog <har...@mush.man>
> wrote:
>
> >I was talking to a cow-orker the other day who is a mountain biker.
> >Turns out the going price for a similar quality mountain bike is
> >somewhere between $6000-8000 dollars. A freakin BICYCLE! Its basically
> >a dirt bike WITHOUT THE ENGINE!!!! But mtn. bikers are lining up to
> >spend 8K on them.
>
>
> Hey, however you have to justify it. ;->
>
> Curiously though, I had sort of the opposite feeling today. I
> bought new bars for the boy's XR, but needed grips and crossbar pad.
> So, since I had a little time today, I stopped by four different
> motorcycle shops.
>
snip
>
> Still, I'm not all that worried for myself. I can get by and when I
> can't we'll sell the bikes and try something else. It just seems a
> shame that a lot of would-be enthusiasts are excluding because of the
> way the sport is going. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like we had a
> lot more budget alternatives back in the late '70s and early '80s. You
> saw all kinds of bikes, and all kinds of kids riding them, back in
> those days. Of course many of us were wearing open-face helmets with
> JT mouth guards, leather work gloves, and ski-bibs for race pants too.
> ;->
>
I feel some of your pain. Parts prices can be ridiculous. Have you
checked Maier-mfg.com. Not as cheap as you're hoping for, but they do
have some parts for your bike, like side panels:
http://www.maier-mfg.com/shop.cfm?action=list&page=list.cfm&criteria=70
1&makeid=10&modelid=104
I think I may have a bar pad I can send you if you haven't spent the
money yet. There are some places like rockymountainatv.com that tend
to carry budget lines like Ocelot or ARC. I'm sure you know, but it's
a game of spending your money on expensive stuff only if you're sure
it's worth it in terms of longevity or performance, and don't waste it
on branding crap. Fox is dead for that reason alone. The only thing I
could see in your shopping list that fit my bill were the ASV levers,
but that's probably overkill on a learner. A $10 lever from cycle gear
will work fine even if you go through 4 or 5. Heat 'em up and bend 'em
back a few times.
A lot of my parts budget is paid from my lunch and coffee expenses. I
make my lunch and bring it to work every day, and brew my own coffee
at work. At about $35-40/week, the parts budget adds up pretty quick :)
--
Charles
'99 YZ250
CrashTestDummy
wrote:
>I feel some of your pain. Parts prices can be ridiculous. Have you
>checked Maier-mfg.com. Not as cheap as you're hoping for, but they do
>have some parts for your bike, like side panels:
>
>http://www.maier-mfg.com/shop.cfm?action=list&page=list.cfm&criteria=70
>1&makeid=10&modelid=104
Yeah, good ol' Maier is the only aftermarket option. And $43.99 (at
one dealer) isn't a bad price either. Our problem is that we really
only need the right side. We have the left side panel and it's like
brand new. Still, I may end up deciding that the Maiers are the best
value for my dollar and then I'd just have a spare left side panel.
>There are some places like rockymountainatv.com that tend
>to carry budget lines like Ocelot or ARC.
It's funny, but I'll buy budget line products for bike parts, but
not for apparel. LOL. I'd rather have Fox, Answer or O'Neal apparel
than Ocelot, Fly or Shift apparel. Isn't that crazy? Check out these
old skewl pants I won on eBay recently:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150089854360
I wish JT Racing was still in business.
> I'm sure you know, but it's a game of spending your money on
>expensive stuff only if you're sure it's worth it in terms of longevity or
>performance, and don't waste it on branding crap.
You're right, and usually that's exactly what I do. Even when I buy
big brand apparel, I get it on closeout or clearance usually.
motorcyclecloseouts.com is an excellent source for good deals on
apparel, and a few years ago I found a guy of Mark's Swap Meet board
selling NOS apparel that was 6 or 7 years old for cheap (that's where
I got those JT Racing pants I wore at SpodeFest). I think I paid 20
bucks for 'em and they arrived with all the original tags. And I think
they must've been the "mid-level" pant, because they're pretty nice.
