[LuckyPenny]

Hey everyone, I'm 37 years old, 6'1", and 225lbs. I've been riding dual sports for several years and just sold my KLR 650 a couple years ago and I'd like to get another bike again. I found that I enjoyed riding offroad most, so I'm strictly looking for a dirt bike now. I live in the Midwest and would be doing mostly trails and woods riding, two-track ATV type trails. Even though I have several years riding dual sports, I don't have a ton of experience riding trails and stuff. I've been considering the 250X and the 450X, but a lot of people say the 250X would be better suited for my experience level and riding style. I've been doing my research and it seems like the pre-2007 bikes suffer from valve issues. I've really only got a max budget of about $2800 to $3000. I've got a couple bikes I'm considering right now that are local to me. I've been watching all the used markets for several months and not a lot of trail oriented bikes come up for sale, mostly 450 MX bikes.

One is an '04 that looks pretty clean. Guy said he's never had the valve clearances checked. Says it has no issues and runs great. Says the lowest he will go is $3000, which seems high to me for a 2004 model bike. I'd like to get the down lower, but from what I can see it looks like a pretty clean bike. I've watched some YouTube videos and I think I could probably figure out how to check the valve clearances myself and I could probably figure out how shim the valves if needed.

The other bike is an '05 that looks a little rough. The seller has no idea what he has and doesn't look like he knows much of anything. Said he bought the bike and road it 4 or 5 times and it started not idling. Says it runs fine as long as you give it throttle, so he just decided to sell it. Bike is missing the front headlight assembly. Guy says the idle is the only problem with the bike, but I'm not sure I trust his assessment. Bike has a Rekluse clutch cover and the guy had no idea the bike had an auto clutch. He's been using the hand clutch. I asked him to double check for me and to put the bike into 1st gear without the clutch and tell me if jumped and died or if it stayed running. He went and checked and said it stayed running. So I know the bike has a Rekluse clutch on it. Guy wants $2000 for it, but I'm betting it could be bought for a lot cheaper, maybe $1500. I just don't know much more money I'd have to sink into the bike to get it cleaned up, looking, and running right.

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

If the bike for $2000 is the bike in the pictures I would buy it as fast as you can , even if it has valve issues the bike is clean enough to be worth putting a little bit in if necessary and would last you a long time , and you could easily sell it down the road for what you would have in it or real close , the idling issue could be one of 2 things ,,, it is most likely the Pilot Jet is clogged , go to your dealer , buy a new one for about $6.00 and you are good to go .... if it is the other issue , then it could be Intake valves going .... if it is that , you may be out anywhere from a couple hundred to $500 -$600 , but still within the value of the bike .....

If it is the $3000 bike , then I would want it working good for that price , it should not have any issues for that price , period .....

The biggest issue is , this year bikes are hard to come by ... a good deal is just that ... a good deal , and far and few between right now , as it is a sellers market , and if he wants to ask $3500 for it , he will most likely get it , because bikes are going for top dollar right now as dealerships can't get or keep new inventory right now , so used bikes are literally selling like hotcakes ... you see bikes all the time right now that are really worth $1200 and they are getting $3000 out of them , its crazy

What you will have to do with your weight is go with stiffer springs (front /rear) , regardless if you get a 250 or 450 , they will run about $150 front and about the same rear , ... what I did ( I literally just bought springs for my 2020 450R a couple days ago) is I went to Rocky Mountain ATV , and got the OEM Fork Springs , they had them in stock and I got them in 3 days .. I got my Shock Spring from Diverse directly , the reason I went with Diverse is the spring length is the same as OEM , which is a issue front or rear ... you can also check with Diverse and see what they want for fork springs ..... but my shock spring was $119 shipped , which you can't beat those prices anywhere that I know of ...

Stock that 250X comes with 0.42 Fork and 4.8 shock ... what you NEED for your weight for the suspension to work correctly is 0.48-0.49/5.8 .... this part is a must unless you plan on dropping about 80 lbs soon , as that is what the stock springs are rated for ....

So yea , if its that bike in the picture for $2000 I would jump on it ....