>Fox is dead for that reason alone.
Fox is dead? I've always liked Fox because it's a kewl moniker and
they've been around forever, unlike FLY, No Fear, and Icon. I think
I'm just old skewl. MSR is about as close to the current generation as
I care to go ;->
>The only thing I could see in your shopping list that fit my bill were the
>ASV levers, but that's probably overkill on a learner. A $10 lever from
>cycle gear will work fine even if you go through 4 or 5. Heat 'em up
>and bend 'em back a few times.
Yeah, I just remembered someone here (scrape maybe?) proclaiming
that the ASV levers lightened the clutch pull a little. And the MSR
Raptor assmebly is so weak to begin with that I wondered if the ASVs
might be the way to go (killing two birds with one stone)... nearly
unbreakable levers for a kid who's sure to test 'em, combined with a
slight decrease in clutch pull.
The XR clutch pull is much better than on his old DT, but the
lighter I can get it the better as I try to encourage him to learn to
use it more. You're probably right though... overkill for an XR-100.
It's fun to look though :-)
>A lot of my parts budget is paid from my lunch and coffee expenses. I
>make my lunch and bring it to work every day, and brew my own coffee
>at work. At about $35-40/week, the parts budget adds up pretty quick :)
I usually eat out, but that's because it may be the only hot meal I
get that day if my wife doesn't feel like cooking. "Fend for yourself
nights," she calls 'em. I only cook once or twice a month myself, so I
have sandwiches and stuff for dinner quite often. I figure what I
spend for lunch I save for dinner usually. Plus, I'm cheap, so my
lunch is often less than $4.00 at Taco Bueno.
I think we'll probably end up with the money to purchase the OEM
side panel and front number plate from Honda when we sell the old
DT-80. It'll probably go up on Craig's List nin the ext week or so. I
got some other miscellaneous parts and projects that I need to list
there too, including a '79 YZ-80 project/parts bike and an old go
kart. Say, you don't need either of those, do ya? ;->
Craig
wrote:
> It's funny, but I'll buy budget line products for bike parts, but
> not for apparel. LOL. I'd rather have Fox, Answer or O'Neal apparel
> than Ocelot, Fly or Shift apparel. Isn't that crazy?
Almost impossible for a cheapskate like me to comprehend... ;-)
> I wish JT Racing was still in business.
I once had a really cool pair of JT riding pants... they had little
skulls and crossbones all over them. I threw them away a few years
ago, before I realized there was a market for vintage gear. Can't
really see them too well, but here they are in 1988:
http://userweb.magpage.com/cfaison/xr.jpg
> I think we'll probably end up with the money to purchase the OEM
> side panel and front number plate from Honda when we sell the old
> DT-80. It'll probably go up on Craig's List nin the ext week or so. I
> got some other miscellaneous parts and projects that I need to list
> there too, including a '79 YZ-80 project/parts bike and an old go
> kart. Say, you don't need either of those, do ya? ;->
Though the YSR50 market has dried up some in recent years, both of
those air-cooled 80 motors you have would be of interest to guys with
YSRs. The air-cooled 80's are easy swaps, and if they've got lighting
coils (the DT80 will), they're good for street motors. You might want
to advertise them on www.teamcalamari.com as well (it's free).
Some early YZ80's had lighting coils, but I'm drawing a total blank as
to specifics. I want to say somewhere between '77 and '79, but I can't
remember.
Posing a 'wanted' ad in the forums at http://www.4strokes.com/ might
turn up some XR sidepanels and stuff. When I last checked, there was a
fairly high volume of XR stuff being posted there.
Anyway, good luck,
Craig
Nate Bargmann
> Still, I'm not all that worried for myself. I can get by and when I
> can't we'll sell the bikes and try something else. It just seems a
> shame that a lot of would-be enthusiasts are excluding because of the
> way the sport is going. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like we had a
> lot more budget alternatives back in the late '70s and early '80s. You
> saw all kinds of bikes, and all kinds of kids riding them, back in
> those days. Of course many of us were wearing open-face helmets with
> JT mouth guards, leather work gloves, and ski-bibs for race pants too.
> ;->
Now days, wearing a piece-meal getup just doesn't cut it. Kids these days
need the latest in cool and the best in bling. It's all about the show these
days. Nothing more.
It's the passing of an era when folks could be satisfied with what they had
or could get their hands on. Not today. Easy credit and perfected targeted
marketing have them lining up around the block to get the latest of
everything. One doesn't want to look so 2006, dontcha know.
So now we have a generation that is primped, preened, and blinged to the
nines, but are they having any fun? I doubt it as it all sounds like the HOG
marketing formula applied to dirt bikes.
Each year I shudder when Cycle World has their kids special in one of the
issues. The vendors are lined up and heaven forbid that any kid should do
without the "latest".
Take this soapbox, please!
- Nate >>
--
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds,
the pessimist fears this is true."
david smith
"Nate Bargmann" <n0nb.DO....@ME.networksplus.net> wrote in message
news:MPGdnfD3h5pS80fY...@bluevalley.net...
> On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:10:42 +0000, CrashTestDummy wrote:
>
> Each year I shudder when Cycle World has their kids special in one of
the
> issues.
Who/what is "Cycle World"?
I like your sig.
The Real Bev
> On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:10:42 +0000, CrashTestDummy wrote:
>
>> Still, I'm not all that worried for myself. I can get by and when I
>> can't we'll sell the bikes and try something else. It just seems a
>> shame that a lot of would-be enthusiasts are excluding because of the
>> way the sport is going. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like we had a
>> lot more budget alternatives back in the late '70s and early '80s. You
>> saw all kinds of bikes, and all kinds of kids riding them, back in
>> those days. Of course many of us were wearing open-face helmets with
>> JT mouth guards, leather work gloves, and ski-bibs for race pants too.
>> ;->
Our first dirt bikes were 1960 Honda street 90s with humongous rear
sprockets, and we LIKED 'em!
--
Cheers,
Bev
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"We're from the Government. We're here to help."
rdnakx250
The moral of this story is to shop around. The dealers can't afford
to be cheap because the overhead is insane. They make their dough of
off being convenient.
I have seen some of those rare bears though that are walking around
with MASSIVE disposable income and buy everything at the dealer
including multiple bikes at the same time including all the bling.
You would have thought they never figured you could shop online. For
these people, money and toilet paper are at the same level. it must
be nice being born into millions of dollars. Going to work is an
royal PITA for these people and done only so they can look like
responsible individuals.;)
Scrape
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
The only "TRUE MORAL OF THIS STORY" is that you should've come to ole
Scrape first for the finest Chinese bike deal of your life. We carry
2007 quality at 1970's prices. A beautiful Chinese bike to fit
everyone's needs. See me.
Scraper, Proprietor
Chinese Bike Emporium
Wellen - '02 200exc & '04 MTD 38
> not for apparel. LOL. I'd rather have Fox, Answer or O'Neal apparel
> than Ocelot, Fly or Shift apparel. Isn't that crazy? Check out these
> old skewl pants I won on eBay recently:
>
>
> I wish JT Racing was still in business.
>
> > I'm sure you know, but it's a game of spending your money on
> >expensive stuff only if you're sure it's worth it in terms of longevity or
> >performance, and don't waste it on branding crap.
>
> You're right, and usually that's exactly what I do. Even when I buy
> big brand apparel, I get it on closeout or clearance usually.
> motorcyclecloseouts.com is an excellent source for good deals on
> apparel, and a few years ago I found a guy of Mark's Swap Meet board
> selling NOS apparel that was 6 or 7 years old for cheap (that's where
> I got those JT Racing pants I wore at SpodeFest). I think I paid 20
> bucks for 'em and they arrived with all the original tags. And I think
> they must've been the "mid-level" pant, because they're pretty nice.
Yep - I try to pick up apparel as they change the year's models. I've
picked up nice Sahara pants for $50 this way. They get REAL cheap
when there gets to be limited sizes available.